Character Analysis: The Terrible Old Folk

Two good stories by H. P. Lovecraft are The Very Old Folk and The Terrible Old Man. The Very Old Folk expresses more on the results of fear than the darkness in people’s hearts and how corrupt they can be. The terrible Old Man expresses more on the darkness within people’s hearts and how corrupt they can become. H. P. Lovecraft writes horror stories to display the darkness is people’s hearts, how easy it is to become corrupt, and the results of fear. In Lovecraft’s story The Very Old Folk the villagers had been going about their regular lives until they began to feel a vague and ill-defined uneasiness. Due to this sense of uneasiness the villagers requested that a conference be held about the horror brooding on the hills during the Terrible

This is seldomly done due to how strange the old man acts. His collection of large stones painted to resemble Easter idols scare away children who wish to make fun of him. The collection of bottles with pendulums in them that vibrate when he speaks to them scare away the older and more curious people. These three men who came into the town intended to rob the old man. When these men arrived at the terrible old man’s house they were uneasy about the stones, but didn’t turn back. One of the men waited outside and after an hour he heard screaming from inside the house. At first he believe this to be the screams of the terrible old man.
All spring and summer the townsfolk spoke about the three bodies that had been found, mangled and slashed. Now, had the three men headed the warning and stayed away from the old man’s house they would still be alive. Instead they were tempted by the greed in their hearts for the money the terrible old man was said to have possession of. This drove them to enter through his gate and knock on the door. They believed that because he was an old man, he would be feeble and week, making him an easy target for