Arkham encyclopedia topics

Arkham in Lovecraft's fiction

In the 1933 story The Thing on the Doorstep, Lovecraft described

the ancient, mouldering, and subtly fearsome town...witch-cursed, legend-haunted Arkham, whose huddled, sagging gambrel roofs and crumbling Georgian balustrades brood out over the centuries beside the darkly muttering Miskatonic.

Arkham is the home of Miskatonic University, which figures prominently in many of Lovecraft's works. The institution finances the expeditions in both At the Mountains of Madness (1936) and The Shadow out of Time (1936). Walter Gilman, of The Dreams in the Witch House (1933), attends classes at the university. Other notable institutions in Arkham are the Arkham Historical Society and the Arkham Sanitarium (sic).

Arkham's main newspaper is the Arkham Advertiser, which has a circulation that reaches as far as Dunwich. In the 1880s, its newspaper is called the Arkham Gazette.

Arkham’s most notable characteristics are its gambrel roofs and the dark legends surrounding the city for centuries. Occurrences such as the disappearance of children (presumably murdered in ritual sacrifices) at May Eve and other bad doings are accepted as a part of life for the poorer citizens of the city.

Location

The precise location of Arkham is unknown, although it is probably near both Innsmouth and Dunwich. However, it may be surmised from Lovecraft's stories that it is some distance to the north of Boston, probably in Essex County, Massachusetts. The real-life model for Arkham seems to be, in fact, Salem, its reputation for the occult making it appealing to one who dabbles in the weird tale.

Arkham Sanitarium appears in the short story The Thing on the Doorstep and may have been inspired by the Danvers State Insane Asylum, aka Danvers State Hospital, located in Danvers, Massachusetts. (Danvers State Hospital also appears in Lovecraft's stories Pickman's Model and The Shadow over Innsmouth.) H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham and the Arkham Sanitarium were paid homage in the creation of Arkham Asylum in the Batman comic book series.

Appearances

Lovecraft's fiction

Note: dates are the year written.

Arkham first appeared in Lovecraft's short story "The Picture in the House" (1920)—the story is also the first to mention "Miskatonic". It also appears in other stories by Lovecraft, including:

"Herbert West—Reanimator" (1921–22); first story to mention "Miskatonic University"
"The Unnamable" (1923)
"The Colour out of Space" (1927)
"The Dunwich Horror" (1928)
At the Mountains of Madness (1931); one of the ships is named Arkham
"The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (1931), first to mention "Arkham Historical Society"
"The Dreams in the Witch House" (1932)
"Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (1932–1933)
"The Thing on the Doorstep" (1933); first to mention "Arkham Sanitarium"
"The Shadow out of Time" (1934–1935)

Other authors

Arkham also appears in the Cthulhu Mythos tales of other writers since Lovecraft's death. Among them:

Bloch, Robert. "The Creeper in the Crypt" (1937)

Brennen, Joseph Payne. "Forringer's Fortune" (1975)

Brunner, John. "Concerning the Forthcoming Inexpensive Paperback Translation of the Necronomicon of Abdul Alhazred" (1992)

Campbell, Ramsey

"The Tomb Herd" (1986)
"The Tower from Yuggoth" (1986)

Jens, Tina L. "In His Daughter's Darkling Womb" (1997), mentions "Arkham Industries"

Lumley, Brian. The Transition of Titus Crow (1975)

Price, Robert M. "Wilbur Whateley Waiting" (1987)

Shea, Michael. The Color out of Time (1984)

Smith, Clark Ashton. "I Am a Witch" (19??)

Thompson, C. Hall. "The Will of Claude Ashur" (1947)

Wilson, F. Paul. "The Barrens" (1990)

Other appearances

Arkham Tattoo is located in Akron, Ohio.

Arkham is the setting for all of the stories in the 2006 anthology Arkham Tales published by Chaosium.

Film and television

Arkham also appeared in the movie Haunted Palace (1963) starring Vincent Price.
Arkham is the name of the mental hospital mentioned in The Rage: Carrie 2, which is about certain characters who survived the events in Carrie.
"Arkham" is the codename used for a plan to assassinate Mr. Parker in NBC's television show The Pretender.
Arkham also appears as the town in the movie Die, Monster, Die starring Boris Karloff and Nick Adams.(This film is based upon Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space.)
Arkham appears in "The Collect Call of Cathulhu", an episode from The Real Ghostbusters, when members of the Ghostbusters go to Miskatonic University to get information on how to stop Cthulhu.
Arkham is the name of the main prison/asylum located outside Gotham City in Batman: The Animated Series.
In Universal Pictures' 1940s Mummy films, the sinister priests are usually referred to as members of the Temple of Karnak, but in The Mummy's Ghost (1944), this becomes the Temple of Arkham.

Comics

In the DC Universe, Arkham Asylum is a high-security asylum for dangerous psychopaths where many Gotham City supervillains, including the Joker, are kept under guard.

The ARCAM Corporation in the manga Spriggan took its name from the fictional city of Arkham.

In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Arkham is mentioned in Allan and the Sundered Veil, The New Traveller's Almanac and The Black Dossier.

There is a passing reference to Arkham in the 2000AD comic strip Defoe, where it is referred to as a colony of Satanists.

Games

Arkham is the setting for roleplaying games based on the Mythos, such as Call of Cthulhu.
The third Shadow Hearts video game (Shadow Hearts: From the New World) features a visit to the fictional Arkham University, based in Boston, Massachusetts. H. P. Lovecraft himself appears as a professor at the university, conjuring up demons for the heroes to fight at their request.
Arkham is one of the antagonists in the video game Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, the father of "Lady". It is also noted that the character Arkham's alter ego is Jester, a character that closely resembles the Joker.
In the web-based roleplaying game Urban Dead, there are two suburbs, named Old Arkham and New Arkham. Some players have even started to refer to a specific area as Miskatonic University.
Arkham Horror is a cooperative adventure board-game themed around H.P Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. The game has players exploring the town of Arkham as they attempt to stop unmentionable horrors from spilling into the world.
MechWarrior 2 features a level named Arkham Bridge with a song so entitled.
The city of New Arcadia from Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is a spoof of Arkham.

Music

Arkham was a rock band that put out two full length albums on Volcom Entertainment. They performed for three years on the Vans Warped Tour and toured with bands such as Thrice and Rise Against.

Arkham was also the name of a short-lived band featuring several of the members of British Sea Power prior to the formation of BSP.

Arkham was also the name of a French prog-rock band active from 1970 until 1972 and featuring members of other important continental prog groups Magma and Univers Zero.

Arkham is also the name of a Brazilian rock/metal/experimental band formed in 2001 from Rio de Janeiro .

The Arkhams are a Psychobilly/Rockabilly band from New York that chose their name, in part, based on the writings of HP Lovecraft.

Grindcore band Discordance Axis have a song entitled Radiant Arkham.

Scottish hip hop artist Loki has a song entitled Escape From Arkham from the Friendly World LP.

Avant-garde rock artist Bob Drake's song, "Kaziah's Pet," is set in Arkham.

Deathrock band Rudimentary Peni not only makes a reference to Arkham in their song "Arkham Hearse", but also numerous other H. P. Lovecraft references throughout their musical catalogue.

Alt-country musician Ryan Adams wrote a song called "Arkham Asylum," which he and the Cardinals have performed live since September 18, 2006.'

References

Primary sources

Lovecraft, Howard P.

At the Mountains of Madness, and Other Novels (7th corrected printing), S. T. Joshi (ed.), Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1985. ISBN 0-87054-038-6. Definitive version.
Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, S. T. Joshi (ed.), Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1987. ISBN 0-87054-039-4. Definitive version.
The Dunwich Horror and Others (9th corrected printing), S. T. Joshi (ed.), Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1984. ISBN 0-87054-037-8. Definitive version.