'Notebook Found in a Deserted House' – Robert Bloch

I'm back at work today (and I've got a horrible feeling that it will be a rough one) so I didn't want to go into today with a full on book review, not until I've got the lay of the land at work. You've been there, you know exactly what I mean ;o)

I didn't want to hang around too long, before posting something bookish, so thought I'd compromise and kick off 2022 with a short story post; I'm sure you won't mind too much ;o) My copy of 'Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos' collection hasn't seen too much action, since I read 'Sticks' anyway, so I thought I'd pay it a visit again, this time to read me a little Robert Bloch with 'Notebook Found in a Deserted House'. It's been so long since I've read anything by Robert Bloch that I totally forgot I had, until I did a little digging and found that I'd read the short story 'Maternal Instinct' back in 2013. That was zombies though, lets see how Bloch did with Cosmic Horror...

Willie Osborne has not been having a good few days and what's even worse is that this might not be the case for much longer. They're outside and sooner or later, they will get in...

I'll be honest, I chose 'Notebook Found in a Deserted House' as I was trying to pick a story to read and this one just happened to be part of the blurb on the back of the book. I certainly didn't have any idea about what to expect from it so it was all the more pleasing to find myself facing a short story that demanded I finish it in the one sitting and a story that delights in showing us that humankind's cosmic insignificance isn't something that can only be experienced by adults. If the creatures lurking between the stars are truly indifferent to us then a child is just as likely to be given that insight as anyone else...

'I think they're coming pretty soon, because they've been gone outside a long time.'

'Notebook Found in a Deserted House' takes it's cue from Lovecraft as we're told in no uncertain terms how this tale is likely to end before it has even got going. It also sets itself a pretty big task as we know how things are likely to pan out before we've had a chance to experience it for ourselves. Where's the fun if we already know the ending? Bloch gets round this by keeping the focus on Willie's bewilderment over what is happening; he knows that something is horribly wrong and he's got a good idea but he can't really be sure why. We go on this journey with him and end up in the same place. We all know our Mythos but we can't be sure what is happening either and this all makes for a particularly unsettling read as we experience events through his eyes. It goes without saying (but I'm saying it anyway) that if you're not keen on reading about a small(ish) child being subjected to a campaign of otherworldly terror, give this story a miss. If you stick around though and see what Willie sees... Well, Cosmic Horror doesn't discriminate.

I also liked the way that, in the best tradition of the best Cosmic Horror tales, Bloch really goes all out to use the surrounding landscape to add to that unsettling air; both through its history and that all pervading, unsettling, feeling that everywhere feels empty... but there's still someone watching you. What I will say though is that did Willie really imagine a landscape populated by the descendants of druids, only to find that druids were pretty much camped out in the hills by his house? That's a little too neat, even for me... And why did they creep into his house at night and take his Aunt but leave him? 'Druids' and 'efficiency' aren't two things that I'd normally lump together but you would have thought that they'd save themselves a trip and take Willie as well? Luckily it works in terms of freaking Willie out even more but it did take me out of the story, for a bit, and that's never a good thing when that story is only a few pages long...

These are relatively minor quibbles though as the overall effect wasn't spoiled, in the end, and that's the main thing. 'Notebook Found in a Deserted House' does a really good job of unsettling the reader and having you root for Willie at the same time; even though once you see what lurks outside, you know how it has to end.

'Notebook Found in a Deserted House' was originally published in 'Weird Tales', back in 1951, while I found it in 'Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos'. If you don't have either of these though, you can listen to it via the video below. Don't say that I never do anything for you ;o)