The Dunwich Horror (fiction) - Revision history

Ywhateley: Wiki Links.

2022-08-20T20:55:31Z

Wiki Links.

Ywhateley: Ywhateley moved page The Dunwich Horror to The Dunwich Horror (fiction): Typo.

2018-09-26T22:37:20Z

Ywhateley moved page The Dunwich Horror to The Dunwich Horror (fiction): Typo.

Ywhateley: Added wikilinks.

2018-09-26T20:29:54Z

Added wikilinks.

Ywhateley: Added wikilinks.

2018-09-26T19:48:09Z

Added wikilinks.

Danial79 at 00:47, 2 December 2016

2016-12-02T00:47:28Z

Danial79: /* Plot summary */

2016-12-02T00:25:59Z

‎Plot summary

Ywhateley: Wiki links added.

2016-07-14T21:03:05Z

Wiki links added.

Innsbruck: /* Anthology */

2016-03-28T02:19:25Z

‎Anthology

Innsbruck: /* Characters */

2016-03-28T02:15:28Z

‎Characters

Tgaitskell: /* Geographical */

2015-03-11T16:50:01Z

‎Geographical

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 Lovecraft's main literary sources for "The Dunwich Horror" are the stories of British horror writer [[Arthur Machen]], particularly ''[[The Great God Pan]]'' (which is mentioned in the text of "The Dunwich Horror") and "[[The Novel of the Black Seal]]". Both Machen stories concern individuals whose death throes reveal them to be only half-human in their parentage. According to [[Robert M. Price]], "'The Dunwich Horror' is in every sense an homage to Machen and even a [[pastiche]]. There is little in Lovecraft's wonderful story that does not come directly out of Machen's fiction." (Price, pp. ix-x).
-The name ''Dunwich'' itself may come from Machen's ''The Terror'', where the name refers to an English town where the titular entity is seen hovering as "a black cloud with sparks of fire in it". (Price, p. 1). Lovecraft also takes [[Wilbur Whateley]]'s occult terms "Aklo" and "[[The Voorish Sign|Voorish]]" from Machen's "The White People". (Price, p. 48).
+The name ''Dunwich'' itself may come from Machen's ''The Terror'', where the name refers to an English town where the titular entity is seen hovering as "a black cloud with sparks of fire in it". (Price, p. 1). Lovecraft also takes [[Wilbur Whateley]]'s occult terms "Aklo" and "[[Voorish Sign (spell)|Voorish]]" from Machen's "The White People". (Price, p. 48).
 Lovecraft also seems to have found inspiration in Anthony M. Rud's story "Ooze" (published in ''[[Weird Tales]]'', March 1923), which also involved a monster being secretly kept and fed in a house that it subsequently bursts out of and destroys. (Joshi, pp. 118, 152).

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 ==Cthulhu Mythos==
-Although Lovecraft first mentioned "Yog-Sothoth" in the novel ''[[The Case of Charles Dexter Ward]]'', it was in "The Dunwich Horror" that he introduced the entity as one of his extra-dimensional [[Old Ones]]. It is also the tale in which the [[Necronomicon]] makes the most significant appearance, and the longest direct quote from it appears in the text. Many of the other standards of the Cthulhu Mythos, such as [[Miskatonic University (Location)|Miskatonic University]], [[Arkham]] and [[Dunwich]] also form integral parts of the tale.
+Although Lovecraft first mentioned "Yog-Sothoth" in the novel ''[[The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (fiction)]]'', it was in "The Dunwich Horror" that he introduced the entity as one of his extra-dimensional [[Old Ones]]. It is also the tale in which the [[Necronomicon]] makes the most significant appearance, and the longest direct quote from it appears in the text. Many of the other standards of the Cthulhu Mythos, such as [[Miskatonic University (Location)|Miskatonic University]], [[Arkham]] and [[Dunwich]] also form integral parts of the tale.
 ==Adaptations==<!-- This section is linked from [[B movie]] -->

@@ Line 123: / Line 123: @@
 The stories included in ''The Dunwich Horror and Others'' are:
-*"[[In the Vault]]"
+*"[[In the Vault (fiction)]]"
-*"[[Pickman's Model]]"
+*"[[Pickman's Model (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Rats in the Walls]]"
+*"[[The Rats in the Walls (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Outsider]]"
+*"[[The Outsider (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Colour Out of Space]]"
+*"[[The Colour Out of Space (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Music of Erich Zann]]"
+*"[[The Music of Erich Zann (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Haunter of the Dark]]"
+*"[[The Haunter of the Dark (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Picture in the House]]"
+*"[[The Picture in the House (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Call of Cthulhu (Fiction)|The Call of Cthulhu]]"
+*"[[The Call of Cthulhu (fiction)|The Call of Cthulhu]]"
 *"[[#Synopsis|The Dunwich Horror]]"
-*"[[Cool Air]]"
+*"[[Cool Air (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Whisperer in Darkness]]"
+*"[[The Whisperer in Darkness (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Terrible Old Man]]"
+*"[[The Terrible Old Man (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Thing on the Doorstep]]"
+*"[[The Thing on the Doorstep (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]"
+*"[[The Shadow Over Innsmouth (fiction)]]"
-*"[[The Shadow Out of Time]]"
+*"[[The Shadow Out of Time (fiction)]]"
 ==References==
@@ Line 146: / Line 146: @@
-[[Category:Mythos: Tales]]
+[[Category:Mythos:Tales]]

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 (1855&ndash;1939/1946?)
-The head librarian at [[Miskatonic University]]. <!-- who retired around 1936 due to failing health --> As a young man, he graduated from Miskatonic in 1881 and went on to obtain his doctorate from Princeton University and his Doctor of Letters degree at Johns Hopkins University. <!-- He became interested in the occult in 1882 after hearing of a strange meteorite that fell near [[Arkham]].
+The head librarian at [[Miskatonic University (Location)|Miskatonic University]]. <!-- who retired around 1936 due to failing health --> As a young man, he graduated from Miskatonic in 1881 and went on to obtain his doctorate from Princeton University and his Doctor of Letters degree at Johns Hopkins University. <!-- He became interested in the occult in 1882 after hearing of a strange meteorite that fell near [[Arkham]].
 This event prompted him to read Miskatonic's copy of the ''[[Necronomicon]]''. Years later, and with the help of professors Warren Rice and Francis Morgan, Armitage used this work to defeat the "Dunwich Horror". SOURCE? -->
 <!-- Conflicting accounts are given for Armitage's demise. In one account, he was killed in [[1939]] by a fire in the library when he tried to save Miskatonic's Rare Book collection. In another account, he died of a heart attack outside the library in 1946 after being frightened by a guard dog. Before his death, Armitage published two books on the occult: ''Notes toward a Bibliography of World Occultism, Mysticism, and Magic'' (Miskatonic University Press, 1927) and ''Devils and Demons in the Miskatonic Valley''. WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM? -->
@@ Line 102: / Line 102: @@
 ===Francis Morgan===
-Professor of Medicine and Comparative Anatomy (or [[Archaeology]]) at [[Miskatonic University]]. The story refers to him as "youngish".
+Professor of Medicine and Comparative Anatomy (or [[Archaeology]]) at [[Miskatonic University (Location)|Miskatonic University]]. The story refers to him as "youngish".
 In [[Fritz Leiber]]'s "To Arkham and the Stars"--written in 1966 and apparently set at about that time--Morgan is described as "the sole living survivor of the brave trio who had slain the Dunwich Horror". According to Leiber, Morgan's "research in mescaline and LSD" produced "clever anti-hallucinogens" that were instrumental in curing [[Danforth]]'s mental illness. (Fritz Leiber, "To Arkham and the Stars", ''Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos'', pp. 320-321).
 ===Warren Rice===
-Professor of Classical Languages at [[Miskatonic University]]. He is called "stocky" and "iron-grey".
+Professor of Classical Languages at [[Miskatonic University (Location)|Miskatonic University]]. He is called "stocky" and "iron-grey".
 ==Cthulhu Mythos==

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 The plot revolves around the desire of Wilbur to acquire an unabridged Latin version of the ''[[Necronomicon]]'' &mdash; his imperfect English copy ill-suited for his dark purpose &mdash; so that he may open the way for the return of the mysterious (eldritch) "Old Ones", whose forerunner is the Lovecraftian [[Outer God]] [[Yog-Sothoth]]. Furthermore, Wilbur and his grandfather have sequestered an unseen presence at their farmhouse; this being is connected somehow to Yog-Sothoth. Year by year, this unseen entity grows to monstrous proportions, requiring Wilbur and his patriarch to make frequent modifications to their residence. People begin to notice a trend of cattle mysteriously disappearing. Eventually, Wilbur's mother also disappears. By the time Wilbur's grandfather passes away, the colossal entity occupies the whole interior of the farmhouse.
-Wilbur ventures to [[Miskatonic University]] in [[Arkham]] to procure a copy of the dreaded ''Necronomicon'' &ndash; Miskatonic's library is one of only a handful in the world to stock an original print of the frightful tome. The ''[[Necronomicon]]'' has certain spells that Wilbur can use to summon the ''Old Ones'' for dark purposes unfathomable to men. When the librarian, Dr. Henry Armitage, refuses to release the university's copy to him, Wilbur breaks into the library that night to steal the loathsome book. Unfortunately (for Wilbur rather than for humankind), he is killed by the guard dog, which attacks him with a most unusual ferocity. When Dr. Armitage and two other professors arrive on the scene and see Wilbur Whateley's partly non-human corpse, they realize that the youth was not wholly of this earth.
+Wilbur ventures to [[Miskatonic University (Location)|Miskatonic University]] in [[Arkham]] to procure a copy of the dreaded ''Necronomicon'' &ndash; Miskatonic's library is one of only a handful in the world to stock an original print of the frightful tome. The ''[[Necronomicon]]'' has certain spells that Wilbur can use to summon the ''Old Ones'' for dark purposes unfathomable to men. When the librarian, Dr. Henry Armitage, refuses to release the university's copy to him, Wilbur breaks into the library that night to steal the loathsome book. Unfortunately (for Wilbur rather than for humankind), he is killed by the guard dog, which attacks him with a most unusual ferocity. When Dr. Armitage and two other professors arrive on the scene and see Wilbur Whateley's partly non-human corpse, they realize that the youth was not wholly of this earth.
 The story culminates with the actual Dunwich horror: With Wilbur Whateley now dead, no one can attend to the mysterious presence growing in the Whateley farmhouse. Early one morning, the Whateley farmhouse explodes as the thing, an invisible monster, rampages across Dunwich, cutting a path through fields, trees, and ravines, leaving huge "prints" the size of tree trunks. The frightened town is terrorized by the invisible creature for several days, until Dr. Armitage, Professor Warren Rice, and Dr. Francis Morgan, all of Miskatonic University, arrive with the knowledge and weapons needed to defeat the creature. In the end, its nature is revealed: it is the twin brother of Wilbur Whateley, though it "looked more like the father than [Wilbur] did."

← Older revision	Revision as of 22:37, 26 September 2018
(No difference)

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 ==Adaptations==<!-- This section is linked from [[B movie]] -->
-A movie version of ''The Dunwich Horror'' appeared in 1970. It starred [[Dean Stockwell]] as Wilbur Whateley, and also starred [[Ed Begley]] and [[Sandra Dee]] with a soundtrack by [[Les Baxter]]. While the script borrowed some elements from Lovecraft, the final film bears little resemblance to the short story.
+A movie version of ''[[The Dunwich Horror (1970 film)|The Dunwich Horror]]'' appeared in 1970. It starred [[Dean Stockwell]] as Wilbur Whateley, and also starred [[Ed Begley]] and [[Sandra Dee]] with a soundtrack by [[Les Baxter]]. While the script borrowed some elements from Lovecraft, the final film bears little resemblance to the short story.  A 2009 made-for-TV ''[[The Dunwich Horror (2009 film)|adaptation]]'' was also made.
 ==Anthology==

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 Lavinia Whateley's "aged and half-insane father, about whom the most frightful tales of magic had been whispered in his youth".<ref>Lovecraft, "The Dunwich Horror", p. 159.</ref> Dunwich gossips recall that "the hills once shook when he shrieked the dreadful name of ''Yog-Sothoth'' in the midst of a circle of stones with a great book open in his arms before him."<ref>Lovecraft, "The Dunwich Horror", p. 162.</ref> He has a large collection of "rotting ancient books and parts of books" which he uses to "instruct[s] and catechise" his grandson Wilbur.<ref>Lovecraft, "The Dunwich Horror", p. 163.</ref> He dies of natural causes on August 2, 1924.<ref>Lovecraft, "The Dunwich Horror", p. 166.</ref>
-He is given no first name by Lovecraft; he is referred to as "Noah Whateley" in the [[Call of Cthulhu role-playing game]].
+He is given no first name by Lovecraft; he is referred to as "Noah Whateley" in the [[Call of Cthulhu (RPG)|Call of Cthulhu role-playing game]].
 According to S. T. Joshi, "It is not certain where Lovecraft got the name Whateley," though there is a small town called [[Whately, Massachusetts|Whately]] in northwestern Massachusetts near the [[Mohawk Trail]], which Lovecraft hiked several times, including in the summer of 1928.<ref>Joshi, p. 115.</ref> Robert M. Price's short story "Wilbur Whateley Waiting" emphasizes the obvious pun in the name.<ref>Robert M. Price, “Wilbur Whateley Waiting”, ''The Dunwich Cycle'', Robert M. Price, ed., pp. 236-252.</ref>

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 ===Geographical===
-In a letter to [[August Derleth]], Lovecraft wrote that "The Dunwich Horror" "takes place amongst the wild domed hills of the upper [[Miskatonic River|Miskatonic Valley]], far northwest of [[Arkham]], & is based on several old New England legends--one of which I heard only last month during my sojourn in [[Wilbraham, Massachusetts|Wilbraham]]," a town in south-central Massachusetts. (Lovecraft, letter to August Derleth, August 4, 1928, cited in Joshi, p. 101). (One such legend is the notion that [[whippoorwill]]s can capture the departing soul. Joshi, p. 113).
+In a letter to [[August Derleth]], Lovecraft wrote that "The Dunwich Horror" "takes place amongst the wild domed hills of the upper [[Miskatonic River|Miskatonic Valley]], far northwest of [[Arkham]], & is based on several old New England legends--one of which I heard only last month during my sojourn in Wilbraham," a town in south-central Massachusetts. (Lovecraft, letter to August Derleth, August 4, 1928, cited in Joshi, p. 101). (One such legend is the notion that whippoorwills can capture the departing soul. Joshi, p. 113).
-In another letter, Lovecraft wrote that [[Dunwich]] is "a vague echo of the decadent Massachusetts countryside around [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]]--say Wilbraham, [[Monson, Massachusetts|Monson]] and [[Hampden, Massachusetts|Hampden]]." (Lovecraft, ''Selected Letters'' Vol. III, pp. 432-433; cited in Joshi, p. 108). Robert M. Price notes that "much of the physical description of the Dunwich countryside is a faithful sketch of Wilbraham," citing a passage from a letter from Lovecraft to Zealia Bishop that "sounds like a passage from 'The Dunwich Horror' itself":
+In another letter, Lovecraft wrote that [[Dunwich]] is "a vague echo of the decadent Massachusetts countryside around Springfield--say Wilbraham, Monson and Hampden." (Lovecraft, ''Selected Letters'' Vol. III, pp. 432-433; cited in Joshi, p. 108). Robert M. Price notes that "much of the physical description of the Dunwich countryside is a faithful sketch of Wilbraham," citing a passage from a letter from Lovecraft to Zealia Bishop that "sounds like a passage from 'The Dunwich Horror' itself":
-:When the road dips again there are stretches of marshland that one instinctively dislikes, and indeed almost fears at evening when unseen whippoorwills chatter and the fireflies come out in abnormal profusion to dance to the raucous, creepily insistent rhythms of stridently piping bullfrogs. (Cited in Robert M. Price, ''The Dunwich Cycle'', p. 82).
+:When the road dips again there are stretches of marshland that one instinctively dislikes, and indeed almost fears at evening when unseen whippoorwills chatter and the fireflies come out in abnormal profusion to dance to the raucous, creepily insistent rhythms of stridently piping bullfrogs. (Cited in [[Robert M. Price]], ''[[The Dunwich Cycle]]'', p. 82).
 The physical model for Dunwich's Sentinel Hill is thought to be Wilbraham Mountain near Wilbraham. (Joshi, p. 114).
-But researchers have pointed out the story's apparent connections to another Massachusetts region: the area around [[Athol, Massachusetts|Athol]] and points south, in the north-central part of the state (which is where Lovecraft indicates that Dunwich is located). It has been suggested that the name "Dunwich," was inspired by the town of Greenwich, which was deliberately flooded to create the [[Quabbin Reservoir]] (Charles P. Mtchell, The Complete H.P.Lovecraft Filmography p.9 (2001)), although Greenwich and the nearby towns of Dana, Enfield and Prescott actually weren't submerged until 1938.  Donald R. Burleson points out that several names included in the story--including Bishop, Frye, Sawyer, Rice and Morgan--are either prominent Athol names or have a connection to the town's history. (Donald R. Burleson, "Humour Beneath Horror: Some Sources for 'The Dunwich Horror' and 'The Whisperer in Darkness'", ''Lovecraft Studies'', No. 2 (Spring 1980), pp. 5-15, cited in Joshi, pp. 105, 111, 138; Price, p. 82).
+But researchers have pointed out the story's apparent connections to another Massachusetts region: the area around Athol and points south, in the north-central part of the state (which is where Lovecraft indicates that Dunwich is located). It has been suggested that the name "Dunwich," was inspired by the town of Greenwich, which was deliberately flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir (Charles P. Mtchell, The Complete H.P.Lovecraft Filmography p.9 (2001)), although Greenwich and the nearby towns of Dana, Enfield and Prescott actually weren't submerged until 1938.  Donald R. Burleson points out that several names included in the story--including Bishop, Frye, Sawyer, Rice and Morgan--are either prominent Athol names or have a connection to the town's history. (Donald R. Burleson, "Humour Beneath Horror: Some Sources for 'The Dunwich Horror' and 'The Whisperer in Darkness'", ''Lovecraft Studies'', No. 2 (Spring 1980), pp. 5-15, cited in Joshi, pp. 105, 111, 138; Price, p. 82).
 Athol's Sentinel Elm Farm seems to be the source for the name Sentinel Hill. (Joshi, p. 114). The Bear's Den mentioned in the story resembles an actual cave of the same name visited by Lovecraft in North New Salem, southwest of Athol. (Joshi, p. 147). (New Salem, like Dunwich, was founded by settlers from Salem--though in 1737, not 1692). Will Murray, "In Search of Arkham Country Revisited", ''Lovecraft Studies'', Nos. 19/20 (Fall 1989), ppp. 65-69; cited in Joshi, p. 110).
-The book ''Myths and Legends of Our Own Land'', by Charles M. Skinner, mentions a "Devil's Hop Yard" near [[Haddam, Connecticut]] as a gathering place for witches. The book, which Lovecraft seems to have read, also describes noises emanating from the earth near [[Moodus, Connecticut]], which are similar to the Dunwich sounds decried by Rev. Abijah Hoadley. (Joshi, p. 112).
+The book ''Myths and Legends of Our Own Land'', by Charles M. Skinner, mentions a "Devil's Hop Yard" near Haddam, Connecticut as a gathering place for witches. The book, which Lovecraft seems to have read, also describes noises emanating from the earth near Moodus, Connecticut, which are similar to the Dunwich sounds decried by Rev. Abijah Hoadley. (Joshi, p. 112).
 ===Literary===