The Dunwich Horror (short story)

En mi afán por revisar la obra completa de H.P. Lovecraft, ahora toca 'El horror de Dunwich', que incluye cuatro narraciones: 'El horror de Dunwich', que da nombre a la antología, 'El modelo de Pickman', 'El susurrador en la oscuridad' y 'El extraño'. En mi opinión, estos cuentos son de lo mejor que escribió el Maestro de Providence. En ellos se conjugan a la perfección los llamados Mitos de Cthulhu y los relatos del ciclo de Nueva Inglaterra, llegando a unas cotas de horror y suspense extraordinarias, sin dejar de lado la gran calidad literaria (a pesar de la opinión de algunos críticos pedantes de la época, como bien comenta August Derleth en el prólogo sobre la vida y obra de Lovecraft).

Cito a Lovecraft: "La literatura de show more terror debe ser realista y ambiental, limitando su desviación de la naturaleza al canal sobrenatural elegido, y recordando que el escenario, el tono y los acontecimientos son más importantes a la hora de comunicar lo que se pretende que los personajes y la acción misma." Y esto es lo que mejor sabía hacer Lovecraft, crear atmósferas asfixiantes y sobrecogedoras, donde lo macabro y sobrenatural "eran" posibles. Cuando lees uno de estos relatos, casi parecen artículos periodísticos dada su erudición y documentación sobre los hechos que se suceden, donde los personajes son lo de menos, aunque estén narrados en primera persona; lo importante es la sensación que transmite al lector, casi de simbiosis con el narrador, arrastrándolos a ambos por los incríbles cauces de lo sobrenatural.

Estos son los cuentos que incluye el volumen:

- El horror de Dunwich (The Dunwich Horror). La granja Whatheley, situada en el municipio de Dunwich, tiene muy mala fama entre sus vecinos; su nombre está asociado a la brujería y a elementos extraños. Y desde el nacimiento de Wilbur Whateley, aquélla se ha acrecentado. Esta es la historia de un horror, un horror asociado al apellido Whateley en general, y a Wilbur en particular; un horror que asolará la región, y que tendrá como testigo de primera fila al doctor Henry Armitage, gran erudito y bibliotecario en Miskatonic. Este es un relato imprescindible, construido magistralmente, que te envuelve en el misterio y el horror hasta su terrible final.

- El modelo de Pickman (Pickman's Model). El protagonista le está contando a su amigo Eliot su obsesión por la obra del pintor Richard Upton Pickman, un artista tan genial como provocador, cuyos cuadros sólo aprecian unos pocos, dado su cariz morboso. Y es que Pickman pinta el horror, cuadros donde late lo siniestro y espectral. Será esta obsesión la que haga que acepte una invitación de Pickman para visitar su casa privada, donde guarda algunas de sus "mejores" obras...

- El susurrador en la oscuridad (The Whisperer in Darkness). Wilmarth, profesor de literatura en la Universidad de Miskatonic en Arkham, nos relata cómo se vio envuelto en unos asombrosos hechos a raíz de relacionarse con Akeley. Todo empezó cuando unas inundaciones sacaron a la luz unos extraños seres. Esto provoca que las gentes del lugar rememoren antiguas leyendas relacionadas con las montañas de Vermont. Wilmarth, experto en folklore, tiene algo que decir sobre el tema. Es entonces cuando Akeley, que vive en estas montañas en su granja, escribe al profesor comunicándole que estas leyendas podrían guardar más verdades de lo que parece... De nuevo la maestría de Lovecraft sale a relucir en esta historia fascinante de principio a fin.

- El extraño (The Outsider). El protagonista, que vive en un castillo, no recuerda nada de su pasado. Recorre el castillo y alrededores lleno de temor y tristeza, y su único deseo es poder vislumbrar el sol. Un cuento, corto, pero espeluznante. show less

How can you not love a horror story where the hero is a librarian? The "erudite Henry Armitage (A.M. Miskatonic, Ph.D. Princeton, Litt.D. Johns Hopkins)" saves the world with cryptanalysis and research. At one point, his studies drive him nearly to madness. He raved about
"fantastic references to some plan for the extirpation of the entire human race and all animal and vegetable life from the earth by some terrible elder race of beings from another dimension. He would shout that the world was in danger, since the Elder Things wished to strip it and drag it away from the solar system and cosmos of matter into some other plane or phase of entity from which it had once fallen, vigintillions of aeons ago." Cthulu Mythos to the max.
And how show more can you not love a writer who uses the word vigintillions? It is a number equal to 1 followed by 63 zeros. show less

graded on the Lovecraft Curve™

I really was perfectly content with the idea that I would never get around to reading any Lovecraft. Of course he's a legend, but the book descriptions never really did anything for me, and then there is that he was known to be pretty racist -- both in his opinions privately and sometimes in his books.

But then I was browsing Eighth Day Books on a recent trip to Kansas, and this book was displayed face out. And I just fell in love with the cover. I was still resisting until I turned it over and saw that it was published by Melville House. FINE. I bought it.

There was something almost familiar about this story, which I suppose shouldn't be surprising given how massively influential Lovecraft was. There was something also of a charming show more old-fashioned feel to the story -- particularly in its characterizations of the setting. And in the end, really, how can you argue with a book in which the entire known world is saved by librarians?

Enjoyable, but I probably won't be reading any more Lovecraft any time soon. show less

The story of the outcast Whateley family, which suddenly gains a new member when somehow the grossest Whateley, Lavinia, has a baby boy. Wilbur grows at four times the speed of a normal baby, growing huge, learning to read and write and study the dark arts. He quickly becomes a huge, devious and threatening man who stalks the libraries of universities trying to get his hands on restricted ancient materials.
Creepy, tense, weird, and with a team of hero librarians!

I haven't read a lot of Lovecraft, but I've read some that was pretty good -- Rats in the Walls, Colour out of Space and some others -- so I was surpised to find that The Dunwich Horror, which is by repute one of his most canonical titles, is such a mess.

The exposition is diffuse and clumsy. Then the 'horror' part is glacially paced, with many incidents telegraphed; is simply SODDEN with bizarrely spelt New England hillbilly dialect; and although it has its moments (e.g. the description of Wilbur's corpse) it actually gets worse as it goes along so that as the end approaches it's painful to read. I hear he was paid by the word, so I guess he needed to pay the phone bill or something.

This is the first story collection of Lovecraft that I have read, I am ashamed to say. While I recognize and know of Cthulhu, I have never read a story by Lovecraft about this mythology (I did read one by Neil Gaiman). This collection contained two, The Call of Cthulhu and The Whisperer in Darkness. They, and the other stories were all very good.
The stories, from the early twentieth-century show their age a bit. This is mostly because other writers later on have used the same tricks so often that I think for a modern writer most surprises can be seen coming from a mile away. The shocking reveal in the last sentence isn't that horrific or shocking anymore. However, because the stories take place in the time in which they were written, show more there are no crazy predictions that turned out to be false (unless you count Pluto being a planet ;)).
A very good collection, and I cannot wait to read more Lovecraft stories. Four out of five stars. show less