"The Dreams in the Witch House" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos cycle. It was written in January/February 1932 and first published in the July 1933 issue of ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...

''.

Plot

Walter Gilman, a student of mathematics and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

Miskatonic University Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in Arkham, a fictional town in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River (also fictional). After first appearing in H. P. Lovecraft's 1922 story " Herbert West–Re ...

, rents an attic room in the "Witch House", a house in

Arkham Arkham () is a fictional city situated in Massachusetts. An integral part of the Lovecraft Country setting created by H. P. Lovecraft, Arkham is featured in many of his stories and those of other Cthulhu Mythos writers. Arkham House, a publi ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, that is rumored to be cursed. The house once harboured Keziah Mason, an accused

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

who disappeared mysteriously from a Salem jail in 1692. Gilman discovers that, for the better part of two centuries, many of the attic's occupants have died prematurely. The dimensions of Gilman's attic room are unusual and seem to conform to a kind of unearthly geometry. Gilman theorizes that the structure can enable travel from one plane or dimension to another. Gilman begins experiencing bizarre dreams in which he seems to float without physical form through an otherworldly space of unearthly geometry and indescribable colors and sounds. Among the elements, both organic and inorganic, he perceives shapes that he innately recognizes as entities that appear and disappear instantaneously and at random. Several times, his dreaming self encounters bizarre clusters of "iridescent, prolately spheroidal bubbles", as well as a rapidly changing polyhedral figure, both of which appear sapient. Gilman also has nightly experiences involving Keziah and her rat-bodied, human-faced

familiar In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to r ...

, Brown Jenkin, which he believes are not dreams at all. In other dreams, Gilman is taken to a city of the " Elder Things" and even brings back evidence that he has actually been there—a miniature statue of an "Elder Thing" that he breaks off from a balustrade within the city. The statue is made of unknown materials and a strange kind of

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...

. Gilman's odd experiences seem to escalate as he dreams that he signs the "Book of

Azathoth Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of writer H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. He is the ruler of the Outer Gods, and may be seen as a symbol for primordial chaos. H. P. Lovecraft Inspiration The first rec ...

" under the commands of Keziah, Brown Jenkin, and the infamous " Black Man." Gilman is later taken to

's throne at the "Center of Chaos" by this group and is forced to be an accomplice in the kidnapping of an infant. He awakes to find mud on his feet and the news of his involved kidnapping in the city's newspaper. On

Walpurgis Night Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve), is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess ...

, Gilman dreams that both Keziah and Brown Jenkin are sacrificing the kidnapped child in a bizarre ritual. He thwarts Keziah by strangling her, but Brown Jenkin bites through the child's wrist to complete the ritual and escapes into a triangular abyss. As he awakens, Gilman hears an unearthly sound that leaves him deaf. He tells fellow boarder Frank Elwood his horrific story. The next night, Elwood suddenly witnesses Brown Jenkin eating its way out of Gilman's chest. The landlord soon abandons the house and evicts his tenants. The house is condemned by the building inspector. Later, a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).scholars. The skeleton of an enormous deformed rat with hints of human or primate anatomy is soon discovered within the attic's flooring; this baffles academia and disturbs the demolition workers so greatly that they light thanksgiving candles within a nearby church in celebration of the creature's demise.

Characters

Walter Gilman

Formerly of Haverhill, Massachusetts, Walter Gilman came to Miskatonic to study "non-Euclidean calculus and quantum physics", which he linked to the "fantastic legends of elder magic". He is troubled by deep mental tension brought on by studying too hard and at one point is forbidden by his professors to further consult Miskatonic's collection of rare books, including the ''

Necronomicon The ', also referred to as the ''Book of the Dead'', or under a purported original Arabic title of ', is a fictional grimoire (textbook of magic) appearing in stories by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first men ...

'', the ''

Book of Eibon Many fictional works of arcane literature appear in H. P. Lovecraft's cycle of interconnected works often known as the Cthulhu Mythos. The main literary purpose of these works is to explain how characters within the tales come by occult or esot ...

'' and ''

Unaussprechlichen Kulten ''Unaussprechlichen Kulten'' (also known as ''Nameless Cults'' or the ''Black Book'') is a fictional book of arcane literature in the Cthulhu Mythos. The book first appeared in Robert E. Howard's 1931 short stories " The Children of the Night ...

''. As the story progresses, Gilman has dreams of Keziah Mason, Brown Jenkin, Nyarlathotep and an abstract higher dimension, and begins to sleepwalk. The acuteness of his senses as described in the opening paragraphs can be likened to that of some of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

's characters. Gilman confesses his full story to fellow student Frank Elwood and is then killed by Brown Jenkin, who erupts out of his chest.

Keziah Mason

An old woman of Arkham who was arrested as part of the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

of 1692. In her testimony to Judge

John Hathorne John Hathorne (August 1641 – May 10, 1717) was a merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known for his early and vocal role as one of the leading judges in the Salem witch trials. Hatho ...

, she had spoken of "lines and curves that could be made to point out directions leading through the walls of space to other spaces beyond.... She had spoken also of the Black Man, of her oath, and of her new secret name of Nahab." She later disappeared mysteriously from Salem Gaol, leaving behind "curves and angles smeared on the grey stone walls with some red, sticky fluid" that were inexplicable even to Cotton Mather. Gilman comes to suspect that Mason—"a mediocre old woman of the Seventeenth Century"—had developed "an insight into mathematical depths perhaps beyond the utmost modern delvings of

Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (, ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical p ...

, Heisenberg, Einstein, and De Sitter." It is eventually found that she has left into a higher dimension to gain knowledge and serve

Nyarlathotep Nyarlathotep is a fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft. The character is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos, a shared universe. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem " Nyarlathotep", he was later mentioned in other works by ...

, having signed the Book of

. Mason is described as having a "bent back, long nose, and shrivelled chin". She wears an expression "of hideous malevolence and exultation", and has "a croaking voice that persuaded and threatened." She dresses in "shapeless brown garments". Mason is "struck with panic" at the sight of a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

carried by Gilman, allowing him to strangle her in self-defense.

Brown Jenkin

Mason's

, "a small white-fanged furry thing", "no larger than a good-sized rat", which for years haunts the Witch House and

in general, "nuzzl ngpeople curiously in the black hours before dawn". The story relates this description of Jenkin:

The Black Man

In his dreams, Gilman is introduced by Mason to This character is later identified as "the immemorial figure of the deputy or messenger of hidden and terrible powers—the 'Black Man' of the witch-cult, and the

of the ''

''." A later reference to markings on the floor Gilman finds among his own footprints suggest the Black Man has cloven hooves instead of feet. This implies that Lovecraft intended him as an avatar of the popular depiction of a Christian Satan. Mike Dalager (see "Rock Opera") notes that this (and Mason being frightened by the crucifix) show that the story could be the only cosmic horror tale by Lovecraft that actually incorporates Judeo-Christian concepts.

Frank Elwood

The only fellow student of Walter Gilman's to live at the Witch House. He tries to help Gilman through his somnambulism, and listens to his deathbed confession. He sees Gilman die and is institutionalized for a year.

Joseph Mazurewicz

A religious fanatic in the Witch House whose praying disturbs Gilman. It is said he prays "against the Crawling Chaos".

Father Iwanicki

There was a Father Iwanicki in an early draft of Lovecraft's ''

The Shadow over Innsmouth ''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' is a horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in November–December 1931. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using its motif of a malign undersea civilization, and references several shared e ...

'' (1931), but the character was excised from the final version.

Inspiration

"The Dreams in the Witch House" was likely inspired by Willem de Sitter's lecture ''The Size of the Universe,'' which Lovecraft attended three months prior to writing the story. De Sitter is mentioned by name in the story, described as a mathematical genius, and listed in a group of other intellectual masterminds, including

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

. Several prominent motifs—including the geometry and curvature of space and using pure mathematics to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the universe—are covered in both Lovecraft's story and de Sitter's lecture. The idea of using higher dimensions of non-Euclidean space as short cuts through normal space can be traced to A. S. Eddington's ''The Nature of the Physical World'' which Lovecraft alludes to having read ( SL III p 87). These new ideas supported and further developed the concept of a fragmented mirror space, previously introduced by Lovecraft in "The Trap" (1931). ''

An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia ''An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia'' is a reference work written by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz. It covers the life and work of American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. First published in 2001 by Greenwood Publishing Group, it was reis ...

'' says that "The Dreams in the Witch House" was "heavily influenced by

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

's unfinished novel ''Septimius Felton''".

Reception

The story has generally received negative criticism, some calling the plot too vague and others too explicit.

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and th ...

's negative reaction to the unpublished story was conveyed by Lovecraft to another correspondent: "Derleth didn't say it was ''unsalable''; in fact, he rather thought it ''would'' sell. He said it was a ''poor story'', which is an entirely different and much more lamentably important thing." Lovecraft responded to Derleth: " ur reaction to my poor 'Dreams in the Witch House' is, in kind, about what I expected—although I hardly thought the miserable mess was ''quite'' as bad as you found it... The whole incident shows me that my fictional days are probably over." Thus discouraged, Lovecraft refused to submit the story for publication anywhere; without Lovecraft's knowledge, Derleth later submitted it to ''Weird Tales'', which indeed accepted it. According to the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright asked Lovecraft for permission to adapt it to radio. Lovecraft rejected it, writing "What the public considers 'weirdness' in drama is rather pitiful or absurd... They are all the same - flat, hackneyed, synthetic, essentially atmosphereless jumbles of conventional shrieks and mutterings, and superficial mechanical situations." Many later critics have shared Derleth's view. Lin Carter called the story "a minor effort" that "remains singularly one-dimensional, curiously unsatisfying." Steven J. Mariconda called the story "Lovecraft's Magnificent Failure... its uneven execution is not equal to its breathtaking conceptions, which are some of the most original in imaginative literature".

Peter Cannon Peter H. Cannon (born 1951 in California) is an H. P. Lovecraft scholar and an author of Cthulhu Mythos fiction. Cannon works as an editor for ''Publishers Weekly'', specializing in thrillers and mystery. He lives in New York City and is marrie ...

claims that "most critics agree" that "The Dreams in the Witch House" ranks with " The Thing on the Doorstep" as "the poorest of Lovecraft's later tales." S. T. Joshi referred to the tale as "one of ovecraft'spoorest later efforts." ''

'' complains that " ile the tale contains vividly cosmic vistas of

hyperspace In science fiction, hyperspace (also known as nulspace, subspace, overspace, jumpspace and similar terms) is a concept relating to higher dimensions as well as parallel universes and a faster-than-light (FTL) method of interstellar travel. ...

, HPL does not appear to have thought out the details of the plot satisfactorily... It seems as if HPL were aiming merely for a succession of startling images without bothering to fuse them into a logical sequence." More recently, more favorable criticism of "The Dreams in the Witch House" has appeared. ''

s current Lovecraft columnist,

Kenneth Hite Kenneth Hite (born September 15, 1965) is a writer and role-playing game designer. Hite is the author of Trail of Cthulhu and Night's Black Agents role-playing games, and lead designer of the 5th edition of ''Vampire: the Masquerade''. Education ...

, calls the story "one of the purest and most important examples of sheer Lovecraftian cosmicism", suggesting that it is the most fully fleshed-out expression of the author's "From Beyond" motif, also explored in such stories as "The Music of Erich Zann", "Hypnos", and "The Hound". Lovecraft critic and

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

award-winning novelist

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1956 or 1958) is a French author, known for his novels, poems and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer ...

situates the story within what he calls Lovecraft's "definitive fourth circle", classing it alongside seven other tales that comprise "the absolute heart of HPL's myth ..what most rabid Lovecraftians continue to call, almost in spite of themselves, the 'great texts'."

On film

*A very loose adaptation inspired by the tale was the 1968 film ''

Curse of the Crimson Altar ''Curse of the Crimson Altar'' is a 1968 British horror film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, Barbara Steele and Mark Eden. The film was produced by Louis M. Heyward for Tigon British Film Productions. Th ...

'' (aka. ''The Crimson Cult'', ''Witch House'', ''The Crimson Altar''). It starred

Barbara Steele Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English film actress known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She played th ...

, Christopher Lee,

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

, and Michael Gough. * The rat-like character Brown Jenkin features in the 2013 movie ''H.P. Lovecraft's The Dark Sleep'' directed by Brett Piper. *An easter egg connection is present in Stephen King's ''Doctor Sleep''. The attic room that Dan Torrence rents for $85/week has odd angles and a wall that has been painted with chalkboard paint by a former tenant who is described by the landlady as a math student. Torrence communicates with Abra Stone via that blackboard wall, essentially traveling in a similar psychic manner as the protagonist in Lovecraft's story. *The 2022 film ''

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

'' is a loose adaptation of Lovecraft's story, relocating the setting to the Villaverde district of Madrid.

On television

*"The Dreams in the Witch House" was adapted into a short film for Showtime cable television's anthology ''

Masters of Horror ''Masters of Horror'' is an anthology television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network. Origin In 2002, director Mick Garris invited some director friends to an informal dinner at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, ...

'' series, directed by Stuart Gordon, under the title '' H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House''. It alters the plot and minor details of the original and puts it in a contemporary setting, with Keziah Mason becoming what the film's promotional materials refer to as "a luscious she-demon" and neighbor Frank Elwood changing genders to become Frances Elwood. * In the 2018 Netflix series ''

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' is an American comic book series published by Archie Horror, an imprint of Archie Comics, beginning in 2014. The series is a darker take on the characters and setting of ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. It is writ ...

'', Part 1, Episode 5, "Dreams in a Witch House", Sabrina inadvertently releases a demon in the house that traps Sabrina and her family members in their worst nightmares. *In 2022, the story was loosely adapted as an episode, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, for '' Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities''. The episode starred

Rupert Grint Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint (; born 24 August 1988) is an English actor. Grint rose to fame for his role as Ron Weasley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, for which he was cast at age eleven, having previously acted only in school plays a ...

Nia Vardalos Antonia Eugenia Vardalos (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known for starring in and writing the romantic comedy film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), which garnered her nominati ...

, Ismael Cruz Córdova, and

DJ Qualls Donald Joseph Qualls (born June 10, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in films including ''Road Trip'' (2000), ''The New Guy'' (2002) and '' The Core'' (2003), and for several appearances on television series such as ''B ...

On stage

*"The Dreams in the Witch House" was brought to the stage in 2008 by WildClaw Theatre Company in Chicago, in conjunction with

Magazine's 85th anniversary, under the title "H. P. Lovecraft's The Dreams in the Witch House". It was adapted and directed by WildClaw Artistic Director Charley Sherman.

In literature

*Walter Gilman, Frank Elwood, Keziah Mason, and the Witch House feature prominently in ''Lovecraftian: The Shipwright Circle'' by Steven Philip Jones. The ''Lovecraftian'' series reimagines the weird tales of H. P. Lovecraft into one single universal modern epic. *The story and characters were adapted by the author Graham Masterton in his 1992 novel ''Prey''. *Bruno Jenkins is a character in Roald Dahl's 1983 novel '' The Witches'' and the novel's 1990 film adaptation. Bruno Jenkins is a greedy boy who is turned into brown mouse by the titular witches. Considering the rodent factor and that "Bruno" derives from the High Germanic "brun", which of course translates as "brown", the character is certainly an Easter Egg of an homage to Lovecraft's story.

In music

*In 2005 ''Dreams in the Witch House'' was used as the title of a compilation CD from the band H. P. Lovecraft. *The story gives its name and lyrical inspiration to a song by German gothic metal band The Vision Bleak, present on their album '' Carpathia: A Dramatic Poem''. *In 2013, the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society made a rock opera concept album titled ''Dreams in the Witch House: A Lovecraftian Rock Opera'' based on the work. The project is a Swedish/American collaboration between producers and songwriters Chris Laney, Anders Ringman and Lennart Östlund, and lyricists/book-writers Sean Branney, Mike Dalager and Andrew Leman. The album features Bruce Kulick and

Doug Blair Douglas Blair Lucek, better known as Doug Blair (born February 11, 1963) is a heavy metal guitarist and member of W.A.S.P. Blair's early development as a musician took place in his home state of Connecticut. His focus on technical ability with ...

on lead guitar on some tracks. From those who have reviewed it, the album has received positive feedback but has not received mainstream attention.

Video games

* Dreams in the Witch House is an upcoming (2022) adventure game inspired by the story with many references and lore directly from the book.

References

External links

* *
Text and bibliographical information at www.hplovecraft.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreams in the Witch House, The 1933 short stories Cthulhu Mythos short stories Fantasy short stories Horror short stories Massachusetts in fiction Salem witch trials in fiction Short stories about dreams Short stories adapted into films Short stories by H. P. Lovecraft Witchcraft in written fiction Works originally published in Weird Tales