Dunwich is a bit more lore-heavy than I prefer my Lovecraft, but for all that, it does have some interesting (though also retrograde, should one interrogate for even a minute) ideas about family, bloodlines, and New England society.

"The Wilbur Whateley" is a fantastic Easter egg name for spaceships, or what have you, moving forward. ( )

God this was tedious. Thank God it was short. I've heard so much about H. P. Lovecraft over the years, I figured I should read something of his. I gather some folks like this crap. Not me. Perhaps I lack imagination. Repeating phrases over and over that include barking dogs and screeching whippoorwills and foul smells, just doesn't make interesting reading for me.

Well, I've done H.P. Lovecraft. Now back to something interesting. Perhaps Jane Austen or Raymond Chandler, yet again?

'Twould be **- were GoodReads to allow s or -s. FWIW, in my thinking, **- would rank above * . ( )

This, I would say, is one of HPL's top three stories (the other two being [b:The Colour Out of Space|2978169|The Colour Out of Space|H.P. Lovecraft|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1319780371s/2978169.jpg|3008534] and, of course, [b:The Call of Cthulhu|8718597|The Call of Cthulhu (Prohyptikon Value Classics)|H.P. Lovecraft|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347467848s/8718597.jpg|25692046]).

There's some standard HPL problems here. As per usual, all of the action occurs either completely off-stage or, at the very least, from a distance and explained by nonplussed observers. There's not a lot of dialogue here, though, quite frankly, it's more than in most HPL yarns, but it's almost all in an overwhelmingly irritating local patois that it's semi-unreadable.

On the other hand, this is likely one of the more action-packed HPL stories. Things happen, and characters actually take action, instead of being swept along in the supernatural, bobbing like a cork in a storm-tossed sea.

A wonderful time is guaranteed for all. ( )

Reading The Dunwich Horror back to back with Call of Cthulhu is an interesting experience. The former is everything I wanted the latter to be.

The core of the Horror itself (Yog-Sothoth) is described just enough to be terrifying, but not so much as to be anything concrete. It impacts on the people and land around Dunwhich just keep building up, growing more and more horrible. In particular, the Whateley family... Wilbur and his even more monstrous brother. *shivers*

Also in an interesting departure from any Lovecraft I've read up until now, this is the first book with any significant amount of dialog or really characterization. It's still not terribly much, but it certainly adds a bit more depth to the story. It seems the extra length allows a bit more room for experimentation.

Overall, the best Lovecraft I've read thus far. If there is better than this yet to come... I look forward to it. ( )

It is always a relief to get clear of the place, and to follow the narrow road around the base of the hills and across the level country beyond till it rejoins the Aylesbury pike. Afterward one sometimes learns that one has been through Dunwich.

I'm a bit torn on this one. The first sections are interminably long and full of everything Lovecraft does that annoys me. The last few sections are actually quite entertaining. Can't really skip the first part and expect to enjoy the last part though. Two stars. ( )