Miskatonic Arcihves

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Tagged: Harry Houdini

Authors

C. M. Eddy Jr.

Clifford Martin Eddy, Jr. (1896–1967) was a Providence writer and friend of H. P. Lovecraft. Their shared bibliography includes Ashes, The Ghost-Eater, The Loved Dead and Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, but Eddy also wrote mystery, adventure and other pulp fiction. His work and the Eddy family’s recollections connect literary collaboration with the everyday geography of Lovecraft’s Rhode Island life.

6 min read · 1,238 words

Authors

Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini (1874–1926) was a magician and escape artist whose connection with Lovecraft involved commissioned writing rather than membership in a fictional occult order. Lovecraft wrote Under the Pyramids for publication under Houdini’s name. Houdini also engaged C. M. Eddy, Jr., with assistance from Lovecraft, on writing about superstition.

5 min read · 973 words

Literature

Under the Pyramids

Under the Pyramids is Lovecraft’s fictional Egyptian adventure written for Harry Houdini. A tourist visit becomes an abduction, an escape from bonds deep underground and a glimpse of a ceremony whose final revelation radically changes the scale of the horror. The narrator uses Houdini’s public identity and professional skills, while repeatedly trying to explain his extraordinary perceptions as dreams.

7 min read · 1,323 words