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| Heading to a trail behind my home, in Essex County. |
--HP Lovecraft
October is here and I couldn’t be happier. I love this time of year.
I live in Lovecraft Country. I’m surrounded by horrors.
To the west, Arkham University. To the east, Innsmouth and Kingsport.
The South, Salem, which needs no fictional fears. Along with Danvers State Mental Hospital. Or at least the façade, now that the main body has been turned into haunted condominiums.
For good measure, to the North is New Hampshire, home to America’s Stonehenge. Northwest is Vermont, setting of ‘The Whisperer in Darkness.”
I have read most of Lovecraft’s stuff, but it’s been a few years. So it always leaves me very pleased to see the plethora of local towns called out in the stories.
Newburyport, which I visit quite frequently. Rowley. Ipswich. Marblehead. Athol. Portland. We still have a handful of old Puritan homes with small dark windows and the long sloping roofs that nearly touch the ground, the haunted architecture that served as inspiration for stories like “The Picture in the House.”
I’m minutes away from some of these locations. In about 10 minutes I can be in Newburyport, home to several scenes in “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” My wife and I love to eat there and stroll along the wharf. In “Shadow” a decrepit bus takes passengers on a little-used route to Innsmouth, home of a strange, mutated race of fish-men and the Order of Dagon Hall.
Which makes it not impossible for a Deep One to have wandered over and taken up residence in this still pond just a short walk behind my house. Where I took these photos, today, while getting outside for fresh air.
These photos are a minor piece of Lovecraft Country.
Nothing too extraordinary, but in a few weeks they’ll look a whole lot more suitable as the orange and red leaves begin to pop. And perhaps a few Mi-Go. What’s that sound? Perhaps the Music of Erich Zann…
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| Home to a Deep One? |
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| Don't cross that gate... |
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| Alone on the path? |
7 comments:
Love this post. We are indeed lucky to be located in this area.
Thanks Paul! We sure are. These scenes are literally a hundred yards or less behind my house, on the McLaren trail.
Nice. I love my home state (CO), but I do miss the big trees of Indiana, and they would be one of things I would enjoy if I lived in your area.
Yeah, we've got some beautiful pines and maples and oaks behind my house. It's conservation land and allowed to run wild.
Quite different from where I live in New Mexico. I've only been to New England once, New Hampshire specifically, and I was a very little kid at the time so I barely remember it. I should take a trip there someday.
This does remind me of something else. While it's not quite New England, my best friend is from Upstate New York. She comes from a Polish family, and her grandmother used to tell her about beings from Slavic folklore like Baba Yaga and Leshy, which helped disuade her from wandering into the forests there. So it seems the Northeast does lend itself a fantastical quality.
New Hampshire is lovely! If you're ever planning a trip back to the area let me know. And yes, there is a fantastic quality to some parts of NE, particularly this time of year.
I've never made it that far north other than traveling through on my way toward a further destination. Thanks for sharing the beauty with which you live. Trees and forests make me happy with their beauty, peace, and lack of people. LOL
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