History
Witch House was an old manor house that once stood on the coast of Cornwall in England. It was built atop a rocky outcrop that bordered the water and was therefore high above sea level. The house was some distance from Penmallow, the small town that was the nearest settlement. Two structures that were relatively close to Witch House were the Tower of Dagoth and a lighthouse located on a small island not far off the coast.[1]
Witch House was feared, hated and shunned by the villagers of Penmallow for reasons that apparently had to do with unspecified evil supernatural events that had taken place in it. One of its windows was secretly a lens sacred to Shuma-Gorath. Also, Doctor Strange sensed dim traces of time-forgotten blasphemies when he first approached the house.
The last long-time owner of Witch House was Jedediah Gordon who employed the woman Blondine as his housekeeper. Jedediah had amassed a vast knowledge of the occult arts and possessed a large number of books about magic and necromancy, including Nameless Cults, an English translation of Nameless Cults by Herr von Junzt, that contained an account of why the accursed land of Kalumesh sank.
As the time for the awakening of Shuma-Gorath approached, Jedediah died and his nephew, Henry Gordon, inherited his entire estate, including Witch House. Henry travelled to Witch House to inspect his inheritance and was greeted by Blondine who showed him into his uncle's study and told him that was where he might learn why everyone for miles around shunned Witch House. After spending some time reading Nameless Cults, during which he learned about why Kalumesh sank, Henry left the study and was shocked to see the glowing wet footprint of a giant webbed foot on the floor. When Henry realized that the glow was a reflection of light shining from a nearby old tower, Blondine identified the Tower of Dagoth and warned him not to go there. However, Henry had begun to suspect that Blondine and the villagers were trying to steal his inheritance so he ignored her warning. On the beach close to the tower, Henry found a large jewel partially buried in the sand. Not knowing that it was the long-lost Starstone. Henry took the strange jewel back to Witch House.
The next morning, Henry and Blondine left Witch House to go scuba diving in search of the sunken land of Kalumesh. They eventually spotted the city but were then confronted by Dagoth and had to be rescued by Doctor Strange who transported them back to Witch House. As they recovered, the semi-conscious Blondine muttered that she heard Shuma-Gorath's call so Strange used the Eye of Agamotto to probe her mind, causing her to relive her ancestral memories of her long-ago incarnation as the High Priestess of Dagoth and how she had drowned in the freezing water when Kalumesh sank. Strange then allowed the exhausted woman to sleep, stating that he could sense that she alone could bring to life the evil that resided within that house, an evil that had to be destroyed before he could go on.
That night, while Strange and Henry rested, an entranced Blondine took the Starstone and, guided by her memories, activated it by placing it before the window that was the lens sacred to Shuma-Gorath. The light that beamed down from Kulthas and passed through that lens struck the Starstone and freed the shadow from within the jewel. That darkness quickly spread throughout the area, casting an ebon enchantment on the three occupants of Witch House and the residents of Penmallow that compelled them all to obey a call to walk into the sea to sunken Kalumesh where they were to offer themselves as living sacrifices to Shuma-Gorath. However, before anyone died, Strange's student Clea arrived and was able to awaken Doctor Strange from his demon-induced stupor. Strange then used the Vapors of Valtorr to gather in the evil shadow from the villagers who were still on land, freeing them from its control. Strange also rescued those villagers who were already below the sea by sending a mental call that freed them and enabled them to swim up to the surface to safety.[1]
While Strange battled Dagoth beneath the sea, back in Witch House, star-beams from Yaggoth struck the Starstone and released evil matter with a dark sentience that had been ordered to hunt and destroy its assigned prey. When Strange and his four companions returned to Witch House, Strange sensed that the house was now alive and had been turned into a gigantic trap but his realization came too late because the trap had already snapped shut.[1] Trapped within the now-living Witch House, the quintet were attacked by the walls and the furniture and an awful slime but Strange was able to use his magic to protect them long enough for everyone to escape. Since Witch House was possessed by an ancient, evil spirit, Strange called upon the Eternal Vishanti and the powers of good to strike and destroy the house. In response, golden lightnings that were bolts from the Powers Beyond lashed down and in a micro second reduced Witch House to harmless shards.
In the aftermath, Henry announced that he and Blondine were going to replace Witch House with a new, simple dwelling for them both where no evil would ever enter.[2]Residents
- Jedediah "Jed" Gordon (Deceased)
- Blondine
- Henry Gordon
Notes
- Although Witch House was described as both a manor house and a mansion, the fact that it was depicted as being quite large and having at least three towers made it look more like a small castle.
- Jedediah's actual last name has never been revealed. It would be Gordon if Henry was the son of Jed's brother but could be something else if Henry's mother was Jed's sister.