Walter Gilman is a fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft for his 1932 short story "The Dreams in the Witch-House".
Biography[]
A man from from Haverhill, Massachusetts, Walter Gilman attended Miskatonic University to advance his research in non-Euclidean calculus and quantum physics which he linked to the "fantastic legends of elder magic". While there he came into contact with the Necronomicon, the Book of Eibon and the Unaussprechlichen Kulten but was later forbidden by his professors to further consult the university's collection of rare books, as they feared the deep mental tension brought on by studying such material too hard.
Gilman later took board in the reportedly haunted "Witch-House," which in the 1600's was home to the black magician Keziah Mason. She eventually entered his dreams with the Black Man, attempting to convince him to sign his name into the Book of Azathoth. He tried to refuse, recalling the description of Azathoth given in the Necronomicon, but may have succumbed as he went on to sleep walk into occult rituals and a kidnapping.
Though Gilman later managed to strangle Mason and confess his full story to fellow student Frank Elwood, he was himself killed when her demonic rat, Brown Jenkin, ate his heart.
Trivia[]
- His acuteness of the senses in the opening paragraphs can be likened to that of some of Edgar Allan Poe's characters.
References[]
- ↑ The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham (pp.809)