The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 10 February 1999
by H. P. Lovecraft
This is a horror tale very much in the tradition of Edgar Allen Poe, but without the romantic overtones often seen in Poe's work. However, the tale is an intricate tapestry of history and horrific magical events. Told as the case history of a madman, the twisted details come to light in an almost clinical way. While this style robs the story of much of its suspense, it unfolds in such a way as to leave many of the scariest details to the reader's imagination. Charles Dexter Ward innocently stumbles into the history of a terribly dark ancestor, a history which eventually envelops and consumes him. Told from the point of view of outside observers, privy to few real details, the author invites the reader to become a resident of the landscape surrounding Ward's fall. (This novella inspired the 1963 Vincent Price film: The Haunted Palace.)