Character Analysis: The Terrible Old Folk

Two good stories by H. P. Lovecraft are The Very Old Folk and The Terrible Old Man. The Very Old Folk expresses more on the results of fear than the darkness in people’s hearts and how corrupt they can be. The terrible Old Man expresses more on the darkness within people’s hearts and how corrupt they can become. H. P. Lovecraft writes horror stories to display the darkness is people’s hearts, how easy it is to become corrupt, and the results of fear.
In Lovecraft’s story The Very Old Folk the villagers had been going about their regular lives until they began to feel a vague and ill-defined uneasiness. Due to this sense of uneasiness the villagers requested that a conference be held about the horror brooding on the hills during the Terrible

Season of the autumn. The rituals terrify the villagers so much because of the howling and the alter fires along with the disappearances of other villagers before these rituals take place. This implies that during all the other seasons, except for autumn and spring, the very old folk who live up in the mountains do not preform the frightful ceremonies that are spoken so seldom of that they are taken for rumors.
The only reason the villagers fear was greater this year than any other year was due to three of the old folk’s traders had been killed in a market brawl. Despite this none of the villagers disappeared come autumn. Had the old folk done what they normally do every year the villagers would have had no reason to be so terrified. After many nights of hollow drumming being heard from the hills a person was sent to stamp out the Sabbath. He refused on the basis that the villagers had nothing to fear and it would be pointless. He also refused to stop any nameless orgies and bring in those people to court. This implies that he didn’t care enough to think about the possible doom that the old folk could call down upon them.
The villagers fear had become so great that it was decided a small cohort would be needed to the old folk’s village and stamp them out. By now both the town and country folk were too terrified to even speak, even part of the entourage seemed filled with a nameless dread. As twilight began to fall the cohort were not afraid of the strange drums they heard, but the fact that the Sabbath was still being held. What terrified them more was the sounds of the horses screaming as well as the alter fires flaring up. Due to this terror their guide had drawn a sword and killed himself. Even for a person who had lived among these rituals had found the terror too great. After the torches began to dim the cohort called out in fear, the air grew colder and there seemed to be the undulations of bird wings in the air. The stars disappeared from the sky, causing the alter-flames to reflect their hellish red light on the mountain, silhouetting mad, leaping, colossal forms of beasts.
The last words one of the cohorts said was “Malitia vetus – malitia vetus est … venit … tandem venit.” Translated, this means the affliction of old – on old evil has finally come … come. Both the villagers and the cohort was moved to action through their fear. If the cohorts had left the old folk alone there would have been no need for them to have traveled up into the hills to begin with. There also would have been no reason for the very old folk to call down such nameless doom upon them.
In Lovecraft’s story The Terrible Old Man a choice is made by three men new to the town to go visit him.

This is seldomly done due to how strange the old man acts. His collection of large stones painted to resemble Easter idols scare away children who wish to make fun of him. The collection of bottles with pendulums in them that vibrate when he speaks to them scare away the older and more curious people. These three men who came into the town intended to rob the old man. When these men arrived at the terrible old man’s house they were uneasy about the stones, but didn’t turn back. One of the men waited outside and after an hour he heard screaming from inside the house. At first he believe this to be the screams of the terrible old man.
All spring and summer the townsfolk spoke about the three bodies that had been found, mangled and slashed. Now, had the three men headed the warning and stayed away from the old man’s house they would still be alive. Instead they were tempted by the greed in their hearts for the money the terrible old man was said to have possession of. This drove them to enter through his gate and knock on the door. They believed that because he was an old man, he would be feeble and week, making him an easy target for

robbery.