The North End Excursion (Part 1)

I was reading the Necronomicon, a collection a short stories by the Mad American H.P. Lovecraft, when I noticed something interesting in one of his stories, specifically “Pickman’s Model”.

While most of his tales revolve around fantastical locations or rural areas or fictional towns, this particular story takes place in Boston’s North End. There is even mention of several actual streets and locations nearby. With a little research, I discovered that Lovecraft had, indeed, based this nightmare vision upon an actual location.

The location, in the story, is a place where the fabric between worlds has worn dangerously thin and creatures from beyond are able to traverse from one side to the other with apparent ease. I wondered what Lovecraft saw or felt when he first laid his eyes on the spot; if he had some inner voice telling him to write about this spot.

It would do me good, I think, to visit this same location now. Even though the original building has been torn down, there may be some lingering traces that gave him his own idea.

Using the text, I was able to narrow down the possible location of the shack where Pickman and his demons lived. Tonight, I plan to find it. I will report back here with any and all findings.

-D-