The Rats in the Walls

[Tets]

This is a general Topic about Lovecrafts early work The Rats in the Walls (written autumn 1923, published march 1924 in Weird Tales).

Lovecraft wrote, that the story was „suggested by a very commonplace incident — the cracking of wall-paper late at night, and the chain of imaginings resulting from it.“ The plot could be summarized as: „Horrible secret in crypt of ancient castle—discovered by dweller.“

It was republished twice (?) in Lovecarfts lifetime and in 1944 it was published in the Modern Library. Today its one of the best known works of Lovecraft.

J. C. Henneberger, Publisher of Weird Tales, told Lovecraft, that it was the best story he received so far. Robert E. Howard wrote about it: „The Climax of the story alone puts Mr. Lovecraft in a class by himself. […] He alone can paint pictures in shadows and make them terrifically real.“For August Darleth it was probably the best horror story since 1900. its one of Lovecrafts best Story, says Lin Carter, and Robert M. Price thinks, its a brilliant work. Also Stephen King or movie-directors like John Carpenter ("mind-blowing") and Guillermo del Toro appreciate the story.

ST Joshi writes about it (probably contains spoilers):

its „a nearly flawless example of the short story in its condensation, its narrative pacing, its thunderous climax, and its mingling of horror and poignancy.“ ... „It is clearly the best of Lovecrafts fictional works prior to 1926; and in its rich texture, complexity of theme, and absolute perfection of short-story technique it need not fear comparsion even with The Fall of the House of Usher or any other of Poes masterpieces.“ „[…] next to The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, it is Lovecrafts greatest triumph in the old-time „Gothic“ vein – allthough even here the stock Gothic features (the ancient castle with a secret chamber; the ghostly legendry that proves to be founded on fact) have been modernized and refined so to be wholly convincing. And the fundamental premise of the story – that a human being can suddenly reverse the course of evolution – could only have been written by one who had accepted the darwian theory“.

 

[Tets]

I have two questions regarding the first publication of The Rats in the Walls. Was this Story under the first 5 submissions which Lovecraft sent to Weird Tales at once? And do we know how much money Lovecraft earned for this story?

 

[w h pugmire esq]

The stories that Lovecraft first sent to Weird Tales were "Dagon," "Arthur Jermyn," "The Cats of Ulthar," "The Hound" and "The Statement of Randolph Carter." They were returned for retyping in double-space format, and HPL retyped "Dagon" and sent it in alone; and after it was accepted he retyped the others. I can find no listing of how much it sold for, although it seems likely that HPL would have mentioned this in his correspondence, so I'll keep looking. I always think of this as an early tale in Lovecraft's fictive career, but when one looks at the list of the tales he had already penned before writing "Rats" it's an impressive list of titles, including:
"The Tomb"
"Dagon"
"Beyond the Wall of Sleep"
"The White Ship"
"The Statement of Randolph Carter"
"The Terrible Old Man"
"Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family"
"The Picture in the House"
"The Nameless City"
"The Outsider"
"The Music of Erich Zann"
"The Hound"
and "The Lurking Fear."

His first decade as a weird fantasist was quite accomplished.

 

[Tets]

hi. thanks for your reply. yes this is true, it isnt really an early work. i searched a bit and found this: The essay "Lovecraft and the Pulp Magazine Tradition" in: "An Epicure in the terrible: a centennial anthology of essays in honor of H.P. Lovecraft" states, that Lovecraft received 25$ for Colour Out of Space from Amazing Stories in 1927 - about 1/5 of the minimum payment from Weird Tales (~125$). But i thought i also heard, that he earned only15 bucks for Dagon. The most money he ever earned was for the dunwich horror, about 240$. The Rats in the Walls was the longest story he has ever written at that time, it was also the first story he has written for a professional magazine.

 

[Ningauble]

The most money he ever earned was for the dunwich horror, about 240$.

No, that's not right. He got $280 for "The Shadow out of Time" and $350 for "At the Mountains of Madness", minus Julius Schwartz's commission of $35.

 

[Tets]

sry, i didnt quote the source correct.

It [Dunwich Horror] paid him the largest amount he had seen so far from a pulp sale - $240

 

[j d worthington]

It was republished twice (?) in Lovecarfts lifetime and in 1944 it was published in the Modern Library.[...]

I assume you're referring to the Wise/Fraser edited Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural? This remains one of the landmark anthologies in the field and, if you've never had the pleasure of perusing it, I highly recommend it....

I would also have to be included as one of those who feels this is a near-perfect story in terms of structure and development; a truly masterful exhibition.

However, I would consider it, in some ways, an "early" work; not only as it came before the watershed story "The Call of Cthulhu", which was such a major turning point in his career, but also before he had worked out his aesthetic of the weird tale as well; and the bulk of his work was still before him....

 

[nomadman]

I never thought much of this story until a short while ago, though I'm not entirely sure why since it's a wonderfully well-written and atmospheric piece. Perhaps I felt it was too self-consciously gothic in tone, and thus perhaps less 'authentic' than his more cosmically oriented later tales. I don't know. At any rate, I now consider it one of Lovecraft's most technically accomplished stories, exceedingly well-structured and able to be read, understood and appreciated on a number of different levels.

 

[j d worthington]

I never thought much of this story until a short while ago, though I'm not entirely sure why since it's a wonderfully well-written and atmospheric piece. Perhaps I felt it was too self-consciously gothic in tone, and thus perhaps less 'authentic' than his more cosmically oriented later tales. I don't know. At any rate, I now consider it one of Lovecraft's most technically accomplished stories, exceedingly well-structured and able to be read, understood and appreciated on a number of different levels.

Have you ever read Prof. Barton L. St. Armand's analysis of the tale, The Roots of Horror in the Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft? It really is a superb piece of work, despite its occasional reliance on a Derlethian frame of reference. Given your statements above, I think you would find it both highly entertaining and thought-provoking....

 

[nomadman]

Have you ever read Prof. Barton L. St. Armand's analysis of the tale, The Roots of Horror in the Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft? It really is a superb piece of work, despite its occasional reliance on a Derlethian frame of reference. Given your statements above, I think you would find it both highly entertaining and thought-provoking....

No I haven't I'm afraid, and given a quick glance at the prices for copies I don't think I will. Could you give me the gist of it, at least as pertains to Rats, if that's not too much trouble?

 

[j d worthington]

Unfortunately, it isn't the sort of thing which I think can be reduced that way, as it is an in-depth analysis of "The Rats in the Walls" as, thematically, the quintessential Lovecraft story. It is the very richness of this examination which makes it such a notable piece. If you can land a copy through interlibrary loan, I would strongly suggest doing so....

 

[Fried Egg]

This is definitely one of my favourites, one of only two Lovecraft stories that I have (so far) re-read.

 

[EricWard]

This is the first Lovecraft story that I ever read (about 7 years ago) so I have a soft spot for it.

I distinctly remember putting down the book and being completely freaked out at the last page. Hooked from day one.