The Dunwich Horror

By H. P. Lovecraft

Wilbur Whateley has lived in the run-down town of Dunwich for his entire miserable life. Born to a deformed outcast mother and an unknown father, Wilbur, along with the rest of his strange and dark family, is shunned by the Dunwich residents. When Wilbur attempts to gain access to the Necronomicon in Miskatonic University’s library, Dr. Henry Armitage suspects he desires the powerful book of the dark arts for reasons that are not purely academic. But, Wilbur’s fascination with the Necronomicon are only the beginning of the horror that the Whateley family has in store for Dunwich.

“The Dunwich Horror” expands on the mythos surrounding the Great Old One Yog-Sothoth, first introduced in H.P. Lovecraft’s story “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.” “The Dunwich Horror” was considered one of Lovecraft’s most disturbing tales and has been adapted many times for film and audio.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Sep 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781443427036

H. P. Lovecraft

Renowned as one of the great horror-writers of all time, H.P. Lovecraft was born in 1890 and lived most of his life in Providence, Rhode Island. Among his many classic horror stories, many of which were published in book form only after his death in 1937, are ‘At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels of Terror’ (1964), ‘Dagon and Other Macabre Tales’ (1965), and ‘The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions’ (1970).

Reviews for The Dunwich Horror

[jonfaith · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Misanthropic and bereft of philosophy, it begins as farce and concludes in a homicidal froth. Pity.

[danielstj · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A disappointing read. H.G Wells has much better tales. I would not recommend wasting your time on this one.

[virago77 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Invisible Man was a jerk who was mean to people and tortured a cat. This pissed me off and has left my mentally incapable of leaving a more detailed review. I expected better.

[the_hibernator · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In H. G. Wells' classic novel, a scientist turns himself invisible and wreaks havoc in rural England. This book is a versatile classic because it could be read by someone who is young or who simply wants to read fluff, but it can also be appreciated by more careful readers who are looking for undercurrents of meaning. It's a tragi-farcical romp in 19th century England, but it's also a warning about what people might do simply because they can get away with it. This is a classic that anyone interested in science fiction should read.

[tommi180744 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An inventive & exciting story by one of the foremost Science Fiction authors of his era, whose literary fame encompasses Histories & Philosophy. Created from the serialized tale published in 1897 in a UK magazine, Pearson's Weekly, The Invisible Man as the title suggests has a main character Griffin who becomes invisible. Wells examines the good aspects & pitfalls of such a transformation with the emphasis on the downside as Griffin becomes increasingly erratic - no spoiler here - read it for the dramatic events and conclusion.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Het gegeven is natuurlijk fascinerend, maar de uitwerking valt tegen: traag en gebroken ritme. Lectuur opgegeven na 120 blz

[msaucier818 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

*Spoilerish type reivew* This was a decent book by Wells, but my least favorite of the books I have read by him. This one obviously is a short novel about a man who is invisible. I thought the idea had a great deal of potential, but I never felt like the story ever took off for me. The Invisible Man is simply grumpy and perhaps a lunatic and the story turns into more of a chase down the bad guy plot. Not a bad read, but certainly not one to remember.

[joe73-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great read. Man.........this guy is a jerk. But I guess karma comes full circle.

[booklove2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Surprisingly more action than I thought the novel would have (after reading the disappointing Jekyll & Hyde last year, anyway). The Invisible Man seems to be a bad dude. Definitely not a misunderstood villain, just because he is invisible, which is what I was expecting. This invisible man could have written the book on terrorism. I thought the plot kept its pace and was the perfect length. The writing itself wasn't as great as I wished though.

[maxernst11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Het gegeven is natuurlijk fascinerend, maar de uitwerking valt tegen: traag en gebroken ritme. Lectuur opgegeven na 120 blz

[ed0jones · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A classic that probably should be read. Story of a man with awesome power who is corrupted quickly and completely.

[robert.zimmermann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My first Wells book, and I must read more of his now. Much better than I had even guessed it would be.

[sjpluvsms · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book! by my favorite auther, Hubert George Wells (who has sadly been dead for a very long time)for sci-fi fans, you'll love this!

[lara335 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is such a famous novel that I was expecting a far better read. The opening chapter, as a muffled mysterious stranger comes to an inn, asking for a room and to not be disturbed is full of promise. But the rest of the story was tedious, as the invisible man loses his temper, and seems only to want to revenge himself on others. What is fascinating is the title which captures the imagination. But Wells strangely concentrates on the downside of invisibility - having to be naked in cold weather, being unable to eat invisibly, having others bump into you, without having some fun plus side moments.So, a great idea, and I'm sure this is why the novel is 'a classic' - but none of the characters were particularly interesting, the invisible man himself plain peculiar, and what he gets up to bizarre and slow-moving.

[dasam-5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Still a great read.

[ldvoorberg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent! A classic thriller.

[carolynsuarez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

great fast read. didn't see it coming until the teddy bear.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Excellent story with lots of suspense and a slowly building plot. Could be a bit of a dry read at times, but overall very good.

[kraysaulis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book has all of the characteristics of good science fiction: science is simultaneously man's great power and his outdoing.

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent story. Truly liked the imaginative thought processes of the supposition of invisibility. Highly recommend the book.

[yougotamber · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I would probably give this book a 3.5 but since that isn't possible, I rounded up. I enjoyed this book and thought it to have many thought invoking ideas. The creativity and thought put into what it would be like to become invisible is great and it really made me think. I may have given this a higher rating if I had read it back in the day when it came out. Knowing the story over the years without having read the book has ruined it a little for me. As always though I love H.G. Wells writing and amazing originality for his time.

[infjsarah · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was OK. But it felt insubstantial. How did he get to this point and why was he so power mad?

[squeakychu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's not easy being invisible! Griffin, a minor scientist in England, discovers how to make things invisible. His experiments with living things only left the back of a white cat's eyes, but he was able to make himself totally invisible. That's when his troubles began. How does an invisible man eat (especially if partially digested food is still visible), clothe himself (especially if "walking clothing" scare others, or get and carry money without creating "floating money" (especially before the days of "virtual money"? In addition, how does an invisible man refrain from performing acts of mischief that are so enticing?This classic novel answers the above questions and provides for an interesting play-by-play of this scientist's adventures, including his ability to find someone (Mr. Marvel, the tramp) who scams him and, by chance, to discover someone who could help him (Dr. Kent). Both funny and sad, this story is well written, almost believable, very imaginative, and a most enjoyable read.

[oswinssouffle · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

In all honestly, I would have expected an Scientist to be capable of performing this thing called "critical thinking" but reading this book, I know I expected to much.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Invisible Man was a fun read. Clever, with a slightly sci-fi bend, but also some complex character development. The character of the invisible man is so evil and unfeeling, that you end up rooting for everyone who wants to destory him.

[melydia_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The set-up to this story is somewhat unusual, as it begins with a stranger wrapped in bandages arriving at an inn on a snowy night. Everyone assumes he's horribly disfigured, and the text goes on a bit as if that is indeed the case, but given the title we the reader are well aware that he is in fact invisible. That said, I did very much enjoy this story. It's more of a horror story than I expected, with the titular character unquestionably playing the part of the villain (as opposed to a mostly well-meaning scientist cursed by his own hubris, as with Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll). The pitfalls of invisibility (such as being able to see through one's own eyelids, for example) added a certain spark to the narrative, and parts were surprisingly suspenseful. The Invisible Man's motivations were sort of vague and unsatisfying, but in general I recommend this book.

[rrainer-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've actually never read this before, and was surprised both by how detailed the science of the transformation was (though I probably shouldn't have been, because this era was big on the science in science fiction) and how unsympathetic the protagonist was. Enjoyed very much!

[rbeffa_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When this story began I was rather sympathetic to the Invisible Man, and enjoyed the story which was written in 1897. Stories this old are apt to improve one's vocabulary and bring back expressions probably heard from my grandparents. The tale took an unexpected twist for me, and my sympathy for a scientist who perhaps didn't realize the consequences of his actions was dashed. Instead we find we have a story of a sociopath, a man who seems to have been mad at the world from his college years. We can distill this down to "mad scientist" I believe.

[markberonte · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

From the twentieth century's first great practitioner of the novel of ideas comes a consummate masterpiece of science fiction about a man trapped in the terror of his own creation.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

About noon he suddenly opened his parlour door and stood glaring fixedly at the three or four people in the bar. "Mrs. Hall," he said. Somebody went sheepishly and called for Mrs. Hall.Mrs. Hall appeared after an interval, a little short of breath, but all the fiercer for that. Hall was still out. She had deliberated over this scene, and she came holding a little tray with an unsettled bill upon it. "Is it your bill you're wanting, sir?" she said."Why wasn't my breakfast laid? Why haven't you prepared my meals and answered my bell? Do you think I live without eating?""Why isn't my bill paid?" said Mrs. Hall. "That's what I want to know.""I told you three days ago I was awaiting a remittance -- ""I told you two days ago I wasn't going to await no remittances. You can't grumble if your breakfast waits a bit, if my bill's been waiting these five days, can you?"The stranger swore briefly but vividly."Nar, nar!" from the bar."And I'd thank you kindly, sir, if you'd keep your swearing to yourself, sir," said Mrs. Hall.The stranger stood looking more like an angry diving-helmet than ever. It was universally felt in the bar that Mrs. Hall had the better of him. His next words showed as much."Look here, my good woman -- " he began."Don't 'good woman' me," said Mrs. Hall."I've told you my remittance hasn't come -- ""Remittance indeed!" said Mrs. Hall.Still, I daresay in my pocket -- ""You told me two days ago that you hadn't anything but a sovereign's worth of silver upon you.""Well, I've found some more -- ""Ul-lo!" from the bar."I wonder where you found it," said Mrs. Hall.That seemed to annoy the stranger very much. He stamped his foot. "What do you mean?" he said.The reader realises one of the disadvantages of invisibility well before Griffin spells it out, as he keeps sniffing, coughing and sneezing due to catching cold from going about naked in winter. Although Griffin thought that invisibility would make him invincible and invulnerable, it turns out to be more of a curse, but he is such a nasty piece of work that I felt no sympathy for him at all.I really like the structure of the story, which begins when Griffin is already invisible, and gradually fills in the backstory as the book progresses.