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Authors: Charles Gilman
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school.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“I had a question.”
She took a deep breath. “My goodness, Robert, I thought you’d been kidnapped like those girls! Do you know how much you’ve scared me?”
“I’m fine, Mom. Everything’s fine. But do youremember that story you told me the other night? About Crawford Tillinghast? Why did your friends think the house was haunted?”
There was a long pause. “I don’t understand. You’re calling me at work to ask about Crawford Tillinghast?”
“It’s for a school project,” Robert said.
“Can this wait until later?”
“It’s important. I just want to know why you thought the house was haunted.”
“Gosh, honey, I don’t remember all the details. He was some kind of physicist, I think. He had a laboratory in his basement. There was a whole team of scientists helping him. And if you believe the rumors, he was summoning evil spirits. Inviting these ancient demons and monsters into his home. A lot of hocus-pocus mumbo jumbo, you know what I mean?”
“You said something about a house fire. When did that happen?”
“Oh, a long time ago. I was in middle school myself. For thirty years after the fire, everyone in Dunwich claimed the house was haunted. I have friendswho swore they’d seen figures moving through the windows. Or heard strange chanting coming from inside. The cops used to drive out there every weekend to investigate something or other. I’m sure they were thrilled when the house was finally demolished.”
Yeah, Robert thought, except the house wasn’t
completely
demolished. Many of its raw materials were recycled into Lovecraft Middle School.
What if the evil forces were somehow recycled with them? Was that possible? What if all the hocus-pocus mumbo jumbo had carried over to the new building?
“Does that help with your project, Robert? Because we’re short-handed and I really need to get back to work.”
“Just one more question,” Robert said. “You said Tillinghast was summoning monsters into his home. Do you know what they looked like?”
He glanced up and saw Ms. Lavinia watching him from across the library. She was holding a phone to her ear, but she seemed to be listening to Robert’s conversation.
“Sweetie, let me be clear about something. Demons and monsters are not real. Crawford Tillinghast was a lunatic. And you’re a lunatic for bothering me at work with this stuff, do you understand?”
Robert was tempted to explain himself but didn’tdare say anything with Ms. Lavinia nearby. He wondered if the librarian was friendly with Professor Goyle, if they ever chatted together in the faculty lounge.
He thanked his mother for her help and hung up.
FOURTEEN
When the lunch bell rang, Robert skipped the cafeteria and went to the school computer center to do more research. Naturally Lovecraft Middle School had a first-rate facility with dozens of brand-new computers, printers, scanners, and tablets. The teacher, Mr. Padapolous, asked Robert to sign in using a digital touch screen.
Robert chose a computer in a far corner of the room, where no one could see what he was doing, and searched the Web for information on Crawford Tillinghast. He found a lot of weird articles in scientific journals. They had titles like “Ecology of theHyphalosaurus Species” and “Meditation: A Pinhole in the Time-Space Continuum?” and they were impossible to understand.
But eventually he found an article in a 1983 issue of
The Dunwich Gazette
with the headline:
EXPLOSION ROCKS TILLINGHAST
MANSION, EIGHTEEN PERISH
The article explained that the mansion had been built by Crawford Tillinghast’s grandfather in the early twentieth century. The house was enormous and featured fifteen bedrooms, ten bathrooms, three kitchens, a ballroom, a piano room, and an observatory. Tillinghast employed three scientists and they lived in the mansion along with their families; at the bottom of the page was a group photo of everyone who lived in the
“Why are you calling me?”
“I had a question.”
She took a deep breath. “My goodness, Robert, I thought you’d been kidnapped like those girls! Do you know how much you’ve scared me?”
“I’m fine, Mom. Everything’s fine. But do youremember that story you told me the other night? About Crawford Tillinghast? Why did your friends think the house was haunted?”
There was a long pause. “I don’t understand. You’re calling me at work to ask about Crawford Tillinghast?”
“It’s for a school project,” Robert said.
“Can this wait until later?”
“It’s important. I just want to know why you thought the house was haunted.”
“Gosh, honey, I don’t remember all the details. He was some kind of physicist, I think. He had a laboratory in his basement. There was a whole team of scientists helping him. And if you believe the rumors, he was summoning evil spirits. Inviting these ancient demons and monsters into his home. A lot of hocus-pocus mumbo jumbo, you know what I mean?”
“You said something about a house fire. When did that happen?”
“Oh, a long time ago. I was in middle school myself. For thirty years after the fire, everyone in Dunwich claimed the house was haunted. I have friendswho swore they’d seen figures moving through the windows. Or heard strange chanting coming from inside. The cops used to drive out there every weekend to investigate something or other. I’m sure they were thrilled when the house was finally demolished.”
Yeah, Robert thought, except the house wasn’t
completely
demolished. Many of its raw materials were recycled into Lovecraft Middle School.
What if the evil forces were somehow recycled with them? Was that possible? What if all the hocus-pocus mumbo jumbo had carried over to the new building?
“Does that help with your project, Robert? Because we’re short-handed and I really need to get back to work.”
“Just one more question,” Robert said. “You said Tillinghast was summoning monsters into his home. Do you know what they looked like?”
He glanced up and saw Ms. Lavinia watching him from across the library. She was holding a phone to her ear, but she seemed to be listening to Robert’s conversation.
“Sweetie, let me be clear about something. Demons and monsters are not real. Crawford Tillinghast was a lunatic. And you’re a lunatic for bothering me at work with this stuff, do you understand?”
Robert was tempted to explain himself but didn’tdare say anything with Ms. Lavinia nearby. He wondered if the librarian was friendly with Professor Goyle, if they ever chatted together in the faculty lounge.
He thanked his mother for her help and hung up.
FOURTEEN
When the lunch bell rang, Robert skipped the cafeteria and went to the school computer center to do more research. Naturally Lovecraft Middle School had a first-rate facility with dozens of brand-new computers, printers, scanners, and tablets. The teacher, Mr. Padapolous, asked Robert to sign in using a digital touch screen.
Robert chose a computer in a far corner of the room, where no one could see what he was doing, and searched the Web for information on Crawford Tillinghast. He found a lot of weird articles in scientific journals. They had titles like “Ecology of theHyphalosaurus Species” and “Meditation: A Pinhole in the Time-Space Continuum?” and they were impossible to understand.
But eventually he found an article in a 1983 issue of
The Dunwich Gazette
with the headline:
EXPLOSION ROCKS TILLINGHAST
MANSION, EIGHTEEN PERISH
The article explained that the mansion had been built by Crawford Tillinghast’s grandfather in the early twentieth century. The house was enormous and featured fifteen bedrooms, ten bathrooms, three kitchens, a ballroom, a piano room, and an observatory. Tillinghast employed three scientists and they lived in the mansion along with their families; at the bottom of the page was a group photo of everyone who lived in the
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