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November 1920. " The Cats of Ulthar " is a short story written by American fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft in June 1920. In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar. As the narrative goes, the city is home to an old couple who enjoy capturing and killing the ...
- Synopsis
- Background
- Reception and Legacy
- Characters
- Lovecraft and Cats
An unnamed narrator, while gazing upon his pet cat, begins to reminisce about a law in the town of Ulthar that forbids the killing of cats and relates the story of how this law came to be. The tale begins with the introduction of an old cotter (farmer) and his wife who delight in trapping and violently killing any cats who venture onto their proper...
Lovecraft outlined the plot to his friend Rheinhart Kleiner in May 1920 and wrote "The Cats of Ulthar" on June 15, 1920, five months after completing his previous tale, "The Terrible Old Man". Conceived during the author's early period, Lovecraft was influenced by the writing of Anglo-Irish writer Lord Dunsany and attempted to mimic his style. Amon...
"The Cats of Ulthar" was a personal favorite of Lovecraft's, who was an ardent cat lover. A number of contemporary critics, as well as Lovecraft himself, consider the story to be the best of all his Dunsanian tales. Other critics have noted that the story is one of Lovecraft's most famous tales that fits both the Dunsanian and the "weird fantasy" s...
Menes
A young boy, one of the "dark wanderers", orphaned by the plague; a tiny black kitten is his only companion. When the kitten disappears, he prays to the sun for vengeance. His name hints at connections with Ancient Egypt: Menes is the name of a legendary pharaoh who united Upper and Lower Egypt.
The primary inspiration for the story is no doubt Lovecraft's well-known love of cats (as spelled out in his 1926 essay "Cats and Dogs", reprinted as the title essay in the 1949 Arkham House collection Something About Cats and Other Pieces). Lovecraft seems to be speaking in his own voice in the story's introductory paragraph:
Overview. "The Cats of Ulthar " is a short story written by American fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft in June 1920. In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar. As the narrative goes, the city is home to an old couple who enjoy capturing and killing the ...
Sep 30, 2023 · Summary of "The Cats of Ulthar". "The Cats of Ulthar" is a short story written in June 1920 and published in November of the same year. Like most Lovecraft stories, the narrator stays nameless as they explain the story of Ulthar, a town where killing cats is now illegal. It goes back to when an old couple lived in the town.
He believed that cats innately possess what human beings lack. The Cats of Ulthar tells the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar. Lovecraft outlined the plot to this story in May 1920, and wrote the short story June 15, 1920. And here—100 years later, I get to present it to you—in a podcast.
Jun 24, 2023 · H. P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Cats of Ulthar” was written on 15 June 1920, five months after he completed his previous tale, “The Terrible Old Man”. It was first published in November 1920 in the literary journal “Tryout”. The story was a personal favorite of Lovecraft’s.
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The Cats of Ulthar. H. P. Lovecraft. 6 min read. The Cats of Ulthar is an English Cosmic Horror, Horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first published in 1920. The Cats of Ulthar (1920) is featured in our collection of Halloween Stories.
