The Dunwich Horror

The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft is a short story written in 1928. It first appeared in Weird Tales a year later. Set in Dunwich, Massachusetts, this tale is at the center of Lovecraft's series of stories in the Cthulhu Mythos. As in much of his work, the Dunwich Horror explores the mind-boggling vastness of the universe as it's pitted against the frail soul of a human. Earth, according to the Mythos, was once ruled by extra-dimensional "Elder Things" - also referred to as "Great Old Ones." These beings will again rule the planet.

Part of the awesomeness of Lovecraft's work is not what is said, but what is referred to. The unfathomable nature of the outer and inner spaces occupied by the Old Ones amps up the scary factor - that and the fact that there's nothing that humans can do to sway the laws of the universe out of their control. His descriptions of the land and people of this region are range from beautiful to grotesque. Inbreeding, folklore and superstition give this tale a real genuine creepiness as well. In "The Dunwich Horror" we find Lovecraft as his macabre best.