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The narrator, forced to live in a big city, becomes increasingly disheartened and harbors growing hatred for this place. To summon beloved, historical visions of an ancient American town, he wanders the ancient, forgotten alleys at night. One night, he encounters a stranger who will show him peculiarities that exceed his wildest expectations.
This story contains many autobiographical elements. The night encounter with a stranger offering to show unknown, old places really happened when Lovecraft was strolling with his wife in New York. Similarly, at some point, the narrator comes across Perry Street - a place that HPL discovered a little earlier after reading an article in the "New York Evening Post." Likewise, the narrator's longing for New England is nothing more than a reflection of the author's emotional state. You can find literary inspiration for this work in "The Chronicles of Rodriguez" by Lord Dunsany.