Arkham






This article is about the city in fiction. For the hospital in DC Comics, see Arkham Asylum. For the video game series, see Batman: Arkham. For other uses, see Arkham (disambiguation).



A map of Arkham, Massachusetts




Detailed map of Lovecraft Country, showing one possible location of Arkham.


Arkham (/ˈɑːrkəm/) is a fictional town situated in Massachusetts. It is a dark city and an integral part of the Lovecraft Country setting created by H. P. Lovecraft. It is featured in many of his stories and those of other Cthulhu Mythos writers.


Arkham House, a publishing company started by two of Lovecraft's correspondents, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, takes its name from this city as a tribute.[1]




Contents






  • 1 In Lovecraft's stories


    • 1.1 Location




  • 2 Appearances


    • 2.1 Lovecraft's fiction


    • 2.2 Other authors




  • 3 Other appearances


  • 4 See also


    • 4.1 Notes




  • 5 References


    • 5.1 Primary sources


    • 5.2 Secondary sources


      • 5.2.1 Books


      • 5.2.2 Web sites






  • 6 External links





In Lovecraft's stories



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The Thing on the Doorstep[2]






What lay behind our joint love of shadows and marvels was, no doubt, the ancient,

mouldering, and subtly fearsome town in which we live – witch-cursed, legend-haunted

Arkham, whose huddled, sagging gambrel roofs and crumbling Georgian balustrades

brood out the centuries beside the darkly muttering Miskatonic.




—HP Lovecraft



Arkham is the home of Miskatonic University, which figures prominently in many of Lovecraft's works. The institution finances the expeditions in the novellas, At the Mountains of Madness (1936) and The Shadow Out of Time (1936). Walter Gilman, of "The Dreams in the Witch House" (1933), attends classes at the university. Other notable institutions in Arkham are the Arkham Historical Society and the Arkham Sanitarium. It is said in "Herbert West—Reanimator" that the town was devastated by a typhoid outbreak in 1905.




Lovecraft's Crowninshield House in The Thing on the Doorstep was modelled on the real Crowninshield-Bentley House in Salem, Massachusetts.


Arkham's main newspaper is the Arkham Advertiser, which has a circulation that reaches as far as Dunwich. In the 1880s, its newspaper is called the Arkham Gazette.


Arkham's most notable characteristics are its gambrel roofs and the dark legends that have surrounded the city for centuries. The disappearance of children (presumably murdered in ritual sacrifices) at May Eve and other "bad doings" are accepted as a part of life for the poorer citizens of the city.



Location


The precise location of Arkham is unspecified, although it is probably near both Innsmouth and Dunwich. However, it may be surmised from Lovecraft's stories that it is some distance to the north of Boston, probably in Essex County, Massachusetts.[3]


A more recent mapping of Lovecraft Country reinforces this suggestion, with Arkham being situated close to the location of Gordon College; in Lovecraft's work this would presumably be replaced by Miskatonic University itself. The real-life model for Arkham seems to be, in fact, Salem, its reputation for the occult appealing to one who dabbles in the weird tale.[4]


Arkham Sanitarium appears in the short story "The Thing on the Doorstep" and may have been inspired by the Danvers State Insane Asylum, aka Danvers State Hospital, located in Danvers, Massachusetts.[5] (Danvers State Hospital itself appears in Lovecraft's stories "Pickman's Model" and The Shadow over Innsmouth.)



Appearances



Lovecraft's fiction


Note: dates are the year written.


Arkham first appeared in Lovecraft's short story "The Picture in the House"[6] (1920)—the story is also the first to mention "Miskatonic".[6]


It appears in other stories by Lovecraft, including:



  • "Herbert West–Reanimator" (1921–22); first story to mention "Miskatonic University"[7]

  • "The Unnamable" (1923)[8]

  • "The Silver Key" (1926)[9]

  • "The Colour out of Space" (1927)[10]

  • "The Dunwich Horror" (1928)[11]

  • "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1930); Albert N. Wilmarth is described as a folklorist and assistant professor of English at Miskatonic University.


  • At the Mountains of Madness (1931); one of the ships is named Arkham[12]


  • The Shadow over Innsmouth (1931)[13]

  • "The Dreams in the Witch House" (1932)[14]

  • "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (1932–1933)[15]

  • "The Thing on the Doorstep" (1933); first to mention "Arkham Sanitarium"[16]

  • "The Shadow Out of Time" (1934–1935)[17]



Other authors


Arkham also appears in the Cthulhu Mythos tales of other writers since Lovecraft's death. Among them:




  • Bloch, Robert. "The Creeper in the Crypt" (1937)

  • Brennen, Joseph Payne. "Forringer's Fortune" (1975)


  • Brunner, John. "Concerning the Forthcoming Inexpensive Paperback Translation of the Necronomicon of Abdul Alhazred" (1992)


  • Campbell, Ramsey

    • "The Tomb Herd" (1986)

    • "The Tower from Yuggoth" (1986)



  • Jens, Tina L. "In His Daughter's Darkling Womb" (1997), mentions "Arkham Industries"


  • López Aroca, Alberto. Necronomicón Z (Spanish novel published by Ediciones Dolmen, 2012)


  • Lumley, Brian. The Transition of Titus Crow (1975)


  • Price, Robert M. "Wilbur Whateley Waiting" (1987)


  • Shea, Michael. The Color out of Time (1984)


  • Smith, Clark Ashton. "I Am a Witch" (19??)

  • Thompson, C. Hall. "The Will of Claude Ashur" (1947)


  • Wilson, F. Paul. "The Barrens" (1990)


  • Howard, L. Jonathan. "Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute" (2011)



Other appearances







  • Arkham is the setting for the 1963 film The Haunted Palace directed by Roger Corman, which is based on the H.P. Lovecraft novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

  • Arkham is the setting for all of the stories in the 2006 anthology Arkham Tales published by Chaosium.[18]

  • In the novel The Arcanum, Lovecraft himself is said to have been involved in solving a case involving a witch cult in Arkham.[citation needed]

  • Arkham is mentioned in two novels by author Charles Stross. In The Atrocity Archives, a philosopher is attracted to Arkham due to the "unique library" there.[19]. In The Jennifer Morgue, the occult branch of the American intelligence community, code-named "Black Chamber", is headquartered in Arkham.[20]

  • Arkham appears in "The Collect Call of Cathulhu", episode 32 from season 2 of The Real Ghostbusters (October 27, 1987), when members of the Ghostbusters go to Miskatonic University to get information on how to stop Cthulhu.[21]

  • In the DC Universe, Arkham Asylum is a high-security asylum for dangerous psychopaths where many Gotham City supervillains, including the Joker, are kept under guard. The name was picked by editor Jack C. Harris and writer Dennis O'Neil in an homage to Lovecraft.[22] There is also a graphic novel titled Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. In the fictional universe, it was run by the Arkham family, namely Amadeus Arkham, giving it its name.[23]

  • The Batman: Arkham series of stealth action game has the Arkham Asylum Mental Health Care Facility as its first main setting.[24]


  • Arkham Horror is a cooperative adventure board-game themed around H.P Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. The game has players exploring the town of Arkham as they attempt to stop unmentionable horrors from spilling into the world.[citation needed]


  • Splatterhouse takes place in the setting of Arkham, Massachusetts.[25]



See also



  • Lovecraft Country


  • Dunwich, Massachusetts


  • Innsmouth, Massachusetts


  • Kingsport, Massachusetts



Notes





  1. ^ Cf. "About Arkham House" web site.


  2. ^ Lovecraft, Howard P. (1999) [1933]. "The Thing on the Doorstep". In S. T. Joshi and Peter Cannon (eds.). More Annotated Lovecraft (1st ed.). New York City, NY: Dell. With explanatory footnotes. 1999 [1933]. ISBN 0-440-50875-4..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  3. ^

    The actual location of Arkham is a subject of debate. Will Murray places Arkham in central Massachusetts and suggests that it is based on the small village of Oakham. Robert D. Marten rejects this claim and equates Arkham with Salem, and thinks that Arkham is named for Arkwright, Rhode Island (which is now part of Fiskville). Lovecraft himself, in a letter to F. Lee Baldwin dated April 29, 1934, wrote that "[my] mental picture of Arkham is of a town something like Salem in atmosphere [and] style of houses, but more hilly [and] with a college (which Salem [lacks]) ... I place the town [and] the imaginary Miskatonic [River] somewhere north of Salem—perhaps near Manchester." (Joshi & Schultz, pp. 6–7.)


  4. ^ August Derleth stated in his writings: "Arkham ... was Lovecraft’s own well-known, widely used place-name for legend-haunted Salem, Massachusetts, in his remarkable fiction". (Cf. "About Arkham House" web site.)


  5. ^ Joseph Morales notes in his "A Short Tour of Lovecraftian New England" (web site) that Danvers "is mentioned in passing in some of Lovecraft's stories, and may also be the inspiration for HPL's fictional Arkham Sanitarium".


  6. ^ ab ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Bloch, an introduction by Robert (1963). The Dunwich horror and others (corrected 7. printing ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House. p. 117. ISBN 0870540378.


  7. ^ Derleth, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August; Joshi, with texts edited by S.T.; Klein, an introduction by T.E.D. (1987). Dagon and other macabre tales (Corr. 5th print. ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House Publishers. p. 133. ISBN 0870540394.


  8. ^ Derleth, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August; Joshi, with texts edited by S.T.; Klein, an introduction by T.E.D. (1987). Dagon and other macabre tales (Corr. 5th print. ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House Publishers. p. 200. ISBN 0870540394.


  9. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Turner, an introduction by James (1985). At the mountains of madness, and other novels (Corr. 7. print. ed.). Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. p. 413. ISBN 0870540386.


  10. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Bloch, an introduction by Robert (1963). The Dunwich horror and others (corrected 7. printing ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House. p. 53. ISBN 0870540378.


  11. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Bloch, an introduction by Robert (1963). The Dunwich horror and others (corrected 7. printing ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House. p. 165. ISBN 0870540378.


  12. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Turner, an introduction by James (1985). At the mountains of madness, and other novels (Corr. 7. print. ed.). Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. p. 6. ISBN 0870540386.


  13. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Bloch, an introduction by Robert (1963). The Dunwich horror and others (corrected 7. printing ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House. p. 305. ISBN 0870540378.


  14. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Turner, an introduction by James (1985). At the mountains of madness, and other novels (Corr. 7. print. ed.). Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. p. 262. ISBN 0870540386.


  15. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Turner, an introduction by James (1985). At the mountains of madness, and other novels (Corr. 7. print. ed.). Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. p. 422. ISBN 0870540386.


  16. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Bloch, an introduction by Robert (1963). The Dunwich horror and others (corrected 7. printing ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House. p. 276. ISBN 0870540378.


  17. ^ ;, H.P. Lovecraft ; selected by August Derleth ; with texts edited by S.T. Joshi; Bloch, an introduction by Robert (1963). The Dunwich horror and others (corrected 7. printing ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House. p. 370. ISBN 0870540378.


  18. ^ "Arkham Tales". Chaosium. Retrieved March 3, 2015.


  19. ^ "The Atrocity Archives". Google Books. Retrieved March 3, 2015.


  20. ^ "The Jennifer Morgue". Google Books. Retrieved December 20, 2015.


  21. ^ "The Real Ghostbusters (a Titles & Air Dates Guide)". Episode Guides. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.


  22. ^ Voger, Mark; Voglesong, Kathy (2006). The Dark Age: Grim, Great & Gimmicky Post-Modern Comics. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 5. ISBN 1-893905-53-5.


  23. ^ O'Neil, Dennis (2008). Batman Unauthorized: Vigilantes, Jokers, and Heroes in Gotham City. BenBella Books. p. 111. ISBN 1-933771-30-5.


  24. ^ Brudvig, Eric (August 13, 2008). "Batman: Arkham Asylum Announced". IGN. Retrieved June 29, 2013.


  25. ^ [1]




References



Primary sources


  • Lovecraft, Howard P.


    • At the Mountains of Madness, and Other Novels (7th corrected printing), S. T. Joshi (ed.), Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1985.
      ISBN 0-87054-038-6. Definitive version.


    • Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, S. T. Joshi (ed.), Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1987.
      ISBN 0-87054-039-4. Definitive version.


    • The Dunwich Horror and Others (9th corrected printing), S. T. Joshi (ed.), Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1984.
      ISBN 0-87054-037-8. Definitive version.




Secondary sources



Books




  • Harms, Daniel (1998). "Arkham". The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (2nd ed.). Oakland, CA: Chaosium. p. 10. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.


  • Joshi, S. T.; David E. Schultz (2001). "Arkham". An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 6–7. ISBN 0-313-31578-7.



Web sites




  • "About Arkham House Publishers". Archived from the original on January 6, 2006. Retrieved January 19, 2006.


  • Joseph Morales. "A Short Tour of Lovecraftian New England". Archived from the original on May 7, 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2006.



External links



  • "Lovecraft's Map of Arkham", from The Cthulhu Mythos: A Guide










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