The narrative begins with the unnamed narrator and his friend Tonnison on a fishing vacation in Kraighten, a tiny, unmapped hamlet in western Ireland [1]. They set up camp near a small, unnamed river [1]. The local villagers, who speak only Irish, eye them curiously but are not unfriendly [1]. After several days of fishing upstream, they decide to explore downstream [1]. They discover that the river abruptly vanishes into the earth, leading them to a desolate, wooded lowland [1]. This area, which appears to be an ancient, overgrown garden, contains a tremendous chasm from which a continuous, mist-like spray rises [1] [1]. Perched on a huge spur of rock jutting over the abyss, they find a fragment of a ruined building [1]. Within the debris of this ruin, Tonnison unearths a crumpled, dilapidated manuscript titled
The manuscript, written by an old man, details his experiences in an ancient, isolated house with a bad reputation [1] [1]. He lives alone with his sister and his dog, Pepper [1]. The house itself is described as curious and fantastic, with curved towers and a circular body [1]. The author recounts a night when his study candles glowed green then red, and he experienced an out-of-body vision [1]. He found himself floating through space, observing Earth and other planets, before landing on a vast, desolate
On the Plain of Silence, lit by a gigantic ring of dull-red fire, the author is borne towards a mountain amphitheater [1]. There, he discovers a colossal green jade structure, an exact replica of his own house [1]. The surrounding mountains are populated by monstrous, seemingly inanimate figures, including mythological deities like Set and Kali, which he perceives as being in a state of
The author is compelled to approach the replica house and encounters a gigantic, luminous, swine-faced creature attempting to gain entry [1]. He is then inexplicably lifted high above the arena, witnessing the creature below, before his vision fades into a red mist [1]. He awakens back in his study, disoriented, and realizes that nearly a day and a night have passed in what felt like moments [1]. Later, he discovers a deep ravine behind his house, known as 'the Pit,' where he encounters more of these
The Pit is revealed to be connected to a vast underground abyss beneath his house via a trap door in his cellar [1]. He experiences further cosmic journeys, witnessing extreme time acceleration where days and nights pass in seconds, and the sun transforms into a dying, copper-red disk [1]. During this, his dog Pepper ages and crumbles to dust, and he realizes his own body has also aged centuries, leaving him bodiless [1] [1]. A
The Green Star grows to immense proportions, eclipsing the old sun, which eventually falls into it [1]. He then encounters a
The narrative concludes with the author's new dog developing a luminous, hand-shaped wound, similar to Pepper's earlier injury [1]. This same luminous growth begins to appear on his own wrist, spreading across his body, filling him with despair [1]. In his final entry, he hears the cellar trap door opening and strange padding steps approaching his study door [1]. An unseen force compels him to unbolt the door, but he struggles against it, screaming, before collapsing [1]. The narrator and Tonnison, having read the manuscript, are deeply disturbed [1]. Tonnison believes the author was not mad [1]. Inquiries among the villagers yield only vague, fearful rumors about the house and a
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