The Rats in the Walls by H. P. Lovecraft. Short summary

5 seconds

The protagonist, the heir to the ancient De la Poer family, arrives at the abandoned family castle. Soon the protagonist begins to be bothered by rats rustling in the walls, and later he learns the terrible secrets of his ancestors.

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The heir of the ancient De la Poer family returns to the abandoned family manor in order to restore it. There are terrible legends about the castle among the locals. Once an ancestor of the main character for some unknown reason killed his entire family here.

A few days after his arrival to the old manor, the protagonist began to hear some rustling in the walls at night, similar to the rustling of mice. The cats in the house were very restless.

De la Poer began to study the castle, sent a team of archaeological scientists from London, who descended into the underground. Soon a secret manhole is discovered there, through which the heroes get into a huge grotto. There are burial grounds, altars, a cutting room and a slaughterhouse. The entire floor is strewn with human bones.

Scientists were able to find out that many generations of the De la Poer family worshipped an ancient terrible cult and were cannibals. People were bred in the caves as cattle. The end of this horror was put by Walter De La Poer, who killed his family and fled. After learning the terrible truth, the heroes go mad.