This story is very representative of Lovecraft's later, more thoughtful work. It, like The Colour Out Of Space, questions the motives of its alien creatures, but unlike the that story, the creatures are not necessarily here to harm us this time. Throughout the story Lovecraft slowly changes their image from evil monsters to trapped, frightened beings. It is almost as if he had set out to write a normal monster story in the beginning, but had a change of heart halfway through. The original bad guys of the story, the star headed creatures, are replaced by the shuggoths, a far worse and more dangerous enemy. He goes so far in trying to rationalize these creatures and there behavior that the narrator at one point exclaims "... poor Lake, poor Gedney ... and poor Old Ones! Scientists to the last-what had they done that we would not have done in their place? God, what intelligence and persistance!" This story is also an excellent example of Lovecraft's science fiction. This is what has been called the "de-mythologizing" of his work. Rather than being a full-blown occult horror story, this is science fiction with a few occult sprinklings.