The Shunned House

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

31469

Title

The Shunned House

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Set in Providence, this tale of weird fiction follows the narrator and his uncle as they investigate a cursed New England house where tenants inexplicably die of wasting diseases. Blending historical research with a terrifying night of scientific observation, the story culminates in a desperate attempt to destroy a supernatural horror lurking beneath the cellar floor.

Summary up to 500 words

In H. P. Lovecraft's posthumous tale, "The Shunned House," the narrator recounts the grim history of a dilapidated structure on Benefit Street in Providence, originally built in 1763 by the Harris family. Despite its colonial architecture, the house has long been avoided due to a staggering mortality rate among its inhabitants, who frequently succumbed to anemia, consumption, and madness. While the community dismissed the building as merely unhealthy, the narrator and his antiquarian uncle, Doctor Elihu Whipple, uncovered fragmented evidence of a sinister French connection involving the Roulet family. Legends spoke of a demoniac named Jacques Roulet, and the narrator discovered that the land had once served as a graveyard for the Roulets, a Huguenot family driven from the area after facing intense local opposition. Historical records revealed that victims in the house often babbled maledictions in French, a language they could not have known, suggesting a supernatural influence. The narrator and his uncle decide to conduct a scientific investigation, setting up sophisticated equipment in the cellar for a night of vigil. During the watch, the narrator is awakened by his uncle's terrified scream. He finds his uncle melting into a grotesque, fungous mass while a phosphorescent vapor rises from the floor, displaying shifting, horrific human faces. The narrator flees in horror, only to return the next day to dig a pit and douse the source of the evil with sulfuric acid. The acid neutralizes the vapor and destroys the fungal growths, seemingly ending the curse. The house is subsequently rented out, though the narrator retains a lingering regret that the spectral strangeness will be lost to modern development. The story serves as a quintessential example of Lovecraft's weird fiction, blending historical research with cosmic horror to explore themes of hereditary curse, the corruption of the human mind, and the terrifying unknown lurking beneath the surface of everyday reality.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Fiction
• Horror