Lovecaft's Evidence Disappearing Act
One of the pillars of horror is actually mystery. Who's going to believe that a vampire is real or that a ghost is haunting the mansion? It's all malarky. Made up stuff in the your head or the delusions of a mad man. Or better still, the concoction of a drunkard or addict because no sane person would conjure up such insanities. It's one of the great mysterys in horror when you come down to it, why didn't the victims call the police? A notable cliche in the horror movies that there's no cellphone signal or the cops just don't believe you. There is no help coming, you're on your own. Lovecraft does something similar in his own stories to add to the confusion and disbelief of the populace. In The Whisperer in Darkness, a literature teacher named Albert Wilmarth discusses the strange alien sightings seen during a local flood with collegue Henry Akeley. To shrink a long story, Albert is convinced to bring all of his findings to Henry who is a puppet under the con...