Editing (section) The Dunwich Horror 0 You are not logged in. The rich text editor does not work with JavaScript switched off. Please either enable it in your browser options, or visit your preferences to switch to the old MediaWiki editor <h3>Literary</h3> <p data-rte-fromparser="true">Lovecraft's main literary sources for "The Dunwich Horror" are the stories of Welsh horror writer <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Arthur%20Machen%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Arthur%20Machen%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BArthur%20Machen%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" class="new" title="Arthur Machen (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvQXJ0aHVyX01hY2hlbj9hY3Rpb249ZWRpdCZyZWRsaW5rPTE=">Arthur Machen</a>, particularly "<a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22The%20Great%20God%20Pan%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22The%20Great%20God%20Pan%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BThe%20Great%20God%20Pan%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" class="new" title="The Great God Pan (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvVGhlX0dyZWF0X0dvZF9QYW4/YWN0aW9uPWVkaXQmcmVkbGluaz0x">The Great God Pan</a>" (which is mentioned in the text of "The Dunwich Horror") and "<a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22The%20Novel%20of%20the%20Black%20Seal%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22The%20Novel%20of%20the%20Black%20Seal%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BThe%20Novel%20of%20the%20Black%20Seal%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" class="new" title="The Novel of the Black Seal (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvVGhlX05vdmVsX29mX3RoZV9CbGFja19TZWFsP2FjdGlvbj1lZGl0JnJlZGxpbms9MQ==">The Novel of the Black Seal</a>". Both Machen stories concern individuals whose death throes reveal them to be only half-human in their parentage. According to <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Robert%20M.%20Price%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Robert%20M.%20Price%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BRobert%20M.%20Price%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" href="/wiki/Robert_M._Price" title="Robert M. Price">Robert M. Price</a>, "'The Dunwich Horror' is in every sense an homage to Machen and even a pastiche. There is little in Lovecraft's story that does not come directly out of Machen's fiction."<span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cref%3EPrice%2C%20pp.%20ix-x.%3C%5C%2Fref%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22ref%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false"><sup data-rte-washtml="1" id="cite_ref-0" class="reference" data-rte-attribs=" id=cite_ref-0 class=reference"><a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%3Cspan%20data-rte-instance%3D%5C%224156-13967207035f0915c977bdb%5C%22%20data-rte-meta%3D%5C%22%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522ext%2522%252C%2522wikitext%2522%253A%2522%253Cnowiki%253E%255B%253C%255C%252Fnowiki%253E%2522%252C%2522lineStart%2522%253A%2522%2522%252C%2522placeholder%2522%253A1%252C%2522extName%2522%253A%2522nowiki%2522%257D%5C%22%20class%3D%5C%22placeholder%20placeholder-ext%5C%22%20contenteditable%3D%5C%22false%5C%22%3E%7F%27%5C%22%60UNIQ2742c7da427b9810-nowiki-00000001-QINU%60%5C%22%27%7F%26%23x0200B%3B%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E1%3Cspan%20data-rte-instance%3D%5C%224156-13967207035f0915c977bdb%5C%22%20data-rte-meta%3D%5C%22%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522ext%2522%252C%2522wikitext%2522%253A%2522%253Cnowiki%253E%255D%253C%255C%252Fnowiki%253E%2522%252C%2522lineStart%2522%253A%2522%2522%252C%2522placeholder%2522%253A1%252C%2522extName%2522%253A%2522nowiki%2522%257D%5C%22%20class%3D%5C%22placeholder%20placeholder-ext%5C%22%20contenteditable%3D%5C%22false%5C%22%3E%7F%27%5C%22%60UNIQ2742c7da427b9810-nowiki-00000002-QINU%60%5C%22%27%7F%26%23x0200B%3B%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22%23cite_note-0%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5B%23cite_note-0%7C%3Cext%20_rte_wikitextidx%3D%5C%2213%5C%22%3E%3Cname%3Enowiki%3C%5C%2Fname%3E%3Cattr%3E%3C%5C%2Fattr%3E%3Cinner%3E%5B%3C%5C%2Finner%3E%3Cclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%3C%5C%2Fclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fext%3E1%3Cext%20_rte_wikitextidx%3D%5C%2214%5C%22%3E%3Cname%3Enowiki%3C%5C%2Fname%3E%3Cattr%3E%3C%5C%2Fattr%3E%3Cinner%3E%5D%3C%5C%2Finner%3E%3Cclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%3C%5C%2Fclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fext%3E%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" href="#cite_note-0"><span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cnowiki%3E%5B%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22nowiki%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false">[​</span>1<span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cnowiki%3E%5D%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22nowiki%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false">]​</span></a></sup>​</span> </p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Another source that has been suggested is "<a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22The%20Thing%20in%20the%20Woods%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22The%20Thing%20in%20the%20Woods%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BThe%20Thing%20in%20the%20Woods%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" class="new" title="The Thing in the Woods (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvVGhlX1RoaW5nX2luX3RoZV9Xb29kcz9hY3Rpb249ZWRpdCZyZWRsaW5rPTE=">The Thing in the Woods</a>", by <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Margery%20Williams%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Margery%20Williams%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BMargery%20Williams%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" class="new" title="Margery Williams (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvTWFyZ2VyeV9XaWxsaWFtcz9hY3Rpb249ZWRpdCZyZWRsaW5rPTE=">Margery Williams</a>, which is also about two brothers living in the woods, neither of them quite human and one of them less human than the other. </p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">The name <i>Dunwich</i> itself may come from Machen's <i>The Terror</i>, 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".<span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cref%3EPrice%2C%20p.%201.%3C%5C%2Fref%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22ref%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false"><sup data-rte-washtml="1" id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" data-rte-attribs=" id=cite_ref-1 class=reference"><a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%3Cspan%20data-rte-instance%3D%5C%224156-13967207035f0915c977bdb%5C%22%20data-rte-meta%3D%5C%22%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522ext%2522%252C%2522wikitext%2522%253A%2522%253Cnowiki%253E%255B%253C%255C%252Fnowiki%253E%2522%252C%2522lineStart%2522%253A%2522%2522%252C%2522placeholder%2522%253A1%252C%2522extName%2522%253A%2522nowiki%2522%257D%5C%22%20class%3D%5C%22placeholder%20placeholder-ext%5C%22%20contenteditable%3D%5C%22false%5C%22%3E%7F%27%5C%22%60UNIQ2742c7da427b9810-nowiki-00000004-QINU%60%5C%22%27%7F%26%23x0200B%3B%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E2%3Cspan%20data-rte-instance%3D%5C%224156-13967207035f0915c977bdb%5C%22%20data-rte-meta%3D%5C%22%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522ext%2522%252C%2522wikitext%2522%253A%2522%253Cnowiki%253E%255D%253C%255C%252Fnowiki%253E%2522%252C%2522lineStart%2522%253A%2522%2522%252C%2522placeholder%2522%253A1%252C%2522extName%2522%253A%2522nowiki%2522%257D%5C%22%20class%3D%5C%22placeholder%20placeholder-ext%5C%22%20contenteditable%3D%5C%22false%5C%22%3E%7F%27%5C%22%60UNIQ2742c7da427b9810-nowiki-00000005-QINU%60%5C%22%27%7F%26%23x0200B%3B%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22%23cite_note-1%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5B%23cite_note-1%7C%3Cext%20_rte_wikitextidx%3D%5C%2219%5C%22%3E%3Cname%3Enowiki%3C%5C%2Fname%3E%3Cattr%3E%3C%5C%2Fattr%3E%3Cinner%3E%5B%3C%5C%2Finner%3E%3Cclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%3C%5C%2Fclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fext%3E2%3Cext%20_rte_wikitextidx%3D%5C%2220%5C%22%3E%3Cname%3Enowiki%3C%5C%2Fname%3E%3Cattr%3E%3C%5C%2Fattr%3E%3Cinner%3E%5D%3C%5C%2Finner%3E%3Cclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%3C%5C%2Fclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fext%3E%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" href="#cite_note-1"><span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cnowiki%3E%5B%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22nowiki%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false">[​</span>2<span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cnowiki%3E%5D%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22nowiki%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false">]​</span></a></sup>​</span> Lovecraft also takes Wilbur Whateley's occult terms "Aklo" and "Voorish" from Machen's "The White People".<span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cref%3EPrice%2C%20p.%2048.%3C%5C%2Fref%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22ref%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false"><sup data-rte-washtml="1" id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" data-rte-attribs=" id=cite_ref-2 class=reference"><a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%3Cspan%20data-rte-instance%3D%5C%224156-13967207035f0915c977bdb%5C%22%20data-rte-meta%3D%5C%22%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522ext%2522%252C%2522wikitext%2522%253A%2522%253Cnowiki%253E%255B%253C%255C%252Fnowiki%253E%2522%252C%2522lineStart%2522%253A%2522%2522%252C%2522placeholder%2522%253A1%252C%2522extName%2522%253A%2522nowiki%2522%257D%5C%22%20class%3D%5C%22placeholder%20placeholder-ext%5C%22%20contenteditable%3D%5C%22false%5C%22%3E%7F%27%5C%22%60UNIQ2742c7da427b9810-nowiki-00000007-QINU%60%5C%22%27%7F%26%23x0200B%3B%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E3%3Cspan%20data-rte-instance%3D%5C%224156-13967207035f0915c977bdb%5C%22%20data-rte-meta%3D%5C%22%257B%2522type%2522%253A%2522ext%2522%252C%2522wikitext%2522%253A%2522%253Cnowiki%253E%255D%253C%255C%252Fnowiki%253E%2522%252C%2522lineStart%2522%253A%2522%2522%252C%2522placeholder%2522%253A1%252C%2522extName%2522%253A%2522nowiki%2522%257D%5C%22%20class%3D%5C%22placeholder%20placeholder-ext%5C%22%20contenteditable%3D%5C%22false%5C%22%3E%7F%27%5C%22%60UNIQ2742c7da427b9810-nowiki-00000008-QINU%60%5C%22%27%7F%26%23x0200B%3B%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22%23cite_note-2%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5B%23cite_note-2%7C%3Cext%20_rte_wikitextidx%3D%5C%2225%5C%22%3E%3Cname%3Enowiki%3C%5C%2Fname%3E%3Cattr%3E%3C%5C%2Fattr%3E%3Cinner%3E%5B%3C%5C%2Finner%3E%3Cclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%3C%5C%2Fclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fext%3E3%3Cext%20_rte_wikitextidx%3D%5C%2226%5C%22%3E%3Cname%3Enowiki%3C%5C%2Fname%3E%3Cattr%3E%3C%5C%2Fattr%3E%3Cinner%3E%5D%3C%5C%2Finner%3E%3Cclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%3C%5C%2Fclose%3E%3C%5C%2Fext%3E%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" href="#cite_note-2"><span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cnowiki%3E%5B%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22nowiki%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false">[​</span>3<span data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22ext%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%3Cnowiki%3E%5D%3C%5C%2Fnowiki%3E%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%2C%22extName%22%3A%22nowiki%22%7D" class="placeholder placeholder-ext" contenteditable="false">]​</span></a></sup>​</span> </p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Lovecraft also seems to have found inspiration in <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Anthony%20M.%20Rud%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Anthony%20M.%20Rud%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BAnthony%20M.%20Rud%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" class="new" title="Anthony M. Rud (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvQW50aG9ueV9NLl9SdWQ/YWN0aW9uPWVkaXQmcmVkbGluaz0x">Anthony M. Rud</a>'s story "Ooze" (published in <i>Weird Tales</i>, March 1923), which also involved a monster being secretly kept and fed in a house that it subsequently bursts out of and destroys. (EXP: <i>The Dunwich Horror and Others</i>) </p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">The tracks of Wilbur's brother recall those seen in <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Algernon%20Blackwood%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Algernon%20Blackwood%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BAlgernon%20Blackwood%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" class="new" title="Algernon Blackwood (page does not exist)" rel="nofollow" data-uncrawlable-url="L3dpa2kvQWxnZXJub25fQmxhY2t3b29kP2FjdGlvbj1lZGl0JnJlZGxpbms9MQ==">Algernon Blackwood</a>'s "The Wendigo", one of Lovecraft's favorite horror stories. (<span class="placeholder placeholder-double-brackets" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22double-brackets%22%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%7B%7BEXP%7D%7D%22%2C%22lineStart%22%3A%22%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22EXP%22%2C%22placeholder%22%3A1%7D" contenteditable="false">​<a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22wikitextIdx%22%3Anull%2C%22text%22%3A%22%3Cspan%20data-rte-washtml%3D%5C%221%5C%22%20data-rte-style%3D%5C%22color%3Ayellow%5C%22%20style%3D%5C%22color%3Ayellow%5C%22%20data-rte-attribs%3D%5C%22%20style%3D%7Fcolor%3Ayellow%7F%5C%22%3EEXP%3C%5C%2Fspan%3E%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22EXP%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" href="/wiki/EXP" title="EXP" class="mw-redirect"><span data-rte-washtml="1" data-rte-style="color:yellow" style="color:yellow" data-rte-attribs=" style=color:yellow">EXP</span></a>​</span>: <i>The Dunwich Horror and Others</i>) <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Ambrose%20Bierce%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Ambrose%20Bierce%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BAmbrose%20Bierce%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="4156-13967207035f0915c977bdb" href="/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce" title="Ambrose Bierce">Ambrose Bierce</a>'s story "The Damned Thing" also involves a monster invisible to human eyes. </p> <br /><strong data-rte-washtml="1" class="error" data-rte-attribs=" class=error">Cite error: <code data-rte-washtml="1"><ref></code> tags exist, but no <code data-rte-washtml="1"><references/></code> tag was found</strong><p /> <!-- Saved in parser cache with key lovecraft:rte-parser-cache:2389 --> Loading editor Below are some commonly used wiki markup codes. 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