Short Fiction · Chapter
Chapter 7 explained
Daniel Upton receives a horrifying telephone call and a visit from a grotesque messenger bearing a letter from Edward Derby, revealing that Asenath's soul has been usurping Edward's body even after death.
What happens
Daniel Upton receives a horrifying telephone call and a visit from a grotesque messenger bearing a letter from Edward Derby, revealing that Asenath's soul has been usurping Edward's body even after death. Edward confesses to killing Asenath and being trapped in her decaying corpse, urging Daniel to destroy the entity that now inhabits his body. Daniel later shoots the possessed Edward at the sanitarium, but remains haunted by the fear of further supernatural possession.
Themes in this chapter
Forbidden Knowledge and Occultism
The letter details black magic, soul transference, and the consequences of meddling with occult forces.
Hereditary Curse and Fate
Ephraim and Asenath's legacy of soul-stealing curses Edward, showing an inescapable hereditary doom.
Madness and Psychological Decay
Edward's descent into desperation and Daniel's growing paranoia reflect the psychological unraveling caused by supernatural horror.
Characters to notice
- Daniel Upton
The narrator and Edward's best friend, who receives the horrifying message and ultimately shoots the possessed Edward.
- Edward Derby Upton
The victim of Asenath's soul transference; writes a desperate letter from within her rotting corpse.
- Asenath Waite
The deceased witch whose soul continues to inhabit Edward's body after death.
- Ephraim Waite
Asenath's father, implied to be part of the same soul-transference legacy.
Key passages
“I killed her. I had to. It was sudden, but we were alone and I was in my right body. I saw a candlestick and smashed her head in.”
Edward admits to murdering Asenath in a moment of desperation while still in control of his own body.
Reveals the violent act that set the supernatural events in motion.
“I found myself choked in the dark—in Asenath's rotting carcass down there in the cellar under the boxes where I put it.”
Edward describes waking up trapped inside Asenath's decomposing body after her soul took over his.
Highlights the horror of soul transference and bodily decay.
“I went to the madhouse and shot him dead for Edward's and the world's sake, but can I be sure till he is cremated?”
Daniel kills the possessed Edward but remains terrified that the entity will persist without cremation.
Shows Daniel's desperate attempt to end the curse and his lingering fear.