"The Return of the Sorcerer" is a horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...

, first published in Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror

Strange Tales

Strange Tales is the name of several comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It introduced the features "Doctor Strange" and "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the...

in September 1931. The story is set in H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....

's Cthulhu Mythos

Cthulhu Mythos

The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...

 and was adapted as an episode of the television series Night Gallery

Night Gallery

Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...

starring Vincent Price

Vincent Price

Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...

. The protagonist, named Mr. Ogden in the original story and Noel Evans in the television adaption, is hired by scholarly recluse John Carnby to translate passages from the Necronomicon

Necronomicon

The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...

.

According to The Complete H.P. Lovecraft Filmography, "The Return of the Sorcerer" is the first published story by a writer other than Lovecraft to adopt the Cthulhu cosmology. It is the title story of Robert Weinberg

Robert Weinberg (author)

Robert Weinberg is an American author. His work spans several genres including non-fiction, science fiction, horror, and comic books.-Biography:...

's anthology of Smith's short fiction, The Return of the Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith. In a review of the August Derleth

August Derleth

August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...

 anthology Sleep No More

Sleep No More (anthology)

Sleep No More was the first of three 1940s anthologies of fantasy and horror stories edited by August Derleth and illustrated by Lee Brown Coye. It was first published by Rinehart & Company in 1944. Featuring short stories by H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E...

, New York Times reviewer Orvile Prescott commented that the story "skates perilously close to parody of its own genre" but "should upset even hardened stomachs." A New York Times review of Out of Space and Time

Out of Space and Time

Out of Space and Time is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1942 and was the third book published by Arkham House. 1,054 copies were printed....

praised "The Return of the Sorcerer" as one of the best stories in the volume, "partly because it is one of the least overwritten". Jason Colavito singled it out in his horror genre study Knowing Fear as a standout amongst Smith's horror stories.

In August 2010, Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 band Orne

Reverend Bizarre

Reverend Bizarre was a doom metal band from Finland. They played slow and heavy traditional doom with dramatic vocals, following in the footsteps of bands such as Saint Vitus, Pentagram and Black Sabbath....

 and Rochester

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

-based doom metal

Doom metal

Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...

 band Blizaro

John Gallo

John Gallo is a guitarist from Rochester, New York. Originally the webmaster/creater of the doom metal website/festival/fanzine, Born Too Late...

 released a split 7" record based on the Night Gallery episode.

External links

• "The Return of the Sorcerer" – full text of story