One of the most well known people to come out of Providence Rhode Island, is horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Not only did he live in Providence for most of his life, but he loved the city deeply, and wrote about it with great frequency. Many of Lovecraft’s stories feature real homes in the city, and we can’t help but wonder if he knew something about those homes that their residents did not! One such story is that of The Shunned House, located on the East Side, this story ties the long history of lycanthropy in with the history of Providence itself.
Lovecraft wrote The Shunned House in 1924, but it was not published until over a decade later in 1937.
First published in fantasy and horror magazine, Weird Tales, The Shunned House tells the story of a young man who grew up playing in the backyard of a well known house in Providence.
As the narrator grows up he discovers that the house he spent so many evenings playing in the yard of, is not able to be rented because everyone who had tried to live there has either chosen to leave or grown terribly ill and died!
One previous servant in the Shunned House was from Exeter and she seemed to think that there was a vampire living in its walls that was making everyone ill.
This story was written not long after the Mercy Brown vampire incident in Exeter so it makes sense Lovecraft would incorporate it!
What our narrator and his uncle learn after a bit more reaserch though, is that the home is built on the grave of some members of the Roulet family who moved to Providence in the 1600's.
We may never know if Jacques was truly a werewolf, but according to the story, something of his spirit was certainly brought over with his relatives and took root in the cellar of the Shunned House.
You'll have to read the story yourself to know what became of the narrator and his uncle, but we can tell you that it is quite the tale. Whatever the relatives of this ancient werewolf left behind was certainly not friendly, but luckily our narrator and his uncle were terribly brave!
Though Lovecraft claims the Shunned House is safe now, we can’t help but still feel a little nervous having read this story! What do you think? Will you be walking past the Shunned House sometime soon?
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