"The Picture in the House" by H. P. Lovecraft / A HorrorBabble Production

"The Picture in the House" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft. It was written on December 12, 1920, and first published in the July issue of The National Amateur, 1921. In the tale, a genealogist seeks shelter from an approaching storm in an apparently abandoned house...
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:42 - The Picture in the House
22:58 - Further Listening
Bandcamp link: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/alb...
Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble
Music and production by Ian Gordon
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This is an ORIGINAL HorrorBabble Production.

[@jameswilkinson259]

Ian Gordon's voice has given me new found enjoyment of Lovecraft's work. Great storytelling.

[@patrickmcpherson97]

Having vision problems right now, this is the best way to have my favorite stories available, until all this is taken care of and I can read again. I'm really enjoying Mr. Gordon's reading of these Lovecraft stories.

[@HorrorBabble]

Get well soon Patrick!

[@balaam_7087]

I love the background, it reminds me of Courage the Cowardly Dog

[@leodoro8877]

Hearing this in 2020 almost 100 years after its publication I had no idea that writing could be so provocative and eloquent. I replayed this episode three times.

[@CFkatehudson]

i was reproached by my so called english teacher during my 1oth grade drudgery for employing more than a handful of common words in my various failed efforts to express myself in the writen form. thus i fear our education system is not structured to foster creative minds. rather, the powers want compliant workers just able enough to obey.

[@donaldmccleary9015]

I agree. This is an excellent story and is extremely well-written.

[@GeoffreyChurchilley]

Mighty queer haow spooky talk kin set a body thinkin'. Thinkin' an thinkin'

[@bathoryaria4127]

This has become my absolute favorite channel to go to bed to. I kill the lights, turn on HorrorBabble and drift into nightmare land 💀❤

[@HorrorBabble]

Nightmare Land: the ultimate ethereal plain. Thanks for listening!

[@TheFaulkned]

OMG me too. I've told Ian a dozen times he has a soothing voice. And I love his lovecraft reads.

[@kfrausto]

Wouldn’t listen to HPL from any other narrator. This is top shelf stuff.

[@MrJedimedic]

Wayne June is outstanding. Try his “Horror At Red Hook”

[@jamiecameron7615]

I absolutely loved the creepyness of that whole story. Top shelf narration as always. Thank you very much!!

[@risingson7773]

I'd a been hauling ass outta that house!

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

One of the very best HPL onehitters

[@dave-ish8098]

Am I the only one who hit replay immediately? Surely not.

[@bigbitehood1353]

That opening mysic an hearing your viice is like coming home

[@masamune2984]

This takes me back to my time, those dark times, in those abominable halls of Derceto Manor, and it’s different manifestations throughout the ages…

[@bold810]

Imo, this is his scariest story, terrifying!

[@mauricedavis2160]

Excellent as always Sir, thank you!!!🙏👌👻❣️

[@12201185234]

Well, that was a creepy one. Thanks Ian! Somehow I had never heard of this story.

[@donaldmccleary9015]

The beginning and introduction of this story are some of the best I have read. God, I have loved reading these parts of this story since I first read it over 20 years ago. I love this story immensely, but the beginning and introduction pack quite the punch! This is one of the first Lovecraft stories read and I always come back to it. I love the, "old Yankee dialect" the old guy talks in. Thanks for narrating this. Great job!

[@lynnbell6353]

This is surely one of the most ominous introductions of all time! Despite the fact that they were contemporaries, I’ve never heard of any influences of William Faulkner’s works upon Lovecraft. But comparisons certainly can be drawn between the brooding, abandoned, slowly rotting locations both describe and the decadent families who dwell within these ancient walls. As a longtime resident of Atlanta, I’ve frequently been forced to drive through such isolated regions on lonely backroad trips throughout the American South. Such journeys have always made me wonder about a variety of things. But my advice will never change. If you have to make such trips, whatever else you may do, never, EVER stop to investigate anything. Gas up in advance, don’t look too closely at places you may pass along the roadside...and just keep on going.

[@cyclos12]

That’s the biggest copout I’ve ever heard in a love craft book and this is a guy who routinely says “it was undescribable”. Come on love craft

[@kevfullo]

This just popped up at bedtime, perfect.

[@bold810]

To me, this is the scariest story by the master king of 'orror. ..yep, listened to it thru again and this is the scariest story ever. If you have a vivid imagination, don't use it listening to this story.

[@gusramirez5647]

I bought a anthology of Hp Lovecraft's fiction recently, so when I'm in the mood to read him, but not in the mood to deal with his antiquated style...welp here I am

[@DiscovererAlpha]

Very nice work with the ambient noise in this one

[@bodegabreath4258]

If the story is as smashing as the accompanying pic, and I suspect it will be, it’s going to be fantastic.

[@luluseatowngetdown6251]

Golly, that was sorta scary! Ran a pretty strange movie in my brain while I listened. Wish there were more Lovecraft yarns like this. Good one.

[@Flood520]

Ooh, a new bedtime story for me. Thanks Ian!

[@richardw.b.feigen8700]

Tonight's presentation is yet another of your masterful, inimitable, spectral sleigh rides. Thank You Ian.

[@LTPottenger]

Gonna get a copy of this book for my foyer

[@MrHorrorFan772]

Love this story

[@prolificendangered1955]

Love your dedication. Thanks for the fantastic uploads.

[@robbabcock_]

Wonderful tale!

[@dixieflatline9772]

If a dragon has an alligator's head, how could you tell? How would it be different from how a dragon normally looks? This is why home just writes, "indescribable" so much.

[@HorrorBabble]

"The Picture in the House" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft. It was written on December 12, 1920, and first published in the July issue of The National Amateur, 1921. In the tale, a genealogist seeks shelter from an approaching storm in an apparently abandoned house... Chapters: 00:16 - Introduction 00:42 - The Picture in the House 22:58 - Further Listening Bandcamp link: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-picture-in-the-house Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble Music and production by Ian Gordon Support us on Bandcamp or Patreon: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com www.patreon.com/horrorbabble HorrorBabble MERCH: teespring.com/stores/horrorbabble-merch Search HORRORBABBLE to find us on: AUDIBLE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY Home: www.horrorbabble.com Rue Morgue: www.rue-morgue.com Social Media: facebook.com/HorrorBabble instagram.com/horrorbabble twitter.com/HorrorBabble

[@koolkustomer6229]

Another great story.

[@archibaldslack4357]

Deliciously creepy story and performance.

[@TheFaulkned]

I love this story. And the description of the old Yankee reminds me of my father.

[@johnoliva5153]

Thoroughly enjoyable reading.Thank you.

[@Aroundthesquarebowl]

Thank you

[@davevikkuz6821]

Rain is not red 😀 beautifully delivered line

[@TheFaulkned]

well it is in my house. But you could just be weird.

[@davevikkuz6821]

@@TheFaulkned dude, lets open a theme park at your house. The Peter Gabriel track can't be too expensive to license

[@TheFaulkned]

But then I'd have to share......

[@davevikkuz6821]

@@TheFaulkned ⭐ then everyone on the planet may benefit from your shining example if they to shared

[@TheFaulkned]

@@@davevikkuz6821 Hmmmm you may be right. But I was never a fan of the people from this planet.

[@Julian-bq9qv]

*Masterful~!!!! The story is one I had not heard, but seems that Lovecraft marked it with his typically growing sense of terror! And you, sir, are indeed the msot gifted narrator on all of KZbindom and perhasp all the internet.*

[@LunarOrchard]

Omg that random laugh 😅😅😅

[@austencobine864]

Yes, another good one bring me more.

[@karehhartig7287]

FABULOUS!

[@karehhartig7287]

Hi Ian ! You know I'm gonna love this ! Thank you

[@cabclint]

Love your channel man. Your narration is top notch, and it adds to the effect. Keep it up!

[@litaholic4572]

Thank you for another incredible narration. Am proud to say I am very invested in Lovecraft's work now and this story is another phenomenal example of his eerily fascinating talent as a writer.

[@ElaineOddsoxxx1]

Perfect pauses, atmospheric, just fab! Thanx Ian : )

[@PowerLvL9000]

This was a creepy one. Thanks for the read.

[@lisahoschkeandrade9751]

I just heard this for the second time and I truly love it, especially at the end when he just closes his eyes. Awesome

[@JoeMama-dy6op]

Oh man, it was great but left you wanting more!

[@mr.v2689]

Excellence as usual! Ty sir

[@Studogg98]

Thank you once more for a beautiful reading.

[@weezman1984]

Brilliant stuff Ian 🍻 KZbin needs to get its house in order.

[@johnbryant8603]

Enjoyed this very much, nice pace & easy to listen to. 🎩🖤🙏🏽🌹

[@Nyctophora]

One I do not recall ever having read!

[@billsummy2412]

AWESOME !

[@golbatgirl]

Your narrations are amazing. I try to listen to yours when searching for HP Lovecraft, especially when it inspires my drawings.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks Victoria - if you pop on over to the channel page and scroll down, you should see all of our Lovecraft playlists grouped together! kzbin.info :)

[@aldoushuxley5953]

Hello Victoria, I am sorry to bother you, but do you share your paintings online anywhere? I am a huge fan of Lovecraft, and paintings based on his works sounds like a very interesting idea :) Also, have you seen Night Gallery? In that show, a painting representing the theme of the episode is used as an introduction to each episode. Just in case you need inspiration/ want to see how others interpreted Lovecrafts works :)

[@ceraz052]

Listening to this while ordering lunch and my total came out to $6.66. This is promising 😆

[@sabastjunberthiaume8391]

Thank you so much for making these.

[@egotisticalgiraffe6130]

As always beautify done

[@CJ-uf6xl]

Wonderfully narrated, thank you!

[@abbyluther9352]

Awesome narration!

[@masamune2984]

Anyone else listening to the story, looking at the image of that house in the thumbnail/background, and wondering just what moment we would have got up and dove through that window to escape that man? 😅

[@mabinogix]

So the guy killed someone upstairs and then the house was stuck by lightning? Which killed the narrator? The ending on this one is interesting

[@dave-ish8098]

***SPOILERS**** When the old man is going on about "extending life if the flesh was more the same" he's talking about cannibalism to extend life. Given the years the old man references and the year the story takes place (1896) we can count he's over 120 years old and still in good shape. He tells the narrator he never acted on his desires but the dripping blood proves he's lying. It's generally accepted the narrator survived the lightening strike that destroyed the house and a good thing because he was on the menu.

[@mabinogix]

@@dave-ish8098 Cool! I figured there was something sort of like that going on. Thanks for the info! These stories are all so interesting

[@dave-ish8098]

@@mabinogix and this channel is a gold mine! I have no idea how I stumbled on it but I'm glad I did :)

[@Mi-yc3oy]

Again, great voice acting 🥃👍

[@Xbalanque84]

Fun fact: while _Regnum Congo_ is quite real and does portray Africans with European features (Pigafeta had no frame of reference to work with, after all), none of the woodcuts feature the dragon or ape-men hybrids mentioned in this story. This appears to be another example of Lovecraft taking creative license with history, and could charitably be treated as an alternate timeline from ours/ARG (an interpretation extremely conducive to the Cthulhu Mythos as a whole).

[@feralbluee]

i enjoyed this story cause you read it so well. i don’t think i would have if i’d just plain read it :)🌷

[@anthonybarnwell6909]

i would love to hear bram stokers dracula someday

[@HorrorBabble]

It's on the list, but it's incredibly long. We'll get to it in one form or another eventually.

[@anthonybarnwell6909]

@@HorrorBabble thanks my friend

[@deniswilliams2212]

2in one night 😱

[@MrJordan179]

Nom nom nom nom nom ...

[@TheHangedMan]

I don't really get the ending of this one.

[@jacobjohnston3983]

Solar2 as they were looking at the picture of the cannibal market, a single drop of blood fell from the ceiling, right on the book. The old man had murdered someone upstairs, and was probably going to eat them before the narrator arrived. The narrator knows this, and the old man knows he knows. The second crash of thunder snapped the narrator out of his terrified shock, but whether he escaped alive or not is unknown...

[@vhemson747]

@@jacobjohnston3983 i been looking for this answer hahaha....thanks...

[@walterfechter8080]

13:56 -- 14:02 Time for me to go, old timer!

[@Kikilang60]

Thanks, I've never read this story of Lovecraft. This reminds me of the story, "The House of Nightmare", buy Edward Lucas White. Everyone knows White's Lukundoo, but I find "The House of the Nightmare" superior. "The House of the Nightmare" is a story of about a ghost being haunted by other ghost. The whole of "The House of the Nightmare" is subtly unreal, like the shifting reality of dream. I find "The House of the Nightmare" far superior to Lukundoo, and well worth anyone time to read.

[@HorrorBabble]

Sounds interesting Kiki - do you have a link to it online?

[@Kikilang60]

I'm not to good at links, but you can google it, and free. It's also on youtube, but the reading was okay. It's clever story. It seems like a simple story where the hook is at the end, but in reality, they main protagist has accident where he is knocked out, an wakes up in what seems like a dark dream like realilty. You have to wonder, is he dead himself? You have to wonder, just who is the ghost, and what are those monsters? There are not many stories where ghost are haunted by ghost, and the ghost are plagued by nightmares inhabited monsters that maybe real, and at what point do you realize you are dreaming, and know when you are dead.

[@HorrorBabble]

@@Kikilang60 Thanks Kiki - I'll do some digging!

[@rebelife922]

Kiki Lang damn this sounds GOOD!

[@gerry5134]

Good story thx again. But what happened at the end; were they both killed by a lightning strike ?

[@Thomas-wn7cl]

👍

[@donaldmccleary9015]

Schoolmaster in "84." The question is, "Which '84".

[@Danovio]

What was the name of the story about the painter who painted a demon eating a human?

[@bjrnification]

Pickman's Model I think?

[@Danovio]

@@bjrnification yes thats the one!! i love that one gona listen to it now thanks bro

[@bittybitty8233]

💛 ❗

[@__Qt]

That's f*cking marvelous ! The narration is awesome ! Это ахуенно, господи. Какое восхитительное прочтение !!!

[@tobypack6328]

Check out Guillermo DelToro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

[@torilong45]

yummy

[@trillcosby4399]

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