Scan barcode
kamaria's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe it was a case of Lovecraftian overload after reading two of his novellas during the readathon, but I thought The Dunwich Horror wasn't that good, especially compared to The Shadow Over Innsmouth, the other one I've read.
The Horror is quite direct, really, and I think it works better if you think of it as an action story more than as a horror story. The monsters aren't as scary as other Lovecraftian creations, maybe because it's one of the few instances where he actually described the physical aspect of the creatures. Normally it's more a fill-in-the-blank horror and I like it more because I can project my own fears/phobias into it. This just sounded like a giant octopus, which to be fair, would be quite scary in real life. The fact that it wasinvisible was cool and innovative, but nothing much was done with it. And the final confrontation with the scholars read a bit silly, with the magic powder and spell . On the other hand, I really liked how he played with the religious idea of an immaculate conception. It was a very clever bit of storytelling.
It was also painful to read about the scholars and the research they do to try to beat the monster, because it's nothing like it would actually be in a real university. Yes, that, out of all the crazy things that happen in the story, was what tested my suspension of disbelief. I also read somewhere that Lovecraft identifies with the Head Librarian and narrator of this story, and man, he was an offensive narrator. I don't know whether Lovecraft really kind of self-inserted into his own novella, but I definitely did get the impression that there was authorial condoning of the racism and bigotry spewed by the librarian. I wouldn't be too surprised, as it fits what we know of Lovecraft himself. All the talk of degraded backwater full of degenerated character, the description of Lavinia as an ugly albino woman with crinkly hair, and references to her kid as a black brat are definitely out of place today, but it was also out of place in 1929.
The Horror is quite direct, really, and I think it works better if you think of it as an action story more than as a horror story. The monsters aren't as scary as other Lovecraftian creations, maybe because it's one of the few instances where he actually described the physical aspect of the creatures. Normally it's more a fill-in-the-blank horror and I like it more because I can project my own fears/phobias into it. This just sounded like a giant octopus, which to be fair, would be quite scary in real life. The fact that it was
It was also painful to read about the scholars and the research they do to try to beat the monster, because it's nothing like it would actually be in a real university. Yes, that, out of all the crazy things that happen in the story, was what tested my suspension of disbelief. I also read somewhere that Lovecraft identifies with the Head Librarian and narrator of this story, and man, he was an offensive narrator. I don't know whether Lovecraft really kind of self-inserted into his own novella, but I definitely did get the impression that there was authorial condoning of the racism and bigotry spewed by the librarian. I wouldn't be too surprised, as it fits what we know of Lovecraft himself. All the talk of degraded backwater full of degenerated character, the description of Lavinia as an ugly albino woman with crinkly hair, and references to her kid as a black brat are definitely out of place today, but it was also out of place in 1929.
geekery's review against another edition
1.0
(I didn’t read this edition or any of his other short stories, just The Dunwich Horror. This was the closest I could find to add)
Given how lauded and foundational Lovecraft is in the horror genre, I was surprised by just how much it failed to be scary in any capacity. All of the horror in this story relies on either A) the racist and xenophobic fear of the other and B) the fear of extinction and the destruction of our world. If you’re not a racist, then A) fails hard. If you’re a young person who’s come of age in a world where everyone knows climate change is real and the destruction it will wrought and yet people in power still refuse to do anything, then B) also fails in the face of our desensitization towards the worse, real life equivalent.
Lovecraft’s racism and prejudices also manifests in inherently contradictory statements that work to make you distrust the narrator. The best example of this is when, in a chapter devoted to how many expert cryptographers failed to crack the cipher Whately wrote his diary in, the narrative calls him illiterate. Ah yes of course, the guy who WROTE a diary (in an expert level cipher no less) is illiterate.
Given how lauded and foundational Lovecraft is in the horror genre, I was surprised by just how much it failed to be scary in any capacity. All of the horror in this story relies on either A) the racist and xenophobic fear of the other and B) the fear of extinction and the destruction of our world. If you’re not a racist, then A) fails hard. If you’re a young person who’s come of age in a world where everyone knows climate change is real and the destruction it will wrought and yet people in power still refuse to do anything, then B) also fails in the face of our desensitization towards the worse, real life equivalent.
Lovecraft’s racism and prejudices also manifests in inherently contradictory statements that work to make you distrust the narrator. The best example of this is when, in a chapter devoted to how many expert cryptographers failed to crack the cipher Whately wrote his diary in, the narrative calls him illiterate. Ah yes of course, the guy who WROTE a diary (in an expert level cipher no less) is illiterate.
dominikaa_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
4.25
More...