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