The Dunwich Horror Summary

This story begins with the narrator describing the town of Dunwich for many pages talking about how old it is and how it was home to many strange things. It then flashes back to a child being born by the name of Wilbur who was the son of the Whatelys. These people were known to be born of inbreeding which may have been the cause of the son maturing way quicker than any other normal child. By the age of 1 he was able to speak perfectly and a few years later could walk and run perfectly. At 7 this child was extremely tall and was said to have a goatish looking appearance. Wilbur and his grandfather began to practice dark arts and were trying to summon a being that could destroy the entire earth. They had a monster who they hid in the second floor of their home but told no one. When Wilbur’s grandfather died he needed a book to find out how to maintain the monster so he went to a …show more content…
In an article it was said that “the effect is to give the story a strong feeling of authenticity that not only underscores the horrors described but also implies that horrors even more profound lurk just beyond the limits of perception,” (Neilson and Barth). This was written to show that the way he described the setting of this town gave the reader a hint that something was wrong and something evil had happened there. Lovecraft writes “Those figures are so silent and furtive that one feels somehow confronted by forbidden things, with which it would be better to have nothing to do. When a rise in the road begins the mountains in view above the deep woods, the feeling of strange uneasiness is increased,” (Lovecraft.) The way he describes the mountains and rocks show that he is trying to foreshaodow that this place is hiding unimaginable horrors. The quotes tie in with the fact that Lovecraft uses many adjectives to tell you that something is not quite right with