- Mass Market Paperback: 127 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books Inc.; 1st Ballantine Books Ed edition (1 Mar 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345354907
- ISBN-13: 978-0345354907
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.6 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,735,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Incantations of black magic unearthed unspeakable horrors in a quiet town near Providence, Rhode Island. Evil spirits are being resurrected from beyond the grave, a supernatural force so twisted that it kills without offering the mercy of death!
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has long been one of my favorite books. Charles Ward is an intellectual young recluse steeped in antiquarianism (much as Lovecraft himself was) who discovers horrible secrets about a distant ancestor, one consciously expunged from public records and histories at the end of his ill-begotten life. Ward engulfs himself in a genealogical and historical pursuit of knowledge of this man, a passion all the more emblazoned by each mysterious discovery he makes. This ancestor, Joseph Curwen, was reputably a dabbler in the black arts who fled from Salem in advance of the remarkable witchcraft trials in that town. Finding refuge in Providence, he lived a reclusive, mysterious life, made even more mysterious by his eternally youthful appearance. A recluse by nature, he spent most nights at a farmhouse in Pawtuxet. A continuing series of terrible cries and noises detected from that farmhouse, in conjunction with a number of missing locals and rumors of brutality against Negro slaves surreptitiously brought to that abode culminated in a raid by local citizens determined to put an end to whatever monstrous acts the strange man was committing. No member of that raiding party ever dared discuss what he saw or heard during that awful night. Ward's knowledge of Curwen is greatly advanced when he discovers an old painting of him (revealing a face virtually identical to his own) and a set of personal papers hidden behind that painting. He then launches into terrible studies of the occult at home and abroad, then returns home to put to use the arcane secrets he has learned. His doctor and father eventually grasp the nature of Ward's actions and unite themselves in a determination to block Joseph Curwen's ancient ambitions and plans to once more walk the earth with the aid of his great-great-great grandson. The horrors they encounter in the pursuit of this objective are richly described and deliciously gruesome.
This story is pretty much straight horror with no deeply mythological overtones beyond those of necromancy. Lovecraft does an excellent job of always pushing the action along while providing a rich, deep, historical background of both Curwen and young Charles Ward. The ending chapter contains some of Lovecraft's most terror-inducing, menacingly evil scenes and is not to be missed by those with a gratuitous admiration for the macabre. For those readers who find the Cthulhu Mythos stories too strangely remote and otherworldly, this novella provides a more practical, more individualistic vision of horror sure to affect the reader more viscerally than do mysterious references to the Ancient Ones. Anyone considering reading Lovecraft for the first time would do well to make this book his introduction to the master of horror. This is everything a horror story should be.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The biggest strength of Lovecraft, evident in most of his stories, is his ability to set the scene for a story well enough for you to see it in your mind without being too restrictive. He also has a number of "props" used in more than one story (like the famed Necronomicon), which he invented to give continuity to any stories with even the smallest thing to do with the Chthulhu mythos (he invented the Necronomicon).
The story itself is good - near the end parts of it are predictable, but it still manages to surprise a little.
Overall, a very immersive story (it was the first Lovecraft story i've read, and i'm hooked)
The story itself is good - near the end parts of it are predictable, but it still manages to surprise a little.
Overall, a very immersive story (it was the first Lovecraft story i've read, and i'm hooked)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Lovecraft is undoubtedly the Master of Horror, about 30 years ago I red this book for the first time and every year I will read it two times. All the other stories written by HP are also good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The master of FEAR at his BEST!!!!
That's definitely the creepiest of the creepiest stories of all time! Here Lovecraft used all his talent to freak all his readers with a diabolic scheme filled with a frightful... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Leonardo Sepúlveda
The best Lovecraft- The worst adaption
This is my favourite horror story and I'm a massive fan of Lovecraft. The first time I came across this book was in a collection of short stories so I jumped at the chance to get... Read more
Published on 13 July 2008 by Mr. Mark D. Ellis
An interesting little study in horror
Lovecraft's a difficult author. He does have the imagination to create a vivid universe, but his tales can be repetative. Read more
Published on 25 July 2001 by finnton@aol.com
It's not a horror novel, it's a horrible novel!
Although Lovecraft's book is interesting when read as a psychyatrical case study, it lacks even the most basic elements of the horror genre. Read more
Published on 27 Nov 1998
Stephen King would pee his pants
I usually don't enjoy reading horror novels but the intelligence and master story telling of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward was amazing. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 1997
A very nice thriller!!
I believe that H.P. Lovecraft is a master in writting thrillers. He keeps you in mystery up to the last paragraph and he describes his characters in every detail. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 1997
H.P. Lovecraft. The only one master of cosmic horror.
This was the very first book I read, written by Howard Philips Lovecraft.
A friend had tipped me about H.P. Read more
A friend had tipped me about H.P. Read more
Published on 6 July 1997
Lovecraft primer
One of Lovecraft's most coherent novellas and, consequently, a quick and enjoyable read. Lovecraft manages to invoke a deliciously lugubrious atmosphere without resorting to the... Read more
Published on 8 April 1997
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