Cool air by H. P. Lovecraft
"Cool Air" by H. P. Lovecraft is a short story written in the early 20th century. This chilling tale explores themes of dark science and the grotesque lengths to which a doctor goes in his pursuit of artificial refrigeration and the preservation of life. Lovecraft, a master of horror, crafts a narrative that juxtaposes mundane settings with profound dread, inviting readers into a world where the boundaries of life and death blur.
The story follows the unnamed narrator, who settles into a rooming house in New York City and forms an unusual bond with his reclusive neighbor, Doctor Muñoz. As the doctor becomes increasingly obsessed with maintaining a frigid environment, the narrator witnesses his decline and the peculiar practices he adopts in order to stave off death. The tension escalates when a malfunction in Muñoz’s refrigeration system causes a horrifying revelation: the doctor's past experiments with life and death have led him to a terrifying conclusion about his own existence. Ultimately, the story culminates in a shocking and grotesque revelation about Muñoz's claimed death years prior, forcing readers to confront the chilling implications of his arcane knowledge and practices. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips), 1890-1937 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Ferman, Harry, 1906-1973 |
| Title | Cool air |
| Original Publication | New York, NY: Weird Tales, 1939. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 61.1 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. |
| Note | Wikipedia page on this work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_Air |
| Credits | Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction |
| Subject | Horror tales |
| Subject | Physicians -- Fiction |
| Subject | Male friendship -- Fiction |
| Subject | Boardinghouses -- Fiction |
| Subject | Sick -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 73177 |
| Release Date | Mar 16, 2024 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 223 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |
