Lovecraft H: 931 books

"The Shadow Out of Time" indirectly tells of the Great Race of Yith, an extraterrestrial species with the ability to travel through space and time. The Yithians accomplish this by switching bodies with hosts from the intended spatial or temporal destination. The story implies that the effect when seen from the outside is similar to spiritual possession.

The story is recounted by the protagonist, Count Antoine de C-, in the first person. Hundreds of years ago, Antoine's noble ancestor was responsible for the death of a dark wizard, Michel Mauvais. The wizard's son, Charles le Sorcier, swore revenge on not only him but all his descendants, cursing...

A dabbler in the forbidden arts has disappeared, and several years later four men gather to divide his estate. One guy is a swami who relates what really happened to the guy.

An undertaker finds himself trapped in the vault where coffins are stored during winter for burial in the spring, and is mysteriously injured when he escapes. (Goodreads)

The Shadow Out of Time begins, like many of his best tales, with a man experiencing or discovering something that irrevocably alters the fabric of his life, sending him scrambling to restore his sanity; but in this case this aspect is reduced to little more than a framing device for detailed descriptions...

In this tale the narrator encounters an ancient gentleman who becomes his guide through the oldest alleys of the city. This person—who turns out to be more ancient that anyone could have reasonably suspected—shows his companion a vision of New York City’s past and then a view of its future. (Goodreads)

(Excerpt) "Circles and pentagrams loomed on every hand, and told indubitably of the strange beliefs and aspirations of those who dwelt so squalidly here. In the cellar, however, the strangest thing was found--a pile of genuine gold ingots covered carelessly with a piece of burlap, and bearing upon their shining surfaces the same weird hieroglyphics which also adorned the walls."