{"id":9439,"date":"2018-05-01T12:47:16","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T18:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9439"},"modified":"2020-08-13T09:32:35","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T15:32:35","slug":"9439","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9439","title":{"rendered":"Salem, Arkham, and H. P. Lovecraft"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Essex Street mall, with construction workers from the Peabody Essex Museum expansion walking to the job site.<\/p><\/div>\n

What Bourbon Street is to New Orleans’ French Quarter, Essex Street is to Salem, Mass. When it’s party time (October), this is where the party happens. Otherwise, it is the chief tourist-commercial street, whether you want the Peabody Essex Museum<\/a>, Christian Day’s witch shop,\u00a0<\/a>or The Witch House<\/a>, which was actually the upscale home of one of the 1692 trial judges.<\/p>\n

Witch Tees<\/a>, a large-ish T-shirt shop, is on the pedestrian mall too. I went in and asked if they had any Miskatonic University shirts or hats. “No,” she said, “Just Harvard.” The straight and unaffected way she spoke made me wonder if she took “Miskatonic University”<\/a> to be a real school somewhere in New England, instead of a fictional school right there in Salem \u2014 or rather in Arkham, Mass., if you accept the idea that H. P. Lovecraft’s Arkham is based on Salem.<\/p>\n

One hundred fifty years after the famous witchcraft trials,<\/strong> Nathaniel Hawthorne turned to them for inspiration \u2014 and because they haunted his imagination \u2014 and put Salem back on track to being the “Witch City” that it is today.<\/p>\n

Another century on, H. P. Lovecraft, who is usually identified with his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, also connected with Hawthorne and Salem. While Lovecraft is usually placed in a lineage with Edgar Allan Poe, Dan Harms, university librarian, scholar of esotericism, and author of The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia<\/a>, <\/em>has this to say:<\/p>\n

Even though Hawthorne died over a quarter century before Lovecraft\u2019s birth, Lovecraft found considerable inspiration and commonality with the Salem author. At the age of seven, Lovecraft read Hawthorne\u2019s A Wonder Book<\/em> and Tanglewood Tales<\/em>, both introductions to Classical mythology, that would lead Lovecraft to a fascination with Greek and Rome and their gods that may have been one of the inspirations for his own uncaring \u201cgods.\u201d The two men also shared a love of New England history and geography that drove their creativity. For example, Hawthorne met his wife Sophia Peabody at her father\u2019s house on Salem\u2019s Charter Street; the building stood next to the Burying Ground, which served as the inspiration for Lovecraft\u2019s \u201cThe Unnamable.\u201d The witch trials were of special fascination to both men, with the plots for both Hawthorne\u2019s The House of Seven Gables<\/em> and Lovecraft\u2019s \u201cThe Case of Charles Dexter Ward\u201d finding their roots in Salem. Lovecraft lacked Hawthorne\u2019s ancestral connection to the witch trials, however, and although the most famous of both authors\u2019 works are steeped in weird influences seeping down from the past, Lovecraft\u2019s stories partake of cosmic dimensions that Hawthorne leaves untouched.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Arkham, then, is a fictional city<\/a> used by both Lovecraft and other writers who worked with the Chthulhu Mythos.<\/strong> It includes a “Hangman’s Hill” (compare Gallows Hill in Salem<\/a>) and one street is named Saltonstall Street, which is the name of a prominent Massachusetts family<\/a> that included one witch-trial judge. (Map of Arkham<\/a>) (Map of “Lovecraft Country<\/a>.”)<\/p>\n

Arkham’s most notable characteristics are its gambrel<\/a> roofs and the dark legends that have surrounded the city for centuries. The disappearance of children (presumably murdered in ritual sacrifices) at May Eve and other “bad doings” are accepted as a part of life for the poorer citizens of the city.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lovecraft, however, showed less interest in witchcraft than in ancestral curses, ancient god-like creatures, and \u2014 as a result of too much contact with those two \u2014insanity.<\/p>\n

Donna Seeger of the Salem State University history department comments<\/a>,<\/p>\n

The fictional Arkham does indeed have a lot of Salem features, but Lovecraft\u2019s Miskatonic U. is a lot more ivy-covered than our concrete Salem State: most experts assert that is modeled after Bradford College, a now-defunct college up in Haverhill, or perhaps even Brown University, located in Lovecraft\u2019s hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. . . . The Arkham\/Salem connection seems so well-established that I\u2019ve always been curious that Lovecraft has not been assimilated more comprehensively into the relentless Witch City campaign, but that seems to be changing now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In our reality,<\/strong> the Salem State U. bookstore sells only its branded apparel<\/a> (Go Vikings!). So if I want that cap or shirt to show my allegiance to Miskatonic’s ivy-covered halls, I will have to shop online at one of the competing “Miskatonic University” stores (Go Squids!), perhaps this one <\/a>or this one<\/a> or that one<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Bourbon Street is to New Orleans’ French Quarter, Essex Street is to Salem, Mass. When it’s party time (October), this is where the party happens. Otherwise, it is the chief tourist-commercial street, whether you want the Peabody Essex Museum, Christian Day’s witch shop,\u00a0or The Witch House, which was actually the upscale home of one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[103,325,29,12],"class_list":["post-9439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-massachusetts","tag-salem","tag-witchcraft","tag-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6xQTg-9439","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11842,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=11842","url_meta":{"origin":9439,"position":0},"title":"Salem Museum Gives In, Exhibits 1692 Witch-Trial Materials","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2017, Donna Seger, a history professor at Salem State University (Massachusetts) wrote an open letter to the leadership of the Peabody Essex Museum, a big, rich institution in downtown Salem that along with being a major art museum, controls (and usually hides) the town's historical archives. Her letter stated,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Massachusetts\"","block_context":{"text":"Massachusetts","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=massachusetts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/sewall-256x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9456,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9456","url_meta":{"origin":9439,"position":1},"title":"Witchy Cultural Tourists Do Exist","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In J. W. Ocker\u2019s book A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts, Jay Finney, chief marketing officer of the big Peabody Essex Museum, tells Ocker that \u201ccultural tourists\u201d who visit the museum are a different crowd than those who come to Salem for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"art\"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/PEM-and-witchy-stuff.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/PEM-and-witchy-stuff.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/PEM-and-witchy-stuff.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/PEM-and-witchy-stuff.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9563,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9563","url_meta":{"origin":9439,"position":2},"title":"The “Salem-Santa Fe” Mystery Solved","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A month ago I blogged how astonished M. and I were to see that Kakawa, the Santa Fe-based chocolate house, was about to open a new store in Salem, Mass. Imagine our surprise to see this storefront on Essex Street next to the [Peabody-Essex] museum: Kakawa is coming! Sure, I\u2019d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"chocolate\"","block_context":{"text":"chocolate","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=chocolate"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/kakawa-santa-fe.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/kakawa-santa-fe.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/kakawa-santa-fe.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9349,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9349","url_meta":{"origin":9439,"position":3},"title":"The Southwest Follows Us to Salem & Salem Follows Us Home","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Before M. and I left on this trip, someone mentioned a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at the big Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. As it happened, the exhibit ended just before we arrived, but that's all right \u2014 we can visit a whole museum devoted to her painting in Santa Fe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/georgia-okeefe.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/georgia-okeefe.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/georgia-okeefe.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9206,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9206","url_meta":{"origin":9439,"position":4},"title":"Witches, Sea Captains, and Art \u2014\u00a0We Go Back to Salem","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last November, during the American Academy of Religion annual meeting in Boston, I made a quick trip to Salem, Mass., with some fellow Pagan studies scholars. It was only one afternoon\u2014long enough to visit some of the witchy shops, a magickal temple, the Charter Street\u00a0cemetery, and a few other sites.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/black-magic-rum-ocker-sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9514,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9514","url_meta":{"origin":9439,"position":5},"title":"Turning Dead Puritans into the Mighty Dead: Redefining Salem","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time that I walked through the Salem witch trials memorial adjacent to the Charter Street cemetery, I saw that someone had left a rolled-up paper at John Proctor's memorial bench.((No one ever seems to sit on the benches, perhaps because they usually hold offerings of one sort or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"libraries\"","block_context":{"text":"libraries","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=libraries"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/john-proctor-memorial-petition-sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9439"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11706,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9439\/revisions\/11706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}