The Mystery of the Grave-Yard

by H.P. Lovecraft

"The Mystery of the Grave-Yard" is a story story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) — known as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Virtually unknown and only published in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre. Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his life. His father was confined to a mental institution when Lovecraft was three years old. His grandfather, a wealthy businessman, enjoyed storytelling and was an early influence. Intellectually precocious but sensitive, Lovecraft began composing rudimentary horror tales by the age of eight, but suffered from overwhelming feelings of anxiety. He encountered problems with classmates in school, and was kept at home by his highly strung and overbearing mother for illnesses that may have been psychosomatic. In high school, Lovecraft was able to better connect with his peers and form friendships. He also involved neighborhood children in elaborate make-believe projects, only regretfully ceasing the activity at seventeen years old. Despite leaving school in 1908 without graduating — he found mathematics particularly difficult — Lovecraft had developed a formidable knowledge of his favored subjects, such as history, linguistics, chemistry, and astronomy. Although he seems to have had some social life, attending meetings of a club for local young men, Lovecraft, in early adulthood, was established in a reclusive 'nightbird' lifestyle without occupation or pursuit of romantic adventures. In 1913 his conduct of a long running controversy in the letters page of a story magazine led to his being invited to participate in an amateur journalism association. Encouraged, he started circulating his stories; he was 31 at the time of his first publication in a professional magazine. Lovecraft contracted a marriage to an older woman he had met at an association conference. By age 34, he was a regular contributor to newly founded Weird Tales magazine; he turned down an offer of the editorship. Lovecraft returned to Providence from New York in 1926, and over the next nine months he produced some of his most celebrated tales including "The Call of Cthulhu", canonical to the Cthulhu Mythos. Never able to support himself from earnings as author and editor, Lovecraft saw commercial success increasingly elude him in this latter period, partly because he lacked the confidence and drive to promote himself. He subsisted in progressively straitened circumstances in his last years; an inheritance was completely spent by the time he died at the age of 46.

Genres: Lovecraftian, Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Mystery, Cthulhu Mythos, Fantasy

First published January 1, 1898

About the author

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.

Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.

Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

— Wikipedia

Reviews

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Mystery of the Grave-Yard is Lovecraft's attempt to write a mystery. It is so ridiculously silly with its short chapters and its all-over-the-place story that it ends up being entertaining.
Fortunately for us Lovecraft had stuck to horror stories.

[Brid Baas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

Todo ocurre con demasiada prisa y las ideas de no se llegan a formar del todo.

**Actualización**

Acabo de enterarme que Lovecraft escribió esto a los 8 años 🤡🤡
Si bien me falta información tiene la estructura de las novelas policiacas y me cobra sentido que falte información.
Recordatorio de que necesito leer más sobre el contexto y las circunstancias del autor al momento de escribir. Mi culpa 🙈

[Atlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

we have to give lovecraft credit for his imagination...I mean he was about 9 years old when he wrote this short story yet you find it detailed bretty good
His parents taught him well I must say :)

[Ujjwal Srivastava · Rating 1 out of 5]

What on earth was it!!?💀well just a poorly crafted mystery short story. Don't judge the author on the basis of this story tho-

[Liam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before continuing with my chronological reading of Lovecraft’s stories, I went right back to this one - from when he was 8 or 9 years old.

The plot and execution are hilarious, as you’d find in most stories created by young children. Lovecraft does have a vocabulary far beyond his years, but I have read more coherent stories from kids this age. Nevertheless, this was enjoyable and I do think some of the humour was intentional!

1.5-2 stars.

[Keith]

“The Mystery of the Grave-Yard” is the third oldest story by H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), written when he was eight years old. It is very weird and difficult to follow, as many stories by kids that age are. Perhaps the strangest part is that the detective character is named King John. He’s a citizen of England, so he’s not an actual monarch. Maybe “King” is his first name and “John” is his family name.

Title: “The Mystery of the Grave-Yard” or “A Dead Man’s Revenge: A Detective Story”
Author: H.P. Lovecraft
Year:1898
Genre: Fiction - Short story, horror
Word count: 1,276 words
Date(s) read: February 6, 2022
Reading journal entry # 29 in 2022

Link to the story:
The Mystery of the Grave-Yard

[Gabs 🫧 · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW! For an early work, probably of a child? That's dang good! The plot could have been more explored, but the main theme, the idea, the characters were there. Loved it, just wished it was a bit longer, but, well, what can you do.

[Carolina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way to convuloted, found the story complicated and hard to follow, because of the writing and the way things were presented

[Faizan · Rating 2 out of 5]

hahaha.. it was funny indeed.. dead man plan..

[Cissy Black_94 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Son 2,5 ⭐️
Un curioso caso de una venganza vecinal.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird, horror, short story by a master,with Great Narration!!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un buen relato.
Un hombre es enterrado y otro al cumplir su última voluntad, desaparece dentro de la tumba.

[Oleksandr Fediienko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Джозеф Бернз заповідав після своєї смерті зайти в його склеп і покласти там золоту кулю на позначене місце. Пастор Добсон так і робить, але зі склепу він не повертається - він просто зникає. До панни Добсон приходить загадковий пан Белл, який обіцяє за 10 тисяч доларів сказати, де перебуває її батько. Вона телефонує в поліцію і, хоч пан Белл намагається втекти, але його ловлять. Під час суду в залу входить пастор Добсон. Виявляється, його тримали в потаємній кімнаті в склепі.

[Josh Angel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I was working on a chronological read-thru of HP Lovecraft and this story cured me of that idea. Holy crap, his early writings are really bad. Like, it reminds me of the stories I wrote in elementary school. Seriously, this reads like it was written by a grade-schooler, and a not very talented one at that.

I've decided I'll be jumping around and reading his later works where he has (hopefully) improved his craft, as well as focusing exclusively on his Cthulhu mythos stories.

[Sean Harding · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Clovecraft-afloat (another new name) sails on with story number three.
This was apparently written when he was nine years old, and that is clearly seen.
He had some sort of obsession with secret caves and passages and the like, but maybe that is his age.
The plot os a bit all over the place and the chapters are very short.
Ha! Maybe it is really a James Patterson book?

[AsimovsZeroth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been reading Lovecraft's works chronologically. I had no idea that this meant I'd be starting with shorts he wrote as a child, but honestly, kinda impressive how much Lovecraft improved in such a short time. It's still clearly a story written by a child. It's all over the place really, but the development is fun to see.

[Daniel Peralta · Rating 1 out of 5]

ESP: El cuento me provoca flojera al momento de escribir una reseña sobre él, espero que esto sirva para hacer comprender a los lectores con qué se encontrarán.

ENG: The story makes me feel lazy when it comes to writing a review about it; I hope this helps readers understand what they'll encounter.

[Rachael · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot progression was horribly scattered and I couldn't render any theme or message, unlike his previous two works (which I found quite enjoyable). Keep in mind, though, he was only 9 when he wrote this.

[Esteban Martos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es el tercer cuento de Lovecraft, ahora lo podemos observar en su incursión a la novela policíaca con su velo de misterio, el detective para resolver un caso en un poblado pequeño; si realmente Lovecraft escribio este cuento siendo un niño de 8 años me parece impresionante.

[Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

El cuento en sí no es bueno pero para haberlo escrito un niño de 8 años está muy bien. La edición que leí es de un libro con varios cuentos de Lovecraft y es interesante ver cómo fue definiendo sus temáticas y mejorando su estilo

[Carlos Cash · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Lo que creí que era macabro, vergonzoso y atroz en realidad es maravilloso, iluminador y hasta “glorioso”. Mi juicio previo no fue más que una fase de la eterna tendencia humana a odiar, temer y aniquilar lo que sea “completamente distinto”.

H.P Lovecraft - El que susurra en la obscuridad

[Hernan J Amaiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Al momento de que esta historia fue creada, lovecraft tendría entre 7 y 8 años. La estructura, giros y conflictos que busca plantear son asombrosos si mantenemos presente su edad al escribirlo.

Más que terror, esto es una novela policiaca, se ve que aún no tenía definido su estilo.

[Thor The Redbeard · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

[Jordi · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,5/5
Es lo más interesante que tiene de pequeño, al menos en esta se esfuerza por intentar crear un misterio. Los resultados no son los mejores, pero vamos mejorando.

[Artem Denysenko · Rating 2 out of 5]

A total mess, cannot recommend anyone

[C.nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's amusing (not meant to be), and has to be read with the fact he was eight or nine at the time of writing in mind. It's not good, but I've read worse from people who were older.

[May_njah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this short story... the worst that I have read of Lovecraft.
At least is really short.

[FameL · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dizzy writing from 9 years old Lovecraft. I get it, he was a kid when was writing this story. But it doesn’t save the book from complete incompetence.

[Thomas Lemoine · Rating 2 out of 5]

LOL Lovecraft at ~9 is silly

[Hilde]

Meno on vähän kuin ala-astelaisen kirjoitelmavihkossa, mikä on ihan odotettavaa yhdeksänvuotiaana kirjoitetulle tekstille. :D