The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

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(6 Reviews)
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H. P. Lovecraft

Published:

1941

Pages:

129

Downloads:

29,754

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The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

By

4.8333333333333
(6 Reviews)

Book Excerpt

successive Gaol Lane and King Street of other periods - he would look upward to the east and see the arched flight of steps to which the highway had to resort in climbing the slope, and downward to the west, glimpsing the old brick colonial schoolhouse that smiles across the road at the ancient Sign of Shakespeare's Head where the Providence Gazette and Country-Journal was printed before the Revolution. Then came the exquisite First Baptist Church of 1775, luxurious with its matchless Gibbs steeple, and the Georgian roofs and cupolas hovering by. Here and to the southward the neighbourhood became better, flowering at last into a marvellous group of early mansions; but still the little ancient lanes led off down the precipice to the west, spectral in their many-gabled archaism and dipping to a riot of iridescent decay where the wicked old water-front recalls its proud East India days amidst polyglot vice and squalor, rotting wharves, and blear-eyed ship-chandleries, with such surviving alley names as Packet, B

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5
This was one of the first Lovecraft stories I read, and it got me hooked. I\'ve read pretty much everything he\'s written since. I like most of them, but Charles Dexter Ward is among the best.

Unlike some of HPL\'s works, he doesn\'t have \"unnameable\" and \"eldritch\" monsters destroying humanity with cosmic indifference. While he does refer to names like \"Yog-Soggoth\" that appear elsewhere in his mythos, this is his most human drama. The villain is terrifying because you don\'t understand what he is able to do.

Highly recommended.
This is a masterful tale of horror. I find it very fitting that this was first published in Weird Tales magazine. The strength of Lovecraft’s writing lies in his refusal to provide every gruesome detail. The reader is only permitted a quick peek behind the curtain and is then left to fill in his own details. Warning: do not read late at night in an empty house.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the best Horror story ever written. The genius is that he mixes real magical books (like Dogma & Ritual by Eliphas Levi)
with fictional works.
A beautifull mix of Fact and Fiction.
Roland
An excellent read, Lovecraft is truly a master of his craft. This is my favorite Lovecraft novella so far.