“There is nothing more absurd, as I view it, than that conventional association of the homely and the wholesome which seems to pervade the psychology of the multitude.”
(In the Vault, pg. 341)
Welcome back to Our Daily Lovecraft. Once more into the breach, friends.
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“The intro for this story states that “it is perhaps Lovecraft’s most conventional supernatural tale” which sounds fairly accurate given what I’ve read thus far. There are no strange creatures dancing about strange idols in the moonlight or places with strange names. Just a man trapped in a cemetery vault where, right before he leaves, he is attacked by a corpse. Even then, it’s not obvious that it’s a corpse as he is attacked from behind and nothing ever chases after him. The reveal at the end is once again done in italics for that “twist” or “shocking” ending which I found more strange than anything.
It’s amusing to me that so many of Lovecraft’s other tales were readily accepted by the publication Weird Tales whereas this one was considered too gruesome. Gruesome enough to get banned from newsstands. I guess getting your ankles chewed on by a dead guy is too freaky for some people, but someone getting rent to ribbons in “The Hound” or people eating other people in “The Rats in the Walls” isn’t? Okay then.
It was a decent story. Short, sweet, and to the point.
“Cool Air”
Setting aside some of Lovecraft’s descriptions of people (we’re in New York again, so non-Englishy people are back to being relatively sketchy), the “twist” in this one was the kind you could see coming a mile away. I even recall a book I’d read which had a zombie in the same situation. He had to keep the room nice and chilly in order to stay preserved.
A man living in an apartment becomes friends with the doctor living above him. Doctor Muñoz is polite and well-off enough, but there’s something…odd about him. He does a lot of weird experiments and uses the occasional arcane book and words and whatnot, and also keeps his room at some very chilly temperatures. Turns out the good doctor’s actually been dead for a while but managed to stave it off through sheer will, preservation, and a few other scientific/arcane means that aren’t really listed in detail. It’s a fun story even if it didn’t hold any wonder for me, although I do think the main character is a jerk for burning all the letters to people the doctor asked him to send. Just because you got creeped out doesn’t mean you should destroy someone else’s property. Rude.
Featured image © Nicole Taft
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