The narrator and his uncle delve into the history and secrets of the titular shunned house in Providence, where an astonishing number of people have died over generations.

The Shunned House, as the first in Lovecraft's oeuvre, extensively utilizes the topography and family history of the author's native Providence. In the first part of the text, it resembles an extensive chronicle of the family residing in the titular 'shunned house.' The work also represents the author's first step into the realm of science fiction – the narrator attempts to explain the events unfolding in the context of the science of the early 20th century.