REANIMATOR by H.P. Lovecraft | #MidnightInTheMacabre

The story was written as a serial, published one chapter at a time from October 1921 to June 1922 in the amateur publication Home Brew. And because it was written during this time, you will hear language not considered politically correct today – particularly that of words used to describe people of color. But as I have done in the past, I am leaving it all intact to preserve the author’s words in their original form, and so we never forget our sometimes horrible history.

ABOUT THE STORY: It’s a classic tale from H.P. Lovecraft entitled “Herbert West: Reanimator”. Herbert West is perhaps the best-known of Lovecraft’s human characters. Most people upon hearing the word “Reanimator” will automatically think of the film from 1985 of the same name – based upon the story you’re about to hear. But loosely based. Very… loosely… based. They went more in a comedy direction with the film. Some believe Lovecraft did intend his originally story to be a parody of Frankenstein. But it doesn’t really feel like a parody. At least, to the extent that parodies are supposed to be funny. Also, Herbert West is the antithesis of Victor Frankenstein. Whereas Mary Shelley’s scientist is mad only to the extent he is prone to wild flights of passionate emotion and expressing himself in florid romantic speeches, Herbert West is hyper-rational, dispassionate, amoral, and unsentimental. Where Frankenstein is wracked with debilitating guilt, West is a sociopath, driven by a desire to prove his theories correct no matter what the cost. Maybe Lovecraft’s point was that if anyone was going to bring dead bodies back to a kind of “life,” it would be a ruthless and unemotional scientist, not someone who sounds suspiciously like a lovesick poet. And, I guess he’s probably right. Still, if you’re after the big laughs like what was in the movie, “Herbert West: Reanimator” is not the place to find them. It’s a story in six parts, but each part is essentially the same as the others: West reanimates a corpse. Reanimated corpse starts wrecking everything. West and the narrator conceal their involvement. Rinse and repeat. The story was written as a serial, published one chapter at a time from October 1921 to June 1922 in the amateur publication “Home Brew”. And because it was written during that time, you will hear language not considered politically correct today – particularly that of words used to describe people of color. But as I have done in the past, I am leaving it all intact to preserve the author’s words in their original form, and so we never forget our sometimes horrible history.
EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/reanimator
SOURCES and RESOURCES: “Re-Animator: Tales of Herbert West” by H.P. Lovecraft: https://amzn.to/3Oc1V2s
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Midnight In The Macabre (MITM), originally aired: September 27, 2026
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