Wish I’d read this a bit sooner, so it’d be in time for Halloween.
In honor of the season, I re-read H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novel The Case of Charles Dexter ward for the umpteenth time. This time, though, i noticed something that hadn’t made much of an impression before:
Dear Theodore:
It really is lovely here in Atlantic City. I hope that you and Charles can join me soon, now that, judging from your letters, the grave robbing and other shocking things in Providence have stopped.
You don’t have to worry about me. I have made many new friends, including (would you believe) the mayor of Atlantic City himself, a Mr. Enoch Johnson, or Thompson, I can’t remember which. “Nucky”, as everyone calls him, is always impeccably dressed, with a red carnation in his lapel, and he remembers everyone’s face. He sees to it that the poor people are helped out, and has begun building an enormous Convention Hall, which he says will really bring the crowds to Atlantic City. Even though he is very busy, he always seems to have time to come and talk with me as I sit in my rocking chair, looking out over the Atlantic.
There are a lot of automobiles in atlantic City, and it seems that I frequently hear them backfiring at night. But I still manage to get a lot of sleep. Last night there were screams outside, but Nucky came by this morning to explain that they were screams of joy from people excited by the Jazz music at his club. People seem to get very worked up there.
If you could come down here you could get away from all the weird noises and people skulking around and digging up the dead. You really should.
There is a lot to do here. There must be, because people come here all the way from New York City and Philadelphia and even Washington D.C. I see a lot of well-dressed me walking the Boardwalk. I asked Nucky what it was that brought them all here. He said it was the waters.
Today I saw him walking by with his friend Mr. Capone. who he called one of his “Big Seven”, whatever that means. If you come down, maybe you could meet him, too. I think he’s headed for big things.
When I told Nucky about all the hauntings and scary things in Providence, he even said that he’d see if he could ask his friend Mr. Bellingham to have a look. Mr. Bellingham has experience with people stealing dead bodies, he said, and had some old papers that could maybe straighten things out up there.
Please come while the summer is still here. And tell Charles to stop typing me letters and to write them himself. I don’t care if his handwriting has gotten bad. He needs to relax. I’ll send up a gift basket with some nice Bath Salts.
Yours loving wife,
Julia