The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

by Sheba Blake, H. P. Lovecraft

Overview

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a short novel by H. P. Lovecraft, written in early 1927, but not published during the author's lifetime. Set in Lovecraft's hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, it was first published (in abridged form) in the May and July issues of Weird Tales in 1941; the first complete publication was in Arkham House's Beyond the Wall of Sleep collection (1943). It is included in the Library of America volume of Lovecraft's work. The novel, set in 1928, describes how Charles Dexter Ward becomes obsessed with his distant ancestor, Joseph Curwen, an alleged wizard with unsavory habits. Ward physically resembles Curwen, and attempts to duplicate his ancestor's Qabalistic and alchemical feats. He eventually uses this knowledge to physically resurrect Curwen. Ward's doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, investigates Ward's activities and is horrified by what he finds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781548447335
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	06/28/2017
Pages:	100
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.02(h) x 0.21(d)

About the Author

H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) was one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century. I. N. J. Culbard’s work has appeared in several anthologies, including Dark Horse Presents, Judge Dredd Magazine, and 2000 A.D. He has also adapted several classics for SelfMadeHero. He lives in Nottinghamshire, England.

Read an Excerpt

1

Joseph Curwen, as revealed by the rambling legends embodied in what Ward heard and unearthed, was a very astonishing, enigmatic, and obscurely horrible individual. He had fled from Salem to Providence - that universal haven of the odd, the free, and the dissenting - at the beginning of the great witchcraft panic; being in fear of accusation because of his solitary ways and queer chemical or alchemical experiments. He was a colourless-looking man of about thirty, and was soon found qualified to become a freeman of Providence; thereafter buying a home lot just north of Gregory Dexter's at about the foot of Olney Street. His house was built on Stampers' Hill west of the Town Street, in what later became Olney Court; and in 1761 he replaced this with a larger one, on the same site, which is still standing.

Now the first odd thing about Joseph Curwen was that he did not seem to grow much older than he had been on his arrival. He engaged in shipping enterprises, purchased wharfage near Mile-End Cove, helped rebuild the Great Bridge in 1713, and in 1723 was one of the founders of the Congregational Church on the hill; but always did he retain his nondescript aspect of a man not greatly over thirty or thirty-five. As decades mounted up, this singular quality began to excite wide notice; but Curwen always explained it by saying that he came of hardy forefathers, and practised a simplicity of living which did not wear him our. How such simplicity could be reconciled with the inexplicable comings and goings of the secretive merchant, and with the queer gleaming of his windows at all hours of night, was not very clear to the townsfolk; and they were prone to assign other reasons for his continued youth and longevity. It was held, for the most part, that Curwen's incessant mixings and boilings of chemicals had much to do with his condition. Gossip spoke of the strange substances he brought from London and the Indies on his ships or purchased in Newport, Boston, and New York; and when old Dr. Jabez Bowen came from Rehoboth and opened his apothecary shop across the Great Bridge at the Sign of the Unicorn and Mortar, there was ceaseless talk of the drugs, acids, and metals that the taciturn recluse incessantly bought or ordered from him...

Editorial Reviews

British Fantasy Award-winning artist Culbard (At the Mountains of Madness) brings his skill as an adapter to Lovecraft's chilling tale of horror and mistaken identity in this fine graphic version. Opening in media res, the story begins with the assumed disappearance of Charles Dexter Ward from a mental hospital; his family friend and physician, Dr. Willett, is brought in for questioning. Willett recalls what brought Charles to this point: his interest in the occult interests of one of his ancestors, his subsequent descent into madness, and the forces he-and the ancestor he raised from the dead-have brought back into the world. Tentacled creatures and fiery monsters make their appearances, as anyone acquainted with Lovecraft might expect; the illustrated monsters fall short of the horror Lovecraft intended, but the human occultists in the tale are impressively creepy. Willett himself is an excellent guide through the tale of darkness and madness, and his final fate is spine-tingling. Culbard brings the classic tale to life, and his work will very likely entice readers who enjoy the macabre to seek out the original novel.
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