The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

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"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"
Author H. P. Lovecraft
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Horror novel
Published in Weird Tales
Publication type Periodical
edia type Print (aga!ine"
Publication date ay#$%ly &'(&
Halsey Ho%se at &() Prospect Street, *%ilt in &+)& *y ,olonel -homas Lloyd Halsey. -his served as the Ward
ho%se in the story.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a short novel (.&,.)) /ords" *y H. P. Lovecraft, /ritten in early &'01, *%t
not p%*lished d%ring the a%thor2s lifetime. Set in Lovecraft2s hometo/n of Providence, 3hode 4sland, it /as first
p%*lished (in a*ridged form" in the ay and $%ly iss%es of Weird Tales in &'(&5 the first complete p%*lication
/as in 6rkham Ho%se2s Beyond the Wall of Sleep collection (&'(7". 4t is incl%ded in the Li*rary of 6merica
vol%me of Lovecraft2s /ork.
-he novel tells the story of yo%ng ,harles 8e9ter Ward, /ho in &'&+ *ecomes em*roiled in the past, d%e to his
fascination /ith the history of his /i!ard ancestor, $oseph ,%r/en (/ho had left Salem for Providence in &:'0,
and ac;%ired notoriety for his ha%nting of graveyards, his apparent lack of aging, and his chemical
e9periments". Ward physically resem*les ,%r/en, and attempts to d%plicate his ancestor2s <a*alistic and
alchemical feats, event%ally locating ,%r/en2s remains and *y means of his =essential Saltes=, res%rrecting him.
Ward2s doctor, arin%s >icknell Willett, *ecomes enmeshed in Ward2s doings, investigating ,%r/en2s old
Pa/t%9et *%ngalo/ /hich Ward has restored. -he horrors of /hat Willett finds, and the cr%9 of the identities of
Ward and ,%r/en, form the hinge of horror on /hich the novel moves.
Contents
& 4nspiration
0 3eaction
7 Plot s%mmary
( ,haracters
o (.& ,harles 8e9ter Ward
o (.0 $oseph ,%r/en
(.0.& 8escription
(.0.0 6ssessment
o (.7 arin%s >icknell Willett
. ,ritical reception
: Literary references
1 ,th%lh% ythos
+ 6daptations
' ?ther appearances
&) 3eferences
&& E9ternal links
o &&.& Electronic te9ts
!nspiration
4n 6%g%st &'0., Lovecraft2s 6%nt Lillian sent him an anecdote a*o%t the ho%se at &() Prospect Street in
Providence. Lovecraft /rote *ack@ =So the Halsey ho%se is ha%ntedA UghA -hat2s /here Wild -om Halsey kept
live terrapins in the cellarBBmay*e it2s their ghosts. 6ny/ay, it2s a magnificent old mansion, C a credit to a
magnificent old to/nA=
D&E
Lovecraft /o%ld make this ho%seFren%m*ered as &)) ProspectFthe *asis for the
Ward ho%se in Charles Dexter Ward.
-he follo/ing month, Septem*er &'0., Lovecraft read Providence in Colonial Times, *y Gertr%de Sel/yn
Him*all, a &'&0 history that provided him /ith aspects of Charles Dexter Ward, s%ch as the anecdotes a*o%t
$ohn erritt and 8r. ,heckley.
D0E
6 possi*le literary model is Walter de la are2s novel The Return (&'&)", /hich Lovecraft read in midB&'0:.
He descri*es it in his essay =S%pernat%ral Horror in Literat%re= as a tale in /hich =/e see the so%l of a dead
man reach o%t of its grave of t/o cent%ries and fasten itself on the flesh of the living=.
D7E
-he theme of a descendant /ho closely resem*les a distant ancestor may come from Iathaniel Ha/thorne2s
The House of the Seven Gables, /hich Lovecraft called =Ie/ England2s greatest contri*%tion to /eird
literat%re= in =S%pernat%ral Horror in Literat%re=.
D(E
6nother proposed literary so%rce is . 3. $ames2 short story =,o%nt agn%s=, also praised in =S%pernat%ral
Horror in Literat%re=, /hich s%ggests the res%rrection of a sinister &1th cent%ry fig%re.
D.E
-he germ of inspiration came from Lovecraft reading ,otton ather and r%nning across a ;%ote from >orell%s.
>orell%s is Petr%s >orell%s aka 8r Pierre >orel a /ell kno/n French doctor and alchemist. -he ;%ote refers to
old e9periments of the alchemists in creating lifeJ re*irth from death %sing essential salts. -he entire ;%ote is as
follo/s@ =-he essential Saltes of 6nimals may *e so prepared and preserved, that an ingenio%s an may have
the /hole 6rk of Ioah in his o/n St%die, and raise the fine Shape of an 6nimal o%t of its 6shes at his Pleas%re5
and *y the lyke ethod from the essential Saltes of h%mane 8%st, a Philosopher may, /itho%t any criminal
Iecromancy, call %p the Shape of any dead 6ncesto%r from the 8%st /hereinto his >odie has *een
incinerated.=
D:E
"eaction
Lovecraft /as displeased /ith the novel, calling it a =c%m*ro%s, creaking *it of selfBconscio%s anti;%arianism=.
D1E
He made little effort to p%*lish the /ork, leaving it to *e p%*lished posth%mo%sly in Weird Tales *y 6%g%st
8erleth and 8onald Wandrei.
Plot su##ary
-he title character, ,harles 8e9ter Ward, is a yo%ng man from a prominent 3hode 4sland family /ho (in the
story2s introd%ction" is said to have disappeared from a mental asyl%m after a prolonged period of insanity
accompanied *y minor, *%t %nheardBof, physiological changes. His empty cell is fo%nd to *e ;%ite d%sty.
-he *%lk of the story concerns the investigation cond%cted *y the Wards2 family doctor, arin%s >icknell
Willett, in an attempt to discover the reason for Ward2s madness and the physiological changes. When Willett
learns that Ward had spent the past several years attempting to discover the grave of his illBrep%ted ancestor,
$oseph ,%r/en, the doctor slo/ly *egins to %nravel the tr%th *ehind the legends s%rro%nding ,%r/en, an
eighteenthBcent%ry shipping entreprene%r r%mo%red to have *een an alchemist, *%t in reality a necromancer and
massBm%rderer. 6 raid on ,%r/en2s farm is remarka*le for the sho%ted incantations, lights, e9plosions, and
some notB;%iteBh%man fig%res shot do/n *y the raiders. -he raiders soon s/ear any /itnesses to strict secrecy
a*o%t /hat they may have seen or heard.
6s Willett2s investigations proceed, he finds that ,harles had recovered ,%r/en2s ashes, and thro%gh the %se of
magical form%lae contained in doc%ments fo%nd hidden in the /i!ard2s former to/n ho%se in Providence,
3hode 4sland, /as a*le to call forth ,%r/en from his =essential saltes= and res%rrect him. Willett also finds that
,%r/en, /ho resem*les ,harles eno%gh to pass for him, has m%rdered and replaced his modern descendant and
res%med his evil activities. Unfort%nately for ,%r/en, d%e to c%lt%re shock, he is %na*le to entirely s%ccessf%lly
impersonate ,harles B his lack of %nderstanding of the modern /orld leads to him (as ,harles" *eing certified
insane and imprisoned in an asyl%m.
While ,%r/en is locked %p, Willett2s contin%ing investigations lead him to a *%ngalo/ in Pa/t%9et Killage,
/hich Ward had p%rchased %nder the infl%ence of ,%r/en. 4t t%rns o%t that this ho%se is on the site of the old
farm /hich /as ,%r/en2s head;%arters for his nefario%s doings5 *eneath is a vast catacom* that the /i!ard had
*%ilt to serve as his lair d%ring his previo%s lifetime. 8%ring a horrific Lo%rney thro%gh this la*yrinth,(the /orst
/as the deformed monster Willet sa/ in a pit in a vast room" Willet discovers the f%ll tr%th a*o%t ,%r/en2s
crimes and also the means of ret%rning him to the grave. 8%ring the e9pedition it is also revealed that ,%r/en
has *een engaged in a longBterm conspiracy /ith certain other necromancers (associates from his previo%s life
/ho have someho/ escaped death" to raise and tort%re the /orld2s /isest people in order to gain kno/ledge
that /ill let them gain horri*le po/er and threaten the f%t%re of mankind. Finally, /hile in ,%r/en2s la*oratory,
Willett accidentally raises an ancient *eing (its identity is not made clear" /hich is an enemy of ,%r/en and his
fello/ necromancers. -he doctor faints at this event%ality@ he /akes %p *ack in the *%ngalo/. Willett finds that
the entrance to the va%lts has *een sealed as if it had never e9isted, *%t finds a note from the *eing /ritten in
Latin in an 6ngloBSa9on hand telling him to kill ,%r/en and destroy his *ody.
6rmed /ith this kno/ledge, Willett confronts ,%r/en at the asyl%m and s%cceeds in reversing the spell,
red%cing the %ndead sorcerer once again to d%st, the d%st that /as mentioned at the start of the story. Ie/s
reports reveal that ,%r/en2s prime coBconspirators have met *r%tal deaths along /ith their ho%seholds and their
lairs have *een destroyed, pres%ma*ly the /ork of the *eing /hom Willett raised.
%ch of the plot is revealed in letters, doc%ments and other historical so%rces discovered *y *oth Ward and
Willett.
Characters
Charles Dexter Ward
Ward is *orn in &')05 he is 0: in &'0+, at the time the story takes place.
-ho%gh considered one of Lovecraft2s a%to*iographical characters, some details of the character seem to *e
*ased on William Lippitt a%ran, /ho lived in the Halsey ho%se and, like Ward, /as =/heeled...in a carriage=
in front of it. Like the Wards, the a%rans also o/ned a farmho%se in Pa/t%9et, 3hode 4sland.
D7E
$oseph Cur%en
Description
Ward2s ancestor, *orn in presentBday 8anvers, assach%setts, seven miles from Salem, on Fe*r%ary &+, &::0.
He flees to Providence from the Salem /itch trials in &:'0. He dies, at least temporarily, in &11& /hen he is
killed in the co%rse of a raid on his lair *y a gro%p of important Providence citi!ens /ho have got /ind of only
a fe/ of his crimes. 4n his first life, ,%r/en /as a s%ccessf%l merchant, shipping magnate, slave trader, and
highly accomplished sorcerer. His magical po/ers are e9tensive. He has perfected a method of red%cing the
effects of aging so that *y the time of his first death, /hen he /as over a cent%ry old, he still appeared to *e in
his early forties at the most. He has the a*ility to res%rrect the dead and converse /ith them, tho%gh to do so he
m%st either have the complete corpse or its =essential saltes,= since incomplete *odies only yield incoherent
a*ominations. He is a*le to s%mmon ,th%lh% ythos entities s%ch as the god MogBSothoth to assist him in his
magic. 4t also seems clear that he /as a*le to find a /ay to create a spell that /o%ld transcend time and inspire
a descendant to *ecome interested in him and his /ork and attempt to *ring him *ack sho%ld he ever *e slain.
,%r/en makes e9tensive %se of the res%rrection spell to gain historical and occ%lt kno/ledge. -o this end his
agents sco%r the graveyards and tom*s of the /orld for the corpses of ill%strio%s persons /hich are then
sm%ggled *ack to Providence, /here ,%r/en temporarily raises them to tort%re their secrets o%t of them. 4n this
endeavo%r he is assisted *y t/o fello/ necromancers and Salem e9iles5 $edediah J Simon ?rne, alias $oseph
Iadek, /ho lives in Prag%e, and Ed/ard H%tchinson, /ho mas;%erades as >aron Ferenc!y in -ransylvania.
-hese three, and an %nkno/n accomplice in Philadelphia, are engaged in a vast conspiracy to %se their illB
gotten kno/ledge to achieve ever greater po/ers for themselves.
When later res%rrected *y Ward, ,%r/en initially goes in disg%ise as =8r. 6llen= to avoid s%spicion *eing
aro%sed *y his close resem*lance to Ward. -he %ndead ,%r/en sho/s vampiristic tendencies, attacking local
travellers and *reaking into ho%ses to drink the *lood of the inha*itants. 4t is not e9plicitly spelled o%t that the
vampirism is a conse;%ence of the spell, *%t ,%r/en is overheard arg%ing that =it m%st *e red for three
months,= implying that the large ;%antities of meat and animal *lood that =6llen= and Ward order from the local
*%tcher shops are not s%fficient to s%stain the ne/ly revived /i!ard. ,%r/en immediately makes contact /ith
?rne and H%tchinson, /ho have *een alive and active all the /hile, and starts %p his old plots once again. He
soon m%rders Ward /hen he starts having do%*ts a*o%t /hat they are doing and ass%mes his identity.
Assess#ent
,%r/en is a man of great c%nning, foresight and intelligence5 he is also a man of *o%ndless arrogance and
cr%elty. 6side from his *lack magic and grave ro**ery, ,%r/en never hesitates to stoop to m%rder, tort%re or
*lackmail to achieve his ends5 he also %ses B and kills B vast n%m*ers of living slaves as s%*Lects for his
e9periments. He is, in s%m, %tterly evil.
4ntrig%ingly, the %ltimate goal of ,%r/en2s activities is not completely specified and its interpretation is largely
left to the reader. -he activities themselves leave no room for do%*t@ res%scitating consciences or /hole
corporeal forms of longBdef%nct /ise men in order to o*tain privileged intelligence *y means of ver*al
interaction. -he nat%re or the %se for the information th%s e9tracted, ho/ever, is not f%lly disclosed. 4t seems
clear, ho/ever, that his p%rs%its are at least remotely akin to those of Wil*%r Whateley and his grandfather,
pro*a*ly /ith a far larger psychopathic andJor megalomaniac component, /hile his ;%est for immortality
thro%gh a descendent is reminiscent of Ephraim Waite2s and 3ichard >illington2s. -he closest thing to a
description of ,%r/en2s aims is contained in a passage descri*ing the ashes central to his e9periments@
Could it be possible that here lay the mortal relics of half the titan thiners of all the a!es" snatched by
supreme !houls from crypts #here the #orld thou!ht them safe$ and sub%ect to the bec and call of
madmen #ho sou!ht to drain their no#led!e for some still #ilder end #hose ultimate effect #ould
concern$ as poor Charles had hinted in his frantic note$ &all civilisation$ all natural la#$ perhaps even
the fate of the solar system and the universe&'
-his am*ig%ity also affects, nota*ly, the e9act circ%mstances of ,%r/en2s =first= death. 4t is evident he /as
*etrayed and pro*a*ly killed *y the entity s%mmoned in his defense d%ring the siege to the hidden gro%nds of
his farm, *%t the identity of this *eing, as /ell as its possi*le connection /ith MogBSothoth (/hose name is
mentioned in the incantations" is left open to spec%lation. 4t is significant, ho/ever, that its irr%ption d%ring the
confrontation elicits a =6n %nmistaka*le h%man sho%t or deep chor%sed scream=, as /ell as =a yell of %tter,
%ltimate fright and stark madness DthatE /renched from scores of h%man throatsFa yell /hich came strong and
clear despite the depth from /hich it m%st have *%rst=, and that the participants of the raid are left /ith
psychological se;%els far *eyond those e9pected in any episode of %nconventional /arfare. (-he participants
/ere s/orn to secrecy, *oth in oral and /ritten comm%nications, and only the noises, lights, a dead malformed
*ody, an animal roar and a sho%ted evil incantation /itnessed *y o%tsiders, give any cl%e to /hat /ent on."
$oseph ,%r/en may *e inscri*ed in the line of characters in Lovecraft stories, incl%ding *oth villains and
antiheroes, nota*le for their individ%alistic or egocentric demeanor, prominent social standing /ithin a closed
parochial comm%nity, higherBthanBaverage intelligence or charisma and %s%ally lo/ moral standards, /ho
manage to deal actively /ith evil, %nkno/n forces /hile at the same time avoiding the negative sideBeffects of
s%ch activitiesFeven if the latter do affect a varia*le n%m*er of innocent people, as /ell as their o/n direct
descendants or people related to them. F%rther e9amples of this archetype in Lovecraft are ?*ed arsh, 6liLah
>illington, Ephraim Waite and Walter de la Poer and, to a lesser e9tent, ?ld Whateley.
Parallel to his evil p%rs%its, he also feigns some degree of civic spirit and decency5 for instance, he contri*%tes
to the f%nding of many %r*anistic e9pansion proLects of his to/n and treats his /ife /ith remarka*le grace and
co%rtesy. 4t is strongly implied this is all part of a clever r%seFa social gam*it aimed at prod%cing an heir, as
/ell as improving his p%*lic image to avoid forced displacement. 4t is left %nclear /hether the fello/
necromancers he trades letters /ith are any less antisocial or achiavellian in their o/n close environments.
arinus &ic'nell Willett
(n H) P) *ovecraft +ncyclopedia compares Willett2s character to other =valiant co%nter/eightDsE= in Lovecraft
s%ch as -homas alone in =-he Horror at 3ed Hook= (&'0."
D0E
and Henry 6rmitage in =-he 8%n/ich Horror=5
like Willett, 6rmitage =defeats the 2villains2 *y incantations, and he is s%scepti*le to the same fla/sBBpomposity,
arrogance, selfBimportanceBBthat can *e seen in Willett.=
D+E
Critical reception
Writing in the ,e# -or Times revie/er William Poster descri*ed Ward as =a good story in the Ie/ England
/itchcraft tradition, /ell seasoned /ith alchemy, vampirism, ancient doc%ments and m%mmyBstealing=.
D'E

Horror historian Les 8aniels called The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Lovecraft2s =finest novel=.
D&)E
E. F. >leiler
noted that the short novel, =despite its *eing strangely tired and ro%tine, has interesting concepts and good
moments=.
D&&E
>aird Searles fo%nd that =HPL2s great kno/ledge of Ie/ England history provides a convincing
*ackgro%nd= for the story.
D&0E
Literary references
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward contains reference to a n%m*er of *ooks and a%thors, *oth real and fictitio%s.
ost of them are presented in chapter 44, /hen $oseph ,%r/en2s &1thBcent%ry li*rary is *eing inspected *y r.
errit. -hey incl%de@
Paracels%s
6gricola
Kan Helmont
Sylvi%s
Gla%*er
>oyle
>oerhaave
>echer
Stahl
<anoonBeB4slam
Hermes -rismegist%s (in esnard2s edition"
-%r*a Philosophor%m
Ge*er2s Li*er 4nvestigationis
D&7E
6rtephi%s2s Hey of Wisdom
Nohar
6l*ert%s agn%s (in Peter $ammy2s edition"
3aymond L%lly2s 6rs agna et Ultima (in Netsner2s edition"
3oger >acon2s -hesa%r%s ,hemic%s
Fl%dd2s ,lavis 6lchimiae
-rithemi%s2s 8e Lapide Philosophico
the Iecronomicon (fictional"
4n a moment in /hich 8r. Willett2s mind is conf%sed and, trying to avert the infl%ence of dark invocations *y
%ttering the Lord2s Prayer, he mi9es them %p, the res%lt is descri*ed as =a mnemonic hodgeBpodge like the
modernistic Waste Land of r. -. S. Eliot=.
Cthulhu ythos
Charles Dexter Ward contains the first mention of the ,th%lh% ythos entity MogBSothoth, /ho appears
repeatedly as an element in an incantation. $oseph ,%r/en is the o/ner of a copy of the ,ecronomicon
(disg%ised as a *ook la*elled .anoon/e/0slam" and there are hints of c%lt activities in a fishing village that refer
o*li;%ely to the events narrated in =-he Festival=. -he story also contains references to the 8ream ,ycle@ 8r.
Willett notices the =Sign of Hoth= chiselled a*ove a door/ay, and remem*ers his friend 3andolph ,arter
dra/ing the sign and e9plaining its po/ers and meaning.
>rian L%mley e9panded on the character of >aron Ferenc!y, mentioned *%t never met in The Case of Charles
Dexter Ward, in his ,ecroscope series, specifically >ook 4K@ 8eadspeak, /here $anos Ferenc!y %ses the MogB
Sothoth form%la to call forth /hole *odies from ash remains, and to ret%rn them to that state.
When 8e9ter2s mom hears chanting (=per adonai eloim, adonai Lehova, adonai sa*aoth, metraton on agla
mathon, ver*%m pythonic%m, mysteri%m salamandrae, convent%s sylvor%m, antra gnomor%m, daemonia coeli
gad, almo%sin, gi*or, Lehos%a, evam, !ariatnatmik, veni, veni, veni.= translated to if it /as Latin =*y 6donai,
Eloi, 6donai $ehovah, 6donai hosts metraton on Egla /as appointed, divining the mystery of the salamander, a
meeting of the forests, caves, gnomes, devils, heaven Gad almo%sin, gi*or ?shea, Eve, !ariatnatmik, come,
come, come.=" this chanting is referencing the =mystery of the salamander= /hich is also mentioned in other
short stories.