This is by far Lovecraft's most Poe-like story. It avoids the elder daemons and gods of his later work entirely, and instead goes for a far more traditional plot. While it is indeed a good story, it is unoriginal and doesn't have the imagination and depth so common in Lovecraft's work. Maybe it is because Lovecraft got his idea for this story from somebody else, that it feels so little like his others. This is not his best work, but it's still worth reading.