ROBERT BLAKE

Real Name: Robert Harrison Blake

Identity/Class: Human (1930s era)

Occupation: Author

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Bronson, Edmund Fiske, "the mystic", Howard Phillips

Enemies: Nyarlathotep (also as Dr. Ambrose Dexter), the Shambler from the Stars

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Providence, Rhode Island, USA;
    formerly Chicago, Illinois, USA

First Appearance: (prose) "The Shambler from the Stars" in Weird Tales (September, 1935);
    (in Marvel Comics) Journey into Mystery II#3 (February, 1973)

Powers/Abilities: Robert Blake was a skilled investigator with a terrific grasp of languages, including Axlo.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'9")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 146 lbs.)
Eyes: Dark brown
Hair: Brown

History:
(Journey into Mystery II#3 (fb)/"The Shambler from the Stars") - As a struggling young author, Robert Blake found it difficult to find inspiration for stories. He began to delve into works about the occult for ideas, reading various books on demonology and black magic. He also shared correspondence with other researchers, including a mystic from Providence, Rhode Island. The mystic advised Blake that the three most dangerous books of black magic were the Necronomicon, the Book of Eibon and De Vermis Mysteriis by Ludvig Prinn. Blake began searching book shops to find one of the rare works and eventually discovered a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis but the bookseller demanded $200 for the tome, a price which Blake balked at paying.

    Obsessed with the book, that night Blake broke into the book shop and stole it. The bookseller caught him in the act but he struck the man with a crowbar and fled. Blake took De Vermis Mysteriis home but, as it was written in Latin, he couldn't read it. He decided to bring the book with him to Providence, Rhode Island, where his friend the mystic lived.

    The mystic was indeed elated to see De Vermis Mysteriis. As he explained to Blake the great evil knowledge contained therein, Blake wondered if they should read from it. Pouring through the pages, the mystic found a passage for summoning a servant from the stars. Blake suggested they stop but the mystic kept going and read the spell aloud. The spell conjured up the Shambler from the Stars, a cosmic demon whose tentacles reached out and killed the mystic. The Shambler and De Vermis Mysteriis disappeared from the room, leaving Blake with the mystic's dead body. Blake felt compelled to destroy the entire house in order to destroy all traces of the Shambler. He set the house afire then fled the scene, only to be intercepted by a police officer. Blake surrendered and was arrested.

(Journey into Mystery II#3) - From his prison cell, Blake told his lawyer Bronson the complete account of how he had found De Vermis Mysteriis and how the mystic was inadvertently slain by the Shambler from the Stars. Bronson did not seem to believe much of Blake's story but claimed it gave him ideas for his defense. Blake remained convinced that he wouldn't live long because the Shambler would come for him. Indeed, the Shambler's tentacles were hovering outside the window of his cell...

("The Shadow from the Steeple") - Released from jail, Blake took up residence in Providence, taking quarters that fellow author Howard Phillips provided him with. Blake sent regular letters about his discoveries to Phillips and his friend Edmund Fiske.

(Journey into Mystery II#4/"The Haunter of the Dark") - From his new home, Blake could see the steeple of a church but when he asked other people in the area about the church, they claimed there was no church around there. Eventually, he found the church and discovered it was the abandoned Free-Will Church building on Federal Hill. Exploring the church's office, he discovered they had a copy of the cursed text the Necronomicon along with De Vermis Mysteriis, Liber Ivonis, Cultes des Goules by Comte d'Erlette, the Unaussprechlichen Kulten of von Junzt, the Pnakotic Manuscripts and the Books of Dzyan. Discovering one document was printed in an unusual code, Blake took the document with him. Climbing the steeple, he discovered the skeletal remains of a dead reporter and in the man's pocket found a journal. Nearby, he saw a small open casket and, inside, a strange jewel from which a light emanated. The glow from the jewel was almost hypnotic but at last, Blake closed the casket then fled the church.

    Returning to his home, Blake discovered the coded document was printed in the Axlo language and that it belonged to the Starry Wisdom Cult. Within the document was a history of the Trapezeohedran, an ancient stone of mystical, evil power once possessed by the pharaoh Nephren-Ka. Blake realized this was the jewel he'd seen in the casket. Comparing this to the journal of the reporter Edwin M. Lillibridge, Blake discovered the reporter had visited there in 1897 and closed the casket. This, the reporter determined, was a mistake because the Trapezeohedran was containing a creature known as "the Haunter of the Dark." In order to trap the creature, the reporter had returned to the church to open the casket and Blake realized he had left the casket open but refused to return to the church and close it.

    In the days that followed, Blake found himself haunted in his dreams by terrible images of the Haunter of the Dark pursuing him along with other creatures such as Azathoth. He went to Dr. Ambrose Dexter and asked for medical help. Dr. Dexter gave him pills to help him sleep. Checking the newspapers, Blake learned other people were reporting noises from the steeple of the church. He realized the Haunter of the Dark must be loose in the steeple and was waiting for him. Blake was still determined that he wouldn't return to the church and took the pills Dr. Dexter gave him. Two hours later, Blake awoke to find himself wandering towards the church, drawn by the Haunter of the Dark. Blake fled back home. On another night, there was a large storm and Blake feared that if he fell asleep, the Haunter of the Dark would slay him. Blake turned on all the lights in his room to ward off the creature but a power failure caused them to go out. The next morning, Dr. Dexter found Blake dead in his room.

(Journey into Mystery II#5 (fb)) - A policeman who examined Blake's body believed he'd been struck by lightning.

Comments: Created by Robert Bloch; adapted to comics by Ron Goulart, Jim Starlin and Tom Palmer.

    The three Journey into Mystery stories are adaptations of prose stories written by Robert Bloch and H. P. Lovecraft, a trilogy full of in-jokes and references to the authors' other works. Like Blake, Bloch was a struggling young author who looked to Lovecraft as his mentor (in cosmic horror, not virulent racism). "The Shambler from the Stars" was written by Bloch, in which neither Blake nor the mystic were named but were obvious stand-ins for Bloch and Lovecraft. Amused by the homage, Lovecraft wrote "The Haunter of the Dark" a year later and there named Bloch's avatar "Blake." Lovecraft killed off Blake as a tribute to his own avatar's death under Bloch's pen. Years later in 1950, Bloch wrote "The Shadow from the Steeple" to complete the saga.

    In the prose story, Blake lists his literary influences as Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Machen and Charles Baudelaire.

    The framing sequence with Bronson is original to Journey into Mystery II#3 and the scenes with Gores in Journey into Mystery II#5 are likewise original to the adaptation.

    This profile was completed 08/18/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Robert Blake should not be confused with:

Bascom

Bascom was butler to Dr. Ambrose Dexter. After Dr. Dexter slew Edmund Fiske, he told Bascom that Fiske had suffered a heart attack and told Bascom to call the police.






--Journey into Mystery II#5/"The Shadow from the Steeple"

Bronson

Bronson was Robert Blake's lawyer. When Blake was arrested for burning down the mystic's house, Bronson was assigned to represent him. From Blake's cell, Bronson heard the complete tale of Blake's discovery of De Vermis Mysteriis, the conjuring of the Shambler from the Stars and the death of the mystic. Bronson did not seem to believe much of Blake's story but it gave him ideas for how to plead his case.






--Journey into Mystery II#3

Edmund Fiske

Edmund Fiske was a friend of Robert Blake and Howard Phillips. Fiske was serving in the U.S. Army when Blake had his encounters with the Shambler from the Stars and the Haunter of the Dark. After his friend Phillips was likewise found dead, Fiske wanted to leave the army to help his friends but couldn't get out. After eventually leaving the army, Fiske was sick for some time but upon recovering, he hired the private detective Gores to locate Dr. Ambrose Dexter. Gores tried to warn Fiske to stay away from Dr. Dexter but Fiske refused and knocked out Gores. Taking Dr. Dexter's address from Gores' files and stealing Gores' gun, Fiske confronted Dr. Dexter, informing him the "Haunter of the Dark" was another name for the demon Nyarlathotep, who could inhabit a man's body. Fiske believed the demon had inhabited Dr. Dexter's body and threatened him with Gores' gun. However, Dr. Dexter simply reached out and touched Fiske on the shoulder. His touch immediately killed Fiske. Dr. Dexter sent his butler Bascom to summon the police.





--Journey into Mystery II#5/"The Shadow from the Steeple"

Gores

Gores was a private detective who was hired by Edmund Fiske to locate Dr. Ambrose Dexter. Gores discovered Dr. Dexter had become employed as a government scientist and believed Fiske should keep away from him. When Gores tried to advise caution to Fiske, Fiske knocked him out and took Dexter's address from Gores' files along with Gores' gun.





--Journey into Mystery II#5

"the mystic"

The unidentified mystic was a man who lived in Providence, Rhode Island and was a scholar of black magic. He began a series of correspondence with young author Robert Blake and recommended he find the Necronomicon, the Book of Eiblon or De Vermis Mysteriis. When Blake came to the mystic's home with a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis, the mystic recognized it as a tome of forbidden evil yet could not withstand the compulsion to read from it. Attempting to summon a servant from the stars, he instead called forth the cosmic horror the Shambler from the Stars. The Shambler wrapped one of its tentacles around the mystic's throat and slew him. Blake then burned down the mystic's house in an attempt to purge the scene from the Shambler's presence.





--Journey into Mystery II#3/"The Shambler from the Stars"

Nephren-Ka

Nephren-Ka was a pharaoh of Egypt who bought the Trapezeohedran from a merchant. He ordered the artifact buried with him when he died. It was said that the evil deeds Nephren-Ka committed caused his name to be stricken from all records in Egypt. In the 19th century, his tomb was opened and the Trapezeohedran was rediscovered.




--Journey into Mystery II#4 (fb)/"The Haunter of the Dark"

He first appeared in Bloch's 1937 story "the Fane of the Black Pharoah," where he was said to be referenced in the Necronomicon and is specifically identified as the one who conjured up Nyarlathotep.

Howard Phillips

Howard Phillips was a friend to Robert Blake and Edmund Fiske. After Blake's death, Phillips called on Dr. Ambrose Dexter to suggest the Trapezeohedran was responsible for Blake's death. Phillips delved deeply into researching the demonic "Haunter of the Dark" and identified it as the demon Nyarlathotep. However, he had come too close to proving the demon was inhabiting the body of Dr. Dexter and Dexter slew Phillips by touching him.




--Journey into Mystery II#5/"The Shadow from the Steeple"

In the original story he's fully identified as Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

Ludvig Prinn

Ludvig Prinn was a Flemish alchemist and necromancer who claimed to have lived for 300 years and had demon servants. He claimed to have served in the 9th Crusade (1271-1272) and settled in Libya, where he learned sorcery and conjured up djinn and efreets. He eventually returned to his homeland and lived inside a tomb. His magic became notorious in the surrounding area. In the 1500s, he was arrested by witch-hunters and imprisoned. From his cell, he compiled the deadly Latin tome De Vermis Mysteriis ("the Mysteries of the Worm"). Prinn was executed in Brussels, burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft, but his book survived. A year after his death, a copy was published in Cologne, prolonging his evil deeds down the centuries.




--Journey into Mystery II#3/"The Shambler from the Stars"

He first appeared in R. Crossley Arnold's short story "the Secret of the Tomb" (1930). He was also a character in Bloch's short stories "Fane of the Black Pharaoh" (1937) and "the Brood of Bubastis" (1937) and Lovecraft's short stories "the Shadow Out of Time," (1936) "the Diary of Alonzo Typer" (1938).

The Starry Wisdom Cult

The Starry Wisdom Cult was founded by Professor Enoch Bowen after he obtained the Trapezeohedran in the 19th century from an archaeological dig. The cult worshiped it at the Free-Will Church in Providence, Rhode Island. They were said to have performed strange rites and blood sacrifices. Finally, they were driven from Providence in the 1880s. They wrote a history of the Trapezeohedran in the Axlo language and also possessed a copies of the Necronomicon, De Vermis Mysteriis, Liber Ivonis, Cultes des Goules by Comte d'Erlette, the Unaussprechlichen Kulten of von Junzt, the Pnakotic Manuscripts and the Books of Dzyan.






--Journey into Mystery II#4 (fb) (5 (fb)/"The Haunter of the Dark," "the Shadow from the Steeple"

images: (without ads)
Journey into Mystery II#3, page 5, panel 4 (Blake, body)
Journey into Mystery II#3, page 2, panel 6 (Blake, face)
Journey into Mystery II#5, page 9, panel 2 (Bascom)
Journey into Mystery II#3, page 8, panel 8 (Bronson)
Journey into Mystery II#5, page 3, panel 1 (Fiske)
Journey into Mystery II#5, page 2, panel 1 (Gores)
Journey into Mystery II#3, page 5, panel 5 (Mystic)
Journey into Mystery II#4, page 7, panel 3 (Nephren-Ka)
Journey into Mystery II#5, page 5, panel 5 (Phillips)
Journey into Mystery II#3, page 3, panel 6 (Prinn)
Journey into Mystery II#4, page 8, panel 1 (cult)

Appearances:
Journey into Mystery II#3 (January, 1973) - Robert Bloch (story), Ron Goulart (script), Jim Starlin (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Journey into Mystery II#4 (April, 1973) - H. P. Lovecraft (story), Ron Goulart (script), Gene Colan (pencils), Dan Adkins (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Journey into Mystery II#5 (June, 1973) - Robert Bloch (story), Ron Goulart (script), Rich Buckler (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)

First posted: 09/25/2025
Last updated: 08/18/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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