The Terrible Old Man

by H.P. Lovecraft

The first story set in the fishing village of Kingsport, which is featured in the later works of the one of the greatest horror writers of all time.   It is rumored that the mysterious old man who lives alone in the small New England town was once a sea captain. It is also rumored that he is hoarding a treasure. When three robbers decide to steal it, they will encounter a bloodthirsty evil unlike any they ever imagined . . .   “The Terrible Old Man is the story of three career criminals looking to rob the eponymous character, an eccentric retired mariner so ancient that no one alive remembers his youth. . . . This is also the first story set in the fictional New England geography that Lovecraft will detail over the course of future writing. . . . So, what we see in these stories is Lovecraft beginning to construct the alternate world which will be the home to his most famous works, at least as much a unifying element of the author’s oeuvre as those details subsequent writers and critics have defined as the ‘Cthulhu Mythos.’ As such, The Terrible Old Man is not only an effective piece of eerie storytelling, it is also an important stepping stone in the development of a bigger Lovecraftian world.” —The Blood-Shed   “A piece of minimalist brushwork, with most of the narrative suggested by negative space . . . In sharp contrast to the central Mythos tales, the horror is allusive and oblique, the violence kept off-stage.” —Tor.com

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Lovecraftian, Fiction, Classics, Fantasy, Mystery

12 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 1921

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

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Terrible Old Man” (1920)—first published in an amateur magazine—is not “terribly” good. It is the first Lovecraft story set in New England, making it a landmark of sorts, and it has one detail—the disturbing description of the bottles with which the Old Man converses—which shows the distinctive Lovecraftian touch. Otherwise, it is a brief, conventional tale about three ignorant robbers who mess with the wrong senior citizen.

Oh, one other distinctive Lovecraftian characteristic (though I hesitate to call it a “touch”): as soon as I read the opening sentence—“It was the design of Angelo Ricci and Joe Czanek and Manuel Silva to call on the Terrible Old Man.”—I knew the three guys aforementioned must be robbers. Gathered here are members of three of xenophobic H.P.'s most dreaded non-Aryan peoples! One of them might be a sailor intent upon selling a small malevolent idol, but three members of three separate inferior races in collusion? Their objective must be robbery. Or worse.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three man plan to rob an old fragile man who went to sea as a young man and who lives as a recluse. Is he really that defenceless as it seems? Rumour is he talks to bottles he has given a name to. One of the robbers wonders why his two colleagues need so much time... a very interesting and eerie story about a mysterious and somehow terrible old man. Highly recommended!

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

'It was the design of Angelo Ricci and Joe Czanek and Manuel Silva to call on the Terrible Old Man.'

To call on might be a bit of an understatement since these three, not being from Kingsport and lacking the knowledge of the old man strangeness (he was seen speaking to his bottles), have decided to rob the man.



Ricci and Silva go in. They leave Czanek to wait for them by the car. They don't come out.

The first time I've read about the Terrible Old Man was in The Strange High House in the Mist where he has a more benign role.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't try to rob creepy people who talk to mysterious bottles named after people.

[Scarlet Cameo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty average, but with that mysterious touch typical of Lovecraf

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my, this Lovecraft story was super creepy and very descriptive.

[Chantal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can a story be too descriptive? Yes, it can be and this is that descriptive story. The story is okay, but I would have liked it more if it was toned down with the words.

[Juli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Espeluznante

[Jonathan Dunne · Rating 3 out of 5]

That special Lovecraftian stamp isn't found in 'The Terrible Old Man' which makes it even more special? I would like to know more about this terrible old man.

[José Cruz Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's an extremely obvious element of xenophobia and racism in The Terrible Old Man. H. P. Lovecraft has been the object of much criticism and discussion due to his more or less evident 'prejudices' regarding race and ethnicity. I for one try to separate the author's personal life from his works.

As for the tale itself, I absolutely loved its subtle creepiness. Lovecraft gets a lot of heat for his expository writing and lack of skill for dialogue, but his haters should read tales such as this one and Pickman's Model.

[Mika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can't really say a lot of what's it about without spoilers so I will just write: It's about a house robbery which turns unsettling on the last page.

I don't have gerontophobia, so it didn't hit me. Was also too short to truly enjoy it.

[Andrew Leon · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Terrible Old Man" might be the most normal of Lovecraft's stories, the most "normal" one I've read, anyway. Which is not to say that it's not a horror story, but it's not a weird, tentacled monster horror story.

This is going to be all spoilery, by the way, because the short story is quite short, and there's no way to talk about what I want to talk about without giving it away. But you should still read it because 1. it's short, and 2. it's that good.

I'm not saying that Lovecraft invented this type of story, but this is certainly the earliest example that I know I've read of this type, the type where the perpetrators become the victims.

So...

There's an old man, an ex-sea captain, who lives alone and is rumored to have vast stores of treasures. Or something. No one really knows because the old guy keeps to himself and everyone is afraid of him. But, then, three new guys arrive into town, hear about the guy, and decide that they will rob the old man. They'll torture the location of the hidden treasure out of him if they have to.

Except one of the guys, the driver, isn't too keen on the torture part, so he tells his two buddies to go easy on the old guy. And that's the last he sees of them as they head to the house and he waits in the car. Not long after, he hears screams coming from inside the house and assumes it's the old guy... until he finds the old guy staring at him from the gate with a wicked grin on his face.

Seriously, go read it.

Now, one of the things I read about this story is that it's a prime example of Lovecraft's racism... wait! What?
I'm sorry; I just don't see it.
Yes, the men from out of town are "foreigners" in that they are not from the small town where everyone knows about the terrible old man. You have to outsiders come in who don't know any better. I think you have to read awfully deep between the lines to turn this into some kind of warning to outsiders to stay out.

Or maybe I just don't know enough about Lovecraft.
However, not knowing more than I do, I say this is a really great read.

[Saul the Heir of Isauldur · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather short tale about a creepy old man who is as much a mystery to the characters as to the reader. It manages to build an eerie aura about the titular character and his home, despite the story's length.

[Nicolás Ortenzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un gran cuento de Lovecraft, no hay más que decir, salvo que lo lean. 🤷

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three burglars make the mistake of judging a seemingly harmless old man that talks to empty bottles in his house alone by his cover. He’s lived a long and mysterious life... that just might end with your corpses sprawled up mangled in the street if you try to break into his home.

A very short but effective story that leaves the horrors of what happens behind the scenes up to the imagination. This story is also the inspiration behind the great 2016 horror film Don't Breath, which I think captures the strange mystery and unknown lurking horrors of the original and dials it up to the extremes in ways that I think made the movie even better than this short story.

[Graeme Rodaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

No country for easy victims.

4 'Picking on the Wrong Guy,' stars.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un viejo que aparentemente es inofensivo y todos le tienen lastima y se burlan de él, pero cuando tres hombres intentan robar su casa, se dan cuenta que el anciano no es lo que aparenta.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

This is a classic tale of 3 robbers underestimating what they perceive to be a frail old man.

Think again.



The frail old man that they plan to attack ends up being a Terrible Old Man. (See what I did there?) The old guy ends up brutally murdering the lot of them, leaving the townspeople to wonder where the bodies came from and who did it.

In my opinion, this story was far too short and focused on all the wrong things. I love Lovecraft but this just wasn't his best work in my opinion. Now, if the story had focused more on the vibrating pendulum bottles the Old Man was talking to that had the names of men, I think that would have been way more interesting. This story left a lot to be desired for me but it was still okay and I'm glad I read it.

[Latasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

the terrible old man don't play that game honey!

[Badseedgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lesson of this short story;





Don't F*ck with old people.




Lesson learned.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and macabre maritime story from the master of 'The Weird'. Concise, creepy, dark, and perfectly strange.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bro named the story after himself.

This one's a real shame, because it's almost so great. It's just ruined from the core out by Lovecraft's hateful, xenophobic fearmongering. The descriptions of place are evocative and creepy, and it feels like Lovecraft is starting to find his least flowery voice a bit. The Old Man whispering to bottles he's named things like 'Scar Face' and 'Long Tom', who respond by moving lead weights attached to string? I mean that's such a weird idea and so unsettling. The image of the Terrible Old Man grinning madly at the end emerging from the mist too is terrifying. The structure is fairly complete here too unlike a lot of his earlier works. Plus we get the first mention of his invented town Kingsport. There's a lot of raw ideas to love in here! Imagine if those ideas had been handled by a writer with love in his heart for his common man as well as for the strangeness of horror. Such a shame that's housed in such a thinly veiled commentary on the Italian, Portuguese, and Polish New England immigrant communities of his time.

3.5 Terrifying Old Grins out of 5

👄👄👄1/2⬛⬛

[Reshteen · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Its been so long since I have logged in a read here. But here I am now, thanks to Spotify, of course.

I suppose anyone who open Goodreads regularly and is aware of popular culture, knows who HP Lovecraft is. (By the way, what a cool name! Lovecraft! It seems ancient and and strong at the same time) Even if you have never read anything from him, you would know about his horror reputation. The cosmic entities that his works featured.

This is actually my first ever read (or listen to be more precise). Big shoutout to the Spotify Audiobook channel, from the Vault of Lovecraft. It was a 10 minutes listen, and the narration from Mike Bennet was chilling.

How was the story itself? Well, for a 10 minutes long short story (12 pages long) it's pretty good. I found the writing to be quite accessible. It was simple. Akin to the simplicity of Stephen King's writings.

I thought the unknown in the story was very scarily presented. Spoiler Alert! We never find out what the old man's deal is in this story. The moment the third robber sees him leaning on his cane and notices his yellow eyes was frankly quite chilling. Was he a demon? The devil? We don't know. And I think that's very scary.

I will be listening to more stories from that podcast. Beats singing up for Audible! *Shrugs*

[Amy (Other Amy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Terrible Old Man (1920): Well, look-it there. Lovecraft has a sense of humor. I really liked this one. But I'm a sucker for pirates. I'm wondering if Charlie Daniels has read any Lovecraft. "The Legend of Wooley Swamp" came immediately to mind after reading the first couple paragraphs, New England setting notwithstanding. (I guess I should note that the thugs have ethnic names, but one is sympathetic and the truly evil guy is the Terrible Old Man, as is clear from the beginning, so I'm not sure I would call this racism.)

(Moving 2015 review to separate work to make room under collection for review, September 2017. It's only taken me two years of mulling over Lovecraft's garbage, but I finally put my finger on the actual racism at work here. I'll talk more about that under The Horror at Red Hook. Kind of embarrassed I didn't see it immediately in this story, as it's so obvious in that one.)

[Tate Stephan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average rural Florida man

[Marco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovecraft's xenophobia is a powerful force in his work. His pathological race-induced fears are transfigured into the horrors so adroitly described in his stories. While his racist views emerge in his stories, marring and staining them, we can sometimes still appreciate the rest of the work because of that powerful, agoraphobic sense of horror and fear that he managed to convey. While we despise his views, we still admire his tremendously powerful depictions of ancient horrors, powered by the deep anxieties and fears rooted on his views.
In the case of The terrible Old Man, the author fails to deliver, and all that is left are the xenophobic rants and a thin plot. Let's just say this is not one of his best short stories.

[Jayme Horne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not super familiar with HP Lovecraft's writings, so I started with this short gothic horror story he wrote. Set against a New England seaside town, Lovecraft creates the atmosphere. A little cliché, but yeah, New England seaside towns are little creepy and make the perfect place for some kind of local spook. This old terrible man is so old that no one remembers him ever being young, which is relatable. He does this weird thing where he looks and speaks to glass bottles and they vibrate as if they're answering him. So that's cool, I guess.
I guess for me I found the premise interesting, but not really scary. Interesting to say the least. But I didn't enjoy any of it.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story just as they’re supposed to be in IMO. The narrator tells of 3 men who plan to rob a rich feeble old man. Where do the 200 year old gold coins come from? Why does he talk to bottles? Who cares... he’s old.

But is he really that feeble? There is a reason the story isn’t called the feeble old man.

Very well crafted. Unlike this review it there are no unnecessary words.

[Ken B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three robbers pay a visit to a reclusive old sea captain with a rumored stash of hoarded gold.

This is the first in a series of stories about the fictional town of Kingsport written by Lovecraft. While the story is just so-so, it did interest me in reading more about Kingsport.

3 STARS

[JL Shioshita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is like the movie Don't Breathe, except with a supernatural element. There's a little of Lovecraft's xenophobia present here but thankfully it doesn't taint the entire story. I liked the mystery that the old man represented, one that never got answered.