The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
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Our view
“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” is a dark, atmospheric short novel of horror and mystery, rooted in Lovecraft’s home town of Providence. He wrote it in 1927, but it appeared only after his death, first in the pages of “Weird Tales” in 1941. Some readers find the prose slow and overwrought and the story short on genuine tension. Readers who like horror set in a real place will find it rewarding.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a short horror novel by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in early 1927, but not published during the author's lifetime. Set in Lovecraft's hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, it was first published in the May and July issues of Weird Tales in 1941; the first complete publication was in Arkham House's Beyond the Wall of Sleep collection (1943). It is included in the Library of America volume of Lovecraft's work.
Reading order · Dream Cycle
Full order & progress →- The White ShipStart here
–Not ranked yet - The Cats of Ulthar
–Not ranked yet - Polaris
–Not ranked yet - The Doom that Came to Sarnath
–Not ranked yet - Nyarlathotep
–Not ranked yet - The Nameless City
–Not ranked yet - Ex OblivioneEx Oblivione–Not ranked yet
- Celephaïs
–Not ranked yet - What the Moon Brings
–Not ranked yet - Hypnos
–Not ranked yet - The Hound
–Not ranked yet - The Outsider
–Not ranked yet - The Silver Key
–Not ranked yet - The Strange High House in the Mist
–Not ranked yet - The Dreams in the Witch House
–Not ranked yet - The Other Gods
–Not ranked yet - Through the Gates of the Silver Key
–Not ranked yet - The Quest of Iranon
–Not ranked yet - Azathoth
–Not ranked yet - The Thing in the MoonlightThe Thing in the Moonlight–Not ranked yet
- The Case of Charles Dexter WardThis book
8.08.0 / 10 - The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.0 across 91 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 38% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 8.0 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.0 | 91 | 100% |
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Fantasy — with scores between 7.9 and 8.0, closest to this book.
