Herbert West

## **Personal Data**

**BIRTH NAME:**  Herbert West

**DOB:**  Unknown.

**HAIR:** Blond.

**EYES:** Grey.

**OCCUPATION:** Former physician, now follower of the Old Ones.

**DESIGNATION:** Human, then ghost, now human again.

**KNOWN POWERS:** None.

**KNOWN RELATIVES:** None.

## **Beginnings**

Herbert West was an a onetime alumni of Miskatonic University's Medical School, back in the early 20th Century. Following his graduation, West became obsessed with reanimating the dead. He began to conduct unethical experiments to achieve that end.

## **West acquires the Necronomicon**

In 1908, West acquired one of the few surviving copies of the Necronomicon. He felt that the secrets within would help him create a formula that would be able to reanimate recently dead corpses.

Over time, West became a disciple of the Old Ones and vowed to free them from their empty dimension prison.

## **The Inner Circle becomes interested**

In 1913, the Inner Circle, which was led by Jacob Carter (great-grandfather of Randolph Carter), approached West's friend and assistant, Dan Cain. They informed him that they were aware of what West was attempting to do. They asked Cain to watch West, and inform them when and if Cain felt that things were getting out of hand. Out of fear and concern for his friend, Cain agreed.

## **West's end**

Things finally came to a head in 1921. West had built an altar room in the basement of his house in Arkham some two years previously. In that room, he had chanted strange incantations and had made sacrifices to the Old Ones. Until that point, the sacrifices had been animals only.

However, on that day, Cain went into the altar room and saw a boy that he immediately recognized as young Billy Clarke (future grandfather of Staci Clarke), who had been reported missing by his family the day before. West was standing over the boy, holding a dagger. When Cain asked what West was doing, West replied that animals were not enough to free the Old Ones, a human sacrifice would be required.  Cain tried to convinced West to stop, but West would not listen.

Realizing that West was now lost to all that was rational or sane, Cain drew his revolver and shot West six times in the chest, killing him. With the help of the Inner Circle, Cain was able to reunite Billy Clarke with his family.  The Inner Circle also sealed up the alter room, with West's body still inside.

Dan Cain then wrote a statement about what he did to West, which he gave to the Inner Circle for safekeeping. He died in 1973, taking the secret of what happened to Herbert West to the grave.

## **Rex and Hannah move into West's old house**

Following West's disappearance, his house acquired a sinister reputation. It had many short stay owners over the following decades. When the county decided to have it torn down, the Arkham Historical Society got involved. They felt that such an old house should be preserved. The head of that society was also a prominent professor at Miskatonic University at the time. Said professor began to lobby the Miskatonic University to buy the house, which they finally agree to do in 1953. Most of the time it was used for storage and occasionally rented out for official functions.

It would not be until Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster took up residence, in early 2015, that the house would be a home again.

## **West's ghost**

As Halloween of 2015 approached, the ghost of Herbert West awoke, due to the continued presence of Rex and Hannah in the house. West guided Rex and Hannah to the sealed up basement altar room, where they discovered his skeletal remains. West then accused the Inner Circle of forcing Dan Cain to kill him.

When Rex and Hannah confronted Randolph Carter about this, he showed them Dan Cain's statement, in which they learned the truth. However, West refused to accept that what he had tried to do was wrong and vowed to prove himself right, no matter what. His ghost then vanished.

West's skeletal remains were buried by Rex and Hannah in the woods behind their house. Randolph explained that this was necessary to protect secrets the Inner Circle would not like to be exposed to the world.

## **West and Johanna Martense**

West's ghost then travelled to the Catskill Mountains of New York State, where he met Johanna Martense. Johanna alone had survived Rex and Hannah's attempt to wipe out her degenerate family and vowed to keep trying to find a way to free the Old Ones.

After having been made corporal via a spell from Johanna's now destroyed copy of *De Vermis Mysteriis,* West then formed an alliance with Johanna to achieve that same goal, freeing the Old Ones.

## **Freeing of Hastur**

In 2017, West and Johanna travelled to a South Pacific island, that Johanna had raised using her magic. This island contained the Old One called Hastur, who was resting in a state of suspended animation. Johanna and West had learned the location of the island, and the secret it held, from the Mi-go in the Himalayas.

Despite the presence of Rex, Hannah, and Randolph Carter, Johanna and West managed to transport Hastur away from the island and succeeded in awakening him.

Thus their goal of freeing the Old Ones was one step closer.

## **Matthew Tate scheme**

Not long after, Hastur, West and Johanna managed to capture a Demon named Zathan, in order to get information on Rex and Hannah. Zathan told them about the time that he, under the orders of the Source, had brought Melinda Warren's locket, containing Matthew Tate, to Rex and Hannah in 1998, and the subsequent events.

Intrigued, Hastur sent West and Johanna to steal the locket from the Witchcraft Museum, in Salem, and bring it back to him. After Hastur had used his power to discover a descendant of Melinda Warren, that no one else knew about, he sent West to her.

Said descendant, was an eighty-five year old woman named Margaret Jacobs, who was in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease. West was easily able to get her to open the locket and release Matthew Tate.

Once Matthew was released, West convinced him that he too served the Source and could help Matthew. The unsuspecting Matthew easily fell for the dupe.

West was not present when Matthew, having learned the truth about Hastur, confronted him, and was driven insane.

## **References**

*Rex and Hannah Chronicles Story No. 10: The Old Ones*

*Rex and Hannah Chronicles Story No. 34: New Frontiers*

*Rex and Hannah Chronicles No. 40: The Secret Of The House*

*Rex and Hannah Chronicles Story No. 46: The Island*

*Rex and Hannah Chronicles Story No. 47: Revenge From The Past*