Weird Tales, Vol. 1, No. 1

Catalog Description

"Dead House," an extraordinary novelette by Anthony M. Emont, is set in 1920s Alabama near a mysterious sealed structure in swampy piney woods. The narrator, a journalist, investigates the disappearance of his college roommate Lee Cranmer, a writer, along with Lee's wife Peggy and their daughter Elsie. The facts emerge piecemeal: Lee's father, John Corliss Cranmer, a biologist studying protozoans, had the house encased in a brick wall circa 1913; Lee and Peggy vanished during a visit; John Corliss became insane, confessing to drowning "two innocent people in ooze" before escaping psychiatric care. Authorities found no motive or method. The narrator came to Alabama to uncover the truth behind the tragedy for young Elsie's sake. The narrative combines gothic atmosphere, family drama, and mystery as the author assembles fragmentary testimony from officials, workmen, and locals.