How The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft Excels At Maximum Body Horror

Mike takes a trip to Dunwich, Massachusetts to continue Fright Fest by talking 1928's The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft.
You can purchase The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft here: amzn.to/3i83Q66 (physical) amzn.to/2RYMpKK (digital) amzn.to/333g8Zg (audio)
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[@owlsmirror1726]

What is kinda funny to me about the Necronimicon is that everytime anyone reads it, either an eldritch evil gets summoned or someone dies horribly, and yet, no one at the Miskatonic University either locks it away or informs the military. "What... what is going on with this book? We lost, like, 11 students last month who read it. Should we... should we do something about it?" "Nah, it'll be fine!"

[@mikesbookreviews]

Ha ha, they're not run by the smartest administration.

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

Lovecraft is one of the oldies I don’t know well, so thanks for this, Mike. Always a pleasure to learn from you, and I’ll have to watch your other Lovecraft videos!

[@ajindie9989]

I'm reading Lovercraft's stories in chronological order and the last story I read was Under The Pyramids. So I got a couple stories to go until Dunwich Horror. Great vid as always. Looking forward to your next one

[@joshuafowler883]

I of course have a soft spot for Lovecraft because his from my state of Rhode Island. Dunwich Horror is one of his best stories. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is probably my favorite of his works.

[@SpecialAgentBillMaxwell]

My favorite Lovecraft is Shadow Over Innsmouth. But man, this is a cool one too. Armitage is a boss!

[@DisabledPsychedelica]

I think one of my biggest problems with some horror is that I don’t have a fear of the unknown… I have anxiety of the unknown, and anxiety is less impactful than fear in horror. I also ultimately get frustrated with anxiety, and fear is just more enjoyable as well in horror than frustration.

[@madisongoodyear5040]

I’m here to be enlightened. I read this a few months back, but I don’t think I totally got it haha 😆

[@NoAmmo22]

Lovecraft can be intimidating sometimes. If you haven't tried Shadow over innsmouth. Go for it. It is one his more accessible and creepier reads.

[@aaronedgell9426]

Loved the review, horrified beyond human utterance to learn the terrible truth that you don't like In the Mouth of Madness.😱

[@RSEFX]

Thanks for the video. Nice to hear an go-thru of one of my personal favorites in detail. I'd love to see a film version done of this story---done well, that is. (I've always felt that David Lynch could really pull off the Lovecraft atmosphere, IF he could follow the story faithfully and not improvise on it to any great degree.). Of course, we DO see---or at least get glimpses of---the horror in this tale. And we follow it across the countryside as is destroys buildings, houses and tears up nature. I love the fact that there are actual heroes in this story (mankind defeated at the end of HPL's stories can get tiresome for me. People fighting back, taking action is far more interesting that just collapsing in terror, and Armitage is cool in that regard, spending days preparing to do battle rather than quivering in some corner in fear). This story also describes in minute detail the progeny of Y-S, and it is pretty darn visible, and very grisly and extremely weird. I feel this story is full of dread, the atmosphere dark and ominous. But...so we differ. This is in my top 3---this and COLOUR OUT OF SPACE and THE CALL OF CTHULHU. I wonder why people seem to have such a struggle with the writing style. We all studied literature, much of it far older than the HPL stories, in which events unfold slowly with little overt action as time, place and character are given pages upon pages---entire chapters---to be revealed. Lovecraft is a relatively easy read in comparison. And the vocabulary, with the exception of a few words, isn't unusual, even if how Lovecraft combines words is pretty eclectic. He isn't all that different or more expansive vocabulary-wise, than---staying in the realm of sf/sf horror---HG Wells, for instance, and people don't seem to have any real trouble reading Wells. Or maybe it's just me. I started reading Lovecraft as a kid long long ago, so maybe i grew up acclimated to this kind of style.

[@clancyconnolly495]

You definitely said it right the first time, myth-ohs. Love this series for Fright Fest 2020!

[@MoonisHavn]

Love craft video discussions, I’m here for it.

[@locolima279]

Disagree on In the Mouth of Madness. GOOD movie!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Woof.

[@locolima279]

@@mikesbookreviews Sorry about the balls!

[@Th3Downz]

Do you read Sutter Cane?

[@Michael_L_Morrison]

Yeah, I like In the Mouth of Madness as well. I realize it probably doesn't come close to an actual Lovecraft story, but it at least feels like it's a close cousin.

[@weeze9825]

Love the lovecraft reviews! Thanks Mike!

[@Musicteachersheff]

Heh...first place I heard of the Necronomicon was in Fable 2. Funny but creepy side quests involving “Sam and Max” and appears in both Fable 2 and Fable 3. (Favorite xbox games ever!)

[@andersschmich8600]

I enjoyed The Dunwich Horror, but it definitely feels kind of pulpy in comparison to his other stuff. Have you ever read "The Night Ocean" by Lovecraft and R.H Barlow? I think its a perfect example of a story that succeeds practically by atmosphere alone.

[@ButchersBookshelf]

I completely agree on your point that getting into Lovecraft's work is hard because of his writing style and the vocabulary that he uses. Great video!

[@robpaul7544]

More Lovecraft is always a good thing - oh and I pronounce it mythOHs as well. This isn't one of my favourites either.. but for a 35 page story it packs a respectable amount of monstrosity and horror.

[@raywoodham1553]

Lovecraftian horror is so good

[@thamel863]

Top 5 would be great. I'm discovering HP. Currently reading Mountain of Madness and loving it. Dunwich will be my next HP read.

[@alexthornhill1918]

Yes please do a top 5!

[@mathieuleader8601]

ooh the one with the human hybrid that looked like something from Akira

[@spyroskamilalis2515]

Big fun of Lovecraft since my youth. Great idea to do a top-10!

[@ajourneyforthepages2507]

I’d love to see your top 10 Lovecraft list!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Will certainly happen in the future.

[@theguyinthefunnyhat]

I decided to buy a collection of Lovecraft and I'm eating them up. A lot of other stuff I am into has Lovecraftian influences, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I wouldn't say they are hard to read. I read Pride and Prejudice (...which should really be called Assholes and Accountancy...) and found it an ok read, just dull. I longed for description of setting - something to plunge me into the world the story is set. These videos are great. I've just started The Dunwich Horror.

[@shazbotsmash2422]

I love In the Mouth of Madness 😂😂😂

[@Dylan13Collins]

I want to hear all you opinions on Lovecraft lol. Everytime I read a stephen king (I've only read a few) or Neil Gaiman, I have a striking urge to read more lovecraft.

[@turtleanton6539]

Do it

[@safinan8008]

Enjoy ur horror reads...

[@themanwithoutaface2260]

Most of Lovecraft's stories are about creating a unique and strange atmosphere, which just so happens to be quite creepy. I feel this story does much of the same. I liked it, but it isn't one of my favorites.

[@NoAmmo22]

The shadow over innsmouth and mountain of madness r my favs. Do a review of shadow over innsmouth, pls.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Next week!

[@Between_Scylla_and_Kharybdis]

Yog Sothoth is basically Vinz Clortho, Zuul and Gozer rolled into one. Also, what are you talking about? "In The Mouth of Madness" (while far from a masterpiece) is a good movie

[@DarthSnugglePuss]

Hey Mike! I wrote a short novel inspired by Lovecraft, I’d love to send you a Kindle copy!

[@7Seraphem7]

What the ones complaining about it being not a downer ending miss is what Lovecraft was really trying to write, and what sort of view he was presenting on the universe. It just does. Not. Give. A. Fuck. That was what terrified him (Well, beyond everything else) but what the Mythos goes for is that.... there is no greater 'fate' no divine will. The universe isn't against humanity, it just does not care, but likewise it does not care about any being. So even something as powerful as Yog-Sototh could be overcome if done in the right way, it's a simple matter of cause and effect, nothing more. It's just these things are so far above us and so beyond our understanding, knowing how to do it, or even being able to do so is very, very rare. This was that on in a hundred shot where the humans were smart enough to figure it out.

[@CrapSandviche]

Love craft, nice

[@mattbennett3589]

That shirt 💯💯💯

[@thamel863]

That was my second story of HP. I found the language of the native hard to read (English is not my primary language). I loved it but not as much as At the mountain of madness.

[@mikesbookreviews]

I'm the same. ATMOM was just top tier.

[@DavidWilliams-rv8vj]

Yeah, I definitely fall into the 93%. But, I also don't love At the Mountains of Madness or The Call of Cthulhu. I think my top 5 are: 1. The Shadow Over Innsmouth 2. The Dunwich Horror 3. The Dreams in the Witch House 4. Pickman's Model 5. The Music of Erich Zann or The Colour out of Space

[@stevedolan8156]

Loved "Pickman's Model"! It doesn't get enough love. It's my second favorite after "The Outsider."

[@SpecialAgentBillMaxwell]

It's Myth-ohs, the Freshmaker.

[@jenyal.7129]

"Ends in tentacles and not very good for the human"...lol 😂

[@TheLibraryofAllenxandria]

Excellent review! I'm with you in that Dunwich isn't on my top 5 either. For me, I don't really like the farm setting; I much prefer his stories with the urban settings. Additionally (and it's weird this affects my enjoyments), Dunwich Horror is my least favorite of the Arkham Horror board game expansions, so that also feeds into it lol.

[@turtleanton6539]

😎👍

[@thamel863]

The book "The Necronomicon", not the one that is a compilation of the HP stories, is it a story, a reference book, something not written by Lovecraft???

[@chroniclex863]

Yea it’s separate, the name is just a reference since Lovecraft uses it a lot.

[@thamel863]

@@chroniclex863 Is it a story by itself?

[@tomahawkchop7669]

Lovecraft created it in many of his stories and it has been featured in many other books as well. It was actually printed under the author name Simon as some kind of occult grimoire. Has incantations with many Sumerian names in it when I read it 25 years ago if I remember correctly.

[@cetviesauthor-writer.3043]

I feel Lovecraft meant it to be foe? forever there and ominous, omnipresent us dormant them dominant. as in owning the domain. the domain?

[@atom0191]

✔️✔️

[@mateoskydancer2177]

Its pronounced like "My-Those"

[@JJSmith-le5mu]

"in the Mouth of Madness, terrible movie, don't watch it." If that's Mike's opinion of that film, how can I trust anything he says.

[@AlbertTheConjugator]

So you don't read Sutter Cane? 😉

[@Iza56]

There's short animated movie "in the mountains of madness " on KZbin. That's that horrible movie? 🤔 I have it on my to watch list

[@rjengar]

I didn't really interpret the ending as a 'happy ending'. Basically the 'heros' are broken empty husks of their former selves because of what they now know. And sure Wilbur and his brother were defeated, but not the eldritch monsters lurking just beyond. Like for them the whateleys were basically just an experiment. They don't actually care. They don't feel. They're in no rush and may have hundreds of these 'experiments' all over the earth. Sooner or later the earth will fall to them and they don't even seem to really care about it. It's more like, oh right that planet we forgot about for a few billion years seems to be infested by bugs. Well better clean it up one of these millennia, let me just read my newspaper first. Honey the children are playing over there... Oh let them have there fun, as if we never burned a few ants when we were young. It's the nonchalance with which they can probably utterly destroy us that's the scary part...

[@mmurphy3608]

It’s myth-Os. Long “o” like in “over”.

[@thomassmith6232]

This guy hasn't read the story.

[@mikesbookreviews]

Interesting.