howard phillips lovecraft the cats of ulthar

The tale begins with the introduction of an old cotter and his wife who delight in trapping and violently killing any cats who venture onto their property. An unnamed narrator, while gazing upon his pet cat, begins to reminisce about a law in the town of Ulthar that forbids the killing of cats and relates the story of how this law came to be. Considered one of the best short stories of Lovecraft's early period, aspects of the The Cats of Ulthar would be referenced again in the author's works The Other Gods and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. Influenced by Lord Dunsany, the tale was a personal favorite of Lovecraft's and has remained popular since his death. Upon witnessing the result, the local politicians pass a law forbidding the killing of cats.

Upon hearing of the couple's violent acts towards cats, Menes invokes a prayer before leaving town that causes the local felines to swarm the cat-killers' house and devour them. When a caravan of wanderers passes through the city, the kitten of an orphan (Menes) traveling with the band disappears. As the narrative goes, the city is home to an old couple who enjoy capturing and killing the townspeople's cats. In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.'The Cats of Ulthar' is a short story written by American fantasy author H. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.Īlthough Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades.

His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity.

Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Howard Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.

Howard phillips lovecraft the cats of ulthar