Lo stile è ricco, contorto e tipico di Lovecraft: usa frasi lunghe, subordinate e riflessioni filosofiche.
L’uso frequente di cancellature e riscritture indica un processo creativo molto attivo: Lovecraft stava chiaramente rifinendo il tono e la precisione narrativa.
Alcuni termini chiave sono riscritti più volte per ottenere la giusta sfumatura, ad esempio tra “sensational” e “authentic,” suggerendo l'intento di bilanciare l'effetto drammatico con la credibilità.
UNDER THE PYRAMIDS
By Houdini
Transcribed by H. P. Lovecraft
(geroglifici disegnati a mano)
A mystery attracts mystery. Ever since the [wild, curious] appearance
of my [career/life] as a performer of unexplained feats, I
have been a [center] for the narratives & events
which in my calling has led people to [connect] me with the
[uncanny] & [authentic?] in such a way that some have even
ventured to attribute to some of the less rational of my
peculiar & perilous experiences some basis in
[occultism] & historical research. Many of these
matters I have told, or shall continue to tell very freely; but
there is one of which I speak with reluctance, which
I am now relating only after the [coercive] and
grilling persuasions drawn from the experience
of those who gave me rumors of [their interest] in the matter; who
have since become [appraisers] of it.
This hitherto guarded subject pertains to my
[earlier] professional visit to Egypt, [fourteen years ago?]; & has
been avoided by me for several reasons. For one thing, I
am averse to exploiting certain unmistakably actual facts
& conditions of [a disquieting kind], wholly unknown to
the myriad tourists who throng the Pyramids, or
the more [esoteric?] circles of Egypt.
It is apparently recorded with exact diligence by
the authorities at Cairo who cannot laugh away
far more than they [know]. I dislike to recount an incident in
which my own fantastic imagination must have played so
great a part. What I saw — or thought I saw —
certainly is of little place; but rather to be viewed
as a result of my then recent readings in
Egyptology, & the speculations evoked
by surroundings naturally prompted. These were
[stimuli?] of the excitement of an [artificial?] event.
The trouble [resides] in itself, undoubtably gave rise to the
unwholesome horror of that grotesque night so long past...
La bozza contiene numerosi ripensamenti. Ad esempio, "wild" è aggiunto sopra “appearance”, e parole come "experiences" e "authentic" sono sovrascritte.
Lovecraft introduce il racconto come un’esperienza misteriosa realmente vissuta da Houdini, ma di cui è riluttante a parlare.
Il tono è volutamente ambiguo, oscilla tra razionalità e soprannaturale, molto in linea con il tipico stile lovecraftiano.
C’è un accenno a un "fourteen years ago", suggerendo un riferimento temporale interno alla narrazione.
