Setting

The events described in the short story “The Outsider” by H.P. Lovecraft take place in an unnamed town. Several hints at the end of the story suggest that the events might take place somewhere in Egypt:

Now I (…) play by day amongst the catacombs of Nephren-Ka in the sealed and unknown valley of Hadoth by the Nile. I know that light is not for me, save that of the moon over the rock tombs of Neb, nor any gaiety save the unnamed feasts of Nitokris beneath the Great Pyramid…

The narrator initially lives in a dark underground castle, which he describes as having “dismal chambers with brown hangings and maddening rows of antique books”. In general, the castle setting is a feature of the gothic genre. The narrator creates a vivid image of the castle, which the readers can easily picture:

I know not where I was born, save that the castle was i...