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The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 · rating details · 4,981 ratings · 176 reviews

Incantations of black magic unearthed unspeakable horrors in 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!

Cover illustration: Michael Whelan

Mass Market Paperback, 128 pages

Published January 12th 1982 by Del Rey (first published 1927)

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Nov 07, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, cthulhu-worship, audiobook, weird-and-new-weird, fang-bangers, 1900-1929

Let me be clear at the outset of this review that when it comes to the work of H.P. Lovecraft, I am definitely one who drinks deep the ~~kool-aid~~ Cthulhu-aid. For me his stories are something to be savored and relished; succulent, meaty feasts of atmosphere, hyper-lush imagery and dark melodrama dipped in dread. If you’ve read other works by HPL and have not been impressed or fallen under his spell, this story is not likely to change your mind. However, if you are already a wanton Lovecraft gourm...more

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Feb 18, 2009 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, horror

Lovecraft is a special writer, capable of twisting the mind of the reader in ways that all of the visual horror we are forever shown in this day and age can never accomplish.

What WAS the thing at the bottom of the pit? What was it that the good Doctor saw? So many open questions to let our minds fill in the blanks with the things that horrify us above all else.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is Lovecraft's longest work (at least that I've encountered) and there is so much in the meager 120 or so...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Stenwjohnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

“Do not call up that which you cannot put down.”
— H. P. Lovecraft, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"

I first read H.P. Lovecraft’s 1927 short novel “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” when I was 11 years old, in the tacky Del Rey edition pictured. At the time, I was surprised by the difference between the densely erudite content and the pulp cover art. A horror writer with high-literary roots, Lovecraft remains a unique and original artist; at his best, he combines the ethereal sensibilities of “d...more “Do not call up that which you cannot put down.”
— H. P. Lovecraft, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"

I first read H.P. Lovecraft’s 1927 short novel “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” when I was 11 years old, in the tacky Del Rey edition pictured. At the time, I was surprised by the difference between the densely erudite content and the pulp cover art. A horror writer with high-literary roots, Lovecraft remains a unique and original artist; at his best, he combines the ethereal sensibilities of “decadent” fantasists like Lord Dunsany and Arthur Machen with the bleak gothic tales of Poe and Ambrose Bierce. My scholarship is a bit of cheat, since those are all known influences, but Lovecraft is also different from his peers in his obsession with abstract, implacable dread. He delights in a trademarked sensation of religious-epiphany-in-reverse; the fabric of reality, when explored too deeply, always yields inscrutable horror. Poe and Bierce are actually more reliant on the pulp mechanics of surprise endings and clockwork irony. Lovecraft is fonder of dark, cosmic irresolution.

“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” features a typical Lovecraftian hero, a young man in 1920s Providence, RI whose “antiquarian” obsessions lead to occult discoveries. By “antiquarian,” Lovecraft means (without a trace of irony) that Ward is preoccupied with the postage stamp-sized world of pre-Revolutionary Providence, with interests as disturbingly esoteric as Colonial wood-working techniques.

Ward begins to research an ancestor, Joseph Curwen, whose identity was mysteriously effaced from town records and learns that he was a notorious practitioner of black magic. He begins his own series of experiments into the unknown, resulting in what appears to madness. Or is it? Or has his identity been taken by a figure from the past? Another Lovecraftian archetype, psychiatrist (or “alienist”) Dr. Willett investigates; his discoveries take him to inexplicable occult findings, a startling conclusion, and an epic battle of wills.

It would be unfair to call Lovecraft’s style eccentric. It is urbane, precise, and boldly oblivious to contemporary literary trends. Defiantly anachronistic, with British spellings and mannerisms ("shew" anyone?) and an obsession with minute detail and rhetorical elegance, his prose can be detached to a fault: all the dialog in “Dexter Ward” could fit on the head of a pin, and most subjective expression occurs in letters and journal entries, some written in a brilliant, intentionally-enigmatic pastiche of 17th century prose. Lovecraft even makes a rare, satirical swipe at TS Eliot, and one can see the unlikely parallels between the two writers: buttoned-up early 20th century antiquarians chafing against modernity, shaking their fists at an opaque universe.

Virtually unknown during his lifetime, Lovecraft has since gained literary respect and looms large in popular culture. But he is often misunderstood or willfully misread; think of the innumerable films that are based on his work in name alone (and “Charles Dexter Ward” was filmed by Roger Corman as the much-altered “The Haunted Palace”). Readers willing to accept his unusual technique will be rewarded by the prodigious, wildly unconventional imagination of an American genius. There is nothing like him.
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May 23, 2013 Shaun rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

I just finished reading this as part of a much longer collection, Lovecraft - Tales, a compilation of work put together by the Library of America, but wanted to comment specifically on this as a stand alone piece.

First, I should preface the review by saying that I thoroughly enjoy reading writers like Poe and the Gothic novel. I sometimes believe if such a thing as reincarnation exists, I previously resided in a dark and seedy 19th century London town, walking distance from a foggy graveyard. So...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Lady Strawberry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Primo incontro con questo autore. Non conosco la sua produzione e quindi non so se questo romanzo sia tra le sue opere migliori. So solo che l’ho terminato in due giorni, che ho provato davvero il terrore che lo scrittore voleva provocare e che di sicuro considero questo romanzo breve una gran bella lettura. Inizialmente si tende a perdersi, la trama e macchinosa ed estremamente intrecciata, con dei balzi nel passato ricostruiti tramite racconti, dicerie e diari deliranti di personaggi secondari...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Horror fans, sci fi fans, goths

Recommended to Michael by: Dungeons and Dragons

Shelves: pulp-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Having just re-read this book as part of the goodreads HPL reading group, I feel I can revise my original review. The book was apparently not one of Lovecraft's favorites among his own work, and it was never published in his lifetime. It is the longest piece he ever wrote, and in various ways it reflects his discomfort with the novel, as opposed to his facility with the short story. There are redundancies, as if HPL himself found it difficult to remember what had already been said (or was unsure...more Having just re-read this book as part of the goodreads HPL reading group, I feel I can revise my original review. The book was apparently not one of Lovecraft's favorites among his own work, and it was never published in his lifetime. It is the longest piece he ever wrote, and in various ways it reflects his discomfort with the novel, as opposed to his facility with the short story. There are redundancies, as if HPL himself found it difficult to remember what had already been said (or was unsure what the reader would recall) and sections that seem to pad out the narrative unnecessarily. I still regard it as a masterpiece, perhaps all the more enjoyable for its flaws.

The story involves a young antiquarian who discovers that he had an identical ancestor burned as a witch shortly before the Revolution (rather late for witch-hunting, as HPL knew full well). As his investigations continue, he seems to come under the spell of this long-dead sorceror, and begins to mimic his behaviors and interests. Ultimately, he discovers the formula to summon his ancestor from the dead, and the man kills him and attempts to replace him in life. All of this is witnessed through closed doors by the family and and the family doctor, who comes to understand what has happened only in pieces. The climax of the story comes when the young man's imposter is placed in an asylum (because he acts like someone from 150 years ago) and the doctor examines the underground lair of the magician - finding horrible secrets there.

About the first third of the book is taken up with recounting the life of the sorceror, Joseph Curwen, in the 17th and 18th centuries, up to his extirpation from Providence by an angry mob of local and sailors. This part of the book Lovecraft evidently dismissed as an "indulgence in antiquarianism" but for a historian it is a pleasure to read. I wish that more vampire authors would take the time to painstakingly research the past as HPL does here, in order to give the backgrounds of their long-lived protagonists some depth. The story makes a somewhat questionable representation of the Lovecraft oeuvre, because there seems to be no true "cosmic threat" to humanity - just a lone scholar attempting to raise the dead. This theme did allow HPL to show off his occult erudition, however, and to insert some well-placed humor at the expense of the occultists of his day.(less)

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Dec 04, 2011 Terence rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: HP Lovecraft fans

Shelves: horror-gothic

I'm rereading this based upon Stephen's review so if I do not appreciate it more, it will be entirely his fault :-)
_______________________________________

In The Case of Charles Dexter Ward HPL ventures a novel-length story about his Elder Gods and one man’s tragic fate when he delves into mysteries better left unexamined. Charles Dexter Ward is the scion of a well established Providence family who begins investigating esoteric matters and discovers that an ancestor, Joseph Curwen, was killed by...more I'm rereading this based upon Stephen's review so if I do not appreciate it more, it will be entirely his fault :-)
_______________________________________

In The Case of Charles Dexter Ward HPL ventures a novel-length story about his Elder Gods and one man’s tragic fate when he delves into mysteries better left unexamined. Charles Dexter Ward is the scion of a well established Providence family who begins investigating esoteric matters and discovers that an ancestor, Joseph Curwen, was killed by a terrified town when they discovered his unhallowed necromantic studies.

The reader doesn’t actually spend a lot of time with Charles Ward. Instead HPL tells the story through the boy’s doctor’s attempt to find out what happened to him. HPL’s strength as a storyteller does not reside in memorable characters but in the ability to evoke an atmosphere of mounting horror and despair, and he does that very well here. You can feel the terror Dr. Willett experiences when he’s trapped in the lightless vaults beneath that ill-omened Pawtuxet farmhouse where Curwen raised up monstrous entities from Outside:

But Marinus Bicknell Willett was sorry that he looked again; for surgeon and veteran of the dissecting-room though he was, he has not been the same since. It is hard to explain just how a single sight of a tangible object with measurable dimensions could so shake and change a man; and we may only say that there is about certain outlines and entities a power of symbolism and suggestion which acts frightfully on a sensitive thinker’s perspective and whispers terrible hints of obscure cosmic relationships and unnameable realities behind the protective illusions of common vision. In that second look Willett saw such an outline or entity, for during the next few instants he was undoubtedly as stark mad as any inmate of Dr. Waite’s private hospital. He dropped the electric torch from a hand drained of muscular power or nervous co-ordination, nor heeded the sound of crunching teeth which told of its fate at the bottom of the pit. He screamed and screamed and screamed in a voice whose falsetto panic no acquaintance of his would ever have recognised, and though he could not rise to his feet he crawled and rolled desperately away over the damp pavement where dozens of Tartarean wells poured forth their exhausted whining and yelping to answer his own insane cries. He tore his hands on the rough, loose stone, and many times bruised his head against the frequent pillars, but still he kept on. Then at last he slowly came to himself in the utter blackness and stench, and stopped his ears against the droning wail into which the burst of yelping had subsided. He was drenched with perspiration and without means of producing a light; stricken and unnerved in the abysmal blackness and horror, and crushed with a memory he never could efface. Beneath him dozens of those things still lived, and from one of the shafts the cover was removed. He knew that what he had seen could never climb up the slippery walls, yet shuddered at the thought that some obscure foothold might exist. (pp. 102-03)

And this is a description of the relatively empty vaults found in 1928; nothing at all like these same vaults from 170 years earlier when the men who descended into those hellish catacombs emerged unable to speak about what they had seen and heard – the only account of the venture coming from the journals of a man who remained above ground.

I’ve got the entire Ballantine collection of HPL’s stories sitting on my bookshelf but poor Charles Dexter has languished there while I favored its brothers such as The Lurking Fear or The Doom That Came to Sarnath. It took Stephen’s review mentioned above to prompt a reread and I’m glad that I did.

So, Stephen, you may not have steered me to a tropical paradise, but I did manage to avoid any literary ice bergs.(less)

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Feb 13, 2008 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My first HP Lovecraft book, it is a well rounded and interesting story, and the perfect introduction to the Lovecraft mythos.

Background: Lovecraft wrote during the 20's and 30's, after Freud, but before Jung. To many, the human unconscious mind was still scary, dark, uncharted waters with untold depths of the unknown lurking beneath the surface. King would later pick that up, in a time when humans were more accustomed to dealing with their unconscious, and conversation between conscious and unc...more

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Jan 31, 2011 Enrico rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Come si fa a non considerare questo romanzo un capolavoro del 900? Mai come in questo libro viene esposto il problema della Conoscenza, vista come un percorso di tentazione: la tentazione dell'uomo e la sua "condanna" a sapere, e la conoscenza come un incessante percorso verso il terrore; la scoperta del vero è una serie di passi verso l'abisso, e più si procede più si rischia di non reggere ciò che forse l'uomo non è fatto per reggere. Lovecraft aveva capito tutto, e questo romanzo è la summa d...more

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May 03, 2013 Alan Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

There can be few true aficionados of horror that have not heard of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The wordy, world-rejecting sage of Providence, Rhode Island totally revolutionized the cosmic horror genre during his all too brief lifetime, and even today his characters, plots and cosmic vision are a mainstay of games designers and movie makers.

Lovecraft's main output consisted of short stories, many written entirely by himself, though often as paid revisions of the works of other, lesser authors, an...more There can be few true aficionados of horror that have not heard of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The wordy, world-rejecting sage of Providence, Rhode Island totally revolutionized the cosmic horror genre during his all too brief lifetime, and even today his characters, plots and cosmic vision are a mainstay of games designers and movie makers.

Lovecraft's main output consisted of short stories, many written entirely by himself, though often as paid revisions of the works of other, lesser authors, and this is the only actual novel published in his lifetime (though the unrevised "Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" saw print posthumously). More properly a novella than a full-blown novel, it's a gem of a scary story in which the titular character, a young effete dreamer (the archetypical Lovecraftian protagonist, in fact) goes too far in his study of arcane and forbidden knowledge, becomes possessed by the spirit of a long dead magician, and ends up performing certain evil activities which threaten to undermine the sanity of anyone who encounter them.

Inevitably with Lovecraft's works, it's possible to pick faults. The dense, poetic language, the overuse of adjectives, the needless utilization of obscure words and the somewhat flat characterization. HPL was more at home in short stories, designed to sustain a single dream-like atmosphere throughout, and the novella form is not really his metier. Interest doesn't exactly flag, for the story moves along briskly enough, but "fridge logic" suggests this story could equally well have been told in a shorter form, in which case it would have made a similar impact to "The Dunwich Horror", "The Shadow Out Of Time" or "The Whisperer In Darkness", to name just three of this writer's longer stories which have deservedly become classics.

Nonetheless, there's no doubt that here is a man who knows how to chill the blood and give a reader cathartic nightmares, all in the most enjoyable way. Those who love well-written horror, and aren't too keen on the short-story form are recommended to give this one a look.

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Jan 29, 2012 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Horror fans, Dracula fans, Lovecraft fans

I’ve read a lot of Lovecraft’s work, but fortunately there is still a great deal I haven’t delved into. “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” was a new treat to me, although a coworker had kind of ruined it for me already.

Summary
Charles Dexter Ward is a young man from Providence, Rhode Island who develops an unhealthy fascination with a “lost” ancestor, Joseph Curwen, who was a community leader (at least financially) but also suspected of practicing black magic. The story is told has recollection, a...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Dani rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, sci-fi-supernatural, suspense-mystery

I really wanted to like this, but I got a bit bored waiting for the book's narrator to just come out and say what I was sure from the beginning had happened. The story is told by a doctor and is of a patient's decent into madness. The story behind the story, however, is of a long-dead(?) relative of Ward's who dabbled in the occult and black magic. Sounds good, right? I'd never read any Lovecraft before, and have a few more of his stories still yet to go, so possibly I'll enjoy another tale more...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Христо Блажев rated it 2 of 5 stars

“Възкресителят” на Лъвкрафт – две в едно ужаси отпреди век
http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/11/b...

Започнах седмицата с Лъвкрафт и я завършвам с него, отново с твърде подходящите за подобно писание късни часове. След като миналия уикенд прочетох шест раказа на ХФЛ и в понеделник писах за тях, получих не един и два съвета да се добера до “Възкресителят”. По щастливо стечение на обстоятелствата се оказа, че една моя нова позната има книгата и дори ми я подари, за което аз съм безкрайно благодарен и...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Dave/Maggie Bean rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

I hate to award HPL a mere three stars for anything, and I mean that sincerely. Über geek that I am, I'll happily cop to having spent much of ninth and tenth grade reading his work amidst the ruins of the Heidelberg castle. Yes, I'm that much of a Lovecraft-aholic.

Until last week, this was *only* work of his that I hadn't read, so I was truly looking forward to tucking into it. Unfortunately, doing so was a disappointing experience. Granted, it has all the classic HPL trappings (sinister strange...more

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Oct 28, 2009 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Being from Providence, I feel I have to like things associated with Providence, and thus be a H.P. Lovecraft fan (of course, I don't like Family Guy, but that's another story). Fortunately a story like this makes it easy to like him. It certainly helps that I know and walk the streets and locations mentioned in this book, read parts of the book in Salem where some of the story takes place, am a fellow alumni of the same school as the protagonist, and also, when I get lost in Cranston, feel inexp...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Kaiser Dias rated it 5 of 5 stars

Obra-prima do horror
O que falar de Howard Phillips Lovecraft? Os aficionados por histórias de terror têm obrigação de conhecê-lo. O escritor estadunidense natural o qde Providence, Rhode Island (1890-1937) é influência primordial para os autores de horror moderno como Stephen King e Neil Gaiman e os filmes de Guillermo del Toro (El labirinto del fauno) só para citar alguns.

Como viveu antes da segunda guerra mundial, Lovecraft tinha a vantagem de poder escrever histórias de terror sem ter que se...more Obra-prima do horror
O que falar de Howard Phillips Lovecraft? Os aficionados por histórias de terror têm obrigação de conhecê-lo. O escritor estadunidense natural o qde Providence, Rhode Island (1890-1937) é influência primordial para os autores de horror moderno como Stephen King e Neil Gaiman e os filmes de Guillermo del Toro (El labirinto del fauno) só para citar alguns.

Como viveu antes da segunda guerra mundial, Lovecraft tinha a vantagem de poder escrever histórias de terror sem ter que se preocupar em isolar seus personagens do mundo ou incluir inverossímeis interrupções em serviços telefônicos ou de internet. Nada disso existia, a correspondência era por cartas e bilhetes e as notícias só em jornal impresso; o que permitia uma manipulação sutil de encontros e desencontros que levam ao desastre.

O caso de Charles Dexter Ward é uma obra-prima do gênero. Conta a história (ou caso) do personagem do título: jovem de 26 anos estudioso de arqueologia e história que a partir de certo momento se interessa pelo oculto ao descobrir-se descendente de um bruxo do século XVIII, fugitivo de Salem. O autor não usa o recurso de guardar o destino do personagem para o final. Na primeira página já é dito o que aconteceu: Charles Ward ficou louco, perdeu a memória de sua vida pessoal e dos fatos modernos (modernos em 1928) enquanto seu conhecimento do passado se aguçou tremendamente. Ele também sofreu um envelhecimento precoce e outras alterações em sua fisiologia.

Mas como isso se deu? Esse é o mistério do livro que o leitor é convidado a desvendar por si mesmo enquanto o texto vai dando dicas, pistas e insinuações, contando a história do jovem Ward e de seu antepassado Joseph Curwen. O mecanismo funciona e é possível deduzir os fatos antes da conclusão do livro, mas o impressionante é que isso não tira nem um pouco a tensão da leitura que você não conseguirá parar antes do último ponto final.

O forte de Lovecraft é transmitir a sensação de desespero frente ao horror inominável, o medo do desconhecido que se torna ainda maior quando você o compreende. Aqui não há cenas de mutilações nem sangue jorrando como é comum nos filmes de horror moderno. Ao contrário, muito dos detalhes é deixado à imaginação do leitor, transmitindo um medo ainda maior na incapacidade dos personagens de descrever com exatidão o que presenciaram ao mesmo tempo que demonstram um transtorno irreversível com o ocorrido.

Como em outros textos de Lovecraft, o diálogo é escasso, quase inexistente, sendo a maior parte dos fatos descritos na terceira pessoa. Isso pode causar estranheza num primeiro momento, mas logo acostuma-se. Toda a história é contada como se fosse um relato de fatos reais, suportados pela leitura da correspondência entre os envolvidos e matérias de jornais. O simulacro de realidade é bastante verossímil, facilitado pela familiaridade do autor com a cidade em que se passa a maior parte dos fatos (Providence).

Preste atenção no médico Willet, que surge como coadjuvante e vai ganhando importância ao longo da história até se tornar peça chave no mistério.

É um livro essencial para os amantes da boa literatura. Em 173 páginas H. P. Lovecraft lhe mostrará o horror.
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Jul 05, 2012 Lianne Burwell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, ebooks

I read this as part of my going through the HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast.

Charles Dexter Ward is the son of the wealthy family who becomes fascinated by the fragments of history concerning an ancestor who terrorized his town and ended up the target of a pitchfork mob of sorts. In his quest to learn more, he ends up summoning up things he shouldn't have.

This was definitely one of the best of the longer form stories in the HP Lovecraft writing so far. Unlike the Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, the s...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Ian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: halloween-2012, horror, classics, magic

This was the first work by Lovecraft I ever read, but I have not re-read it in nearly 2 decades. I had odd tastes, even as a child. I remembered very little, aside from the broad plot-points, so you can imagine my consternation when, upon re-reading it this week, I discovered that I am merely one step away from following in the footsteps of young Charles; so many of the descriptions of him sounded like the man i have become and, as it happens, 3 years ago I began to dedicate myself to exactly th...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Tozette rated it 4 of 5 stars

This short novel has all the trappings of a Lovecraft story: sinister, dramatic, gothic. If The Case of Charles Dexter Ward had a catch-phrase, it would be lovingly rendered in the spiky ink of a bygone era: "Doe not calle up Any that you cannot putt down..."

Filled with sinister alchemical research and the unholy screams of what the characters refer to only as "specimens", the novel is very typical of Lovecraft's writing. If you're already a fan (and I am), or a fan of the gothic-fantasy-horror...more

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Nov 29, 2010 Chris Hawks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned, reviewed

This was the second Lovecraft story I read, after At the Mountains of Madness, so at the time I knew next to nothing about Lovecraft's mythos and other writings. (That didn't last long, though.) Now with two volumes of his work under my belt, this is still the story that has stuck with me the most. It takes a while to get into, and the old-fashioned, stuffy prose doesn't help the slow start, but once things start picking up with terrible revelations and horrible implications, there's no putting...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Julio rated it 5 of 5 stars

While at the beginning it was a bit slow with its descriptions of Providence and Charles Ward's habits the rest of the story intrigued me and i found it to be a great horror story. when talking about Curwen's history, the author gives descriptions of other people's accounts of what they heard and saw and there's a shroud of mystery behind everything because you dont really know whats going on and its up to you to imagine it. Curwen's history got me interested. when the doctor goes underground wa...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Anja Weber rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Howard Lavkraft relies on many of his predecessors in the history of literature but also in the so-called Tabula smaragdina in manuals alchemy. Novel should be mysterious and scary like Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, but it is even more interesting in the world of alchemy and mystery. The major personality Charles Word, a young American boy who is wishful knowledge in one of the oldest cities in America, Providence fictitious. One would be the heir of Salem, known to us in Europe for exterminati...more Howard Lavkraft relies on many of his predecessors in the history of literature but also in the so-called Tabula smaragdina in manuals alchemy. Novel should be mysterious and scary like Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, but it is even more interesting in the world of alchemy and mystery. The major personality Charles Word, a young American boy who is wishful knowledge in one of the oldest cities in America, Providence fictitious. One would be the heir of Salem, known to us in Europe for extermination witch. The alchemy is here and the source of evil and vampirism, so dear to some American story tellers. Lavkraft skillfully leads the action in the person of Charles Dexter Ward, which ends very tragically, eaten or burned in an acid by reincarnated Carven!? What is the hidden and complex plot? In principle, their life paths and are intertwined by young Ward trace finds his ancestor old document’s which leads him and deeper into trouble serious. Portraits Carven/Word, original invention as to resemble the portrait of Dorian Gray! This is a warlock already known in English literature, but in interpreting Carven much more dangerous for the future of humanity and his fellow citizens. Why, because the all greed for the knowledge is based on cannibalism, witchcraft and mysterious producing of some kind of Frankenstein’s or some non normal beings from past centuries. What is interesting here, interweaving the real and concerted effort of man to life with all of it, interpret it as a sign of mental illness. A mentally ill person is Charles Dexter Ward, for whom the end we should know who it is? But thanks to the calm Dr. Willett, who was actually dismissed the case. Story that runs very smooth based on the events and not the psychology of the characters! For example, mother was very pale figure described in novel as it is father of Charles Ward Dexter. In fact, the best I’ve conjured up a distant descendant of the source of all accidents Craven and his rough evil life. Plot is based on evilness in distant centuries and so should be renewed by curiosity of young Charles, ancestor of mysterious Carven.
As so far it is interesting for reading, but riddle is visible from beginning..However no excuse for abusing real purpose of Alchemy, just in artistic sense..
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Nov 02, 2012 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

Please note: This novella is part of The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft , a copy of which omnibus can be picked up at the CthulhuChick website by anyone who wishes to have one.

Synopsis (slightly altered for correctness): Set in Providence, Rhode Island, the story concerns the fate of Charles Dexter Ward, a young man from a well-to-do family who has been installed in a mental asylum. The family doctor searches for the reason behind Ward's madness, learning in the process that he spent several y...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, fantasy

This was my first experience with H.P. Lovecraft. I've read graphic novels by Alan Moore, specifically Neonomicon which reflected Lovecraft's Cthulhu myth. My interest in his stories has been piqued for awhile and the continued difficulty I've had in finding any of his book just added to my interest. I finally found four books at a local Rotary Club Book Sale and bought them all. I decided to start with The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. It took my a little while to get into the story, to get a fe...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Sherri rated it 4 of 5 stars

H. P. Lovecraft was a writer in the early 1900s of stories of the macabre as well as fantasy and science fiction. This is the first Lovecraft novel I have read and I found it to be very enjoyable. The one thing that was kind of hard about this book was that the language and sentence structure are of a time period roughly 85 years ago. For example instead of saying about or regarding he would use the word anent. Or instead of spelling the word show, he spelled it shew. But once you get started re...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Mattias rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: true-classics, recommended

En klassisk Lovecraft. Detta är mer en roman än hans övriga noveller men håller samma stil. Att säga att gotisk skräcklitteratur är självbiografisk är att ta i, men detta är så nära man kan komma. Bokens huvudperson har många drag i sitt livsöde som stämmer väl överens med Lovecraft själv, dock får vi hoppas att de starkt ockulta inslagen är mer fantasi än historia...

"Har den allt för nyfikne ynglingen Charles Dexter Ward drabbats av sinnessjukdom? Eller har han vidrörts av något så mycket mer f...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Evan Leach rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1920-1929, horror

”From a private hospital for the insane near Providence, Rhode Island, there recently disappeared an exceedingly singular person. He bore the name of Charles Dexter Ward, and was placed under restraint most reluctantly by the grieving father who had watched his aberration grow from a mere eccentricity to a dark mania involving both a possibility of murderous tendencies and a profound and peculiar change in the apparent contents of his mind.”

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, the longest work by H....more ”From a private hospital for the insane near Providence, Rhode Island, there recently disappeared an exceedingly singular person. He bore the name of Charles Dexter Ward, and was placed under restraint most reluctantly by the grieving father who had watched his aberration grow from a mere eccentricity to a dark mania involving both a possibility of murderous tendencies and a profound and peculiar change in the apparent contents of his mind.”

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, the longest work by H.P. Lovecraft (and his only novel), is a good ol’ fashioned Lovecraftian tale: boy becomes fascinated by creepy and mysterious ancestor, boy dives into dark arcane rituals, and New England is subjected to unspeakable horrors. The story is mostly told through the perspective of Ward’s doctor, as he unravels the mystery of who Ward’s ancestor really was and what really happened with Charles, so I won’t dive deep into the plot and spoil any of the surprises. Suffice to say that the story is vintage Lovecraft, and if you’ve enjoyed his more famous works chances are you’ll like this one. The novel is chock full of Lovecraft’s signature prose, which has been known to turn some readers off but is manna from heaven (or hell, as the case may be) for HPL fans:

”It is hard to explain just how a single sight of a tangible object with measurable dimensions could so shake and change a man; and we may only say that there is about certain outlines and entities a power of symbolism and suggestion which acts frightfully on a sensitive thinker’s perspective and whispers terrible hints of obscure cosmic relationships and unnameable realities behind the protective illusions of common vision…he crawled and rolled desperately away over the damp pavement where dozens of Tartarean wells poured forth their exhausted whining and yelping to answer his own insane cries.”

Good stuff.

Now, I didn’t think this was H.P.’s strongest work. Lovecraft himself was a bit disappointed with this book, calling it a “cumbrous, creaking bit of self-conscious antiquarianism” and neglecting to publish it during his lifetime. The (relatively) long length of this story does give Lovecraft a little too much time to dwell on antiquarian matters, like colonial architecture, and there’s the occasional racist moment (a black cat named Nig, for example) that may make the book feel uncomfortably dated to modern readers. But the story picks up in the second half, and I did end up enjoying it. As I mentioned, if you like H.P.’s other work, chances are you will too. 3 stars, recommended.(less)

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Jun 26, 2011 CJ rated it 2 of 5 stars

9 June... been reading this for a couple days, in between my writing and other tasks. It's the only major Lovecraft work that I haven't read. So far, I still have to say I like In the Mountains of Madness more, but then again, that's a hard act to follow. At least I've made it out of the flashback/ historical section of the book.

20 June... Finally finished it, and I really think the only reason I did was because it was the only major Lovecraft work I hadn't read. Honestly, the only decent part o...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Lou rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is really a great story with the usual elements that a reader of H. P. Lovecraft can expect (well, dark powers and secrets are maybe less threatening here than in his other books). It is a novel, not a short story but as the narrator tells a story inside another story, it allows Lovecraft to use his usual technique. The only flaw is the lack of consistency between the different parts from an aesthetic point of view. The imbrication of the life of Joseph Curwen in...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Lyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft is definitely one of his best works and this is a high compliment, as I have liked almost all that I have read from him. This work, first published in 1927, combines most of the themes common to his works: occult, arcanery, unspeakable nighttime horrors, deep dark pits with unknown creatures, etc. even some hints of the Cthulu cult. The other element of this book that is noteworthy is the scope of influence that Lovecraft created. Innumerable hor...more

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About H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.

Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a...more

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Books by H.P. Lovecraft

The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories

At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror

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“Whilst never actually rebuffing a visitor, he always reared such a wall of reserve that few could think of anything to say to him which would not sound inane.” — 3 people liked it

“With hidden powers of unknown extent apparently at his disposal, Curwen was not a man who could safely be warned to leave town.” — 2 people liked it

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