The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

by H.P. Lovecraft (1927)

This classic horror tale takes place primarily in Providence, with a side trip to Pawtuxet village. The title character's home, noted to be at 100 Prospect Street, is probably based on the 1801 Colonel Thomas Lloyd Halsey House at 140 Prospect. Only a few years before the story was written, Lovecraft wrote a letter to his Aunt Lillian commenting on the possibility that the house was haunted. It's thought also that a man named William Lippitt Mauran, who at one time lived in Halsey House, may have been a partial source for the character of Charles Dexter Ward. The Maurans and the (fictional) Wards both owned farmhouses in Pawtuxet.

The house address of the character of Dr. Marinus Bicknell Willett, given as 10 Barnes Street, was also Lovecraft's address from 1926 to 1933.