The Graveyard Rats

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

79279

Title

The Graveyard Rats

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

In ancient Salem, caretaker Old Masson battles a colony of abnormally large rats infesting a neglected cemetery. Haunted by legends of subterranean horrors and ghoulish beings, he discovers the rodents are led by an intelligent force. When a recent burial is stolen, Masson pursues the creatures into their burrows, only to be trapped in a collapsing tunnel and ultimately consumed by the undead horde.

Summary up to 500 words

In Henry Kuttner's *The Graveyard Rats*, the narrative unfolds within Salem's oldest and most neglected cemetery, where Old Masson, the caretaker, wages a desperate war against a colony of gigantic, abnormal rats. These creatures, larger than cats and possessing needle-sharp fangs, have overrun the grounds, stealing bodies from graves for underground feasts. While Masson initially dismisses local legends of ghoulish beings commanding these rats from forgotten caverns beneath the earth, his skepticism shatters when he discovers a recently buried man missing. Realizing his traps have been forestalled, Masson is driven by a mix of terror and greed for the corpse's valuables to venture into the dark, slimy tunnels. The pursuit is harrowing; the air reeks of carrion, and the narrow passages force Masson to crawl on hands and knees. He is ambushed by swarms of misshapen rats, forcing him to fire blindly to survive. As he chases the stolen body, he encounters a blind, groaning corpse that crawls toward him with a gargoyle-like face, its eyes swollen and bulbous. Terrified, Masson flees into a side tunnel, only to find himself trapped under a collapsing stone. The tunnel crumbles, burying him alive. He discovers he has crawled into an empty coffin, pinned beneath the lid by the falling earth. With no way out and the rats squealing triumphantly above, Masson succumbs to his injuries and terror, dying as the creatures feast on his remains. The story serves as a grim exploration of the supernatural lurking beneath the surface of ancient Salem, where the myth of the Pied Piper hides a blasphemous horror and the earth itself seems to harbor hell-spawned monstrosities that defy sanity and law.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Fiction
• Horror