The Horror at Red Hook is a horror short story written by H. P. Lovecraft on August 1 or 2, 1925. Lovecraft wrote this story in an attempt to widen his markets into pulp magazines featuring detective pulp but was met with little success. Thus, he had to fall back on having the work published in the Weird Tales magazines in 1927.
Detective Thomas Malone has been brought to Red Hook because of the strangeness surrounding reclusive Robert Suydam, who has been reported being seen around town looking younger than he should be and engaged to a well-off woman while, at the same time, there is an increase in local kidnappings. Malone's search for answers brings about stranger and stranger events that point toward occult worshippers and horrors hidden in the home of Suydam.
In 2016, Victor LaValle wrote The Ballad of Black Tom, a retelling of the story told from the perspective of a black man who is recruited into Suydam's services.
This story provides examples of:
- Cult: A sinister cult worshipping the Magna Mater that Suydam is involved with plays a part in bringing Malone into the investigations surrounding the events in Red Hook.
- Horrible Honeymoon: A lethal case. Suydam and his bride are killed while on board a ship after the wedding.
- Officer O'Hara: Malone is described as "a tall, heavily built, and wholesome-looking" fellow, "large, robust, normal-featured, and capable-looking". He has a mystical streak attributed to his Celtic heritage and a poet in his younger days, but is level-headed and practical as well.
- Redemption Equals Death: Or possibly, Redemption Requires Death - although it's ambiguous. The corpse of Robert Suydam reanimates itself somehow and pushes a golden pillar into the ocean, severely disrupting a cult/smuggling ring's operations.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Malone developed a phobia of large buildings after an on-duty incident involving a mystery in Red Hook.
- Wretched Hive: New York City is presented like this, particularly with Red Hook being a hotspot for its gangs and crime and hints of an occult underbelly.
