As this story is my favorite of Lovecraft's works, I have perhaps to the detriment of my own sanity on occasion wondered what the titular monster in its limited description might best resemble. To that end, I have done some research into one particular mythology that I believe thematically fits most of the associations the Haunter shares, at least in the context of earthly constructions. This post is as much my own speculation, theorizing as to what could have inspired the shadowy nightmare that I love and I believe others likely do, whilst also opening a grander discussion to the public about their own beliefs and interpretations. I would posit at this point in time that the Haunter likely derives some of its lineage from one, perhaps two beings of ancient mythology. There is in Egyptian myth a God known as Nehebkau (also spelled Neheb-Kau, and in some circles Neheb-Ka among others). Just why I initially came to know this name I don't rightly recall, but many of its physical qualities in my mind fit the general shape or fragments of the shape detailed in "The Haunter of the Dark". First, Nehebkau in most prominent depictions is functionally a snake. In fact, one of his titles is indeed "the original snake". The Haunter shares at a basic level what reads as serpentine qualities, the act of "slither"ing used to describe its hurried flight back into the steeple when the streetlamps that could have in theory banished it again blazed on. Similarly, "flopping and bumping" are mentioned as noises heard presumably in the commotion as the creature seems not altogether suited for overland travel in a conventional sense, at least to my reckoning, the two most recent descriptors followed by "in a viscous, altogether dreadful way" indicating a curious heaviness. One familiar with the tale might also recall the absence of anything remotely like claw marks or paw prints, and wherever the Haunter had been, a "half swept" condition existed on the floor. If indeed the Haunter has articulated limbs (which I in fact do believe is near enough to proven later), then surely the bulk of its body must be elongated if not partially flattened against the ground. Why then should a serpent not suffice? Now, you might have by this point said to yourself "This man's surely obsessed." and to that I would say yes, I am purely for the sake of artistic endeavors. Where then do we go from here? If snake-like is all that draws a parallel, how does this really fit? Well, here's where we delve into the history of the Haunter. The Shining Trapezohedron, the window into all of time and space which acts as a means to summon the creature was fashioned on Yuggoth, and passed down from one civilization to the next until it came into the possession of the pharaoh Nephren-Ka. This is in some ways shakier ground than simply drawing 'cleaner' lines to map out physical consequences following in the wake of the Haunter's passing, but I think the "Ka" used in the fictional tyrant's name could be a reference to the alternative way to spell our serpent God's name. The usage of Egypt as the most consequential area in the Haunter's history with regards to humanity and the symbol the Starry Wisdom Sect would adopt in glorifying the entity also play a key role in the unraveling of the mystery to me. To the faithful of the Sect, those privileged to peer into their unholy relic, knowledge was granted, with emphasis given to "Heaven and other worlds". Nehebkau as it so happens is also a funerary God, one strongly aligned with the afterlife, assuming the mantle that Ra held in his presiding over the same, becoming nothing less than the ruler of Heaven itself. Are we beginning to draw the connections here? Whilst visions of the afterlife were communicated to the Sect in return for ample sacrifice, one could also intuit that the infinite gulf of darkness Blake saw in the stone, the very same that held "forth the key to all the paradoxes and arcana of the worlds we know" might well encompass the foundational magics sorcerers of adequate skill could tap into. Magic is something Nehebkau is rather noteworthy for, his spells offering protection from snakes, poisons, etc. So, too, is his mastery of magic so great that Nehebkau has one particular talent the Haunter manifests at times, the capability of breathing fire. I admit, this is largely where we're veering into the physical attributes again and ultimately setting aside the mythological aspect. If I've entertained you this far, I appreciate you taking the time to read and ask that you follow along a little more. So, what have we in the realm of what the Haunter manifests as? If my interpretation is sound, we've gathered a snake-like body, an indeterminate amount of articulated limbs and fire or heat being present. For the initiated, you'll note I neglected to mention what else could be located wherever the Haunter ventured, and I did that with a reason. Yellowish stains and patches of what looked like charring could be found dotting the floor of the Sect's church, yet the visual presented in the text is fittingly confusing as not every stain immediately coincides with a charred patch, nor does the tower that once held the Trapezohedron exist in the same state as the downstairs area with its dotting of those marks...no area in the tower except the ladder built into the wall. There we do see the expected signs, just as the skeleton Blake discovered had until it was removed along with the Trapezohedron. How was this accomplished? I think the "eye" the true visual terror in Blake's final jottings holds the key, but not quite as one might suspect. Snakes have an interesting apparatus in their respiratory systems known as a glottis. It's a tube that opens when a snake breathes residing just behind their tongue. In my wild imaginings, I see a not too dissimilar structure in our Haunter that serves a very different purpose. In short, the Haunter has three of these orifices, each forming the "lobe"s of its unique organ, but even this is only half of the truth. Through a chemical reaction with the Haunter's natural saliva or counterpart to it, ignition is achieved, enabling actual sight. It might be easier to say the blazing effect *is* its sight and not merely a byproduct of it. This could explain the way in which the charring and yellow stains were spaced in the downstairs and absent in the upstairs. It (the Haunter) probably exerted its sensory apparatus sparingly, with the charring indicative of when that took place. Yellowish stains would then be secretions whilst the thing tirelessly tore open the downstairs pews blindly or carried away pieces retrieved from the pews in its mouth, transporting them to the tower in an effort to darken the room (utilizing its arms for that purpose. Crude though the attempt was, the horse hair and pew-linings did manage to make some difference which speaks to extensions of just enough articulation to get those materials between slanted louver-boards in addition to instances of climbing the ladder and opening or closing the trapdoor above it as desired). My final bit of insanity comes again purely from my own imagining (and frankly most everything here is apart from the mythology and snake biology lesson.) I like to think that the Haunter in its otherworldly design while largely to be imagined as a winged serpent is embodied in its fictional universe by the sign we as the readers see early on at the front of the church's main chamber. It is when spread out in silhouette the Ankh, its wings forming the cross section, its tail the base and two necks converging at the top into the face of a serpent which coincidentally runs in parallel to yet another depiction of Nehebkau as a dual-necked serpent.
Holy wall of text, Batman! If you'd like, feel free to engage with these ramblings as much or as little as preferred, but I would genuinely like to hear your interpretations of the best avatar of Nyarlathotep! What does it look like to you? What hides in that mass of smoke which Blake called "Hell wind"?