The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a short horror novel written by H. P. Lovecraft and originally published in 1941.

The novel tells the story of Charles Dexter Ward, whose name gives the book its title. Charles, at the beginning of the 20th century, begins to feel a deep fascination for an ancestor of his named Joseph Curwen. This draws him into a dark and paranormal world.

All these investigations lead him to end up in a psychiatric hospital after suffering a great physical and mental degradation. Dr. Willet will investigate the background of these events to discover the reality behind Charles Dexter Ward and how he has reached this state.

"FROM a private hospital for the insane near Providence, Rhode Island, there recently disappeared an exceedingly singular person. He bore the name of Charles Dexter Ward, and was placed under restraint most reluc- tantly by the grieving father who had watched his aberration grow from a mere eccentricity to a dark mania..."

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) before 1964, and copyright was not renewed.