Flesh And Blood 14 Review: From the Pest Zone: The New York Stories

By William P. Simmons

While there is no arguing the vast literary influence that Lovecraft's writing exerted over the literature of the horrific and scientific-fantastique, altering the compressed gothic traditions with his nihilistic and uncompromisingly bleak if ingenious visions of an unknowable cosmos and man's insignificant role in the eldritch mysteries of existence, lending the Twentieth century grand themes of cosmic alienation and outsideness both metaphorical and literal; and while much has been studied about his life and voluminous correspondence, including its nurturing effect on other macabre masters and the later mythos stories for which Lovecraft is primarily revered, too infrequently has serious study been applied to establishing for modern audiences a side-by-side comparison of events in Lovercraft's life with the fictional works that were in large part derived from said experiences.

From The Pest Zone: The New York Stories rectifies this oversight by examining a specifically bleak period in the author's life alongside the stories that resulted from these corresponding trials and internal sufferings. Perhaps the unhappiest if most strengthening period of his life, what is now referred to as the "New York Exile" (1924-26) saw Lovecraft removed from his Aunt, his home, and the soul-nourishing influence of his beloved Providence. Lovecraft's growing aesthetic talents and the social/internals conflicts that led to the creation of stories pointing to his most productive period are lent a vibrant, colorful life courtesy of the editor's meticulous work.

Including a lengthy introduction discussing Lovecraft's initial enchantment and subsequent disappointment with the heterogenous diversity, urban squalor, uncivility, and lifeless modernity of New York City, the editors provide a thorough examination of how such stress led to the composition of the five stories included in this volume, including "The Shunned House" and "In the Vault", which allowed Lovecraft to reacquaint himself with the New England past, "The Horror At Red Hook," which defamed the influence of the "foreigners" occupying NY, "He," an attempt to savior of the few antiquarian structures remaining in the area, and "Cool Air," perhaps the author's most scathing attack on the mechanical deadness and emotional bankruptcy of the city. Each story is presented in its entirety with helpful annotated notes, and, as an even nicer touch, each is proceeded by an actual black-and-white photograph of the actual landmarks which probably influenced each story, lending greater historical air and emotional energy to each tale. In addition to these supplements is a map of lower Manhattan, textual notes, "Line Sketches About Town", by Lovecraft himself, and "Preface to the Shunned House," by Frank Belknap Long.

A triumph of story and scholarship!