The Shunned House
Encyclopedia
"The Shunned House" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft
in the horror fiction
genre. Written on October 16–19, 1924
, it was first published in the October 1937
issue of Weird Tales
.
, built around 1763 and still standing at 135 Benefit Street; Lovecraft was familiar with the house because his aunt, Lillian Clark, lived there in 1919-20 as a companion to Mrs. H. C. Babbit.
But it was another house in Elizabeth, New Jersey
that actually provoked Lovecraft to write the story. As he wrote in a letter:
It is interesting to note that this location is, at least at present, the site of a plaza named in honor of Winfield Scott, who was also the namesake of Lovecraft's own father.
After the protagonist discovers a strange, yellowish vapour in the basement, which seems to be coupled with a moldy outline of a huddled human form on the floor, he and his uncle decide to spend the night in the house, investigating the possibility of some supernatural force. They set up cots and chairs in the cellar, arm themselves with military flamethrower
s, and outfit a modified Crookes tube
in the hopes of destroying any supernatural presence they might find.
When Dr. Whipple naps while the protagonist keeps watch, he begins tossing and turning, and finally starts babbling in French until he suddenly awakes. He tells the protagonist he has had strange visions of lying in an open pit, inside a house with constantly shifting features, while faces stared down at him. Many of the faces were those of the Harris family, whose members died in the house.
When the protagonist sleeps, he is awakened by a terrible scream. He sees a revolting yellowish "corpse-light
" bubbling up from the floor, which stares at him with many eyes before vanishing in a wisp through the chimney. He finds his uncle transformed into a monster with "blackened, decaying features" and dripping claws. He turns on the Crookes tube, but seeing that it has no effect, escapes the house through the cellar door as his uncle's body dissolves, transforming into a multitude of faces of those who died in the house as it melts. The protagonist returns the next day to find his equipment intact, but no body.
The protagonist hatches a plan. He orders a military gas mask
, digging tools, and six carboy
s of sulfuric acid
to be delivered to the cellar door of the shunned house. He digs into the earthen floor of the cellar, turning up fungous yellow ooze, and arranges the barrels of acid around the hole in the belief that he will happen upon some kind of monstrous creature. Eventually, he uncovers a soft, blue-white, translucent tube, bent in half and two feet in diameter at its widest point. He frantically climbs out of the neck-deep hole and dumps in four barrels of acid, realizing that he had found the elbow of a gigantic monster. The protagonist faints after emptying the fourth barrel.
When he awakens, the protagonist empties the two remaining barrels, to no effect, replaces the dirt, and finds that the strange fungus has turned to harmless ash. He mourns his uncle, but is relieved to be sure that the horrible creature is finally dead. The protagonist records that the house has subsequently been rented to another family, and that the house now appears completely normal.
Peter Cannon
writes that Whipple "is probably a composite portrait of Lovecraft's two learned uncles-in-law and maternal grandfather"; the grandfather's name was Whipple Phillips.
from Caude, near Angers
, France
, who settled in East Greenwich, Rhode Island
in 1686 and moved to Providence
in 1696; the Shunned House was built on the site of his family's graveyard. According to the story, "The family of Roulet had possessed an abnormal affinity for outer circles of entity — dark spheres which for normal folk hold only repulsion and terror." Etienne is said to have been "apt...at reading queer books and drawing queer diagrams." His son, Paul Roulet, is described as a "surly fellow" of "erratic conduct"; "old wives" intimated that "his prayers were neither uttered at the proper time nor directed at the proper object." The story's narrator suspects that the family is connected to Jacques Roulet of Caude, who was condemned to death for lycanthropy
in 1598 before being confined to an asylum.
Jacques Roulet was a real person, whom Lovecraft had read about in John Fiske's Myths and Myth-Makers.
, was to have been Lovecraft's first published book. Approximately 250 copies were printed in 1928
by W. Paul Cook for Recluse Press. However, the sheets were not bound at that time. Approximately 150 sets of unbound sheets eventually found their way into the possession of Arkham House
in 1959 where they were offered for sale in an unbound state. About 50 copies were sold in that state. The remaining 100 copies were bound by Arkham House and offered for sale in 1961. The book was not jacketed and contains the Arkham House imprint only on the spine. It is the rarest book associated with Arkham House (discounting the hardback state of Arkham House: The First 20 Years
as well as the first printing of the second Arkham House edition of "The Shunned House" from 2008 which had a print run of 67 copies and is now likewise out of print).
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
in the horror fiction
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
genre. Written on October 16–19, 1924
1924 in literature
The year 1924 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Ford Madox Ford publishes the first book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928.-New books:*Michael Arlen - The Green Hat...
, it was first published in the October 1937
1937 in literature
The year 1937 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 9 - The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States.*Thomas Quinn Curtiss meets Klaus Mann.-New books:*Eric Ambler - Uncommon Danger...
issue of Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
.
Inspiration
The Shunned House of the title is based on an actual house in Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, built around 1763 and still standing at 135 Benefit Street; Lovecraft was familiar with the house because his aunt, Lillian Clark, lived there in 1919-20 as a companion to Mrs. H. C. Babbit.
But it was another house in Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
that actually provoked Lovecraft to write the story. As he wrote in a letter:
It is interesting to note that this location is, at least at present, the site of a plaza named in honor of Winfield Scott, who was also the namesake of Lovecraft's own father.
Plot summary
For many years the protagonist and his uncle, Dr. Elihu Whipple, have nurtured a fascination with an old, abandoned house on Benefit Street. Dr. Whipple has made extensive records tracking the mysterious, yet apparently coincidental sickness and death of many who have lived in the house for over one hundred years. They are also puzzled by the strange weeds growing in the yard, as well as the unexplained foul smell and whitish, phosphorescent fungi growing in the cellar.After the protagonist discovers a strange, yellowish vapour in the basement, which seems to be coupled with a moldy outline of a huddled human form on the floor, he and his uncle decide to spend the night in the house, investigating the possibility of some supernatural force. They set up cots and chairs in the cellar, arm themselves with military flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
s, and outfit a modified Crookes tube
Crookes tube
A Crookes tube is an early experimental electrical discharge tube, invented by English physicist William Crookes and others around 1869-1875, in which cathode rays, that is electrons, were discovered....
in the hopes of destroying any supernatural presence they might find.
When Dr. Whipple naps while the protagonist keeps watch, he begins tossing and turning, and finally starts babbling in French until he suddenly awakes. He tells the protagonist he has had strange visions of lying in an open pit, inside a house with constantly shifting features, while faces stared down at him. Many of the faces were those of the Harris family, whose members died in the house.
When the protagonist sleeps, he is awakened by a terrible scream. He sees a revolting yellowish "corpse-light
Will-o'-the-wisp
A will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus , also called a "will-o'-wisp", "jack-o'-lantern" , "hinkypunk", "corpse candle", "ghost-light", "spook-light", "fairy light", "friar's lantern", "hobby lantern", "ghost orb", or simply "wisp", is a ghostly light or lights sometimes seen at night or twilight over...
" bubbling up from the floor, which stares at him with many eyes before vanishing in a wisp through the chimney. He finds his uncle transformed into a monster with "blackened, decaying features" and dripping claws. He turns on the Crookes tube, but seeing that it has no effect, escapes the house through the cellar door as his uncle's body dissolves, transforming into a multitude of faces of those who died in the house as it melts. The protagonist returns the next day to find his equipment intact, but no body.
The protagonist hatches a plan. He orders a military gas mask
Gas mask
A gas mask is a mask put on over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also respirators, though the word...
, digging tools, and six carboy
Carboy
A carboy is a rigid container with a typical capacity of 5 to 15 gallons . Carboys are primarily used for transporting fluids, often water or chemicals.They are also used for in-home fermentation of beverages, often wine.-Brewing:...
s of sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...
to be delivered to the cellar door of the shunned house. He digs into the earthen floor of the cellar, turning up fungous yellow ooze, and arranges the barrels of acid around the hole in the belief that he will happen upon some kind of monstrous creature. Eventually, he uncovers a soft, blue-white, translucent tube, bent in half and two feet in diameter at its widest point. He frantically climbs out of the neck-deep hole and dumps in four barrels of acid, realizing that he had found the elbow of a gigantic monster. The protagonist faints after emptying the fourth barrel.
When he awakens, the protagonist empties the two remaining barrels, to no effect, replaces the dirt, and finds that the strange fungus has turned to harmless ash. He mourns his uncle, but is relieved to be sure that the horrible creature is finally dead. The protagonist records that the house has subsequently been rented to another family, and that the house now appears completely normal.
Elihu Whipple
Described as "a sane, conservative physician of the old school...a bachelor; a white-haired, clean-shaven, old-fashioned gentleman, and a local historian of note."Peter Cannon
Peter Cannon
Peter H. Cannon is an H. P. Lovecraft scholar and an author of Cthulhu Mythos fiction.Cannon first made his name in Lovecraft studies with his graduate theses written in the 1970s - A Case for Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Lovecraft's New England...
writes that Whipple "is probably a composite portrait of Lovecraft's two learned uncles-in-law and maternal grandfather"; the grandfather's name was Whipple Phillips.
Etienne Roulet
A HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
from Caude, near Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, who settled in East Greenwich, Rhode Island
East Greenwich, Rhode Island
East Greenwich is a town in and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 13,146 at the 2010 census. East Greenwich is the wealthiest municipality within the state of Rhode Island....
in 1686 and moved to Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
in 1696; the Shunned House was built on the site of his family's graveyard. According to the story, "The family of Roulet had possessed an abnormal affinity for outer circles of entity — dark spheres which for normal folk hold only repulsion and terror." Etienne is said to have been "apt...at reading queer books and drawing queer diagrams." His son, Paul Roulet, is described as a "surly fellow" of "erratic conduct"; "old wives" intimated that "his prayers were neither uttered at the proper time nor directed at the proper object." The story's narrator suspects that the family is connected to Jacques Roulet of Caude, who was condemned to death for lycanthropy
Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy is the professed ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a werewolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos : λύκος, lykos + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos...
in 1598 before being confined to an asylum.
Jacques Roulet was a real person, whom Lovecraft had read about in John Fiske's Myths and Myth-Makers.
Release details
"The Shunned House", with an introduction by Frank Belknap LongFrank Belknap Long
Frank Belknap Long was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including early contributions to...
, was to have been Lovecraft's first published book. Approximately 250 copies were printed in 1928
1928 in literature
The year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....
by W. Paul Cook for Recluse Press. However, the sheets were not bound at that time. Approximately 150 sets of unbound sheets eventually found their way into the possession of Arkham House
Arkham House
Arkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...
in 1959 where they were offered for sale in an unbound state. About 50 copies were sold in that state. The remaining 100 copies were bound by Arkham House and offered for sale in 1961. The book was not jacketed and contains the Arkham House imprint only on the spine. It is the rarest book associated with Arkham House (discounting the hardback state of Arkham House: The First 20 Years
Arkham House: The First 20 Years
Arkham House: The First 20 Years is a bibliography of books published by Arkham House from 1939 to 1959. It was released in 1959 by Arkham House in an edition of 815 copies. While essentially a chapbook, approximately 80 copies were bound in boards for libraries.-References:...
as well as the first printing of the second Arkham House edition of "The Shunned House" from 2008 which had a print run of 67 copies and is now likewise out of print).
External links
- The still standing "Shunned house" is at coordinates 41°49′46.9"N 71°24′30.5"W