Adam and the Unspeakable Something

Somewhere, not far from here, in a world not unlike where we live now, in a time not so long ago, there were places within places. These places were dark, secretive, intriguing, mystical, mysterious, unfathomable, adstruse, esoteric, enigmatic, and all other words of that description describing what I'm describing. These untraversed, provocative places within places both enthralled and struck fear into all the men of every land in every world in every galaxy ...