The Other Gods(1921), The Music of Erich Zann (1921)

The Other Gods(1921) A tall mountain Hatheg-Ka, covered in clouds, is the dwelling of the Earth Gods. High priest Barzai the Wise sets upon a task of scaling it with his disciples Atal. After a perilous rise, the men finally manage to get to the peak, where they see the Gods themselves. But their elevation is short, as they realise the gods they were worshipping are surrounded by Other Gods.

As they realize, the other gods are far stronger and keeping the Earth Gods at bay, the men flee in fright. But only Atal returns back to their home and whatever happened to Barzai, he never told to anyone.

The Other Gods is a story set in what is Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. Atal, at least in name if not in character, was first introduced in the short story Cats of Ulthar. Other stories in the series are for example Ex Oblivione, The White Ship and the Doom That Came to Sarnath. 

I don't really have anything constructive to add to the story. It exists, it's not the best Dream Cycle story Lovecraft wrote and the idea is nice but unlike some other stories of his with a dream theme, it doesn't really leave you wanting more.

The Music of Erich Zann (1921) An old violinist, Erich Zann lives alone on the top floor of a cheap apartment building on Rue d'Auseil. His nightly playing echoes to the ears of the nameless narrator, a student living a floor below him. Intrigued by the odd music, the narrator, a student of the university nearby, is given the name of Zann by the landlord and he proceeds to introduce himself to the mute musician.

Zann is less than enthusiastic to make his acquaintance but reluctantly agrees to let the student watch and listen to his playing. The tune Zann plays is a new one, not the same one the student heard the night before, so he asks if Zann can play that instead. This request makes Zann nervous and he almost drags the young man out of the door.

The narrator protests and Zann relents a bit. He then proceeds to write a note to him, apologizing and telling how he is just an odd old man with some issues. He also asks, if it would be possible for the student to move to a lower level, where he would not hear the music. Zann even agrees to pay the difference in the rent. If the young man were to do this, Zann agrees to let him come and listen on an occasion.

The narrator agrees to move, but after he does so, Zann stops letting him in. As he thinks of the elderly violinist as a musical genius, the student begins to eavesdrop on his playing through the door, when one night, the playing is paused by a crash. He bangs the door and is finally let in by Zann, who then promises to explain what is going on. For an hour, the old man writes his story, but when he is just about to finish, a chill wind rises outside, crashing the window of the room open. Zann jumps up and begins to play his violin frantically, making it do horrific notes. The wind sweeps in, blowing the written papers around and while the student tries to catch them, he looks outside and sees only a deep, blank void instead of the next house.

The room goes dark as the candles are blown out and in terror the student tries to leave, begging the musician to come with him, but he just continues his playing. Then, grabbing the musician, he realises that he is dead despite the corpse is still playing the terrible notes. This is when he finally frantically runs out of the apartment building, only to see that the night is as calm as it has ever been.

Years later, the student is trying to find his old home and the street Rue d'Auseil. But try as he might, it seems to have disappeared, appearing on no maps nor in anyone memories besides his own. And that gives him some comfort.

The Music of Erich Zann is a solid horror story. it uses the well-tested premise of a person set in a situation he doesn't fully grasp in a good manner. The narrator really is nothing more than an observer of Zann's and the conclusion is a solid use of "did it really happen at all?".  Lovecraft himself considered the story as one of his best and it indeed saw frequent publication during his lifetime.

The story has been adapted into a comic at least twice and has worked as a premise for 3 short film adaptations. It has also influenced music by having several songs composed after its name.

Speaking of adaptations, the 17-minutes long adaptation directed by John Strysik can be found on Youtube. The adaptation made in 1980 stars Robert Alexander as Zann and Robert Rothman as Charles Dexter Ward, the student. As far adaptations go, it is rather close to the original text and well worth checking out.