Brichester Severn Valley (Cthulhu Mythos)

1 brichester

1.1 brichester university
1.2 mercy hill
1.3 lower brichester
1.4 lakeside terrace
1.5 devil s steps

brichester

brichester main town of campbell s severn valley, setting of several tales , background element of stories take place elsewhere. (it plays same role in campbell s stories arkham in lovecraft s.) these days brichester has impressively mundane surface , campbell writes in franklyn paragraphs , still sense may crack.

enchanted fruit portrays daily press of brichester, false harsh rainbow of packed cars , , churches robbed of dignity plummeting iron balls (though protagonist recalls streets lone house had struck him speechless silent pride, noble bearing of age , history ).

brichester has wide variety of media outlets. moon lens refers brichester weekly news. tugging establishes town has daily—the brichester herald, advertised brichester s evening voice —as radio station, radio brichester. reporter herald, ingels, story s main character; complains @ 1 point town lacks tv studio. franklyn paragraphs gives brichester horror fanzine, spirited.

cold print refers brichester s ultimate press, described publishing important manuscript, once written medieval heretic johannes henricus pott, new 12th volume of revelations of glaaki, , entire line of bondage-related pornography. brichester has true light press, mentioned in franklyn paragraphs , turns out roland franklyn s self-publishing operation.

brichester central library appears in franklyn paragraphs , errol undercliffe notes of it, couldn t farther lovecraft setting. does, however, carry copy of roland franklyn s pass view—as ramsey campbell s inhabitant of lake.

potential opens @ town s cooperative hall, site of brichester s first be-in-free flowers , bells! (the name of 1 of bands plays be-in, faveolate collosi, alludes campbell s story mine on yuggoth .) co-operative social club referred in interloper .

brichester university

while enchanted fruit mentions hard bleached university smashing , swallowing ornate facades , in darkest part of woods, brichester university s architecture more traditional, long, lofty gothic facade, , high pointed windows. echoing vaulted sandstone corridor leads towering front doors of university.

one of first mentions of brichester university in horror bridge, said familiar things existence not recognized science. in story, philip chesterton, formerly librarian @ british museum, takes job in university s library in 1901 in order keep eye on strange goings on in clotton. library once kept copies, in locked case, of necronomicon, revelations of gla aki, de vermis mysteriis, , other titles ominous, in 1960s muslim student... spray(ed) them lighter fluid , set fire them, destroying them completely.

in mine on yuggoth, brichester native edward taylor enrolled in university in 1918, led witch cult, centering around stone slab in woods off severnford road. taylor, along other participants including artist nevil craughan, , occultist henry fisher, subsequently expelled.

there science-fiction shop, worlds unlimited, near university campus in dilapidated victorian streets have become student quarter . in same neighborhood scholar s rest: beneath jauntily sagging slate roof squat sandstone building faced university campus... each window of pub held swelling great blind eye... (t)he dim low-timbered interior lined old books. pub s strongest ale called witch s brew. near-campus dining option peace & beans, vegetarian restaurant rough wooden tables , clientele of students , few health-conscious oldsters.

mercy hill

mercy hill, brichester neighborhood ribs of terraced streets , stands out in campbell s world mundanity , describes scene in franklyn paragraphs .

in same story, however, @ bottom of mercy hill dee terrace, address of house of roland franklyn, described look(ing) satan in residence .

mercy hill mentioned in horror bridge site of 19th-century prison; in moon-lens , mercy hill hospital name of institution where, in 1961, roy leakey seeks mercy killing dr. james linwood, advocate of euthanasia. story mine on yuggoth records edward taylor taken mercy hill hospital, shortly after failed 1924 ascent of devil s steps, , ever since then, x-ray scans have been placed in restricted file.

franklyn buried in graveyard next mercy hill hospital.

lower brichester

the seedier side of town known lower brichester, neighborhood described in franklyn paragraphs sort of miniature cosmopolis 1 finds in major english towns: three-story houses full of errant lodgers, curtains varied flags @ conference more faded, occasional smashed pane, , frequent furtive watchers. while in tugging , tale apocalyptic theme, neighborhood depicted being in advanced state of dereliction.

the observer finds himself sympathizing district s abandonment, , indifference time.

in franklyn paragraphs , lower brichester s pitt street former address of errol undercliffe (1937–1967), writer specializes in contemporary treatments of traditional macabre themes. in tugging , location of brichester arts lab, program run annabel pringle practices associational painting —a technique uses free association discover images, starting suggestions ching.

cold print takes place in lower brichester, @ bookshop known in story american books bought , sold. store site of manifestation of entity y golonac.

lakeside terrace

north of brichester body of water referred in inhabitant of lake. supposedly once impact-crater, lake overlooked row of houses called lakeside terrace, built serve dwellings small cult worshiped extraterrestrial being glaaki. led 1 thomas lee, , remaining @ lake 1790 until shortly after 1865, cult received revelations of glaaki dream-sendings, , published expurgated nine-volume set original 11-volume manuscript. long after cult s disappearance, local painter, thomas cartwright, took residence @ lakeview terrace, worked on painting thing in lake, before mysterious demise.

the devil s steps

as described in mine on yuggoth , devil s steps rock formation beyond brichester which:

stretched 200 feet in series of steps plateau; way off illusion of giant staircase complete, , legend has satan came sky walk earth way of steps... in center of plateau stood 3 stone towers joined narrow catwalks of black metal between roofs... (central) tower approximately 30 ft. in height, windowless, , strangely angled doorway opening on staircase leading darkness.

at top of main tower dimensional gate planet yuggoth. towers surrounded alien species of fungus, grey stem covered twining leaves uncurl toward approaching visitors.