The novella’s length is perfect to describe the many ways Ward deteriorates. The focus shifts to Dr. Willett as the primary witness and driver of the remainder of the plot. British writer/director Julian Simpson who’s directed episodes of Doctor Who and Hotel Babylon happens to be an avid fan of radio dramas…. Charles’s father declares that Charles looks like an old man, not a youth of 26. And even though Curwen has a daughter, we don’t get to see him interacting with her. We had real entertainment! At last, it’s up to Dr. Willett to employ what occult knowledge he can summon to deal with Joseph Curwen himself. 4.5 inks, Book review, Fantasy, fiction, horror, HP Lovecraft, Novella, suspense, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. We get to watch as this research consumes Ward, literally changing him. Lovecraft Historical Society which stayed faithful to the time period of the source material, Simpson’s production presents “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” in the style of a modern true-crime podcast like Serial. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. He receives letters from friends who appear to enjoy a similar ageless state. Her concerns about Charles are disregarded–it’s just a phase the boy is going through–until she begins chanting herself and has a nervous collapse. It makes it easier to hate him. This adds an extra layer of realism to the production, to be sure. Subscribe to The Mystery Machine podcast. When Ward takes up Curwen’s mantel of research and inquiry the whole town, especially Ward’s father and Dr. Marinus Bicknell Willett, grow intrigued and repulsed by the sudden change that overcomes the young man. He’s known Charles from birth–delivered him, in fact–and notes that a birthmark on Charles’s hip is now gone, and that there’s a large mole on his chest that wasn’t there before. The portrait of Curwen in Charles’s room crumbles to pieces. But the most peculiar thing about Curwen is that he doesn’t seem to age. We get to truly see how the madness develops. If this had been another short story crucial points may have been overlooked, but perhaps the ending would have been more shocking. With this proof that Curwen is doing something far more unspeakable than necromancy with dead bodies, a surprise raid on the farm follows. H.P. The BBC’s adaptation of The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward works because it reminds us of a key aspect in understanding HP Lovecraft: the open source nature of his work. Come find out about the Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Liz’s Book Report: The Beauty of Horror Coloring Book Series, Eric’s Nightstream Review: May the Devil take You Too (2020), Eric’s Nightstream Review: The Night (2020), Mike’s Nightstream Review: The Hunted (2020), Mike’s Nightstream Review: The Queen of Black Magic (2020), Mike’s Nightstream Review: Leap of Faith William Friedkin on the Exorcist (2020), Sharon’s Book Report: The House Next Door, Joseph’s Review: Exit (Twisted Dreams Film Festival), Joseph’s Review: Girl (Celebration of Fantastic Fest), The Scariest Things Staff Members Choose Their Most Anticipated Films from Nightstream, Amy’s Review: Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel, Amy’s Review: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006). Though it is longer than other Lovecraft tales, it is worth the read. What made this man mad? Curwen is not painted in a kind light and we feel prejudiced towards this character from the beginning. “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” is binge material of the highest order. His work must be destroyed immediately and the raid on the old Curwen farm repeated. Then Charles suddenly sends a frantic letter to the doctor saying that he was wrong: the result of his experiments is “not triumph, but terror.” The knowledge he’s gained is dangerous not only to himself but to “all life, nature,” and even the entire universe. At least it did for me. The podcast — currently available for free from BBC Radio 4 — is a modern take on the short horror novel of the same name written by Lovecraft in early 1927. In addition to being the author of numerous short stories, reviews, essays, and period mystery novellas, she is also the author of a series of fantasy novels set in a dukedom called the Northlands on an alternate Earth whose history has diverged from ours somewhere during the medieval period. As they gather evidence about the nature of Charles’s and Joseph Curwen’s work and its results, the two men are eventually forced to acknowledge to each other that they believe it’s all true, and not the product of Charles’s deranged mind. The doctor gives her a strong sedative and sends her away to Atlantic City to recover. “You gave them all those old-time stars,Through wars of worlds invaded by Mars.You made ’em laugh, you made ’em cry.You made us feel like we could fly.”Queen, Radio Ga Ga (1986), Back in my day we didn’t have no fancy telly-vision sets or them “talkies” you kids go on and on about. He repeated Curwen’s experiments and, after coming of age, he took up with mysterious companions who aided him in his secret work. Where did he go? Find out what made the man mad. Dr. Allen has disappeared. detail emotions and scenery. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! No, sir. There was no point in kind of going “we’ve got this amazing story from the 1920s that we’re going to tell you,” because it doesn’t have any resonance to the present day and doesn’t have any urgency to it. The blacksmith’s grave is empty. From H.P. The suspense practically drips off the page in green ooze. The answers to the crucial mysteries that were to be revealed in the last couple pages were already blatantly obvious to me, thus ruining the ending. Charles has moved out of the family home and is working in a bungalow aided by a Portuguese servant named Gomes (which is curiously pronounced to rhyme with “homes” rather than like Morticia Addams’s husband) and a mysterious colleague, the bearded and perpetually sunglassed Dr. Allen. Fifteen killer plant movies... you know they have it in for us, right? As much as we wish we could scream into the book for this young man to stop his incessant searching we cannot and so Ward searches on and discovers more than any young man should. ( Log Out / We already know of the horrors Curwen unleashed and we get to see Ward’s obsession with Curwen. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. ! There are at least two rather loose film adaptations of this story–two that I’ve seen, anyway: In both films, Ward is a much more mature man than the character in Lovecraft’s tale. She also hears sounds of chanting at all hours, and odder still, what seem to be conversations even though Charles is in his room alone. He’s recognized as a local blacksmith who died years ago, and the doctor who performs an autopsy confirms that he’s been dead for a very long time. With the advent and adoption of TV the days of the radio drama were numbered… or were they? Knowing Lovecraft, they will surely be gruesome and gut-wrenching. Part 1 begins with a prologue at the asylum, as Dr. Willett (Barry Lynch) discusses the peculiarities of Charles’s case with Charles’s distraught father and the hospital staff. When Charles has the panels the portrait is painted on removed to take home with him, he makes a more important discovery: behind the painting is a hidden recess containing Curwen’s own private journal and notes about his experiments. Charles’s life during this period grows more secretive and strange; Dr. Willett and Mr. Ward only hear of it second-hand from gossiping neighbors around the bungalow. ( Log Out / Other odors, however, aren’t at all pleasant. The last straw is when a large naked man is found dead in the snow; his footprints indicate that he escaped from Curwen’s farm and he was seen running the night before.
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