History Literature / TheRatsInTheWalls

* AuthorAvatar: Like Lovecraft himself our narrator is a cat lover and, after his move to England, a budding historian--albeit mostly just of his own family line.

* DespairEventHorizon: The climax implies this is what happens to the protagonist, as the horror of what he's uncovered combined with the loss of his family, finally brings him over the edge. When he attacks one of the supporting character, he rants about how "[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne the War]] ate my boy, damn them all, and [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar The Yanks ate Carfax]] with fire and burned Grandsire Delapoer".
* DownerBeginning: The main character's son is horribly injured in World War 1 and left an invalid. The main character spends two years taking care of him before he dies, leaving the main character alone, as his wife had died years ago. It's implied that him taking it upon himself to restore Exham is atleast partially to keep distracted from his grief.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: [[UnfortunateNames Nigger-Man]] the cat gets this a lot:

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Naturally, [[UnfortunateNames Nigger-Man]] the cat gets this a lot;

[[caption-width-right:350:[[MemeticMutation What was the cat's name, again]]?]]

* ArcWelding: The Atlanta Radio Theater Company version mentions that the cult of the Magna Matre is associated with The Great Old Ones of the larger Franchise/CthulhuMythos.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The cat named "Nigger-Man" in the original was renamed "Black Tom" when the story was reprinted in a 1950s magazine. A 2011 ComicBookAdaptation simply didn't refer to him by name at all. The Atlanta Radio Theater Company version names the cat "Voodoo", in memory of the narrator's cousin who was disowned by the family for converting to UsefulNotes/{{Voudoun}} and marrying a black woman.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The cat named "Nigger-Man" in the original was renamed "Black Tom" when the story was reprinted in a 1950s magazine. A 2011 ComicBookAdaptation simply didn't refer to him by name at all. The Atlanta Radio Theater Company version names the cat "Voodoo", in memory of the narrator's favourite cousin who was disowned by the family for converting to UsefulNotes/{{Voudoun}} and marrying a black woman.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The cat named "Nigger-Man" in the original was renamed "Black Tom" when the story was reprinted in a 1950s magazine. A 2011 ComicBookAdaptation simply didn't refer to him by name at all.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The cat named "Nigger-Man" in the original was renamed "Black Tom" when the story was reprinted in a 1950s magazine.

* EnemyToAllLivingThings: The de la Poers.

--> We shall never know what sightless Stygian worlds yawn beyond the little distance we went, for it was decided that such secrets are not good for mankind.

* DespairEventHorizon: The climax implies this is what happens to the protagonist, as the horror of what he's uncovered combined with the loss of his family, finally brings him over the edge. When he attacks one of the supporting character, he rants about how "[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne]] the War ate my boy, damn them all, and [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar The Yanks ate Carfax]] with fire and burned Grandsire Delapoer".

* CannibalLarder: Basically the entire hollowed out limestone cavern found underneath the Exham Priory but also specifically the ancient English building Capt Norrys inspects and presumably many more, which not only [[spoiler:served as a CannibalLarder, kitchens and disposal grounds for the degenerate, cannibalistic De La Poer family, but also contained ''breeding pens'' where the family had raised generations of human "cattle", some of which so inbred that they had regressed to walking on all fours as shown by the bones remaining in the ruins]].

* InTheBlood: Implied, it seems that the de la Poers have a hereditary predilection towards madness and evil, even the single surviving branch had a few black sheep, despite its progenitor being a significantly nicer person than his ancestors.

* AuthorAvatar: Like Lovecraft himself our narrator is a cat lover and, after his move to England, a budding historian - albeit mostly just of his own family line.

* CannibalLarder: Basically the entire hollowed out limestone cavern found underneath the Exham Priory but also specifically the ancient English building Capt Norrys inspects and presumably many more, which not only [[spoiler:served as a CannibalLarder, kitchens and disposal grounds for the degenerate, cannibalistic De La Pouer family, but also contained ''breeding pens'' where the family had raised generations of human "cattle", some of which so inbred that they had regressed to walking on all fours as shown by the bones remaining in the ruins]].

* {{Bowdlerize}}: The cat named "Nigger-Man" in the original was renamed "Black Tom" when the story was reprinted in a 1950s magazine.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's one of the few Lovecraft works that only hints at the supernatural - nothing concrete ever appears despite all the foreshadowing. It's not even stated whether exploring the caverns awakened the evil in the narrator's bloodline or he simply snapped like a twig upon discovering his ancestors were a cannibal cult.

* ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure: Lovecraft's solution to the inconceivable threat of a dark power from ancient times is to just blow it up.

* EnemyOfAllLivingThings: The de la Poers.

* CannibalLarder: Basically the entire hollowed out limestone cavern found underneath the Exham Priory but also specifically the ancient English building Capt Norrys inspects and presumably many more.

* DefectorFromDecadence: The narrators ancestor, who killed his entire degenerate family when he discovered the truth of their evil, and fled to America. The people of the surrounding area considered him something of a hero and didn't even try to stop his escape.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's one of the few Lovecraft works that only hints at the supernatural - nothing concrete ever appears despite all the foreshadowing. It's not even stated whether exploring the caverns awakened the evil in the narrator's bloodline or he simply snapped like a twig upon discovering his ancestors were a cannibal cult.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: The cat named Niggerman in Lovecraft's original version is sometimes given different names in later printings.