Chapter 3
259 Words
Randolph Carter is a recurring character in H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction, and it seems likely Lovecraft based the character on himself. Although many other writers have written about the character in recent years, Carter appeared in a total of five stories by Lovecraft himself:
The Vagrant Weird Tales.Beyond the Wall of SleepWeird Tales Weird TalesEditor Farnsworth Wright was certainly excited to receive the sequel to “The Silver Key” and accepted it happily, even though the first story had appeared almost five years earlier in Weird Tales. In his introduction to the story, Wright wrote:
Weird Tales“Through the Gates of the Silver Key,” published complete in this issue, is an utterly amazing novelette. It is much more than a mere piece of fiction, for it so far transcends human experiences, and even the wildest dreams of human beings, that the ideas and thoughts set forth in the tale are titanic. One searches the dictionaries in vain for words to describe this brilliant and astounding tale, which for sheer imaginative daring goes beyond anything ever printed before. It is the joint product of two of your most popular authors.
High praise indeed!
I suspect readers interested in exploring Lovecraft’s work could do far worse than starting with this volume. Although it has its chills, the dream-worlds Lovecraft explores are far less terrifying than many of HPL’s other tales. Consider it a “gateway” volume.
Look for more MEGAPACK®s exploring the best of Lovecraft in the near future.
—Karl Wurf
Rockville, Maryland
- Writer
