The Defiler
, by Austin DR, is a short horror story inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos, primarily Ramsey Campbell's contributions to the Mythos. The story follows a nameless protagonist whose love of reading leads to him accepting an offer from a wealthy man on paying a visit to his house to read forbidden literature. However, he comes to the realization that he bit off more than he could chew.
The story provides examples of:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The three rooms dedicated to the Seven Deadly Sins that the protagonist sees in the Defiler's house. In the Lust room, his worshipers are indulging in a violent orgy. In Gluttony, they're eating each other. And in Sloth ... they're all lying around lazily, reduced to obese blobs. Though it still disturbs the protagonist just slightly less than the other two.
- Ax-Crazy: Unlike the other gods of the Cthulhu Mythos, Y'golonac not only understands humans but absolutely enjoys driving them to commit the most carnal of sins.
- Big Bad: Y'golonac, but he goes by the moniker of "The Defiler" because saying his real name is enough to summon him much like in the Severn Valley stories.
- Child Eater: Y'golonac devours children it killed through his hosts.
- Collapsing Lair: After the protagonist mortally wounds the Defiler's avatar, the house collapses, taking his followers with them.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The protagonist stabs Y'golonac; while it doesn't kill him, it does convince Y'golonac to leave him alone for the time being.
- Eldritch Location: The Defiler's home is definitely not normal. For one, the trees around it transform into scaly claws; fleshy walls secreting slime; the outside of the house contorts and shifts constantly, etc.
- A Fate Worse Than Death: Y'golonac reveals that after he hijacked the original man's body, he tossed the man's soul in a state between life and death where he'll be forever imprisoned.
- Fat Bastard: Y'golonac takes the form of an obese man and is inhumanly evil.
- Faux Affably Evil: While in the body of the nobleman, Y'golonac treats the hero with respect and hospitality, easily accepting his apology after bumping into him in the bookstore. Once the protagonist reaches his house, he continues to play the part of the gracious host, acting as though the horrors he's being exposed to are perfectly normal.
- For the Evulz: The Defiler plainly explains that he does what he does out of the sheer joy of it.
- Humanoid Abomination: Y'golonac takes the form of a headless fat man with mouths in the palms of his hands whenever he possesses a human host.
- Karma Houdini: The protagonist may have succeeded at defeating Y'golonac, but before he exits, Y'golonac mentions the possibility of finding another hapless victim to manipulate.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The form the narrator sees actually isn't Y'golonac's true form: it's still locked away behind a stone wall somewhere.
- Religion of Evil: The cult of Y'golonac is an obvious one. Acts of deviant orgies, cannibalism, rape ...
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Much like the other Great Old Ones, the Defiler is trapped and is hellbent on escaping his prison at any cost.
- Serial Killer: Y'golonac had used his human host to murder several children. And later ate parts of them.
- Serial Rapist: As with his typical incarnations, Y'golonac forces the host he possessed into raping victims, though he mentions it minorly as "cozying up with strangers."
- Seven Deadly Sins: Y'golonac's house has rooms dedicated to indulging in them, although the protagonist only gets to see lust, gluttony, and sloth.
- Tongue Trauma: The protagonist cuts his own tongue out in order to refrain himself from saying the Defiler's name.
- Would Hurt a Child: Y'golonac has no reservations when it comes to who he kills.
