specimen 431 view 2

Incident Report.

Miskatonic University Specimen Archive.

I have been re-labelling and cataloguing the oldest specimen jars in the archive storage for some weeks now. I have come across many strange and unusual things that have caused me to question not only my professionalism but also my sanity.
My sleep is interrupted with horrible dreams and my concentration has begun to lapse while a sense of foreboding and at times, terror, on occasion making it impossible to complete my work. The dimly lit cold and damp atmosphere of the archive is also affecting my physical health resulting in spasms and shakes I have never been prone to before.

I believe it was one such attack that led to the breakage of the jar belonging to specimen 431. This particular jar contained a thick glutinous tar-like substance and what appeared to be a fleshy slug-like mollusc with multiple flagella extending from a point mid way along the body structure. I noted with some interest the scorpion sting appendage at the rear of the specimen and the distinct arrangement of five tooth or mandible structures arranged in a tight circle at the “Head” end.

The light in that corner of archive room B3 is particularly poor and although I had an oil lamp with a well trimmed wick, it was difficult to make out further detail through the aged glass of the jar.

I took the specimen to the desk in the corner to clean the jar with a cloth and re-apply a label when a sudden and overwhelming feeling of nausea and disgust took over me causing me to drop the jar.

To my horror the jar broke allowing the oozing tarlike substance to spread across the floor. I grabbed a tray and used my fountain pen to scoop the specimen and some of its ooze back up and placed it on the desk.

For some reason its sudden animation and did not come as a surprise to me but the change in shape did. The “head” structure began to pulse and open in a way that I can only describe as that of an inverted umbrella, forming a cone shape with five defined claw-like ribs and at the centre of the cone was a gasping tooth filled mouth surrounded by five black beaded eyes.

I gasped and fell back, away from the table which was in the corner of the room. The specimen rapidly slithered toward the corner where it appeared to pass through the point at which the walls met, as though through a hole that wasn’t there.

I feel unable to continue cataloguing at this time and would like to request a leave of absence so I might regain some degree of composure.