The Thing on the Doorstep

In my view, “The Thing on the Doorstep” should have been subtitled “The Lovecraft piece that restored my faith in the good taste(s) of many of my friends and colleagues.” Admittedly, I’m a relative newcomer to the works of H.P. Lovecraft, but likeminded friends – writers and non-writers alike – had always raved about his work to me. After reading the first two stories assigned, however, I failed to understand the attraction.

“The Thing on the Doorstep”, however, redeemed Lovecraft for me. It had all the characteristics of a good short story: fast paced plot, effective use of dialogue, engaging characters, as well as twists and turns to help maintain reader interest. Furthermore, it did the job of a good horror story: it sped up my heartbeat.

Despite the fact that the early pages of this story are composed entirely of exposition, I had no difficulty maintaining interest in the tale. The first real chunk of dialogue we get is after Edward is found incoherent and hysterical in the woods. This first statement he gives has a serious impact because we have waited this long to hear him speak. His near unintelligible rambling about, among other things, the “abomination of abominations” definitely ramped up the tension in the piece and made me as the reader want to stay aboard for the rest of this voyage.

Plot-wise, another aspect of this story that I really liked was how active it was. Once we got beyond the initial expository passages, things happened fast and with increasing frequency.

Beginning with the narrator, Dan, Lovecraft gives us a character with whom we can sympathize. In spite of the fact that Dan fully admits to having shot his best friend, we find him – even in the early pages – likable and want to gain a greater understanding of what’s prompted him to take this drastic action. Clearly, he had a great affinity for his friend, Edward Derby, as he demonstrates time and time again when he seeks to come to his aid in various ways.

Edward Pickman Derby is depicted as being an empty vessel almost from the start. This is appropriate given his fate. At first, he is entirely the puppet of his parents and goes directly from dutiful son to obedient husband. His wife, Asenath, is able to easily sway and control him. The fact that Asenath is eventually proven to have been only an empty vessel for her father makes her rule over Edward no less impressive. Additionally, the fact that she is ultimately vanquished makes her no less a strong female character.

Unlike some of my fellow students in the course, I didn’t find Lovecraft’s depiction of Asenath to be particularly misogynistic. I didn’t even consider this until I was skimming the blog list prior to penning this, and upon further reflection don’t personally believe there’s significant basis for this point of view in this work.

In conclusion, I very much enjoyed this story and am now a little closer to becoming a Lovecraft fan.