An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia

“He”: Increasingly disillusioned by his residence in New York City, the narrator seeks out the few remaining havens of antiquity in the city. He encounters an elderly man—a kindred spirit—who leads him to an out-of-the-way place where he is shown pandemoniac visions of a New York of both the past and the future. The narrator is found on the street, badly battered and unable to retrace his way back to the old man’s place. He ultimately returns “home to the pure New England lanes.” Though developed only rudimentarily, the narrator is perhaps the most autobiographical of HPL’s characters in spirit.

“Herbert West—Reanimator”: The narrator is a friend and colleague of Herbert West, first as fellow medical student, then later a partner in practice. He observes the outcome of all West’s experiments and witnesses West’s demise at the hands of West’s partially successful experiments in reanimation— a fate he himself escapes because he was merely West’s assistant.

“The Hound”: The narrator and his colleague, St. John, are graverobbers and “neurotic virtuosi,” who amass a museum of charnel trophies. After St. John is destroyed by the creature from whom they steal an ancient amulet, the narrator vows to take his own life to escape the fate that befell his friend.

“Hypnos”: The narrator, a sculptor, claims to have had a friend who led him on various dream voyages, and who perished after offending Hypnos, “lord of sleep,” leaving him a perfectly sculptured bust of marble. Quite naturally, the narrator is considered mad, the bust being thought to be his own handiwork.

“In the Vault”: The narrator is the personal physician and confidant of George Birch, the careless undertaker to whom the events of the story are told.

“The Loved Dead”: The reclusive narrator tells of the onset and progression of his necrophilia, before taking his own life as he is about to be apprehended by the police.

“The Lurking Fear”: Accompanied by two friends, the narrator seeks “the lurking fear” in the deserted Martense mansion on Tempest Mountain. His investigation reveals the presence of a race of apelike entities—the degenerate offspring of the Martense family—living in a network of tunnels beneath the house.

“Medusa’s Coil”: The narrator is a traveler in Missouri who seeks lodging as night approaches. He comes to the dilapidated home of Antoine de Russy, who reluctantly allows him to spend the night. The narrator hears from de Russy the tale of his son, Denis, and his strange wife, Marceline, both dead now and both

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buried in the cellar by de Russy. Later, as the two observe the painting of the wife, the narrator senses that the painting is animated, and in terror he shoots it with his pistol, thereby revivifying her corpse in the cellar. As de Russy and the narrator flee, the house is accidentally set afire. In town, the narrator is informed that the house had burned down some years ago.

“The Moon-Bog”: Denys Barry invites his friend, the narrator, to visit him at his new home—his ancestral estate—in Kilderry, Ireland. The narrator witnesses Barry’s demise at the hands of the vengeful spirits that inhabit the bog that Barry drains.

“The Mound”: The narrator goes to Oklahoma to investigate and corroborate a ghost-tale he had heard among the white settlers and Indians. He discovers the magnetic cylinder containing the narrative of Panfilo de Zamacona y Nuñez, concerning the subterranean realm of K’n-yan. “The Music of Erich Zann”: The narrator, a student of metaphysics, takes up residence in an ancient building on the Rue d’Auseil. There he hears the unearthly music of Erich Zann, whom he tries to meet so that he may hear more of Zann’s music. One night he visits Zann, when he hears Zann call out as if in terror. Zann begins playing maniacally, and when they hear strange rattlings at Zann’s garret window, the narrator looks through it, but sees only “the blackness of space illimitable.” He flees the house, and when he tries to find it again he cannot.

“The Nameless City”: In the desert of Araby, the narrator discovers an ancient “nameless city,” which he explores only to find that it was not fashioned by men but by strange, reptilian creatures. “The Night Ocean”: The narrator, an artist, tells of the nebulous, unseen presences he senses on the beach or in the ocean during his vacation to a tourist area during the off season.