The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

Enkil · Post by **Enkil** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 7:52 am

Perhaps the greatest of Lovecraft's stories. I have never once read something so blasphemous in its implications and nuances. Honestly, last night I had distrubing dreams of it, and that hasn't happened in a looong time.

Eternities End · Post by **Eternities End** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:20 am

Man that story bored me a bit, the only really good part was when the talked about whats his face's life back in the 1700s, and the part where the guy found all those freaks, everything else is just filler...not bad though

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 3:28 pm

It had some awesome elements, but it could have been more concise. Whap a few dozen pages off it and it's perfect.

"Dream-Quest", however, is fucking terrible.

Eternities End · Post by **Eternities End** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 6:51 pm

Jesus Prime wrote:"Dream-Quest", however, is fucking terrible.

Your God damn right it is!

Enkil · Post by **Enkil** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 7:03 am

I've never had the balls to read one of Lovecrafts novels until I read the CDW a few days ago. The descriptions of the summonings, though indirect, were absolutely amazing. It's exactly how I pictured such a thing to happen in my mind.

Lovecraft was a goddamned genius.

E.A. Lovecraft · Post by **E.A. Lovecraft** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:54 pm

It's one of my favorite HPL stories as well. According to Wikipedia, HPL himself wasn't happy with it for basically the same reason others have mentioned. Makes you wonder how much better it would be if he had taken the time to rework it.

Eternities End · Post by **Eternities End** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:14 pm

Enkil wrote:I've never had the balls to read one of Lovecrafts novels until I read the CDW a few days ago.

I thought Lurker at the Threshold was his only real novel...

Enkil · Post by **Enkil** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:36 am

novel, novella, same shit. Didn't know Lurker at the Threshold was a novel though, never read it.

E.A. Lovecraft · Post by **E.A. Lovecraft** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:20 pm

Enkil wrote:Didn't know Lurker at the Threshold was a novel though, never read it.

Count yourself lucky; it's not a Lovecraft novel. Only about 2% of the book consists of Lovecraft's words, taken from unfinished story scraps that August Derleth got a hold of after Lovecraft's death.

Ulayoth · Post by **Ulayoth** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:44 am

I love DQoUK and the dream cycle stuff. Celephais and Ex Oblivione are faves.

Eternities End · Post by **Eternities End** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:53 pm

EEEWWWWWW!!!!!

wilum pugmire · Post by **wilum pugmire** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:58 pm

At 51,500 words, THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD is properly consider'd a "short novel" -- its superbly annotated text may be found in ye Penguin book, THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES. The strange thing is that when Lovecraft was submitting batches of stories to book publishers, they would tell him that they actually prefer'd a novel, if he had any. He hated typing, and so he never polished and typed WARD. As we have it, it's in rough draft -- and yet it is still an amazing achievement! Superbly imagined, plotted and penned, it is one of HPL's finest tales -- riveting, original, and haunting.

Eliza · Post by **Eliza** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:12 pm

The descriptions are what make it great, like all of Lovecraft's really good work. The way he described the fear that Willett felt when he was creeping around in the catacombs and he lost his lamp; that part actually gave me the heeby jeebies a bit. Not the story per se, but quite few scenes in it are down right brilliant.

Neither King nor Koontz nor Clive Barker has ever given me that sensation.

wilum pugmire · Post by **wilum pugmire** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:04 pm

There is nothing "filler" in the novel at all -- it is absolutely precise & very much a whole piece of work. It's fucking brilliant. I had my copy of the Penguin Classics edition of Lovecraft's works with me as I stood in front of the mansion described in the novel as the place where Charles spent his youth. The book's editor, S. T. Joshi, stood beside me. I don't know if any of you's collect the Audio Realms spoken word series, THE DARK WORLDS OF H. P. LOVECRAFT -- there are six volumes thus far. Volume Seven will be a COMPLETE reading of "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" -- so for those of you who don't want to have to wade through this long story, you can simply pop in ye cd and listen to it. Audio Lovecraft is brilliant! YOG-SOTHOTH!

motorheadanthrax · Post by **motorheadanthrax** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:04 am

this may be the best of lovecraft's stories beacause not only it is atmospheric and creepy but it has an awesome ending