The Shadow on the Screen

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This is a 1938 short story by science fiction great, Henry Kuttner. I liked the story's setting in Los Angeles in the 1930s. There is a description of the main character cutting past the observatory in Griffith Park to get to Tujunga. That made me think about what that would have been like. There was no I-5 or Golden State; so, was it all surface streets? Was there a Hollywood sign behind the observatory? It was a different age.

The story involves a horror director visiting another director, whom he has heard has made the greatest horror, aka “weird”, movie ever made. The movie involves a character who has located an ancient Aztec “god” and has brought it back to Los Angeles, where he sacrifices people to the “god.”

Kuttner was a friend and disciple of H.P. Lovecraft, who, in turn, was influenced by Arthur Machan who wrote “The Black Seal” in the 1890s. There are some interesting discussions about what the “weird” really is that I got a lot out of from a writing/historical/technical standpoint.

Does the story succeed?

It's well-written and provides a perspective on Hollywood in the 1930s, but I have to say that the horrific Aztec god seems a bit underwhelming. Presumably, the “weird” involves being confronted with something totally alien and reacting with primordial terror. Mmm'kay...I'm sure that's how I would react at the moment, but later on, I might think “barrel cactus with tentacles.”

In any event, it is a rare bit of Kuttner and worth reading from that standpoint.