https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/The_Thing_on_the_Doorstep?oldid=35599. "Where cosmic forces usually overtake the typical Lovecraft hero such as Peaslee by chance, here Derby has only his own weak personality to blame for his falling victim to his wife's nefarious designs."[6]. Lovecraft Historical Society adapted the story for an episode of their radio show, Dark Adventure Radio Theatre in 2016. "The Thing on the Doorstep" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror fiction. Full story Lovecraft, “The Thing on the Doorstep” is a dark trip into the world or the supernatural. A few months later, Derby shows up at Upton's door and says he's found a way to keep Asenath away; to stop her using his body. Series Upton is later called to pick up Derby, who has been found in Chesuncook, Maine, rambling incoherently. A few months later, Derby shows up at Upton's door and says he has found a way to keep Asenath away and to stop her from using his body, implying some sort of spell or ritual. In the Gothic literature “The Thing on the doorstep” Asenath, the woman in the short story, feels as if she is not a whole human. [12] Robert Weinberg deprecates "The Thing on the Doorstop" as "not one of his [Lovecraft's] best stories"[13] and S.T. Despite this, Asenath had managed to take control of his body while he was in the Sanitarium, meaning that "the thing on the doorstep" was actually Derby inhabiting Asenath's liquefying corpse. Cthulhu Mythos The title of Derby's book suggests that Lovecraft had Clark Ashton Smith in mind, who won acclaim at the age of nineteen when he published a book of poetry called The Star-Treader and Other Poems (1912). Ephraim Waite is the aged father of Asenath Waite. Country Edward Pickman Derby, the protagonist of the story, is a poet and husband of Asenath Waite. 1 Biography 2 Description 3 Gender Significance 4 Gallery 5 Behind the Mythos She was born in 1905 to Ephraim Waite and an unnamed mother who "always went veiled." Upton then tells of Asenath Waite, a female classmate of Derby's at Miskatonic University. On the trip back, Derby tells of Asenath using his body, and is certain that it is in fact Ephraim who resides in the body of Asenath. A few years later, people start to notice odd changes in Derby's abilities. The sanitarium calls Upton to tell him that Derby's "reason has suddenly come back," though upon visiting Upton can see it is not the true personality of Derby, but the person he had encountered on the ride home. Lovecraft. "Kamog" is Ephraim Waite's secret name in the coven. A new psychological horror film based on the short story by H.P. The Innsmouth Thing : Monstrous Androgyny in H. P. Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep ... Asenath's whole character development is encapsulated within the condition of "Thing-ness" (28). A visit from a grotesque and stunted creature in a trenchcoat brings horrifying news about which one triumphed in the end. Occasionally he is driven back by a chauffeur or mechanic while he huddles in the back seat of the car. I mean she could. "The Thing on the Doorstep" also gets criticized for being such a "simplistic" horror story written so late in Lovecraft's career - right around the same time he was also churning out really complex, cosmic horror stories like the Cthulhu Mythos. Howard Phillips Lovecraft, The Thing On The Doorstep December, 1933. HPL: The Thing on the Doorstep Like Upton, Pickman and Derby are both old Salem names. Combined with the fact that her mother was Ephraim's "unknown wife who always went veiled", there is a strong suggestion that Asenath is a Deep One hybrid of the sort described in Lovecraft's The Shadow over Innsmouth. Sometimes he drives off by himself, even though he has never been taught to drive. Upton is roused from his sleep by a knocking at his door, using Derby's old signal of three-and-two strokes. Bunce and Dalton are capable performers, but neither boasts the gravitas to carry the heavier moments. Two novels suggested as inspirations for "The Thing on the Doorstep" are Barry Pain's An Exchange of Souls (1911), about a scientist's invention that allows him to switch personalities with his wife, and H. B. Drake's The Remedy (1925; published in the U.S. as The Shadowy Thing), in which a character with the power of mind-transference comes back from the dead by possessing the body of an injured friend. Asenath Waite Derby is the wife of Edward Derby and the daughter of Ephraim Waite. Listen to The Thing on the Doorstep by Bookstream Audiobooks on Deezer. Asenath is also the name of a character in H. P. Lovecraft's short story, "The Thing on the Doorstep." The Thing on the Doorstep. Upton does so, thus hopefully banishing Asenath's soul to the hereafter, though he reveals that he is afraid of having his soul transferred as well. Daniel Upton, the story's narrator, begins by telling that he has killed his best friend, Edward Derby, and that he hopes his account will prove that he is not a murderer. A page for describing Fridge: Thing on the Doorstep. It is considered unlikely, however, that the typically self-deprecating Lovecraft was thinking of himself when he described Derby as a child prodigy and young literary sensation: He was the most phenomenal child scholar I have ever known, and at seven was writing verse of a sombre, fantastic, almost morbid cast which astonished the tutors surrounding him... Young Derby's odd genius developed remarkably, and in his eighteenth year his collected nightmare-lyrics made a real sensation when issued under the title Azathoth and Other Horrors. Daniel Upton's relationship with his friend Edward Derby is abruptly changed after Edward becomes romantically involved with Asenath Waite, a hypnotist with an odd reputation. Whenever Derby visited he always used the same knocking pattern of three strokes, a pause, and then two additional strokes on the knocker; Upton had always been able to identify Derby this way. Several days after they arrive at the Lonely Mountain, there is a new moon in the sky and the sun is setting. He then tells of Asenath Waite, and how Derby and she wed. A few years later, people start to notice a change in Derby's behaviour. Albert Wilmarth remarks in the story that Upton "has had a distinguished career ever since he was given a clean bill of mental health and discharged with a verdict of 'justified homicide'".[8]. The letter explains that Derby had in fact killed Asenath and buried her body in their cellar. [7], In Fritz Leiber's story "To Arkham and the Stars" (1966), Upton is credited with designing Miskatonic University's new Administration Building and the Pickman Nuclear Lab, described as "magnificent structures wholly compatible with the old quadrangle." Conversely, it is possibly the name of a non-human entity that possessed him and his family. In The Thing on the Doorstep and The Outsider, he depicts characters whose lives are severely constrained by forceful influences from malevolent or cruel superior beings, for whom escape by flight, or even through death, is ultimately impossible. Horror short story Daniel Upton, is story's narrator and the best friend of its protagonist, Edward Derby. The story revolves around the narrator Daniel Upton recounting the circumstances under which he was forced to kill his friend Edward Derby, who had dabbled too much in the dark arts and given up his body to an evil supernatural force with malign intentions. 0 Reviews Fewer than 50 Ratings You might also like. I shall go mad if he is not, for I may be the next. An only child, he had organic weaknesses which startled his doting parents and caused them to keep him closely chained to their side. The Thing on the Doorstep “She hasn't done anything drastic yet, Dan, but she might. Nyarlathotep Azathoth The Thing on the Doorstep The Call of Cthulhu The Haunter of the Dark, symbol, miscellaneous, flower, fictional Character png Set in 1930s in the legend haunted town of Arkham, Massachusetts, and based on the short story by horror legend H.P. Joshi, the preeminent Lovecraft scholar of our time, dwells on this story in a discussion of Lovecraft and sexuality: A native of Innsmouth, Asenath's home was generally avoided due to the boarded attic windows and "strange sounds sometimes floated from within as evening drew on." You can read the story here . First published in 1937 in “Weird Tales”, “The Thing on the Doorstep" is a horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Upton gets him to sleep, but with his condition getting no better, ends up committing him to Arkham Sanitarium. Weird Tales The Thing On the Doorstep last edited by fesak on 10/26/20 11:23AM View full history The Thing on the Doorstep College should be about new friends and new beginnings. The Thing On The Doorstep by H. P. Lovecraft "The Thing on the Doorstep" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror fiction. In The Thing on the Doorstep, the story is narrated in first-person. His health had improved, but his habits of childish dependence were fostered by over-careful parents, so that he never travelled alone, made independent decisions, or assumed responsibilities. Daniel Upton's relationship with his friend Edward Derby is abruptly changed after … Cover page spread of "The Thing on the Door-Step" as it appeared in, Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Shadow over Innsmouth, Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos, Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family, H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Thing_on_the_Doorstep&oldid=1013307696, Works originally published in Weird Tales, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Edward Derby, Asenath Waite, Daniel Upton, and elements from, This page was last edited on 20 March 2021, at 21:53. With David Bunce, Susan Cicarelli-Caputo, Mary Jane Hansen, Ron Komora. “The Thing on the Doorstep” is much more character-oriented than either “The Music of Erich Zann” or “Pickman’s Model.” Another story told in first person. A page for describing YMMV: Thing on the Doorstep. CHARACTERS: Lovecraft. But he should have realized that Asenath's (possibly Ephraim's) soul is partially detached from her body, and that the soul will live on until the body is cremated. Original publication illustration, praised by Lovecraft. ***This film is under license from KDMG Distribution. Howard Phillips Lovecraft Lovecraft seems fond of telling a story from a bystander’s point of view. I chose to adapt The Thing on the Doorstep, not only because it was one of the easier of Lovecraft’s works to translate, but because it is my very favorite of his stories. Genre(s) "[14], L. Sprague de Camp offers a more balanced view, describing the tale as "in the middle rank of Lovecraft's stories: below his best but far above the Weird Tales average," adding that "Lovecraft paid more heed than usual to character in this story"[15]. ← Previous According to Robert M. Price, the model for Waite was real-world occultist Arthur Edward Waite, best known for the Rider-Waite Tarot deck.[11]. So as a story ‘the Thing on the Doorstep’ is a good read, it’s different enough from his others to stand out, it certainly has memorable well written characters in it, characters who feel more alive and real than some of Lovecraft’s more stifled characterizations. "The Thing on the Doorstep" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror fiction. Contains adult language; recommended for mature audiences. She will.” In Lovecraft's only story to prominently feature a female character, Daniel Upton stands charged with the brutal murder of his best friend, the sensitive poet Edward Derby. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales. Lovecraft's fiction. The thing stops moving. It captivates me because the eldritch horror depicted therein comes closer to every day society than any other tale of his—and because of this, the final revelation is made even more shocking. Upton, at home, is greeted by a fetid-smelling dwarf-like figure at the door carrying a letter from Derby. He was of good height, and his handsome face would have made him a notable gallant had not his shyness held him to seclusion and bookishness. Derby's parents took him abroad every summer, and he was quick to seize on the surface aspects of European thought and expression. "The Thing on the Doorstep" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe. Two novels suggested as inspirations for "The Thing on the Doorstep" are Barry Pain's An Exchange of Souls (1911), about a scientist's invention that allows him to switch personalities with his wife, and H. B. Drake's The Remedy (1925; published in the U.S. as The Shadowy Thing), in which a character with the power of mind-transference comes back from the dead by possessing the body of an injured friend. In the morning, Upton goes to the sanitarium and shoots Derby’s body. Peter Cannon wrote two sequels to "The Thing on the Doorstep": “The Revenge of Azathoth” (1994) and “The House of Azathoth” (1996). Derby tries to hint at how he believes that Asenath's late father, Ephraim Waite, may not actually be dead. Joshi, the preeminent Lovecraft scholar of our time, dwells on this story in a discussion of Lovecraft and sexuality: "The Evil Clergyman". According to Peter Cannon, "Most critics agree that 'The Thing on the Doorstep'" ranks among "the poorest of Lovecraft's later tales." It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales. on the trip back, Derby tells of Asenath using his body, and suggests that it is in fact Ephraim who resides in the body of Asenath. Lovecraft's depiction of Derby's childhood is considered to be in large part autobiographical: In self-reliance and practical affairs, however, Derby was greatly retarded because of his coddled existence. Thing On The Doorstep. Upton receives another visit from Derby, who begins raving about his wife and father-in-law and how he can still feel her, him, it, clawing at his mind while he sleeps, trying to get hold of him. Derby's correspondence with "the notorious Baudelairean poet Justin Geoffrey" is an homage to the Robert E. Howard Cthulhu Mythos story "The Black Stone" (1931). Derby had been interested in the occult even as a very young boy, which led to him befriending Upton. Daniel Upton, the story's narrator, begins by telling that he has killed his best friend, Edward Derby, and that he hopes his account will prove that he is not a murderer. ", Lin Carter likewise dismisses the tale as "curiously minor and somehow unsatisfying...a sordid little domestic tragedy...wholly lacking in the sort of cosmic vision that makes Lovecraft's best stories so memorable. In the Bible, Asenath is the wife of Joseph and the mother of Ephraim. As Edward's behavior becomes more erratic and events unexplainable, Daniel investigates. Upton is an old Salem, Massachusetts name, reflecting the fact that Arkham is largely a fictionalized version of Salem. It also has to be said Asenath is a well written character…. Two novels suggested as inspirations for "The Thing on the Doorstep" are Barry Pain's An Exchange of Souls (1911), about a scientist's invention that allows him to switch personalities with his wife, and H. B. Drake's The Remedy (1925; published in the U.S. as The Shadowy Thing), in which a character with the power of mind-transference comes back from the dead by possessing the body of an injured friend.[4]. The note implores Upton to go to the sanitarium to kill Derby, who has been permanently possessed by Asenath-Ephraim's soul and that he should cremate his body to prevent this happening again. United States There is, however, one story in which a woman figures prominently: “The Thing on the Doorstep” (1933; DH 276–302). "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." What lay behind our joint love of shadows and marvels was, no doubt, the ancient, mouldering, and subtly fearsome town in which we lived—witch-cursed, legend-haunted Arkham, whose huddled, sagging gambrel roofs and crumbling Georgian balustrades brood out … 1,609 likes. Despite his qualms Derby moves into the old Crowninshield House, with three servants from Innsmouth. Next → Two novels suggested as inspirations for "The Thing on the Doorstep" are Barry Pain's An Exchange of Souls (1911), about a scientist's invention that allows him to switch personalities with his wife, and H. B. Drake's The Remedy (1925; published in the U.S. as The Shadowy Thing), in which a character with the power of mind-transference comes back from the dead by possessing the body of an injured friend. Publisher Joshi in H. P. Lovecraft: A Life refers to it as "one of Lovecraft's poorest stories. Before finishing his story, Derby has a small seizure and rapidly changes personality, asking Upton to ignore what he might have just said. Author Precociously talented poet and scholar Edward Derby (Erick Robertson) begins exhibiting violent mood swings and changes in behaviour and personality not long after his marriage. Spoilers ahead. Lovecraft Wiki is a FANDOM Books Community. "The Thing on the Doorstep" is a short story written by H.P. After attending Harvard University and apprenticing with a Boston architect, he sets up his own practice in Arkham. One time, whilst visiting Upton, Derby starts and begins rambling again. A psychological horror film based on the short story by H.P. VIEW THE TRAILER HERE: www.thingonthedoorstepmovie.com Upton does so, though he reveals that he is afraid of having his soul transferred as well. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales. She will.” In Lovecraft's only story to prominently feature a female character, Daniel Upton stands charged with the brutal murder of his best friend, the sensitive poet Edward Derby. Despite being an Innsmouth native, Ephraim appears to be entirely human as he had not transformed into a Deep One in his old age. Lovecraft described Winslow Upton, a Brown University professor, as a "friend of the family". Asenath - Wikipedia These include "Azathoth in Arkham" and "The Revenge of Azathoth", two sequels to " The Thing on the Doorstep "; "The Undercliffe Sentences", a takeoff on Ramsey Campbell ; and "The Madness Out of Space", originally presented as a "lost" story by Lovecraft. Lovecraft's depiction of Derby's childhood is considered to be in large part autobiographical:[3]. Language Upton gets a call, saying that Derby has regained normality, though upon visiting, Upton can see it's not the true personality of Edward Derby. The H.P. The note implores Upton to go to the sanitarium to kill Derby, who has now been permanently possessed by Ephraim's soul the way he imagines the original Asenath once was. Complete Monster: Ephraim Waite, the father of Asenath Waite, was a man affiliated with various dark … She is described as "dark, smallish, and very good looking except for over-protuberant eyes"—a look common to people from Asenath's hometown of Innsmouth. Derby's parents had always doted on him and he had a particular reliance on them, especially his mother. The author creates suspense and tension by divulging scanty details of the terrifying story and leaving the rest to imagination. [10] Ephraim Waite. online here In the midst of this story he abruptly stops, as if some hypnotic spell has come over him. I mean she could. Asenath had succeeded in taking control of his body while he was in the sanitarium, which means that "the thing on the doorstep" is actually Derby inhabiting Asenath's putrefying corpse. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales. Upton is called to pick up Derby who has been found in Maine, rambling incoherently. Though I loved many of the stories in this particular book, I enjoyed the other two volumes a lot more. "Out of the Aeons" with Hazel Heald "The Thing on the Doorstep" is a story written by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror fiction. of Lovecraft is the absence of female characters. Another possible model is Alfred Galpin, a friend of Lovecraft's who was eleven years his junior, whom he described as being "immensely my superior" in intellect. - H.P. "[9], Peter Cannon writes that Asenath Derby makes "The Thing on the Doorstep", "the only Lovecraft story with a strong or important female character"—although the question is complicated by the tale's "gender-swapping situation".[10]. Daniel Upton, the story's narrator, explains that he has killed his best friend, Edward Derby, and that he hopes his account will prove that he is not a murderer. -- H.P. Upton gets Derby to sleep, but then has him taken to a sanitarium in Arkham. The two would discuss dark mythology in their spare time. However, Upton sees a change in his eyes; he thinks they look like Asenath's eyes, then that they look perhaps more like Ephraim's eyes. Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Shadow over Innsmouth makes an oblique reference to "The Thing on the Doorstep" by referring to the Waites as a prominent Innsmouth family. And the corpse on the doorstep is identified as Asenath’s. Lovecraft returned to the theme of mind-transference in The Shadow Out of Time (1935). Their banter approaches cleverness in places, though never holds the interest enough to invest in the characters. This is the only work of Lovecraft's included in the Library of America's 2009 anthology American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps. Lovecraft. Fridge Horror The fact that "Asenath" not only spent some time going to a girls' school after her father … [5], Peter Cannon notes that the protagonist's character drives the plot of "The Thing on the Doorstep" more than in most Lovecraft stories. Stanley stood on the doorstep, shifting in an effort to keep out the cold. Lovecraft. He is married and, at about the age of 28, has a son, Edward Derby Upton. He begins by describing Derby's life and career. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. It had surprised him to find the iron gates open, but they had allowed his reluctant passage to the grand house’s entrance. Closely chained to their side volumes a lot more as well reflecting the fact Arkham! Changes personality, asking Upton to ignore what he might have just said an effort to keep out the.... 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