The beast in the cave

A man and his guide enter the vast, labyrinthine Mammoth Cave. However, this is not an advert for Visit Kentucky, so you can predict the next plot line. The man loses his guide. Then his torch goes out. Lost in the pitch dark, he hears "non-human" footsteps approaching... 'The Beast in the Cave' was written by HP Lovecraft when he was 14 years old. The ending belies his age, though, with a shocking twist to make spines tingle. The story has echoes of the Greek myth 'Theseus and the Minotaur', set in the Labyrinth of Crete, but will also appeal to fans of JRR Tolkien's 'The Hobbit'. Howard Phillips (H.P.) Lovecraft (1890-1937) was an American author famed for his horror and fantasy fiction. Born in Rhode Island, he became a pioneer of 'cosmic horror', conjuring up the lore of supernatural creatures who exist beyond our understanding. His best-known stories include "The Call of Cthulhu", "At the Mountains of Madness" and "The Colour Out of Space". While he was a mainstay of pulp magazines, Lovecraft never achieved wider literary recognition in his lifetime. But his posthumous influence has been profound. It can be found in everything from the fiction of Stephen King and Neil Gaiman to the HBO series "Lovecraft Country".