An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia

The story was written for a St. Patrick’s Day gathering of amateurs in Boston (although the meeting took place on March 10, a week before St. Patrick’s Day). The tale is one of the most conventionally supernatural in HPL’s oeuvre. It bears an accidental similarity of plot to Lord Dunsany’s novel The Curse of the Wise Woman(1933).

Moore, C[atherine] L[ucile] (1911–1987).

Author of weird and science fiction tales, living in Indianapolis, Indiana, and late correspondent of HPL (1934–37). HPL enjoyed her early tales, especially “Shambleau” ( WT,November 1933) and “Black Thirst” ( WT,April 1934); he came in touch with her in 1934 when R.H. Barlow wished to publish some of her tales and asked HPL to write to her about it. HPL introduced her to Henry Kuttner in 1936; they married in 1940 and collaborated on most of their works thereafter. HPL’s letters to her survive only in fragments, but he kept hers. In his letters HPL keenly discusses the current political and economic situation and the interplay of economics and artistic creation; he repeatedly advised Moore not to buckle down to hackwork for the pulps. She collaborated with HPL (along with A.Merritt, Robert E.Howard, and Frank Belknap Long) on “The Challenge from Beyond” ( Fantasy Magazine,September 1935). Moore went on to write many important works of fantasy and science fiction, including “Judgment Night” (1943) and “Vintage Season” (1946).

See Susan Gubar, “C.L.Moore and the Conventions of Women’s Science Fiction,” Science-Fiction Studies7 (March 1980): 16–27; Gordon R.Benson, Jr., and Virgil S.Utter, C.L.Moore and Henry Kuttner: A Marriage of Souls and Talent: A Working Bibliography(Albuquerque, N.M.: Galactic Central, 1989).

Moore, Dr. Henry Sargent.

In “Winged Death,” a Professor of Invertebrate Biology at Columbia University, author of Diptera of Central and Southern Africa,who is killed by his rival, Dr. Thomas Slauenwite.

Morehouse, Dr. Arlo.

In “Deaf, Dumb, and Blind,” a physician who finds the body of the author Richard Blake in a country cottage, along with the strange message that he (or some other entity) had left in Blake’s typewriter. Morgan, Dr. Francis.

In “The Dunwich Horror,” a man (whether a medical doctor or a professor is unclear) who, with Henry Armitage and Warren Rice, leads the party that exterminates Wilbur Whateley’s monstrous twin brother.

Morris, Daniel (“Mad Dan”).

In “The Man of Stone,” the occupant of a cabin in the town of Mountain Top (in upstate New York) whose diary constitutes the bulk of the narrative. He learns of a technique perfected by his ancestor, Bareut Picterse Van Kauran, for turning living creatures into stone, and he uses it on a man whom he suspects of having designs on his wife, Rose. He also attempts to use it on her, but she thwarts him and successfully turns the tables on him.

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Morse, Richard Ely (1909–1986).

Poet and correspondent of HPL. Morse, a graduate of Amherst College and residing in Princeton, N.J., was introduced to HPL by Samuel Loveman in May 1932 when HPL was passing through New York; a brisk correspondence thereupon ensued. At the time Morse was a librarian at Princeton University, but in 1933 he moved to Washington, D.C., to do research for his uncle at the Library of Congress. He published one book of poetry, Winter Garden(Amherst, Mass.: Poetry Society of Amherst College, 1931). His copy for HPL bears the inscription: “For Howard Lovecraft, Magnus Magister, in return for all his gracious kindness and friendship and for all the shuddering pleasure of his tales and verse with admiration and gratitude from Richard Ely Morse.” Morse also published “Some Modern Book Illustrations” ( Californian4, No. 4 [Spring 1937]).

Morton, James Ferdinand, Jr. (1870–1941),