And so, Christmas was ruined...

Holidays seem to mean extra activity for paranormal investigators.

As the intrepid investigators were finishing off dinner, the doorbell rang, and Mrs. O’Flaherty opened the door, perhaps anticipating the Miskatonic University carolers. Instead she faced two cold Arkham police officers and a bewildered-looking individual wearing a winter coat over a lab coat, and galoshes over slippers. This was Dr. Emmett Brown of the Miskatonic University Physics Department, and as he tried the famous Jules Pollack eggnog, he burst out in a loud “Great Scott!” He was not visiting to try the eggnog, though, and Dr. Brown proceeded to ask the investigators of the whereabouts of Dr. Ralph Maynard. Yes, the investigators had travelled back from New Hampshire together with Dr. Maynard, but no, they had not spoken to Dr. Maynard after returning to Arkham. Dr. Brown proceeded to sit down and explain recent events to the investigators, while Mrs. O’Flaherty took the police officers to the kitchen for a late night snack.

Dr. Emmett Brown

Dr. Brown had been friendly with Dr. Maynard for a good twenty years, and according to Dr. Brown, Ralph Maynard had kept busy after returning to Arkham. Maynard had managed to secure the book that Biron was carrying out of the house before Biron fell to his death, and he soon realized that this was not Biron’s diary/notebook, but Silva Sasso’s, the wife of Biron who had been committed to the Arkham Sanitarium after the Thanksgiving horror. Sasso had indeed been quite interested in the occult, and this book dated back to January 1, 1924. Ralph Maynard read the book, and he became convinced that Sasso and Biron were looking for something, perhaps a powerful object of ritual significance, up in the mountains. The Livermore Mountains, where Moose Manor was located, were apparently hinted at in the Comte D’Erlette’s Cultes Des Goules. Maynard spent as many hours as possible between December 10 and the late evening of Friday, December 19, figuring out what Sasso and Biron actually were up to. After consulting with Dr. Brown on December 13, they together reached the conclusion that the object mentioned in the diary emits something Dr. Brown called “C-beams”. Dr. Brown had done some research on C-beams, and he had assembled a “C-beam transceiver” for lab experiments. The apparatus could see C-beams, like using a telescope, and it can also supposedly emit C-beams as well. 

Meanwhile, Maynard continued reading. He spent many hours with the Cultes des Goules as well as von Junzt’s Unaussprächligen Kulten at the Miskatonic Library. The library staff were a bit concerned, but Dr. Maynard was a respected faculty member, so there was no intervention. Dr. Brown, on the other hand, was getting quite concerned. The C-beams seemed to be dangerous radiation from another plane or dimension, and he realized that the consequences of channeling C-beams in our dimension may be unfathomable!

After the end of classes and when the winter break starts on the afternoon of Thursday, December 18, Maynard raided the Department of Archaeology and Geology for excavation equipment. He was determined to find what Sasso was looking for, and he would not be stopped! Very late that Friday night, he confronted Dr. Brown, demanding to borrow or buy the C-beam transceiver. Maynard acted quite irrationally, and Dr. Brown refused. Maynard hit Brown over the head, and disappeared with the C-beam transceiver.

Pollack and McNamara were quite happy to remain in the comfort of Pollack’s house, but Chester, Baker, Dr. Brown and Lake took a brisk walk through wintry Arkham to Dr. Maynard’s small apartment on campus. Dr. Brown secured a set of keys, and the intrepid investigators entered a Maynard’s apartment, where they found a cluttered desk, but nothing else of any particular interest, except the lack of winter clothing. The volumes on the desk were mainly reference books on New Hampshire geography and geology, and the occult. Sasso’s notebook was lying prominently on the desk, with several bookmarked pages and Maynard’s annotations. 

Moira Baker, Howard Lake and Henry Chester spent the night going over Sasso’s notebook and Maynard’s notes, while Dr. Emmett Brown dozed off in a sofa. A series of encrypted keys caused the investigators some headache, but they managed to understand the workings of these symbols that should open some form of passage to the artifact sought after by Dr. Maynard, as Sylvia Sasso had done previously. All information pointed towards Dr. Maynard heading back to Holderness and the Livermore Mountains with the C-beam transceiver and excavation equipment, and the intrepid investigators were determined to get hold of Maynard before something apocalyptic happened. Jules Pollack secured first class train travel to Holderness, while Dr. Brown volunteered his remaining C-beam transceiver. Upon arrival at Holderness, the investigators found a winter wonderland with a significant amount of vacationers ready to enjoy beautiful New Hampshire. Pollack had secured a series of rooms at flashy Asquam House Hotel, and various experiments were conducted with the C-beam transceiver and the raven-headed Horus statuette that Moira Baker had brought along. Henry Chester, Moira Baker and Howard Lake were quite ready to follow the trail of Dr. Maynard next morning.

That Monday morning provided ample sunlight, quite different from the hellish retreat back from the inferno of Moose Manor a mere month ago. The walk up to the ruins of Moose Manor did make the three investigators rather uneasy, but this time there were no disturbing events. The investigators did find ski tracks heading up Livermore Mountain, though, and they promptly pursued the tracks up the mountainside. The intrepid investigators ended at a small cave entrance with a pair of skis outside, which were promptly thrown to the side and concealed by Chester. As the investigators entered the cave, they noticed that the temperature was a bit warmer than anticipated, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, they proceeded with utmost caution, weapons at the ready, and with the C-beam transmitter ready for use. Eventually they reached an enormous cavern with a most peculiar stone formation in what seemed to be the middle of the cavern. Dr. Maynard was sprawled out in front of the stone formation, his face painfully contorted and frozen in an expression of utter terror, with froth in the corner of his mouth and eyes almost entirely bloodshot. It also seemed as if Dr. Ralph Maynard had attempted to claw into the stone, since all of his ten fingers were bloodied and worn down to the finger bones. He also gave the appearance of having fallen and crawled on several occasions, besides being quite dead.

The C-beam transceiver did unveil a considerable amount of symbols that were quite similar to the ones that were the supposed six keys in the diary of Sylvia Sasso. Baker, Chester and Lake debated for some time before deciding to trace the matching symbols. Moira Baker found the symbols strangely disconcerting to trace, like sliding an index finger through lard, but without any residue on the finger. As the sixth key or symbol was traced, the investigators gazed into an enormous pillared room. The ceiling seemed impossibly high up, and the pillars exuded unearthly qualities in their girth and composition. Two objects were lying on the perfectly polished floor some 40 or so meters into the seemingly unending room. The investigators decided to defile the corpse of Dr. Maynard, but nothing happened. Yet, the investigators were unwilling to enter the oddly cavernous room beyond the portal, but someone or SOMETHING pushed a most reluctant Henry Chester beyond the portal. He was all of a sudden in a room that was significantly colder and dryer that the natural cave he came from. There was a significant of what seemed to be ozone in the air, and both his sight and hearing seemed to be playing tricks on Henry Chester. Lake followed Chester, while Moira remained in the natural cavern. Was this a doorway to a different dimension, a different place, or a different time? There was no way of knowing. Henry Chester nevertheless carefully entered the two objects, and one was a .38 revolver with empty chambers. The other one was a statuette the size of the raven-headed Horus, but in a decidedly Native American style that definitely showed off an intense amount of C-beams when viewed through Dr. Brown’s transceiver.

As Chester grabbed the statuette, he became acutely aware of a singularly putrid stench like nothing he had experienced before. A swooshing sound echoed between the enormous pillars, and both Lake and Baker saw a dreadful entity race towards Chester. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any subway train—a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon Chester and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter. Chester had his back to the creature, and although Chester ran for his life, the creature almost caught up with the desperate investigator, who by now was a gibbering mess barely holding on to his very sanity. He was nevertheless dragged back into the safety of the natural cavern, and the episode ended as Moira Baker re-traced the symbols to close that dreadful and unnatural portal to nightmares beyond space and time.

Howard Lake, Moira Baker and the wreck that used to be Henry Chester did make it back on the evening train to Arkham, sad spectacles of their former self-assertiveness, but they had the statuette, still glowing with C-beams through the lenses of Dr. Emmett Brown’s transceiver. Meanwhile, Dr. Brown had spent some time looking over Jules Pollack's Model T Ford...

Staff Roster of the Miskatonic University (incomplete)

Armitage, Henry B. Ph. D./Head Librarian

Ashley, Ferdinand C. Professor, Department of Ancient History

Atwood, Jonathan A. Professor, Department of Physics

Barton, Theodosius F. Major (ret), Head of Security and Inspections

Brown, Emmett M. Professor, Department of Physics

Buchanan, Zachariah F. Professor, Department of Egyptology

De Winter, Harold C. Professor/Chair, Department of Anthropology

Dexter, Reginald F. Professor, Department of Zoology

Dyer, William. Professor, Department of Geology

Ellery, Eric W. Professor, Department of Chemistry

Freeborn, Tyler M. Professor, Department of Anthropology

Halsey, Allen S, Dean, Department of Medicine

Hobbs, Alvin G. President, Miskatonic University

Hunter, Benedict C. Professor Department of Mathematics

Jones, Henry W. Professor, Department of Religion

Kowalski, Martha E. Head of Library Desk

Lake, Marcus G. Professor, Department of Biology

MacNamara, MacKenzie, Ph. D., Department of Egyptology

Morgan, Francis O. X. Professor, Department of Archaeology

O'Brien, Hedwig V. Librarian

Otto, Charles L. Chief Administrator

Pabodie, Frank H. Professor, Department of Engineering

Peaslee, Nataniel W. Professor, Department of Political Economy

Peaslee, Wingate. Professor, Department of Psychology

Rice, Warren G. Professor, Department of Classical Languages

Sinclair, Evan, Ph.D., Deputy Head of the Department of Archaeology 

Thornton Smythe, Reginald, Professor, Department of Economics

Upham, Simon T. Professor, Department of Mathematics

Van Der Graaf, Adam W. Dr/Provost, Dean's Office

Waldron, John H. MD, University Doctor

West, Herbert. MD, Department of Medicine

Wilmarth, Albert N. Undergraduate Advisor, Department of Anthropology

Wright, Wanda, Librarian

Young, Charles C. Professor, Department of Mathematics

A Conversation between Mr. Howard Lake and Mr. Burlington Jones, December 10, 1924

Evening at J. Pollack Fine Antiques. Burlington Jones is just pouring Howard Lake a generous brandy before serving himself. 

- Well, Burlington, we are reaching the end of the year, and what a year it has been! I really cannot believe most of the events that occurred, and I feel like I've aged a decade.

- Ha! You should have been around last year, 1923, when I practically ran J. Pollack Fine Antiques all by myself while Mr. Pollack and his friends were in Egypt, or just out of town. Even when they were here, there seemed to be a steady flow of unadulterated mayhem about that particular group. I am telling you, keep Dr. McNamara away from naked flame!

- But I am trying to get a handle on all of ...this. Do I just suffer from an overactive imagination? Do I need to seek professional help?

- Not at the Arkham Sanatarium, anyway. They have enough loonies at all positions over there. Burlington lit one of the strong French cigarettes that he enjoyed, and he took a long drag before continuing:

- No, you seem somewhat ok, Howard. Just a bit topsy-turvy, if I may say so. You didn't spend any time in the trenches, I take it?

-No....? Why?

- I have seen the stress, panic and pain in the eyes of McNamara. Baker and Pollack, and they have on occasion seemed almost like buddies of mine who suffered from shellshock. I dunno about Chester, though, but he's perhaps made of sturdier stuff. Anyway, whatever they've experienced is real, or at least real to them. 

- Do you know how all of this begun, Burlington?

Burlington Jones completed Another drag with a generous sip of brandy before continuing:

- It was around the end of April last year, when Jules Pollack held a soirée here at the store. Baker, Chester and McNamara were all here, and they decided to have lunch next day. As it were, James E. Biron, the very same Biron that tried his hands at land development in New Hampshire, asked Pollack and friends to check on Biron's missing manservant, Hamilcar Hernandez. That led to the mess with the Arumbaya fetish, and that most unfortunate incident with Prka and the Alexandrines, who seem to have thought that they could summon something otherworldly. It all ended in fire and madness, of course. Jones stubbed out his cigarette before lighting a new one.

- So, it is the same Biron that owned Moose Manor?

- Yep, but frankly, I found it a bit strange that Biron would've been so interested in the occult. He was an art collector, first and foremost, and of course an attorney. All of this only took off when he married Sylvia Sasso. That relationship was beyond passion, and not in a good way. I also think there might have been a fair amount of, um, mixing chemicals in their spare time. 

- But what about the Germans that show up all the time? They seem to be scrounging for occult items all over the World. We even ran into them at the Chicago Union Station?

-  Strange, right? I am not aware of any international connections on behalf of Jules Pollack, and although Dr. McNamara keeps professional contacts near and abroad, I cannot see her socializing with German desperados. The same goes for Moira Baker. I am not entirely sure about Henry Chester, though, but these German fellows are a scary and unsavory bunch of high-octane loonies, if you ask me.

- So, our friends discover these feral so-called corpse eater hobos or whatever they were in the depth of the Egyptian desert and in remote mountains in New Hampshire, and there's statuettes involved, one from Egypt and one from South America. James Biron and wife were connected to at least the Arumbaya thing,  Am I getting this right? 

- Coincidence or causality, Howard? What do you think?

- But then there's the Germans and Herr Meyer showing up in Chinatown. What was that all about?

- Oh, they were clearly looking for the Liver Ivonis, the dreaded Book of Eibon, which had been in the possession of Moishe Golansky, I believe. They made away with the book, much to the chagrin of our friends. Ask your friend the librarian at Miskatonic about that book if you want the heebie-jeebies.

- Goddammit, this is indeed overwhelming. And I have been harboring this dreadful headache for a couple of days now, and this didn't make it any better. You know, I think I'll retire. Howard Lake slugged down the rest of his brandy as he stood up from the very comfortable couch he'd been sitting in. He left J. Pollack Fine Antiques, closing the door gently and leaving Burlington Jones with a chill. But then, it might have been cold air entering the store from the desolate streets of Arkham. 

A Hand-written Letter to Jules Pollack.

Dear Mr. Pollack,

As you probably may be able to realize, I have lost my livelihood in that God-awful fire on Thanksgiving that destroyed Moose Manor and cost poor Mr. Biron his life, bless his heart. It is indeed a shame that such horrific things should happen to such a fine gentleman, and to see his young, sweet wife Sylvia Sasso dragged away to the Arkham Sanitarium while shrieking like a banshee almost broke my heart. I am therefore turning to you, good sir, to inquire if you are in need of some experienced help in your house and shop? I am a good cook (some say excellent, even), I keep a house neat and clean, I do laundry, and I chop wood. I can also mend all items of clothing, and I am actually quite decent with both fishing rod and hunting rifle. I also have some experience in handling livestock, and poultry in particular.

I was also going to tell you about an odd thing that happened after that dreadful Thanksgiving: once we had all managed to explain all of the events to the local constabulary, I was approached by that strange Indian gentleman, George Thunderbird Ward. He was very polite, and after expressing hos condolences, asked me if I had seen a particular old book, perhaps written in French, that Mr. Biron treasured very much, and perhaps too much. Come to think of it, I noticed that he indeed carried an old book as he ran out in his pyjamas on that frightful night, but I cannot say if the book disappeared into the Chumbawamba Creek with Mr. Biron.

I do hope that you take my wee letter into consideration, and I am, yours truly.

Margaret O’Flaherty

Formerly of Moose Manor, New Hampshire.

The Thanksgiving Horror!

Thursday, November 27, 1924 was not a day to be easily forgotten. The Intrepid Investigators had indeed taken Jules Pollack's trusty Model T Ford up to Moose Manor, just northeast of Holderness. The weather was fantastic, and the five compatriots were looking forward to a break from the sleepy town of Arkham. The small town of Holderness seemed to be a perfect place holder for the stunning mountains and Squam Lake, with the exception of vile Mrs. McDougal in the general store. However, the nice Caribbean gentleman in the mechanic's shop was a much more pleasant acquiantance.

The gathering at Moose Manor was socially spectacular, with James Biron and his wife, Sylvia Sasso, entertaining the actress Rita Zann, Dr. Ralph Maynard from Miskatonic University, the journalist Ernest Hemingway and all five of the intrepid investigators. The butler, Mr. Washington, and Mrs. O'Flaherty, the Cook, attended to the guests. But what followed was less than entertaining, not to mention ghastly. Biron was planning to build a ski resort up on Livermore Mountain, and an old Indian chief, George Thunderbid Ward, protested on the grounds that this was a sacred site, a site that was in fact explored, however briefly, by Lake and Pollack. It turned out that Biron had used the day before Thanksgiving to clear the mountain side of the old Indian cairns and standing stones. This led to a very loud argument between Biron and Ward as the snow started coming down hard. Meanwhile, Sylvia Sasso was showing signs of an increasingly nervous disposition, and the attentive observer could notice that her eyes were red and swollen, as if she'd been crying extensively.

Thursday did see a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner, even if Mackie MacNamara Went on about pizza. Following the dinner, dessert and digestives, several guests retired while others were dozing in sofas and chairs. They noticed far too late that someone had started several fires all over Moose Manor, and their was a frenzied scramble to get out of the building: some chose the front door, while Mackie and Rita Zann chose the window option. The culprit seemed to be Sylvia Sasso, who was standing in the snow with a box of matches and a colander.

As the guests gathered in front of the towering inferno. it seemed as if poor Mr. Washington had succumbed to the flames. But there were more pressing issues, since the temperature was dropping, there were several feet of snow all over the mountainside, and many of the survivors were lightly dressed. The survivors pressed down the narrow road that wound itself down the mountain next to the Chumbawamba Creek with a drunk and armed Ernest Hemingway taking point. 

The horror appeared at the first bridge crossing. Afterwards, the survivors were unsure if they were some form of priimates, or wolves, or something else all together. James Biron was pulled down into the cold waters of the creek as several of the creatures assailed the party. Moira Baker stepped away from the bridge, and flipped the safety catch of her trusty Springfield rifle. The next one to fall was Sylvia Sasso, but as the creature attempted to devour Sasso, Mackie grabbed the colander and started beating the infernal beast. The fight was fierce, and most of the survivors had to endure the vile, cold and slimy claws and teeth of the beasts, often inflicting horrifying wound, A further attack happened in the Chumbawamba ravine, and it was a cold and terrified party that finally reached the covered bridge close to the Asquam House Hotel only to find that the Heavy snow had collapsed the bridge. Carrying the by now unconscious Jules Pollack and the insane Sylvia Sasso over´the raging brook. Yet, the survivors persevered, and they made it safely, if not soundly, to the Asquam House Hotel.

From the Concord Monitor, November 29, 1924:

The well-known art collector James Biron, of Arkham, Mass., was killed as he attempted to escape from a house fire that destroyed Moose Manor, north of Holderness. The fire forced participants of Thanksgiving dinner to flee into a raging blizzard, were they were set upon by the wolves that still prey upon the unwary in the area. The survivors are currently recovering in Holderness.

   

Several days later, as the Arkhamites were heading back to Massachusetts, Doctor Maynard whispered and turned towards Pollack and McNamara: "Manuscript P is actually the legendary Cultes des Goules by that foul French fellow, Comte d'Erlette. He apparently incuded some study of New World phenomena in his work, which dates back to the early 1700s, and there is mention of the 'Abenaqui' and that one of their tribes, the 'Nanoumqueapoda' had engaged in cannibalism of the most horrendous type over the course of several generations. This eventually changed them fundamentally, and they became, something entirely unhuman, only being driven by their hunger for living flesh. I had only considered these rantings to be figments of imagination, until this Thanksgiving, even if I have read Cultes des Goules. Believe me, it is a truly frightful text. Reading it led to horrific nightmares and quite a dependency on the bottle!" Maynard pulled out a polka-dot handkerchief to wipe his now sweaty brow before continuing: "The book or manuscript is mainly a hypothesis supported by arcane and hoary fragments, but there are hints at these death-eaters having tunnels that burrow for mile upon mile underneath us  a s  w e  s p e a k. The death-eater legends can be found in ancient Egypt, In Bohemia and Moravia, in the foothills of the Himalayas and the fabled Plateau of Leng. Mind you, young Eliot, one of the students at Miskatonic, read the Cultes des Goules, only to develop a sickening notion that modernist painter Richard Upton Pickman's paintings actually depict real, live, ungodly things."  

                          

Happy Thanksgiving!

On November 15, the Intrepid Investigators each receive a letter från James Eric Biron and his wife, Sylvia Elice Sasso, inviting them all to a black tie Thanksgiving dinner at a lodge in the gorgeous Mountains of New Hampshire. The very formal invitation has a hand-written note attached to to it, describing how to get to Moose Manor (the somewhat grand name of the ski lodge) and a recommendation to leave on November 26, since Thanksgiving dinner is planned for 3 p.m., and the drive is usually around seven or eight hours, although it may be shorter, depending on the condition of the roads. Moose Manor is thoroughly modern, and it has most amenities required for a more than decent stay.

Baker, MacKenzie, Lake, Chester and Pollack all know the Birons somewhat well, since they are engaged in Arkham society Life. Moira knows them the best, going back to her own society days, and she actually played a fairly significant part in introducing Sylvia to James. Jules knows James through his art patronage, and he has bought several pieces from J. Pollack Fine Antiques over the years. Mackie is also acquainted with James through his art patronage, while Chester and Howard have met the couple every now and then over the last year and a half.

Dear Mr. Lake,

Mr. J. E. Biron and Mrs. S. E. Sasso would like to enjoy your company at a Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, November 27, at Moose Manor in Holderness, New Hampshire. Please R.S.V.P. 

¨¨¨

Moose Manor is located just short of two miles northeast of Holderness and southeast of Livermore Mountain, which is east of Plymouth, in the Squam Range of the Appalachian  Mountains if New Hampshire

The Squam Lakes were a trade route for Abenaki Indians and early European settlers, who traveled the Squam River to the Pemigewasset River, then to the Merrimack River and seacoast. In 1751, Thomas Shepard submitted a petition on behalf of 64 grantees to Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth for 6 miles square on the Pemigewasset River. The governing council accepted, and the town was named after Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness. The French and Indian War, however, prevented settlement until after the 1759 Fall of Quebec. The land was regranted as New Holderness in 1761 to a group of New England families, and first settled in 1763. As proprietor of half the town, Samuel Livermore intended to create at New Holderness a great estate patterned after those of the English countryside. By 1790, the town had 329 residents, and in 1816, "New" was dropped from its name. 

Holderness became a farming and fishing community, except for the "business or flat iron area" located on the Squam River, which has falls that drop about 112 feet before meeting the Pemigewasset River. With water power to operate mills, the southwestern corner of town developed into an industrial center, to which the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad entered in 1849. But the mill village would be at odds with the agricultural community, especially when denied civic amenities including gaslights and sidewalks. Consequently, in 1868, it was set off as Ashland. 

Tourists in the 19th century discovered the region's scenic mountains and lakes. Before the age of automobiles, they would depart the train in Ashland and board a steamer, which traveled up the Squam River to rustic fishing camps or hillside hotels beside Squam Lake.

A Discussion at the Arkham Sanitarium on Tuesday, October 21.

Tuesday, October 21, 1924:

Dr. Herbert DeVos was still suffering from a dreadful headache, probably the result of being poisoned the day before. Damn that woman! Head Nurse Abigail Dawson refused to acknowledge the sad state of DeVos as she towered above the Head Resident of the Arkham Sanitarium. "I cannot believe that Patient 33 was simply wheeled out as if nothing happened! And how in the name of all psychoreactive drugs did you allow that to happen, Herbert?" Dawson's usually sultry voice had hardened to the voice of a particularly harsh drill instructor. "Herbert, you are not paying attention. Did you not see what that MacKenzie friend of Nurse Baker did? She managed to turn us all into mass hysteria by some strange hypnotic suggestion. Did you not see how our most qualified wardens fled down the corridor from Examiniation Room 13 as the inmates screeched and wailed? No, you were out, clearly duped by Nurse Baker and her cronies."

Dr. DeVos still had a difficult time recalling the exact turn of events. He had pencilled in an appointment with a Dr. MacNamara of the Miskatonic University regarding one of her students who had been admitted on Friday. This was a foreign girl, German, with few friends and no relatives in the United States, it seemed. She was exactly the kind of patient DeVos and Dawson were looking for. A fairly young, healthy woman  A couple of, hum, administrative errors and a telephone call to the relevant authorities made sure that Ms. Gretchen Weiss became Patient 33, and thus perfect for the Special Research Department of the Arkham Sanitarium. Director Hinchliffe would never find out, even if he actually cared. The old idealist was not ready to take on modern science! Head Nurse Dawson had previously allowed Dr. MacNamara a brief visit with Patient 33, but DeVos had clearly underestimated the dedication of MacNamara, Baker, and those threee strange, strange other fellows. But what happened? Chaos in the office, MacNamara passing out, her companions running around, trying to comfort MacNamara while Baker apparently slipped him, the Head Resident, a Mickey! Dammit, he had planned on initiating special procedures on Patient 33 that Wednesday, and he could almost smell the potential for outstanding success and everlasting fame, not too mention much anticipated, well, personal satisfaction.       

Head Nurse Dawson's voice brought him back to reality. "We were made fools of, Herbert, and you shall pay dearly for this!" Dr. Herbert DeVos, M.D. started loosening his tie as Head Nurse Dawson reached for an enema nozzle and a cane.

The Arkham Sanitarium

The main entrance of the Arkham Sanitarium

The Arkham Sanitarium is a prominent building at the northern edge of Arkham. It was built in 1869-1870, and it was intended for just below 600 patients, although more than one thousand patients fill the Sanitarium today.. The Arkham Sanitarium is actually one of a limited number of state mental facilities in Massachusetts, and it caters to much of eastern Massachusetts outside of Boston. Arkham was chosen as a location for a state asylum, since it was felt that the quaint New England surroundings would promote mental health, and it was seen as a model for a more humane and modern way of treating the mentally infirm. 

The Wolfman of the Moors, David Kessler

Joseph Rybko, the Swamp Killer

However, several cases during the 1890s and early 1900s provided the Arkham Sanitarium with a much more sinister reputation, with several violent and psychopathic killers being admitted and eventually facing supposedly gruesome treatments. This was certainly the case for Joseph Rybko, the legendary Swamp Killer of 1891 to 1893. He had killed and mutilated at least eight men and women before trying to hide the gruesomely disfigured victims in the marshes south of Innsmouth. Rybko was treated using the most modern methods available at the Arkham Sanitarium, but this resulted in three innocent patients and one nurse being mutilated and killed in the long, winding tunnels underneath the Sanitarium. Rybko was tightly followed by the admission of Lauren Long, a socialite from Arkham itself, who had strangled and eaten several of her lovers, both male and female. She promptly seduced one of the doctors at the Sanitarium, Dr. Herbert East, who supplied her with several servings of human flesh. This eventually led to a tightening of the procedures at the Sanitarium, but not before the Wolfman of the Moors, also known as David Kessler, had stalked and killed several lone travelers in the New England countryside by the full moon. Other equally gruesome cases followed.

Head Nurse Abigail Dawson

Herbert DeVos, M.D., Head Resident

Director Zebediah Hinchliffe, M.D.

Following these, as well several other disturbing incidents, the Arkham Sanitarium hired Manfred Duplessis, M.D., as the head of the Sanitarium. He instituted a much more “traditional” way of dealing with patients, and at some point after 1903, various rumors started circulating in eastern Massachusetts about the gruesome practices of the Arkham Sanitarium. Dr. Duplessis was removed and actually sentenced in 1913 for having conducted various most unsavory experiments on unwilling patients, and in an ironic twist of fate, he was committed to the Sanitarium for life, and he remains there to this day.

The Arkham Sanitarium is currently under the auspices of Director Zebediah Hinchliffe, M.D., since 1917. He has been attempting to return the Sanitarium to a semblance of modernity. The head resident since 1921 is Herbert DeVos, M.D., and the Head Nurse is Abigail Dawson.    

The Curious Case of Ms. Gretchen Weiss: Some Observations

From the diary of Mackie MacKenzie:

I had almost started to believe that Arkham is a nice and quiet. A nice summer with some academic contemplation and language studies, garden parties, a couple of great getaways...exactly what I need. I also aced the course in Arabic, but nothing less was expected. And then a call regarding the whereabouts of one of my graduate students turns sour, and all of a sudden I am having conversations with Karen while sharpening the Pocket Knife of Doom. Karen is, however, a great conversation partner. 

I am still trying to figure out the true nature of Gretchen's paintings, and I am quite certain that one is endowed with strange and otherworldly powers. How would a perfectly innocuous graduate student come into contact with forces similar to the ones we've encountered? Now, will Howard just bury the cat carcass already!?

 

Poor Schatzi!

Gretchen's new style of painting

From the diary of Henry Chester: 

(unintelligible)

From the diary of Howard Lake:

I have spent months trying to figure out if these guys are freaks or the real deal, but as always, I decided that I'll just tag along. It was eerie to stand in a closet on what I thought was gravel, but what really turned out to be teeth. Hundreds, if not thousands of teeth. The poor Weiss woman must have had quite the breakdown. Yet, if these were the teeth of murder victims, even sleepy Arkham would have noted. We visited the provost, Ralph Maynard, later that afternoon, and he only confirmed that Ms. Weiss had been absent for almost four weeks. Really strange. I also have to remember not to flirt with librarians. Hey, why is there a cat carcass in my shopping bag?

Gretchen's old style

A closet content unlike others

From the diary of Jules Pollack:

I am getting really curious about this Gretchen woman. It will be interesting to see if we can meet her at the Arkham Sanatorium. I am also really curious about that place, since I have heard so many dark and disturbing rumors about this particular institution.

Ms. Weiss did have a nice, clean, albeit frugal, apartment. Several of her own paintings, a photograph of what seems to be her twin sister (Isabella), German poetry and literature in the style of the Romantics, lots of textbooks, all checked out from the Miskatonic University Library. But oh my goodness, Ms. Weiss really spooked Mrs. Gardener, her landlady! That shy graduate student really didn't seem to be the biting type.

From the diary of Moira Baker:

So, is there any connection between the  break-in attempt at the Miskatonic University Library and the circumstances of Ms. Gretchen Weiss? I do remember the break-in just before the opening of the exhibition featuring the Arumbaya fetish, and that was quite the affair. But what does it really mean when Mackie says that the painting is endowed with otherworldly powers? Or is just that poor Gretchen Weiss simply lost her marbles and that's that? 

The Chicago Spectator

Tuesday, April 1, 1924

- All the News that is Fit to Print -

______________________________________________________

Wild Shootout at Union Station

★

Suspected Germans abduct young girl and take hostages - Strange pyrotechnic displays in railway car - Wild aerial chase - Trains delayed

★

As the 10.34 from Los Angeles rolled into Union Station, shocked onlookers witnessed how a woman pulled out a rifle and opened fire at two men who had taken hostages. As the two crooks returned fire, another man pulled out a pistol and added to the fray. The wild firefight continued into the train, and as police started making arrests, it turned out that a Dr. von der Lippe and a Major Niszka had taken a young girl, Beata Prlwytzkowska, hostage. The Krauts were apparently planning on abducting the poor girl to ab undisclosed European country. The hoodlums did not survive the encounter with the Chicago PD and several engaged passengers, although they seem have had access to military-grade poison gas.

Five passengers, the Egyptologist Dr. MacKenzie, the sharpshooting medical student Ms. Baker, the antiquarian Mr. Lake, the aviator Mr. Chester and the renowned antiques dealer Mr. Pollack, all of Arkham, Mass., were arrested by Chicago's Finest. They were subsequently released against bail, and rumor has it that they were bailed out by the film mogul Mr. Samuel Goldwyn. 

The 10.34 from Los Angeles

The first class dining car in the 10.34 before it was destroyed

The scene of the crime in Union Station

The Curious Case of Ms. Gretchen Weiss

On the morning of Friday, October 17, 1924, Mackie MacKenzie’s phone rings, and it is the elderly provost of Miskatonic Univerity, Ralph Maynard, who’s been serving Mikatonic U for a good 30 years. As it were, one of the graduate students of history, Gretchen Weiss, has been missing for almost a month. Since Mackie had advised Ms. Weiss on occasion, the provost decided to call Mackie to find out the whereabouts of Ms. Weiss. Mackie had indeed met with Ms. Weiss roughly six weeks ago to discuss a thesis project regarding glyph structures of late ancient Egypt, but at that point nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. 

Ms, Gretchen Weiss

Ralph Maynard

Mackie doesn’t know Gretchen Weiss that well, but she is a diligent student, who came to Miskatonic as an exchange student from the Humboldt University in Berlin during the spring semester of 1923. She is rather quiet and shy, and some might even say of a sensitive nature. Ms. Weiss is not known to be a reveler, but she enjoys painting water colors, and she frequents certain cafés, typically with a stack of books. She also has a cat, Schatzi.

Mackie is enjoying a rather lazy Friday morning in her father’s old mansion, and she is not really ready to face the world, so she calls Henry Chester to see if he might be able to find out what might have happened to young Ms. Weiss. Henry Chester really doesn’t mind at all, and he places a few calls himself as well as visiting to the police station. As the paranormal investigators gather at J. Polack Fine Antiquities for a Friday afternoon cocktail, Henry announces that the young graduate student had been admitted to the Arkham Sanatorium, also irreverently known as the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane after a very violent episode in the building she lives in on Boundary Street and West Saltonstall. She is not seeing any visitors. The Arkham police claimed that there was no suspicion of any criminal activity, and they are not involved in the case, although the landlady, Mrs. Helen Gardener, was apparently injured by Ms. Weiss before the police could take her into custody.

Mrs. Helen Gardener  

                               

                      

How incredibly strange! What befell the young graduate student? How are all of you doing?