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We venture into the depths of unknown lineage and forbidden origin. These next entries have a similar theme of evil residence and the horrors that lurk within their shunned grounds.

9# The Shunned House

One of the many chaptered short stories in HPL’s library, I always enjoy a good haunted/cursed house story. Having a story where the setting is so alive that it might as well be a character too is something I aspire to write. I struggle with establishing a setting but I love a good character piece. This is one of HPL’s less known works but nonetheless a superb tale of residential evil.

And thankfully, the HPL History Society audiobook is broken down into chapters, which makes listening and commenting more manageable.

So, immediately I have to pause the HPLHS audiobook because the story opens with Edger Allen Poe walking through an old colonial New England neighborhood. It's like HPL took his favorite things and mashed them together. And he writes this as a way to illustrate irony because Poe often passed the titular Shunned House and never knew the horror it had. Classic HPL humor there, LOLz.

Chapter One of this is all set up and I admire HPL for delivering a decent image of the shunned house. Writing a setting is not my strongest skill and sometimes my brain just glazes over when a setting is described. I’m more of a character driven writer and I like describing “weird things” happening. Honestly, the moment HPL describes the cell as “DANK” I could not help but chuckle. And those fungi . . . oh, those are so much fun in this story.

Chapter Two is HPL flexing his New England nerd knowledge. The man had a love for the old school American colonial history that rivaled that of most historians of his time. So much history in this passage, generation and generation, succumbing to the cursed horror of the shunned house. It’s this level of earnest love of history and the application of it in his modern day (for his time) Gothic Horror tale is a testament to his talent.

Chapter Three, I cannot help but think a French vampire is behind everything, LOLz.

Chapter Four, so I was going to say that the vocab is not as thick in this story. Sometimes, HPL does write with familiar words and spreads out the less familiar. But man-oh-man, he was a science geek and it shows here. A whole paragraph just filled with all the fancy words at his disposal during that time.

This chapter also highlights HPL’s fascination with dreams and whether they hold any connection with the waking world. A lot of HPL’s stories revolve around dreams. Heck, he wrote an entire self-insertion fanfiction called The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath which takes place in the Dreamland. And I will admit, I enjoy a story that takes place in dreams because anything can happen. And in HPL’s case, that might not be a good thing.

Chapter Five, I am not spoiling any of this. It is filled with a series of events that are both horrific and heroic. Rarely does an HPL protagonist steel themselves to face the horror and try to purge it from the mortal realm.

I mainly love this story because of that twist at the end. I’m not giving away what the thing is causing all of the death and evil. And no, it’s not a French Vampire. But I will say that it is inspiring and I would love to have a similar twist in one of my stories. And I love how science is used to battle the supernatural in this, it's a little like Ghostbuster . . . only without the comedy and proton-packs.

8# “The Lurking Fear”

HPL had a fascination with things underground and hidden places beneath people’s basement. And sometimes people dare to explore these forbidden and unholy grounds. This chaptered story is a case where a family’s dark and dank secret could have been kept silent, if lightning was not so rousing.

The Shadow on the Chimney — Oh man, this is going to be a good one! I love a story with a cocky adventurer type who is fascinated with things he should not be messing with. I like that we have another haunted/cursed house which is abandoned and had people squatting in it. Key word, had, until a lightning storm called up something evil. I love lightning, it's one of those forces of nature we humans are fascinated with and also dreadfully terrified of. Lightning awakens something primal in us, as it did in this story’s sleepy countryside.

A Passer in the Storm — Two things with this chapter. Survivors' guilt is very present here, which chips away at the narrator’s sanity. And HPL cannot help but paint the squatter (the mountain residence) as lower and timid people compared to the narrator. At least they warm up to the lead, whereas in other HPL stories they would be the cultists or monsters in disguise. Oh, and that reveal at the end of the chapter is so damn cheesy. I love it when HPL gets cheesy, classic!

What the Red Glare Meant — Imagine being a graverobber, digging up a coffin and finding nothing, then being all like “I wonder if the treasure is underneath the coffin? Yeah, that makes sense!” Then imagine yourself not a graverobber but some foolhardy and mad-stricken adventurer who digs up the grave of someone supposedly connected to the mystery, finding nothing in the coffin, and then deciding to dig underneath the coffin.

And you tell yourself, as this mad adventurer, “I wonder if the clue has to be under the coffin? Yeah, that makes sense. So you dig and you dig until you fall into a cave. And you come face to face with the thing you’ve been hunting. [Que the Hanna-Barbera bongos[

This chapter was a blast. It has that build up I enjoy with HPL. He gives a little of the backstory to add to the suspense and then the “Oh shit!” moment happens. I am so down with this narrator being a recurring character. Nothing is stopping him from finding the truth, not fear or common sense, nothing. Classic!

The Horror in the Eyes — Oh yeah, this is why HPL wrote. This is him at his most crazed and creative. You can almost feel the fear, disgust, and macabre celebration of the author as he concludes this tale. I will not spoil the rest of this story because this is a perfect example of why people love to read Lovecraft. It’s his feverish rambles so eloquently and concise that it's hard not to admire the sheer imagination and vulgarity of the images he creates.

We shall continue the short stories with a bit of the controversy HPL is sadly known for. Yes, as much as I admire his execution of horror and use of verbiage, he has some flaws that are unavoidable. Check back next time for my thoughts on the darker side of Lovecraft.

Check out the HP Lovecraft Historical Society site for the audiobooks I listen to when making this article:

https://www.hplhs.org/

******End of Part Two******