Pickman's Model

🎬 Experience the atmospheric visual edition of this tale by searching 'Jonathan Dunne Horror' on YouTube.

Number: 120

Title: Pickman’s Model

Series Name: Timeless Terrors

Series Entry: 120

Author: H. P. Lovecraft

Narrator: Jonathan Dunne

Original Publication: 1927

Public Domain: Yes

Description:

Pickman’s Model is a chilling descent into artistic obsession and unspeakable revelation set in the shadowed streets and ancient alleyways of Boston.

The story follows Thurber, a reserved and cultivated gentleman, who recounts his unsettling acquaintance with Richard Upton Pickman — a painter of notorious reputation. Unlike other artists who dabble in the grotesque, Pickman’s work possesses a horrifying vitality. His canvases do not merely suggest monstrosity; they convince. Critics recoil, galleries refuse him, yet his paintings evoke a dreadful question: how does he render such nightmarish beings with such anatomical precision and terrible authenticity?

Compelled by fascination and unease, Thurber accepts an invitation to visit Pickman’s secret studio hidden within the decaying North End. There, amid crumbling brick corridors and subterranean vaults older than the city itself, art and reality begin to blur. As Pickman unveils his most disturbing works, Thurber confronts the possibility that the painter’s models are not products of imagination at all — but studies from life.

Narrated by Amazon bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne, this performance captures the story’s mounting tension, refined unease, and final shattering disclosure — bringing Lovecraft’s grim vision vividly and hauntingly to life.