Author's Note: Based on The Shunned House, written in 1924.
There is a certain mysterious house in Providence
Which the famous Edgar Allan Poe passed on his walks
Most likely he thought nothing of it, and I would agree
But about it Elihu Wipple and his nephew had long talks
No one visits the house's cellar by night
And only a brave few dare to by day
For inside there is a strange glow on the walls
And around a human silhouette, they say
The old house was owned by the Harris family
All of whom came to unfortunate ends
Until the residence became abandoned
The two Whipples were intrigued by the legends
The Shunned House stands tall
Foreboding against the sky
Where the raven flew high
Over the Shunned House
They discussed what lurked within the house
If it came from an alien world or another realm
Comprehensible or would it mentally overwhelm?
Physical being or extraterrestrial?
A Crookes tube to burn out its heart
Designed and enhanced by the Whipples two
And flamethrowers for a more material start
Together they set up vigil in the cellar
10 PM and the fungus begins to glow
Chilled and tired, the uncle slept
Tossed and turned and spoke in French
He woke and then they began to know
Something detestable was going on
The uncle gave an account of his dreams
Of lying in a dark pit under faces forming streams
And so they talked and read to keep sleep away
The Shunned House stands tall
Foreboding against the sky
Where the raven flew high
Over the Shunned House
The nephew drifted off and woke with a gasp
From the masonry came forth a writhing greenish mist
But worse was the uncle standing twisted and deformed
Taloned and wicked, breathing with a rasp
He activated the Crookes tube and aimed it at his uncle
Sending a storm of radiation into the mutant
Right into the cloud of green-blue tint
And the man dissolved into a pool of liquid faces
Panting, the nephew fled the cellar
Onto the street to recover from the shock
The next day he vowed to return
To uncover and defeat the accursed dweller
And so he did, to find all of the equipment
But not his uncle's remains in the dark
On the floor he made a mark
Took up a shovel and began to dig and dig
He dug for hours straight
Until he sensed a change in the earth
Donning a gasmask, he struck with the shovel
Into something soft and of a size quite great
Panicking, the nephew hauled himself from the hole
Away from the horrid mist and vapor
That poured forth from the center
Emerging from the bottom, fleshy and cold, was the elbow of a sleeping beast
The Shunned House stands tall
Foreboding against the sky
Where the raven flew high
Over the Shunned House
YOU ARE READING
Lovecraft
PoetryPoetry on the subjects of the strange, fantastic, terrible and otherworldly. A series of poems based on the beautifully horrifying works of H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. I hope you enjoy! All of the original stories can be found here: htt...
