The Festival by H. P. Lovecraft. Short summary

5 seconds

A young man arrives in a small fishing town for the feast of Christmas. According to his father’s will, he must take part in some ancient rite, which is held here once every hundred years.

1 minute

The protagonist arrives in the small fishing town of Kingsport on Christmas Eve. The protagonist arrives here to observe the custom of the ancestors, who once every hundred years celebrated the pagan ritual of Yule, to remember the primordial secrets.

The town looks outdated, there is not a single person on the street. The hero approaches the house of his relatives and is greeted by a dumb old man. The house is furnished with 17th century furniture. The shelves are full of books on the occult and demonology. On one of the shelves the hero finds the Necronomicon.

After a while the old man calls the hero and the ritual begins. They join a procession that heads toward the temple. Upon entering the temple, the hero enters a cave. They find themselves on the banks of a strange, oily river, where the figures in robes begin the solstice ritual. The hero feels terror, and winged creatures fly up to the shore.

The hero wakes up in Central Hill Hospital. Doctors report that he was found in the waters of the bay, where he had fallen from a cliff. The town looks very different from the day before.