"The Outsider" is a short story by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written between March and August 1921, it was first published in Weird Tales, April 1926. It is about a mysterious individual who awakens to find himself completely alone and what happens when he attempts to make contact with others. "The Outsider" combines fantasy and horror into an atmospheric, surrealistic, and nightmarish tale. It is one of Lovecraft's few tales that uses human emotion as an important part of the story.