The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

This is a masterful tale of horror that was first published in Weird Tales magazine in 1941.

It is the story of young Charles Dexter Ward, who in 1918 becomes embroiled in the past, due to his fascination with the history of his wizard ancestor--who was known for his haunting of graveyards, his apparent lack of aging, and his chemical experiments. Ward physically resembles this ancestor, Curwen, and he attempts to duplicate his ancestor's magic and alchemical feats. The horrors he finds, and the true identities of Ward and Curwen, form the crux of horror of the tale.