Robert Harrison Blake
Encyclopedia
Robert Harrison Blake is a fictional character
in the Cthulhu Mythos
. The character is the creation of H. P. Lovecraft
and appears in his short story
"The Haunter of the Dark
" (1935
).
. He comes to Providence, Rhode Island
and moves into an apartment on College Street. While there, he completes five short stories: "The Burrower Beneath", "The Feaster from the Stars", "In the Vale of Pnath", "Shaggai", and "The Stairs in the Crypt". He becomes obsessed with a deserted church on Federal Hill across the street from his residence. He later learns of a cult that was once active there, the Church of Starry Wisdom. His investigation of this cult inevitably leads to his death.
who had just begun his career as a writer of horror
and science fiction
. In the story, Lovecraft even had Blake residing at Bloch's real-life address at the time: 620 E. Knapp Street, Milwaukee.
The development of the Robert Blake character has a notable backstory. The character first appeared as the unnamed narrator of Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars" (1935
). Before he wrote the tale, Bloch thought it would be amusing to kill off a character based on Lovecraft. Lovecraft consented to the idea and gave his permission in the form of a satirical letter, signed by Lovecraft himself and "attested" by several of his creations: Abdul Alhazred
, Gespard du Nord, Frederich von Juntz, and the "Tcho-Tcho Lama of Leng" (possibly referring to the High Priest Not to Be Described
). The body of the letter appears as follows:
In Bloch's story, the Lovecraft-based character becomes the ill-fated victim of an invisible, vampiric monster
summoned from the depths of outer space. Lovecraft was delighted by the story and returned the favor by killing off Robert Bloch, aka Robert Blake, in "The Haunter of the Dark". Years later, Bloch wrote a sequel to "The Haunter of the Dark" entitled "The Shadow from the Steeple" (1950
) in which Robert Blake's death is investigated by his friend Edmund Fiske.
believes that Robert Blake is not merely a counterpart to Robert Bloch, but is actually a combination of three different people: Bloch, Lovecraft himself, and Clark Ashton Smith
. As one example, Price notes that the dwelling that Blake occupies in Providence parallels Lovecraft's own apartment. Furthermore, Blake, like Smith, is a skilled painter and produces bizarre "studies of nameless, unhuman monsters, and profoundly alien, non-terrestrial landscapes." Lovecraft sometimes mentioned Smith's art in his own stories whenever he wanted to feature a weird setting or the reproduction of one. In the "The Haunter of the Dark", however, Price believes that Lovecraft took the notion one step further and depicted Smith himself as one of the three aspects of Robert Blake.
Price believes that Blake's "In the Vale of Pnath" is another name for Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
(1926
), since in the story Randolph Carter
is carried to the Underworld
and soon realizes that he is "in the vale of Pnath".
"Shaggai" may parallel Lovecraft's "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1931
). Since in "The Haunter of the Dark" Lovecraft says that Shaggai lies beyond Yuggoth, he is adding yet another planet to the solar system
, essentially a new version of Yuggoth. Since Lovecraft often repackaged his mythos creations in the revision stories he wrote for other authors, Price believes that "Shaggai" is the kind of story that Lovecraft would have ghostwritten if "Robert Blake" had been his client.
Journals
Robert M. Price (ed.), West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
. The character is the creation of H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
and appears in his short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"The Haunter of the Dark
The Haunter of the Dark
"The Haunter of the Dark" is a horror story in the Cthulhu Mythos genre. It was written by H. P. Lovecraft in November 1935, and published in the December 1936 edition of Weird Tales...
" (1935
1935 in literature
The year 1935 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* June 15 - W. H. Auden enters a marriage of convenience with Erika Mann.* July 30 - Allen Lane founds Penguin Books to publish the first mass market paperbacks in Britain....
).
Summary
In Lovecraft's tale, Robert Blake is a young author and painter from Milwaukee, WisconsinWisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. He comes to Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
and moves into an apartment on College Street. While there, he completes five short stories: "The Burrower Beneath", "The Feaster from the Stars", "In the Vale of Pnath", "Shaggai", and "The Stairs in the Crypt". He becomes obsessed with a deserted church on Federal Hill across the street from his residence. He later learns of a cult that was once active there, the Church of Starry Wisdom. His investigation of this cult inevitably leads to his death.
Origin
Lovecraft based Robert Blake on one of his correspondents, the teenage Robert BlochRobert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
who had just begun his career as a writer of horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. In the story, Lovecraft even had Blake residing at Bloch's real-life address at the time: 620 E. Knapp Street, Milwaukee.
The development of the Robert Blake character has a notable backstory. The character first appeared as the unnamed narrator of Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars" (1935
1935 in literature
The year 1935 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* June 15 - W. H. Auden enters a marriage of convenience with Erika Mann.* July 30 - Allen Lane founds Penguin Books to publish the first mass market paperbacks in Britain....
). Before he wrote the tale, Bloch thought it would be amusing to kill off a character based on Lovecraft. Lovecraft consented to the idea and gave his permission in the form of a satirical letter, signed by Lovecraft himself and "attested" by several of his creations: Abdul Alhazred
Abdul Alhazred
Abdul Alhazred is a fictional character created by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. He is the so-called "Mad Arab" credited with authoring the imaginary book Kitab al-Azif , and as such an integral part of Cthulhu Mythos lore....
, Gespard du Nord, Frederich von Juntz, and the "Tcho-Tcho Lama of Leng" (possibly referring to the High Priest Not to Be Described
High Priest Not to Be Described
The High Priest Not to Be Described is a fictional character in H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. He first appeared in the Lovecraft short story "Celephaïs" .-Summary:...
). The body of the letter appears as follows:
This is to certify that Robert Bloch, Esq., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.—reincarnation of Meinheer Ludvig Prinn, author of De Vermis MysteriisDe Vermis MysteriisDe Vermis Mysteriis, or Mysteries of the Worm, is a fictional grimoire created by Robert Bloch and incorporated by H. P. Lovecraft into the lore of the Cthulhu Mythos.-Creation:...
—is fully authorised to portray, murder, annihilate, disintegrate, transfigure, metamorphose, or otherwise manhandle the undersigned in the tale entitled The Shambler from the Stars.
In Bloch's story, the Lovecraft-based character becomes the ill-fated victim of an invisible, vampiric monster
Star vampire
A star vampire is a monster in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being first appeared in Robert Bloch's short story "The Shambler from the Stars", which was originally published in the September 1935 issue of Weird Tales.-Summary:...
summoned from the depths of outer space. Lovecraft was delighted by the story and returned the favor by killing off Robert Bloch, aka Robert Blake, in "The Haunter of the Dark". Years later, Bloch wrote a sequel to "The Haunter of the Dark" entitled "The Shadow from the Steeple" (1950
1950 in literature
The year 1950 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Kazuo Shimada wins the "Mystery Writer Of Japan" award for his book Shakai-bu Kisha .*Jack Kerouac has his first novel published....
) in which Robert Blake's death is investigated by his friend Edmund Fiske.
A trinity of mythos authors
Robert M. PriceRobert M. Price
Robert McNair Price is an American theologian and writer. He teaches philosophy and religion at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is professor of biblical criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute, and the author of a number of books on theology and the historicity of Jesus, including...
believes that Robert Blake is not merely a counterpart to Robert Bloch, but is actually a combination of three different people: Bloch, Lovecraft himself, and Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
. As one example, Price notes that the dwelling that Blake occupies in Providence parallels Lovecraft's own apartment. Furthermore, Blake, like Smith, is a skilled painter and produces bizarre "studies of nameless, unhuman monsters, and profoundly alien, non-terrestrial landscapes." Lovecraft sometimes mentioned Smith's art in his own stories whenever he wanted to feature a weird setting or the reproduction of one. In the "The Haunter of the Dark", however, Price believes that Lovecraft took the notion one step further and depicted Smith himself as one of the three aspects of Robert Blake.
The five short story titles
Other mythos authors have attempted to supply text for Blake's fictional titles, perhaps writing them as Blake himself might have. Robert M. Price argues that at least three of these titles have already been written. First, "The Feaster from the Stars" is obviously a parallel to Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars" (a title Lovecraft suggested to Bloch). Second, "The Stairs in the Crypt" appears to be a cross between two of Bloch's short stories: "The Grinning Ghoul" and "The Secret in the Crypt". Lastly, "The Burrower Beneath" is similar to "The Blasphemy Beneath", an early story that Bloch sent to Lovecraft for review.Price believes that Blake's "In the Vale of Pnath" is another name for Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
(1926
1926 in literature
The year 1926 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is founded in Middlebury, Vermont....
), since in the story Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter is a recurring protagonist in H. P. Lovecraft'sfiction and a thinly disguised alter ego of Lovecraft himself. The first tale in which Carter appears--"The Statement of Randolph Carter" --is based on one of Lovecraft's dreams....
is carried to the Underworld
Underworld (Dreamlands)
The underworld is a fictional location in the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. It is described in detail in Lovecraft's novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath ....
and soon realizes that he is "in the vale of Pnath".
"Shaggai" may parallel Lovecraft's "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1931
1931 in literature
The year 1931 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Cherokee playwright Lynn Riggs' play Green Grow the Lilacs premiers. It would later be adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein as Oklahoma!....
). Since in "The Haunter of the Dark" Lovecraft says that Shaggai lies beyond Yuggoth, he is adding yet another planet to the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, essentially a new version of Yuggoth. Since Lovecraft often repackaged his mythos creations in the revision stories he wrote for other authors, Price believes that "Shaggai" is the kind of story that Lovecraft would have ghostwritten if "Robert Blake" had been his client.
Primary source
- Lovecraft, Howard P. "The Haunter of the Dark (1936)" in The Dunwich Horror and Others, S. T. Joshi (ed.), Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1984. ISBN 0-87054-037-8. Definitive version.
Secondary sources
Books- Carter, Lin. Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos, New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 1972.
- Pearsall, Anthony B. The Lovecraft Lexicon (1st ed.), Tempe, AZ: New Falcon Pub., 2005. ISBN 1-56184-129-3.
- Price, Robert M. "About 'The Burrower Beneath'", The Book of Eibon (1st ed.), Chaosium, Inc., 2002. ISBN 1-56882-129-8.
Journals
Robert M. Price (ed.), West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press.