
Rats and their paranormal presences are a key element in H.P Lovecraft’s story “Rats in the Walls.” Paranormal activity and the lust for more knowledge about it ultimately takes the main character, Delapore, on a journey to insanity. The paranormal activity and journey to insanity seen in “Rats in the Walls” is an example of how Lovecraft created his genre of horror.

The first instance of paranormal activity that is described is when Delapore notices his cat, Nigger-Man, wandering about the house “restless and disturbed and sniffed constantly about the walls” (Lovecraft 80). Wandering about the house this way is out of the cat’s normal nature as Delapore states “whose moods I know so well, was undoubtedly alert and anxious to an extent wholly out of keeping with his natural character” (Lovecraft 80). The use of the words restless, disturbed, anxious, and alert allude to the paranormal presence as they create a feeling of something being wrong and out of the ordinary for the reader. They especially exhibit paranormal activity since these words of restlessness and anxiousness are used to describe how the cat is acting outside of his normal parameters. The cat is not only acting outside of his usual nature, but he is also acting as if something is wrong and bothering him but he cannot place what it is or where it is coming from. The words also entice the idea of paranormal activity because Delapore cannot sense or see any reason for his cat to be acting this way. The restlessness and strange behavior of his cat sticks with him and subconsciously begin to create a feeling of uncertainty in Delapore that inevitably results in the beginning of his insanity. 

The next instance of paranormal activity that is depicted is what ignites the journey of insanity in which Delapore embarks on during the story. When Delapore is awoken by his cat Nigger-man who “violently stirs from his place” and is staring at a point on the wall he thinks he sees the arras move (Lovecraft 81). Delapore is unsure of what his own eyes are seeing and says, “whether the arras actually moved I cannot say” (Lovecraft 81). The moving of the arras with no physical evidence of what moved them are a sign of the paranormal, which causes Delapore to be unsure if his mind is playing tricks on him and is the first sign of developing insanity. Delapore has to convince himself that he did not see the arras move, he is convinced his own mind is lying to him. Though he is unsure and trying to convince himself that the arras didn’t move he says “what I can swear to is that behind it I heard a low, distinct scurrying as of rats or mice” (Delapore 81). He knows that there is nothing there that he can physically see, but he is sure that there are sounds coming from the wall. The sounds coming from the walls further entice the fact that there is a paranormal presence. Delapore is unable to go back to sleep that night because he cannot stop thinking about what the sounds were or if the arras were actually moving, thus furthering this developing insanity.

Another instance of paranormal presence further supports that Delapore is going insane because of the nightmare it begins with and his inability to distinguish it from reality when the lights are off. Nightmares are a sign of insanity as they are usually about what you cannot suppress that is now invading your subconscious and sleeping mind. Delapore’s horrific dream consisted for rats raining down devouring men and a demon like creature that filled him with unutterable loathing. Delapore is subconsciously thinking about the rats both while he is awake and allowing them to creep into his sleeping mind, exhibiting his progressing insanity. Delapore is “abruptly awoken” from this dream by his cat who is “hissing and snarling” and fearfully digging his claws into Delapore (Lovecraft 80). When he is awoken he thinks that rats have actually rained down and are invading the Abyss. Therefore, he does not question where the “nauseous sounds” are coming from but is sure they are the sounds of “verminous slithering ravenous, gigantic rats” (Lovecraft 80). Words such as nauseous, verminous, slithering, ravenous, and gigantic are used to depict what Delapore is hearing to further exhibit the paranormal and entice fear. Delapore is still in a nightmare state when he awakes as all of the lights are off and it is pitch black in the room. The darkness allows for his mind to create an image and sound of rats, thus distinguishing between nightmare and reality difficult. When the lights are turned on everything stops. The lights show Delapore reality and his mind stops creating the terrifying image of rats. When the lights are turned on Delapore is fully awake and no longer in a nightmare state of mind and is able to distinguish between dream and reality. 

Though Delapore was able to bring himself back to reality and stop the sounds and images of the rats from overtaking his mind when he first turned on the lights, the next instance might not end the same. For instance, when he leaves his room he is able to hear the paranormal rats again and instinctively tries to turn the lights on to stop it, but it does not help. He states that after he turns on the lights “the rats continued their riot, stampeding with such force and distinctness that I could finally assign their motions in a definite direction” (Lovecraft 82). Even with reality right in front of him and the lights shining which proves there is nothing there Delapore is unable to stop the images of the rats. His ability to distinguish reality from nightmare is damaged thus exhibiting Delapore has become insane. 

Another reason this instance of stampeding rats reveals he has become insane is because he is the only person besides the cats who can hear the sounds of the rats. When he asks a servant if they can hear them, their response is “in the negative” (Lovecraft 82). This further reveals his insanity because from there on he will feel the need to make others hear and see the rats of which he is convinced are there. He focuses on finding the rats and their source even calling his friend captain Norry and assembling a team to investigate the cellars of the house. He is unable to focus on anything but finding the source of the rats; not only because he wants them gone, but also he must prove they exist.

 Overall these instances of paranormal activity that take Delapore on a journey toward insanity create a story about horror. This story of horror is created through Lovecraft’s use of words such as restless, disturbed, nauseous, ravenous and so forth to depict the actions, sounds, and sights within the story. Delapore reaches a point of insanity in which he is unable to distinguish the fantasies of the nightmares he is creating about paranormal rats from reality. Lovecraft uses this insanity to further create his own genre of horror when Delapore is depicted as being found in one of the deepest cellars of the basement “crouching in the blackness over the plump, half-eaten body of Capt. Norry” (Lovecraft 87). Delapore reaches a point of insanity where he is completely unable to distinguish the made up paranormal rat activity from reality which results in him killing Captain Norry and blaming it on the rats. 
