The Dunwich Horror

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I have always been extremely invested in the genre of horror novels, specifically what would now be considered the classics, such as Stephenson’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Shelley’s “The Modern Prometheus” and Stoker’s “Dracula.” All being innovations in literature at the time, the untainted horror that they brought their reader is something that many of their predecessors have tried to recreate. Howard Phillip Lovecraft, commonly known as H.P. Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1890. Just as the other authors before him, he created a new genre of horror to infest the minds of his audience and is often called the “Father of Cosmic Horror.” Cosmic horror is a genre that explores an idea of extraterrestrial beings with abilities beyond or comprehension interacting with human life. Lovecraft’s most well-known character is Cthulhu, an “Old One” that torments those lost in sea storms. Despite some obvious racist but common ideas that can be found in his writing, his stories have always been personal favorites of mine. This orchestral adaptation follows the story of the Whately family, and specifically Wilbur Whately. Horribly malformed at birth, Wilbur and his family were seen as misfits. As in the story, Wilbur and his family keep an invisible entity in their barn, tending to its needs as it grows rapidly. The town of Dunwich begins to notice something odd, as Old Whately seems to be constantly purchasing more cattle, but his herd never seems to grow in size. People soon notice this trend of cattle going missing, and seemingly all of Wilbur’s family dies or disappears. Wilbur travels to Miskatonic University in search of a copy of the Necronomicon to help him summon the Old Ones but is killed when he tries to steal this copy. With Wilbur dead and the rest of his family missing, there is no one to keep the creature fed, and early one morning, the creature explodes from the barn, wreaking havoc on the town of Dunwich. This piece is split into three movements; the first entitled “Missing Cattle," this movement is meant to be an introduction and to set the landscape of the story, while introducing motifs in the woodwinds and Xylophone that will recur throughout the piece. The constant beat of the bass drum in this movement serves as the beating heart of The Dunwich Horror. The second movement entitled “Rampage” occurs when the creature becomes too hungry and creates chaos in the town of Dunwich. Sharp and jarring, the multiple time signature changes that occur in this movement serve to create and unease and replicate the abnormal movement of the abomination. The final Movement, entitled “Aftermath” takes the thematic devices seen in the previous two movements to create a more somber atmosphere, and is intended to give an idea towards what a destruction to this magnitude could do to a tight knit community.