Akeley and the Outside Beings

The Colour Out of Space

This flow traces the relationship Akeley describes with the Outside Beings, from fear and armed resistance to apparent cooperation and unresolved substitution.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Suspicious Discovery A Suspicious Discovery from "The Colour Out of Space". The Hills Become Personal Unwelcome Evidence Akeley discovers tracks and a black stone that lead him to believe the beings are present near his home.

A Suspicious Discovery from "The Colour Out of Space". The Hills Become Personal Unwelcome Evidence Akeley discovers tracks and a black stone that lead him to believe the beings are present near his home.

The Hills Become Personal Unwelcome Evidence Akeley discovers tracks and a black stone that lead him to believe the beings are present near his home. Isolation and Alarm The more he learns, the less safe he feels in the countryside he once considered home.

An Armed Relationship An Armed Relationship from "The Colour Out of Space". Fear Turns into Defence Dogs and Weapons Akeley protects the farmhouse with dogs and a rifle as attacks and signs of intrusion multiply.

An Armed Relationship from "The Colour Out of Space". Fear Turns into Defence Dogs and Weapons Akeley protects the farmhouse with dogs and a rifle as attacks and signs of intrusion multiply.

Fear Turns into Defence Dogs and Weapons Akeley protects the farmhouse with dogs and a rifle as attacks and signs of intrusion multiply. Contact by Force The relationship between human and alien remains one of pursuit, resistance, and incomplete understanding.

The Offer of Reconciliation The Offer of Reconciliation from "The Colour Out of Space". Akeley Changes His Account Peaceful Intentions He claims the beings seek knowledge and non-interference rather than harm to humanity.

The Offer of Reconciliation from "The Colour Out of Space". Akeley Changes His Account Peaceful Intentions He claims the beings seek knowledge and non-interference rather than harm to humanity.

Akeley Changes His Account Peaceful Intentions He claims the beings seek knowledge and non-interference rather than harm to humanity. A New Role Akeley presents himself as their interpreter, recasting his fear as a misunderstanding and inviting Wilmarth into the relationship.

A Human Voice in a Cylinder A Human Voice in a Cylinder from "The Colour Out of Space". Contact Through a Machine A Mediated Speaker A brain cylinder and sensory devices produce the voice of a human ally who endorses travel with the beings.

A Human Voice in a Cylinder from "The Colour Out of Space". Contact Through a Machine A Mediated Speaker A brain cylinder and sensory devices produce the voice of a human ally who endorses travel with the beings.

Contact Through a Machine A Mediated Speaker A brain cylinder and sensory devices produce the voice of a human ally who endorses travel with the beings. Intimacy Without a Body The offer of friendship and shared knowledge depends on a technology that makes personal identity seem fragile.

Cooperation or Deception Cooperation or Deception from "The Colour Out of Space". The Alliance Becomes Uncertain Conflicting Signs Wilmarth hears a gathering downstairs and finds signs that Akeley’s own identity may have been reduced to…

Cooperation or Deception from "The Colour Out of Space". The Alliance Becomes Uncertain Conflicting Signs Wilmarth hears a gathering downstairs and finds signs that Akeley’s own identity may have been reduced to…

The Alliance Becomes Uncertain Conflicting Signs Wilmarth hears a gathering downstairs and finds signs that Akeley’s own identity may have been reduced to detachable features. No Reliable Conclusion The apparent partnership may be genuine or a trap, and the story withholds a final answer.

Before May 1928

Summer 1928

September 1928

The evening Wilmarth visits

Later that night