"Family Tradition" is a short Mythos story by American author Edward Morris.
Synopsis[]
Denny Whateley visits Frank Nardi and relates the story of how his family raised his younger brother, a creature created through an unholy union with a dark god. Unfortunately, Junior has escaped and Whateley asks for the assistance of the Arkham Detective Agency. The story ends with the investigators preparing to put a stop to Junior's dark magic.
Characters[]
- Mark Berkenwald, a former NYPD detective-turned-private investigator.
- Dennis W. "Denny" Whateley, a Dunwich resident who has had prior contact with Frank Nardi.
- Frank Nardi, one of Berkenwald's business partners, also a PI.
- Johnny Thunstone, an Arkham Detective Agency employee.
- Galtoni, another partner in the Agency.
Behind the Mythos[]
"Family Tradition" was written by Edward Morris after a request by Brian M. Sammons for pieces centred around C. J. Henderson's Arkham Detective Agency. It was published in the collection Arkham Detective Agency by Dark Regions Press in November 2017.
Mythos Connections[]
- The Arkham Detective Agency offices in which the story is set are based in Arkham, Massachusetts.
- The events related in H. P. Lovecraft's "The Horror at Red Hook" are briefly recalled by Berkenwald.
- Both the Whateley family and Dunwich were created by Lovecraft for his short story "The Dunwich Horror."
- Denny Whateley makes mention of Olaus Wormius, a translator of the Necronomicon, De Vermis Mysteriis, a tome of ancient knowledge, and both R'lyeh and Ktulu-ili-mo'ku.
Trivia[]
- The story which Denny Whateley relates is a partial rewrite of Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror."
- The story mentions Tony Balnco and Madame Renee, a deceased partner in the Agency and its psychic consultant, respectively.
The Arkham Detective Agency Series
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| "The Idea of Fear" • "Cruelty" • "The Nest of Pain" • "Slaves for the Slaughter Sect" • "Call and Response" • "Miskatonic Contradance" • "Family Tradition" • "Light a Candle, Curse the Darkness" • "Il Segno Giallo" • "Echo of a Distant Scream" • "Closure" • "Witch Fire" • "Bonanza" • "Reeling Back" • "Those Folk Below" • "She Wore a Trench Coat" • "Clear the Air" • "A Walk in the Shadows" • "A Pleasure in Madness" |