H P Lovecraft

The Rats in the Walls H P Lovecraft

One of H. P. Lovecraft's most controversial tales of unspeakable horror. An American named Delapore, the last descendant of the De la Poer family, moves to his ancestral estate in England following the death of his only son during World War I. To the dismay of nearby residents, he restores the estate, called Exham Priory. After moving in, Delapore and his cat frequently hear the sounds of rats scurrying behind the walls. Upon investigating further, and through recurring dreams, Delapore learns that his family maintained an underground city for centuries, where they raised generations of "human cattle"-some regressed to a quadrupedal state-to supply their taste for human flesh ... "The Rats in the Walls" was first published in the March 1924 issue of Weird Tales.