On Tumithak of the Corridors
A Message and an Echo
Somewhere deep in the annals of the internet, I was recently chatting with my friend 3bard - yes, another fine relic of the online handle era - when a curious piece of my own digital history resurfaced.
We were discussing my long-standing alias, Tumithak of the Corridors, when I remembered something that had happened years ago: Charles R. Tanner’s grandson had once reached out to me, entirely out of the blue.
It was back on RateYourMusic (RYM), of all places, where I received a message from a user named zapitdude.
He informed me that his grandfather was none other than Charles R. Tanner, the author of Tumithak of the Corridors.
Naturally, he assumed I had chosen my name because I had read his grandfather’s story; an assumption that was, of course, entirely correct.
The Message
I showed 3bard a screenshot of that message, which led to an unexpected revelation: he had never read Tumithak of the Corridors. This surprised me. He’s known me under this handle for years, and yet, the reference had never clicked. It made me wonder, how many others have encountered my name without realizing its origin?
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Curious to finally read the story that, unknowingly, had been part of his internet circle for years, 3bard tried to visit tumithak.com, the website that once housed all of Charles R. Tanner’s works. Unfortunately, it was no more.
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So, I made an offer.
If he wanted to read Tumithak of the Corridors, I would put a copy on my website.
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And in that moment, I couldn’t help but think of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. In Lovecraft’s tale, Charles Dexter Ward becomes, in a way, the reincarnation of his great-great-grandfather, Joseph Curwen, resurrecting knowledge long buried.
This moment felt oddly similar, like Charles R. Tanner himself stepping out of the void, reaching across time and digital decay to personally acknowledge my admiration of his work. A kind of pulp magic, as if stories themselves can echo through the corridors of time.
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And so, here we are. Below, you’ll find a link to the story that inspired my online moniker and, in many ways, my persona’s digital history. A deep lore moment, if ever there was one.