Robert Harrison Blake

Of Milwaukee.[2][3] Blake was a poet, painter, and short-story writer[4] who was wholly devoted to the field of myth, dream, terror, and superstition.[2] Blake was a member of the "Lovecraft circle"—a group of writers maintaining correspondence with one another and with the late H. P. Lovecraft, of Providence.[3] Blake's work provided much material for the Miskatonic University interdepartmental research project.[4]

Blake sought new sources of inspiration: "I yearned to know the terrors of the grave; the kiss of maggots on my tongue, the cold caress of a rotting shroud upon my body. I thirsted for the knowledge that lies in the pits of mummied eyes, and burned for wisdom known only to the worm. Then I could really write, and my hopes be truly realized." Eventually, Blake found a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis at a bookshop on South Dearborn Street. He took the book to Providence so his friend, a mystic dreamer, could help him to translate it from Latin. After witnessing the murder of his friend by the shambler from the stars, Blake burned down his friend's house and fled.[1]

At Lovecraft's suggestion, young Blake returned to Providence early in 1935, where Lovecraft provided Blake with living-quarters in the upper floor of a venerable dwelling off College Street.[2][3] During that winter he produced five of his best-known short stories—“The Burrower Beneath”, “The Stairs in the Crypt”, “Shaggai”, “In the Vale of Pnath”, and “The Feaster from the Stars”—and painted seven canvases.[2] He began a long-planned novel about New England witch-cults, with Lovecraft assisting his research.[3] But Blake was strangely unable to make progress on the novel.[2]

Shortly before Walpurgis time (that is, April 30), Blake began investigating the abandoned Free-Will Church on Federal Hill. He discovered the Shining Trapezohedron and gazed into it, thus unwittingly creating a psychic linkage with the Haunter of the Dark. Blake then compounded his error by closing the lid on the box, thus releasing the Haunter by shielding it from light.[2] In late July, Blake consulted Dr. Dexter about insomnia. Blake told Lovecraft of his researches at the church, and Lovecraft offered words of warning and advice.[3] In the early hours of August 9, Blake was slain by the Haunter, which had been freed by a city-wide blackout. He died with a look of monstrous, transfiguring fear on his face. The common belief is that he was killed by lightning.[2]

However, after his death, several people doubted the official explanation, including Dr. Dexter.[2] Lovecraft began his own investigation—an investigation which ultimately resulted in the publication of his story, "The Haunter of the Dark."[3] Additionally, Albert Wilmarth went to Providence to investigate Blake's death.[4] And Blake's friend Edmund Fiske began an investigation that lasted a decade and a half.[3]

1. [RB Shambler (online text)]
2. [HPL Haunter (online text)]
3. [RB Steeple (online text)]
4. [FL Terror2]

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