Top 100 Classic Books Howard Lovecraft was an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Despite the fact that he was virtually unknown before he died, today he is known as the most influential author in his genre. "The Shadow Out of Time" is one of the latest Lovecraft"s novellas. It tells a story 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 is told through the eyes of Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee, who is "possessed" by a Yithian.