The Rats in the Walls (Fantasy and Horror Classics) ; With a Dedication by George Henry Weiss

<p><strong>Silence is a lie. The hunger of the past is always waiting.</strong></p><p>After the untimely death of his only son <strong>Delapore</strong> an American heir resolves to restore his ancestral seat: the sprawling ruined <strong>Exham Priory</strong> in England. A place shunned and feared by the surrounding villagers for centuries the Priory is steeped in legends of blood madness and unspeakable acts performed by Delapore's ancestors.</p><p>As he meticulously restores the crumbling structure Delapore begins to be tormented by a sound that defies logic and engineering: the soft continuous sickening <strong>scurrying of rats behind the walls</strong>. The noise grows in volume and intensity even as the walls prove solid and empty. Driven by curiosity and deepening mania Delapore eventually discovers the horrifying source of the sounds--a vast hidden crypt deep beneath the foundation.</p><p>What he uncovers there is the ultimate secret of the Delapore family: a monstrous multi-generational cult of cannibalism kept alive by generations of depraved ancestors and a terrifyingly efficient mechanism for butchering humans. The rats are not rodents but the degenerate devolved descendants of his family waiting to feed.</p><p><strong>H. P. Lovecraft's</strong> chilling masterwork is a visceral deeply psychological tale that merges atmospheric gothic horror with the most gruesome elements of the Cthulhu Mythos. <em>The Rats in the Walls</em> is a disturbing exploration of inherited madness ancestral guilt and the thin barrier between civilization and a primal endless hunger.</p>