Minutes of the Lovecraft Studies Institute (# 3) [Cthulhu]

LOVECRAFT STUDIES INSTITUTE

xxx WELLESLEY STREET EAST, # xxx (BUZZ xxx)

TORONTO, ON M4Y 1H5

MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 6, 2010 MEETING

ATTENDANCE: Patrick, Bloch, King, Joshi, Cannon (Members). Five Guests.

2:34 P.M Meeting Convened

2:40 P.M. Approval of Minutes for Meeting of October 23, 2010

2:42 P.M. Chair proposes reading of "Harbingers" manuscript Chapter 3 ("The Unearthing Sin"). UNANIMOUS

6:15 P.M. Reading concludes.

6:16 P.M. Chair proposes open discussion. UNANIMOUS

[FULL TRANSCRIPT FROM AUDIO]

PATRICK: I suppose I'll begin with a general comment. After an action-packed, almost pulp-flavored beginning, the last two chapters of this manuscript have been more sedate. Do we think Lovecraft decided a change in tone was in order, or are these chapters the veritable calm before the storm?

KING: I suggest the latter. Every story requires a certain degree of build before becoming impactful. The setting must be established, the characters given personality, and the nature of the threat slowly introduced before the reader begins to really care about what's happening. And I wouldn't say "sedate" is an apt description. In this chapter alone, we have the characters digging up a corpse, Jacob Blackstone becoming infected with a strange wormlike creature, and the death of Harleigh Matheson, a character most of us assumed was to be a major part of the book.

PATRICK: True . . .

JOSHI: I find this jumping back and forth extremely unhelpful. I propose we stay focussed and address each chapter according to its internal chronology.

CANNON: There's no reason to be pedantic. We all know what we're talking about--we just read it!

JOSHI: For posterity, gentlemen.

PATRICK: Although I agree with Peter that a certain flexibility is necessary, there's no reason we can't begin at the beginning for now. Chapter Three, titled "The Unearthing Sin", begins with Kurt Caughey, the imprisoned young mill worker, being hustled off to the hospital for treatment for a broken or dislocated shoulder. Father Murphy decides to accompany the boy, and is then "off-screen" for the remainder of the chapter. A curious omission. Has Lovecraft grown bored with the character already, or will the character return bearing some sort of vital clue to propel the story forward?

JOSHI: I would like to make a general point that my research indicates the medical services and payment schedule for Depression-era rural Massachusetts is depicted inaccurately in this chapter.

[muttering]

KING: Moving right along, the other main characters (excluding Matheson) contact Sheriff Glanby about his brother's newfound compulsion to dig in the backyard of his clinic. They discuss several aspects of the strange events in Aylesbury. Noting that the one thing all of the compulsive diggers have in common is physical contact with the corpse of the hobo found between Aylesbury and Dunwich, Scarlet Warren concludes that the body is the key to solving the mystery. Speculation of what in any other context might seem far-fetched begins: is there a vengeful ghost? Soul possession? The decision is made to exhume the body, and Jacob Blackstone suggests an immediate trip to St. Mary's Cemetery in order to check on the only other person known to have had contact with the body of the hobo: Roddy McCallister, the grave-digger. However, the others persuade Blackstone that keeping their dinner appointment with the mysterious Zeituni Wanjiku at the Gilchrist Trust is more important.

CANNON: Solid reasoning by the characters here. There's nothing more frustrating than stories where the characters miss clues right in front of their eyes. You forgot to mention what Matheson was doing during this time, however. He meets with Peter Markovitch, a lawyer described as a tall fellow with a thick black beard. Markovitch explains that he's the lawyer for the recently deceased Abraham Gilmore and that the man's farm and what little is left of his personal property will be seized by Aylesbury County for payment of back taxes. However, Gilmore left a small, strange gold-colored box in safety deposit at Aylesbury's bank. A frustrated Getrude Masbry spurned the worthless keepsake, and since Gilmore has no other friends or family members, Markovitch offers it to Matheson in the hopes of avoiding paperwork. Joshi, if you'll allow me to anticipate some facts not revealed until later in the chapter: four sides of the box have strange patterns and symbols. One appears to be a star pattern, another a grouping of irregular shapes that seem to move slightly when touched, a third has words in an unrecognizable language, and the fourth words in Latin: "When the Stars are Right, and Forgotten Tongues Speak, the Earth Tremors, and the Old Ones Wake." How Gilmore ever came in possession of the box is not known.

KING: And perhaps not important. I'm sure, however, the box will come into play in a later chapter--often things like this are a seed planted by a writer who's not even sure himself what it does.

JOSHI: That may be how you work Mr. King, but Howard Phillips Lovecraft planned his stories very carefully.

PATRICK: We should spend a few minutes on the scene with Wanjiku, as I'm guessing it may set up several events later in the manuscript--once we get those chapters decoded we'll know for sure. Matheson rejoins the others for this portion of the chapter.

CANNON: Well, we know Wanjiku represents himself as an agent of the Gilchrist Trust for the Propagation of Theosophical Knowledge, an organization interested in the spiritual and occult. He insinuates that the Aylesbury branch is just one of numerous branches throughout the United States and possibly the world. He's unashamed to use his friendly relationship with Sheriff Glanby (and the possibility of getting the charges dropped) as a lever in his dealings with the main characters of the story.

PATRICK: That's right--he positions the investigation into the strange digging compulsion as a "test" of whether the protagonists are capable of serving the Trust as "research associates." He tells them that three of his recent "researchers" disappeared on a survey trip to nearby Dunwich. The investigators were a Ms. Francesca Olivetti, an Italian Nun; a Mr. Gabriel Knight, a private investigator; and a Mr. Basil Basingwaite, a gentleman of leisure in the parlance of the time.

KING: And don't forget Basingwaite is the missing "Master" that Harleigh Matheson has been looking for all along.

PATRICK: Very true, though given subsequent events that may be a red herring. In any event, the protagonists seem undecided whether Wanjiku is trustworthy, but they're more than happy to take advantage of the Trust's library and sleeping accommodations.

KING: I understand their skepticism. He is in a sense extorting their services. "Help me out or you'll face Judge 'Hangin' Tom Mathis without an advocate."

CANNON: Really? I didn't see it that way. Although I think his speech is imprecise, I understood it more as his indicating that the protagonists seemed to already have some knowledge of strange happenings in Aylesbury and that as payment for their help in finding his missing employees he'd exert his best efforts with Sheriff Glanby and Judge Mathis. We're told Wanjiku knew the Glanby brothers from a stint at Harvard, and he may have had some sort of relationship with Mathis as well.

KING: But it's not as if they could turn him down either. Are they going to flee the county with charges hanging over their heads and become fugitives?

CANNON: Well, that depends on what type of story Lovecraft was planning on telling. There is that intriguing classified ad from New Orleans. I'll guess we'll find out soon.

JOSHI: If I may interrupt, gentlemen. I believe we've skipped over several crucial details. Each night, someone near the sleeping Harbingers seems to be attacked--but not when they stay at Gilchrist House. And the dreams--those of the Harbingers' have certain similarities to the ones they had in the previous chapter (except for the carved stone totems), but Blackstone's is quite different! Not only that, Blackstone shaves his head and begins using--

PATRICK: We'll come back if time allows. The protagonists visit St. Mary's and speak to the gravedigger, Roddy McAllister. He's a strange, creepy fellow with bug eyes, a disturbing voice, and a love for his work. At this first meeting he doesn't seem to have succumbed to any unusual digging compulsion and is able to point the protagonists to a recently dug grave in the paupers' area of the graveyard. And the wooden cross thrust into the ground has the name "Gabriel Knight" scratched into it.

KING: One of Zeituni's missing researchers. The protagonists make the connection quickly, and learn that this Roddy fellow found the name sewn into the corpse's underpants. A strange detail.

JOSHI: Actually, the practice was quite common during a period when many urban bachelors regularly visited Chinese laundries where language barriers caused frequent mix-ups.

PATRICK: Okay. Later that evening they return to the graveyard after having convinced Sheriff Glanby to order the body of Knight exhumed. The Sheriff is apparently quite distraught over what is happening to his brother, and is willing to grasp at straws.

KING: The next scene is an instant classic. Knight's body is swollen and distended, his bloated face barely recognizable, and as Blackstone and Matheson approach to look for clues it bursts open and releases a nauseating mixture of foul gases, vile liquids, and thousands of tiny grubs. Later the two realize they've been infected by the grubs, suspect they're the cause of the digging compulsion, and try to cut them out. Impromptu surgery saves Matheson (for the moment!), but Blackstone has no such luck. Lovecraft sets the clock ticking, as the reader assumes it's only a matter of time before the famed debunker starts digging.

JOSHI: "Gross-out" factor aside, the scene reveals a crucial fact. Knight's clothing was torn and dirty, his face was unshaven, his nails uncut. It is no surprise he was mistaken for a "hobo", but what accounts for his body's location halfway between Dunwich and Aylesbury? Does any of this tie in to Symmes' findings that the whole area has been rumored since pre-colonial times to be filled with underground caverns full of dark and strange monstrosities? Is the abomination beneath Gilmore's farm related?

PATRICK: All good questions. Before we disperse for the evening, we should address the most startling scene in the chapter. The next day, Harleigh Matheson decides to visit the graveyard alone in order to pick up a photograph of Knight's body that the gravedigger took and promised to develop overnight. It quickly becomes obvious to Matheson that Roddy McAllister has succumbed to the digging compulsion. Forgetting what happened to Kurt Caughey's father, Matheson grab's Roddy's arm and tries to get him to stop digging. With one swing of the heavy shovel, Roddy caves in Matheson's skull and then goes back to work. By the time the others come looking for him, Matheson is buried under a pile of dirt with only his shoe visible.

KING: A grisly, but very Lovecraftian fate.

PATRICK: And as the chapter winds down, Roddy is forcibly restrained by Sheriff Glanby and Deputy Roberts. Stunned by the shock of their companion's sudden murder, the others return to Gilchrist House. There, Zeituni introduces them to a new character--one of the strangest we've seen so far. This "Barnabus Gallowsong" is a circus dwarf who seems to have recently come under Wanjiku's employ. Symmes overhears a conversation between Barnabus and Wanjiku indicating that Barnabus is responsible for assaulting a priest and is wanted by local law enforcement.

JOSHI: That's not quite accurate. The Gallowsong character is introduced before the others discover Matheson's body.

PATRICK: Apologies. In any event, the chapter ends with Gallowsong waking the other characters up with an intriguing discovery: all the doors and windows of Gilchrist House have a symbol etched into them: a symbol that matches that branded onto the backs of the Harbingers . . .

7:45 P.M. Motion to Adjourn. UNANIMOUS