‘The Dunwich Horror’ – H.P. Lovecraft (1929)
H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Dunwich Horror’ was originally published in the April 1929 edition of ‘Wierd Tales’ (thanks Wikipedia!) I read it as part of the Vintage Books edition of ‘The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Tales’; you can more than likely pick up any collection of Lovecraft tales and find this story inside. You can also have a quick Google and find ‘The Dunwich Horror’ free to read online, like Here for example.
Having watched the movie the other day, and realising that I’d never read the original tale, I thought it was way past time that I gave ‘The Dunwich Horror’ a read. So that’s exactly what I did last night, let me tell you about it…
In the half-forgotten Massachusetts village of Dunwich, Wilbur Whateley is shunned by the other villagers and marked for an earth shattering destiny… If he can get his hands on an original edition of the Necronomicon. Wilbur’s untimely death abruptly ends that destiny but his unfinished work leaves Dunwich in great danger, and could still usher in the end of the world…
I’ve said it before and I have to say it again… I always enjoy reading Lovecraft’s work but his insistence on thoroughly setting the scene always seems to work against me. I’ve got nothing against atmosphere (and Lovecraft does it very well) but the actual plot needs to have a bit of time to shine as well. ‘The Dunwich Horror’ is a little more balanced than most, in this respect but the opening pages left me wondering if ‘Weird Tales’ paid by the word back in the day. It was all the more annoying when Lovecraft beautifully sums up Dunwich in one sentence…
'In our sensible age—since the Dunwich horror of 1928 was hushed up by those who had the town’s and the world’s welfare at heart—people shun [Dunwich] without knowing exactly why.'
I love that sentence, it tells you everything you need to know and got me really interested in finding out what the ‘horror’ actually was. All the more foreboding for how vague it was. I guess it’s a matter of personal preference though. For me, and like I said, Lovecraft sets his scene well; I just wish he didn’t do it so much.
And did the Dunwich dialect need to be so pronounced on the page? This approach achieved what it set out to do (really emphasizing that sense of the 'other') but I was after a read where I didn’t have to read bits out loud in order to make sense of them. Your mileage will vary.
When the plot actually kicks in… it’s superb. You’ve got a monster that defies description whether it’s invisible or visible and a villain that is far more than he appears. I particularly enjoyed how Lovecraft had me wondering whether there was more than one horror present in Dunwich. It’s obvious that the monster is the main attraction, in that respect, but once you realise that Wilbur’s early life is just as much a part of the story (and not just setting the scene), well… It got me thinking. Add in a midnight raid on a library (and a climactic clifftop finale) and you have a good mix of action/adventure and the supernatural that kept things moving at a brisk pace. There was a nice little twist at the end as well, riffing off a ‘prophecy’ made at the beginning of the tale.
I’ve always held that while Lovecraft gave us the awesome concept of the Mythos, other writers executed it more effectively. Well, I’m going to have to revise my opinion slightly because once ‘The Dunwich Horror’ got going, it was absolutely brilliant and I was hooked. I’ll have more of that please :o)
And did the Dunwich dialect need to be so pronounced on the page? This approach achieved what it set out to do (really emphasizing that sense of the 'other') but I was after a read where I didn’t have to read bits out loud in order to make sense of them. Your mileage will vary.
When the plot actually kicks in… it’s superb. You’ve got a monster that defies description whether it’s invisible or visible and a villain that is far more than he appears. I particularly enjoyed how Lovecraft had me wondering whether there was more than one horror present in Dunwich. It’s obvious that the monster is the main attraction, in that respect, but once you realise that Wilbur’s early life is just as much a part of the story (and not just setting the scene), well… It got me thinking. Add in a midnight raid on a library (and a climactic clifftop finale) and you have a good mix of action/adventure and the supernatural that kept things moving at a brisk pace. There was a nice little twist at the end as well, riffing off a ‘prophecy’ made at the beginning of the tale.
I’ve always held that while Lovecraft gave us the awesome concept of the Mythos, other writers executed it more effectively. Well, I’m going to have to revise my opinion slightly because once ‘The Dunwich Horror’ got going, it was absolutely brilliant and I was hooked. I’ll have more of that please :o)
Comments
Post a Comment