The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

A young antiquarian from Providence, Rhode Island digs into the life of a long-dead ancestor and pays a terrible price for what he finds. Charles Dexter Ward grows obsessed with Joseph Curwen, a merchant and reputed necromancer erased from the city’s records, and his research reshapes both his mind and his body. When his family calls in the physician Marinus Willett, the doctor uncovers evidence of grave-robbing, chemical resurrection, and something that should never have been brought back. Lovecraft wrote this short novel in 1927 but never saw it printed; it appeared only after his death. It stands among his most restrained and carefully plotted horror stories. Free to read here in PDF and EPUB editions.