The Horror at Red Hook (1925), He (1925), In the Vault (1925)

The Horror at Red Hook (1925) Detective Malone is, seemingly, suffering from a phobia of large buildings credited to the fact he was almost killed when an old building crashed down on him when he took part in an operation in a district of Red Hook, known of housing people of ill reputation.  In truth, the falling house had little to do with his phobia, it was the dark matters he witnessed during his stint at Red Hook that shook him to the core.

When Malone was situated in Red Hook, he took an interest in one Robert Suydam, a recluse known of having visitors of shadier nature visiting him. There is a sudden change in the appearance of the man when he seems to get more youthful in his physical appearance as well as in his manner of dressing. Malone is not able to pin anything suspicious on Suydam, so he is forced to leave the matter for the time being.

There's an epidemic of kidnapping happening and as many of the people taken are children, the police shift their attention to these crimes for the sake of public outcry. Malone does keep tabs on Suydam and is soon surprised to hear of his engagement to a young woman of notable birth, who also happened to be a distant relation to Suydam.

The wedding party doesn't go merrily, as the same day the couple is wed, the party is interrupted by horrific screams and the newlyweds are found dead from their room, clawed to death. Things take an even stranger turn when a group of men come and claim Suydam's body with them. Malone decides to investigate the mans flat and manages to find a tunnel to the underground, where he witnesses horrible visions of human sacrifice which is used to reanimate Suydam's corpse. But to Malone's surprise, Suydam seems to have other intentions besides being alive. His corpse darts towards an onyx pedestal, which he then pushed to the dark, deep waters. This causes the caves and the building to collapse and from there Malone is finally found.  

The rest of the tunnels are collapsed by the police in the belief they were a part of a human smuggling operation led by Suydam. Malone keeps the real story for himself, thinking no one would believe it. He also knows, that the horror he witnesses will return, as nothing can keep Red Hook down for long.

The Horror at Red Hook was written around when Lovecraft had moved to New York only to find, to his disdain, it to be a place full of foreign-looking people. This disdain comes through from the story from the manner Lovecraft describes the mixed-race population living in Red Hook. Many critics of Lovecrafts find the story overtly racist and it is hard to argue with that view, as it is just that; a story stemming from the authors own xenophobia where all foreign is seen as inherently evil and sinister. I'd also claim that the gusto it dwells in its racism makes the story jarring in its presentation, as it is more interested in making its point about the suspicious nature of the foreign people than it is about spinning a horror story. 

While it might seem that The Horror at Red Hook is connected to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, this is not the case. There are some similarities to the horrors described in the Mythos but as a whole, the inspiration for it seemed to come from "real" black magic as well as from how Lovecraft viewed New York in the 1920s.  

The story itself was among those that got some publicity during Lovecraft's own lifetime, but as such, he wasn't that keen on it himself, thinking it as a rambling and overly long mess. It's hard to disagree with that either, as it really is those as well. So, yeah... not really Lovecraft's finest hour either as a human or a writer.  

He (1925) There's not really much to say about He. It is a tale of a young author, who has just moved to New York, only to find himself horrified by the people living there. Dreaming of older, purer times, the writer takes on long walks at night, when he stumbles upon an old man doing the same.

The man takes him along to tell him of the secrets he stumbled ages ago. See, he is much older than he seems, as he found sacred native magic that allows him to travel in time. With this magic, he shows the narrator a horrible future, where everything is mechanized and tall buildings shade the lands. Then a group of native Americans enter the house to kill the man as a punishment for stealing their magic.

The story is not particularly good or interesting beyond Lovecraft's take on the future where flying machines dominate the skies. Beyond that, it's just another take on the authors own racist tendencies and romanticizing the supposed past where all was better. Oh, and it is quite possible at least parts of the story are a bit more autobiographical in nature, which could provide some insight into his psyche during the time he lived in New York.

In The vault (1925) I guess you could slate In The Vault as a ghost story. It tells the tale of a George Birch, morose and rather disagreeable undertaker, who gets trapped in the vault he stores corpses before their burial. The unimaginative man tries to open the gates but to no avail. His only way of escaping the trap seems to be the lone air vent, but to reach it, he has to stack up the flimsy coffins he has stored the cadavers in.

After hours of work, George manages to widen the hole enough to climb out, but then his leg goes through the cheaply made coffin lid. He tries to pull himself free, only to notice something, or someone is grabbing his leg. Vigorously he frees himself and manages to escape, only to find out his leg has been clawed bloody.

George drifts to the house of a local doctor, Davis, who patches the man up then goes to see the vault. There he checks the coffin and, to his horror, finds out that the cheapskate undertaker had used a short, poorly made coffin for a much taller, widely disliked man, old Asaph. George had cut off the mans legs in order the make the corpse fit and the old man who was known as the devils incarnate while living had now taken his revenge after death.

Lovecraft had some difficulties in getting In The Vault published. Originally Wierd Tales declined because they felt its gruesome nature would end on the teeth of censorship. It was finally published in 1932.

In The Vault is a nasty little tale about nasty people. You don't really root for anyone more than you just wait and see what is the "just" reward for their actions. It's not among Lovecraft's strongest works, but it isn't a bad story either. It holds up to the end despite being predictable, so it's well worth at least one read.