The Dunwich Horror and Other Stories by H.P. Lovecraft

( EXP: The Dunwich Horror and Others) (New Salem, like Dunwich, was founded by settlers from Salem-though in 1737, not 1692. (EXP: The Dunwich Horror and Others) The Bear's Den mentioned in the story resembles an actual cave of the same name visited by Lovecraft in North New Salem, southwest of Athol. Īthol's Sentinel Elm Farm seems to be the source for the name Sentinel Hill.

Burleson points out that several names included in the story-including Bishop, Frye, Sawyer, Rice and Morgan-are either prominent Athol names or have a connection to the town's history. It has been suggested that the name 'Dunwich' was inspired by the town of Greenwich, which was deliberately flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir, although Greenwich and the nearby towns of Dana, Enfield and Prescott actually weren't submerged until 1938. Researchers have pointed out the story's apparent connections to another Massachusetts region: the area around Athol and points south, in the north-central part of the state (which is where Lovecraft indicates that Dunwich is located). The physical model for Dunwich's Sentinel Hill is thought to be Wilbraham Mountain near Wilbraham. ~ HPL , letter from Lovecraft to Zealia Bishop, EXP: Robert M. When the road dips again there are stretches of marshland that one instinctively dislikes, and indeed almost fears at evening when unseen whippoorwills chatter and the fireflies come out in abnormal profusion to dance to the raucous, creepily insistent rhythms of stridently piping bullfrogs. It is noted that 'much of the physical description of the Dunwich countryside is a faithful sketch of Wilbraham:' ( EXP: The Dunwich Horror and Others)ĭunwich is 'a vague echo of the decadent Massachusetts countryside around Springfield - say Wilbraham, Monson and Hampden.' ( HPL: Selected Letters 3.508) One such legend is the notion that whippoorwills can capture the departing soul. ( HPL: letter to August Derleth, August 4, 1928, EXP: The Dunwich Horror and Others)

The action 'takes place amongst the wild domed hills of the upper Miskatonic Valley, far northwest of Arkham, and is based on several old New England legends - one of which I heard only last month during my sojourn in Wilbraham,' a town east of Springfield.

The Dunwich Horror and Other Stories by H.P. Lovecraft