by August Derleth Originally published Travellers By Night, Arkham House 1967
1948. Ambrose Bishop inherits yet-another property in Dunwich, previously the residence of yet-another great uncle, Septimus Bishop, who vanished 19 years before. The place is undisturbed - there's even books and papers lying around on the tables. There is a mildew problem, though.
The townsfolk are rude as usual, including the ubiquitous Tobias Whateley, who won't even sell him goods, and tells him Septimus was murdered by his neighbors, who now won't set foot on the property. Ambrose begins to investigate. All he finds is that Septimus disappeared, and at the same time someone strengthened one of the piers in a disused bridge along the Miskatonic, but the county denies any involvement.
Back at the house, Ambrose finds some astrological texts, a telescope, some weird symbols, and, in the basement, a flight of stairs leading into the earth. This leads into a circular chamber with an altar, and lets out in a concealed trapdoor in the woods, near the aforementioned bridge. There is also a third door in the tunnels which Ambrose opts not to open - yet.
Going through unc's papers, he finds some letters from the Starry Wisom cult, and a letter from Wilbur Whateley himself, rehashing some bits from "The Dunwich Horror". And stories of children going missing from the area.
A storm collapses the bridge, including the patched-up area (which happened to include some five-pointed stars). Ambrose checks out the area, an collects some bones that he finds scattered in the water. And takes them home for no apparent reason. Where they promptly disappear.
Ambrose searches fruitlessly. That night, he dreams of the bones reassembling themselves into his uncle, and of a creature that shapechanges from black cat to octopoid monster, to giant sow to indescribable to a "lissome naked woman". Waking up, he sees Septimus and the mysterious companion walking off into the woods. So ... he goes back to sleep.
In the morning, he finds fresh footprints leading to the altar room, and fresh blood on the altar. And uncle Septimus and his "familiar" show up in the house.
A few days later, kids start disappearing again. Ambrose finds evidence of their demise in the altar room. The locals storm the house and burn it down. Ambrose hides with Septimus in the tunnels, leaving behind a manuscript relating this tale. The locals rebuild the collapsed pier, and re-inscribe it with star-symbols.
I beg to disagree Sir(?). The 'Middle Span' is of value as much for what it suggests as what it states plainly. Even at this point in the early years of the 21st Century, the public either fails to see or chooses not to see that many cultural (if not outright criminal) practices are of a generational/bloodline nature. Rarely do they exist in a vacuum. Sociopaths and goetists alike have correspondents and collaborators, fellow travellers and 'groupies' (viz. Mr Charles Manson's mailing list...) Messrs Derleth and Lovecraft knew full well of this phenomenon, as would any of their generation between the Wars. In this year 2018 it manifests in the public discussion of bloodline luciferianism, Monarch programming and the technetronic massaging of the populace. 'Middle Span' IS vague (but delicious in details) and appears to make little sense. HOWEVER...our Mr Bishop (the younger) apparently has little background in matters magickal or even noir. He is experiencing a very steep learning curve which he'll be very fortunate to survive (mayhap he didn't...) The story, as related, is in the nature of a sketchy personal account. He can't divulge what he doesn't know (although he does seem a bit obtuse). I enjoyed reading it again today as much as I enjoyed it as a child & as a young man. So much so that I downloaded a PDF copy (having found that it was no longer in my library). For anyone requiring elucidation of the 'nastier' aspects of the story I can recommend Barrett's 'The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer', a 19th century primer that Messrs Derleth and Lovecraft would no doubt have been familiar with.
ReplyDelete'By their fruits shall ye know them...'
On a note of trivia,this story appears to have partly inspired Brad Strickland's novel "The Beast Under The Wizard's Bridge"--one of the books continuing John Bellairs' "Lewis Barnavelt" series. Most of the book is clearly based on Lovecraft's "The Colour Out Of Space"--as it directly acknowledges in the text--but the title and contents seem to give a nod to Derleth's story as well. Worth reading, even if it is a Young Adult book. Strickland did an excellent job following in Bellair's footsteps--much better than Derleth did aping Lovecraft, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI actually found this to be one of the few non-Lovecraft stories comparable to Lovecraft's own. It could easily pass as one of his upper middle range efforts. I suspect an unusual amount of text is directly from Lovecraft, or at least that the material was quite detailed. Overlooked by most imitators, including Delerth's own dreadful efforts to re-visit Cthulu, there is here a concrete atmospheric element to anchor the story, not the dull haunted house but the abandoned bridge. That element has a form and presentation that is extremely detailed, and at the same time it still holds a few surprises like real objects do (that it suffers changes through harsh weather, for instance). This is precisely where the imitators fail: The settings are detailed in a way that fails to surprise, which reinforces the notion nothing is happening. The easiest way around this is to use real settings, or, in Lovecraft's case, to enhance your imagination with your experience. Even when describing outside his experience, Lovecraft could make the Antartic feel real. That bridge is like that, fully described, and most of the imitators fail from a simple lack of patience in surrounding you with the setting. They stick to what the story needs, a partial view, but that is not how our senses work. Lovecraft stories feel like visiting a place, and this one does as well.
ReplyDelete