Dreams in the Witch-House by H.P. Lovecraft

This, the third Lovecraft story I have read, was more enjoyable than either The Shadow Over Innsmouth or The Call of Cthulhu. Eleanor recommended it on the grounds that I might like the references to multi-dimensional mathematics, but really I just liked the whole thing. For one thing, it used familiar mythology - witches - so Lovecraft was able to invoke old fears rather than trying [and failing] to create new ones. For another, the prose was a lot more sane. There were no 'wave-raising strokes of cosmic potency' here, thankfully.

Dreams in the Witch-House tells the story of a young mathematician, Walter Gilman, whose studies of the hyperdimensional quality of space lead him inevitably into the realms of evil. He encounters the old witch who used to occupy the room in which he boards, her ratlike little familiar, and ultimately the Black Man, who may or may not have been Satan. Using jumps through the fourth spatial dimension they take him to different places in the known and unknown universe, all the while enmeshing him ever closer in magic and witchcraft. His rebellion and resulting destruction are horrible, vividly described, and evoke sympathy and fear alike. The story lacks nothing in terms of emotion and imagery.

Where it is lacking is in its logic of plot. It's never clear, even at the last, exactly what is happening or why. My biggest questions are, how did his study of the fourth dimension [for he goes no further than the fourth] enable Gilman to travel through it without actually discovering the mathematical proof of what he was doing? And how did that bring him so irrevocably within the clutches of the witch? It's explained, of course, that the witch lives in the fourth dimension most of the time. There is no flow of time there as we understand it, so she thus prolongs her life indefinitely. I suppose it's possible that Gilman's travels in the witch's domain brought him to her notice, but why should that correlate so immediately with his falling under her power?

Early in the story we are acquainted with the witch's confession of 'lines and curves that could be made to point out directions leading through the walls of space to other spaces beyond'. This I understand to refer to projections of four-dimensional objects onto three-dimensional space - similar to taking a two-dimensional cross section of a three-dimensional object. And yes, I'm willing to suspend scepticism to the extent of accepting that such projections could mark out and render accessible portals from the third to the fourth dimension. So, in all Gilman's wanderings between dimensions, why do we never again encounter such 'lines and curves'?

It seems that he's able to make the transition at will - and sometimes involuntarily - without any physical aid. Maybe that's because, unlike the old witch, he understands the mathematics behind it - but if that is the case then I'd prefer to have been told. I'm a student myself, yet I can't say that late-night musings on problems mathematical have resulted in any sudden transitions into worlds ruled by strange mathematics.

The story is set in Arkham, not far from Innsmouth itself and apparently somewhere near Salem, for there's mention of the witch having been tried by Judge Hathorne. Lovecraft clearly doesn't have the fondest feelings for this part of America. I wonder if any of these places are real.

It was a good story, and I enjoyed reading it; it made a pleasant change from The Scarlet Letter, and I still got my 20 pages done later in the day. Eleanor, now that I've read the story, if you'd like to hear any more rantings about hyperdimensional maths, please let me know and I'd be happy to oblige. Just maybe have a few cups of strong coffee first, eh?