Tony's Review of In the Vault

In the Vault is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft in 1925, though it was published in 1926. Unlike many of his works that dive into cosmic horror and ancient beings, this tale is rooted in a more grounded kind of dread, though it still carries Lovecraft’s macabre touch.

The story centers on George Birch, a careless and rather unpleasant undertaker in a small town. When an accident locks him inside the cemetery vault with several coffins, he is forced to escape by crawling over the stacked caskets. In doing so he carelessly breaks open one, belonging to a man who had reason to despise Birch. When Birch finally emerges, he finds his ankle badly torn, but the injury is far too deep and precise to have been caused by wood or splinters. Lovecraft leaves us with the chilling implication that the corpse itself reached out in death to exact revenge.

What makes In the Vault stand out is its tone. This is not a story of vast alien gods or the insignificance of mankind in the cosmos. Instead, it is a tale of justice from beyond the grave, a reminder that cruelty and negligence can have consequences even after death. It is a simpler piece compared to Lovecraft’s great mythos tales, but its atmosphere of decay, darkness, and unease makes it effective.

The story has also been praised as one of Lovecraft’s more accessible works. It is short, tightly written, and offers a clear beginning, middle, and end without the usual dense mythology that can overwhelm new readers. At the same time, it carries the mark of his fascination with death and the eerie persistence of forces unseen.

In the Vault may not be the most famous of Lovecraft’s works, but it remains a chilling little tale. Its mix of realism with the supernatural makes it an important reminder of his versatility as a writer. It shows that horror can live not just in faraway stars but also in the cold silence of a grave.