The Dunwich Horror by Suspense

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Dunwich Horror by Suspense

Podcast Information

• Title: The Horror! (Old Time Radio)
• Host/Author: RelicRadio.com
• Episode: The Dunwich Horror by Suspense
• Release Date: April 5, 2025

Overview "The Dunwich Horror" episode, presented by RelicRadio.com, delves into H.P. Lovecraft's legendary tale of cosmic horror and supernatural dread. This detailed summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting key discussions, character interactions, and pivotal moments that weave the intricate narrative of Wilbur Whateley and the ominous forces he unleashes upon Dunwich Township.

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1. Introduction to the Horror Realm

The episode opens with Ronald Coleman and Henry Armitage setting a foreboding tone, inviting listeners into a world filled with ghost stories, monsters, and unexplained mysteries.

• Ronald Coleman: “[00:06] Oh, stories, weird stories and murders do.”
• Henry Armitage: “[00:16] Good evening.”

Host's Commentary: Henry Armitage introduces the concept of old-time radio horror, emphasizing the spine-chilling nature of the stories to come. He warns listeners, “If you wish to avoid the excitement tension of these magnet play we urge you our latest theory to turn off your radio” ([00:49]).

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2. Setting the Scene in Dunwich

The narrative transports listeners to Dunwich Township, Massachusetts, where unusual activities at the Whateley farmhouse signal the brewing horror.

Key Characters Introduced:

• Henry Armitage: A prominent figure from Miskatonic University.
• Dr. Warren Rice: Armitage's distinguished colleague.
• Wilbur Whateley: The enigmatic and unnaturally growing son of Lavinia Whateley.

Notable Quotes:

• Henry Armitage: “[01:48] ...nightmares from the depths of hell itself.”
• Narrator: “[01:02] ...our latest theory to turn off your radio.”

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3. The Mysterious Birth of Wilbur Whateley

The story delves into the ominous birth of Wilbur Whateley, hinting at dark rituals and unnatural origins.

Summary: On February 2, 1921, known as Candlemas, Lavinia Whateley gives birth to Wilbur under mysterious circumstances, attended only by her aged and half-insane father, Wizard Whateley. The sinister nature of Wilbur's birth is underscored by his “dark, goatish looking” appearance and the eerie absence of medical assistance ([04:43]).

Notable Quotes:

• Henry Armitage: “[05:29] On top of Sentinel Hill prophecy, or idle boasting by an insane old man.”
• Ronald Coleman: “[05:11] ...no church wedding than La Vinny's.”

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4. Unnatural Growth and Supernatural Influence

Wilbur's rapid and unnatural growth raises suspicions among the villagers, highlighting the influence of dark forces.

Summary: Wilbur's growth is not just uncommon but unnaturally accelerated, attributed to the malignant influences surrounding him. His grandfather, Wizard Whateley, engages in sinister rituals every Halloween, chanting “Yog Sothoth” from the forbidden Necronomicon, indicating a deep connection to otherworldly entities ([07:44]).

Notable Quotes:

• Henry Armitage: “[08:11] ...a colony from another dimension.”
• Lem Brown: “[07:44] ...the Whateley herd.”

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5. The Quest for the Necronomicon

Wilbur's obsession with the Necronomicon becomes a central plot point, as he seeks forbidden knowledge to unleash dark powers.

Summary: Wilbur Whateley approaches Miskatonic University’s library under the pretense of needing the Necronomicon, a book steeped in forbidden knowledge. His intimidating presence and unwavering determination signal his intentions to obtain the formula required to open the gates to Yog Sothoth, a portal to other dimensions ([11:48]).

Notable Quotes:

• Ronald Coleman: “[11:24] I wrote you a letter a month past, Doctor. I wanted a loan of the book.”
• Henry Armitage: “[12:13] I felt a wave of fright, as tangible as a draft from the tomb.”

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6. The Unleashing of the Dunwich Horror

As the story progresses, the Dunwich Horror is inadvertently released, instigating chaos and terror throughout the township.

Summary: Despite Armitage’s efforts to thwart Wilbur’s plans, the ritual inadvertently liberates the Dunwich Horror—an entity neither fully human nor animal. The creature's appearance, described as a grotesque amalgamation of different forms, terrifies both the characters and the listeners. The ensuing chaos includes livestock mutilations and the disintegration of Wilbur, hinting at the Horror's destructive potential ([15:29]).

Notable Quotes:

• Dr. Warren Rice: “[17:35] He's disintegrating, of course.”
• Henry Armitage: “[17:59] ...a kind of force that doesn't belong in our part of space.”

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7. The Climactic Confrontation and Resolution

The final act centers on the confrontation between the protagonists and the unleashed Horror, culminating in a tenuous resolution.

Summary: On Halloween night, under the full moon, Dr. Armitage performs a desperate ritual using powder from the altar stone and an alternative formula from Falconer's Mystical Formulae. Dr. Rice monitors the situation, witnessing the Horror's approach and eventual demise as it becomes visible and dissipates upon the completion of the chant. The episode concludes with a reflection on the events, emphasizing the fragile boundary between the known and the unknown ([26:37]).

Notable Quotes:

• Dr. Warren Rice: “[26:33] It looked here like something made of squirming ropes...”
• Henry Armitage: “[26:34] What did it look like to you?”

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8. Conclusion and Aftermath

The aftermath of the confrontation leaves Dunwich Township in a state of relief, albeit with lingering questions about the true nature of the Horror.

Summary: With the Horror vanquished, at least for the moment, Henry Armitage and Dr. Rice reflect on the harrowing events. The community grapples with the reality of the supernatural forces that once plagued them, underscoring the perpetual struggle between mankind and the ancient, malevolent beings lurking beyond the veil of reality.

Notable Quotes:

• Henry Armitage: “[27:19] That's right. It was Wilbur's twin brother.”
• Dr. Warren Rice: “[27:13] Very large, but yes, quite, quite human.”

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9. Host's Closing Remarks

The episode wraps up with the host directing listeners to more content and encouraging support for RelicRadio.com.

Summary: After the intense narrative, the host briefly mentions additional content available on relicradio.com and invites listeners to support the podcast through donations, promising more thrilling old-time radio episodes in future broadcasts.

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Final Thoughts

"The Dunwich Horror" by Suspense, as presented in this episode of "The Horror! (Old Time Radio)," masterfully captures the essence of Lovecraftian horror. Through rich dialogue, immersive soundscapes, and a gripping storyline, listeners are transported to a world where ancient evils awaken, and the thin line between reality and the supernatural is perilously breached. This summary encapsulates the key elements, providing a comprehensive overview for both avid fans and newcomers alike.

Transcript

[Ronald Coleman]

Oh, stories, weird stories and murders do.

[Henry Armitage]

Turn out your legs.

[Ronald Coleman]

Turn them out.

[Henry Armitage]

Good evening.

[Ronald Coleman]

Come in, won't you?

[Henry Armitage]

Why, what's the matter? Surely you're not nervous. Perhaps you can't. By telling a story we are meant to call from out of the past. Stories strange weird tales of mystery and terror by radio's masters of the macabre. Stories of the supernatural, the supernormal dramatized fantasy, the mystery of the unknown.

[Lem Brown]

We tell you this Franklin.

[Henry Armitage]

So if you wish to avoid the excitement tension of these magnet play we urge you our latest theory to turn off your radio.

[Narrator]

Welcome back to the Horror Old fashioned fear since 2007 new episode every Saturday at relicradio.com our story comes from suspense this week series that debuted over CBS stations in 1942 and aired until 1962 produced over 900 original scripts. Our story today is based on one by H.P. lovecraft. From November 1, 1945, here's the Dunwich Horror.

[Henry Armitage]

Mr. Ronald Coleman, a star of the Dunwich Horror, a suspense play produced, edited and directed by William Spears. Come in, Dunnage, Massachusetts. Come in, Dunwich. Good evening, this is Henry Armitage. I'm Speaking to you, Dr. Rice. Please close the window. I'm speaking to you from my laboratory on the slopes of Sentinel hill near Dunwich, Massachusetts. Present with me is Dr. Warren Rice, my distinguished colleague from Miskatonic University. We are now about a hundred yards from the summit of the hill which is crowned by a huge table like stone set in the center of a circle of stone pillars. A place of prehistoric worship. A moment ago you may have heard the dogs of Tonnage township barking as we have heard them for three days and three nights. Dr. Rice and I know the horror which they're barking portends. But the purpose of this broadcast is to make this unbelievable horror believable to you. I hope for your sakes and ours, we are successful tonight. It is the eve of All Hallows. Tomorrow will be too late. Our time tonight is very short. So. So I'll speak only of those more recent events which, believe me, may culminate at any moment in a climax too frightful to wholly contemplate. I will begin with the birth of Wilbur Whateley. It was the night of February 2, 1921, Candlemas, toward dawn, when Lavinia Whateley, a deformed Albino woman about 35 years old, gave birth to her dark, goatish looking son in the crumbling Whateley farmhouse northeast of the village. No one attended her, no doctor or midwife. No one was with her except her aged half Insane father who was known as Wizard Weightless. So Wilbur came into this world under heaven knows what incantations, what appeal to what power. A week later, Wizard Whateley drove his sleigh into Dunwich Village and reported the event to a group of loungers in Osborne's general store. Hey, your grandson got yellow hair like Lavini, Wizard.

[Ronald Coleman]

No pigs after his father. More. You never spoke of who his father.

[Henry Armitage]

Might be, now did you?

[Ronald Coleman]

Oh, you know his father. When the time comes, Levin is read and seen some things the most of you only talk about. Calculate her husband's as good as you can find. This side of Aylesbury.

[Henry Armitage]

We don't be nosy, Wizard.

[Ronald Coleman]

Maybe it warn't in no church that none of you heerd of. But you wouldn't ask no better church wedding than La Vinny's.

[Henry Armitage]

Why didn't he tell no wedding Wizard.

[Ronald Coleman]

When was that not a wedding you'd hear of Cory. Not a husband you'd hear of neither.

[Henry Armitage]

But let me tell you something.

[Ronald Coleman]

Someday you folks will hear a child of La Vinny's calling its father's name.

[Henry Armitage]

On top of Sentinel Hill prophecy, or idle boasting by an insane old man. I know I ask a great deal when I ask you to believe that the arrival of an infant into that house of dire poverty and squalor could possibly constitute a horror and a threat to all our known world. Yet it has an earthly history. Perhaps through this history you will be able to give it credence. Wilbur Whateley's growth was uncanny. But even if he had been an average child, he would have become, in time, an unnatural being. For he was surrounded from the first by the most malign influences. There was his grandfather, Old Whateley, Wizard Whateley, who each Halloween climbed Sentinel Hill to the great circle of stone, and while the hills shook, stood holding a great book open on his arms and shrieked into the wind, shrieked Yog Sotho, that dreadful name first mentioned in the hideous forbidden book the Necronomicon. And this Wizard Whateley was Wilbur's teacher. The villagers began to notice curious things that were going on at the Whateley farmhouse. Soon after Wilbur was born, Old Whateley began to remodel the house. The abandoned upper story was restored and all the windows were tightly boarded up. And then wizard began to buy cattle in large numbers, both horses and cows. Yet the livestock on the farm didn't seem to increase. Young Lim Brown was one day curious enough to creep close to the house to count the Wheatley herd.

[Lem Brown]

Dr. Armitage there wa'n't worn 12 cows and them sick. Look like they had the blight and funny wounds on them, like cuts.

[Henry Armitage]

I heard something too. In the top part of Wizard's house.

[Lem Brown]

Something like water slapping inside, only big. Big like a se.

[Henry Armitage]

One other person went to the Whateley farm in the years before I met Wilbur. Dr. Ken Houghton of Aylesbury, who was called by Wilbur himself, who said that his grandfather was dying. Dr. Houghton found the old man in a bedroom on the ground floor and Wilbur with him. While outside the window a legion of whippoorwill cried loudly and rhythmically, endlessly. Wilbur spoke about the sound.

[Ronald Coleman]

Listen. They whistle in time with his breathing. Now they're ready. Listen, Doctor. They know his soul's going out. They're waiting.

[Henry Armitage]

Yes, Wilbur. That's an interesting superstition. Late in the year for them too.

[Ronald Coleman]

When he goes. If they catch him, they'll keep laughing till break of day. If they don't catch him, they'll quiet down.

[Henry Armitage]

You mean you believe in. Just a minute. I think he's conscious.

[Ronald Coleman]

Yes. The birds changed when his breathing changed. Like I say. Willy. Willie. I'm here. More space, Willie. Remember? More space. Soon. Yes, I'll build it. You grows, but that grows faster. It'll be ready to serve you soon, Willy. I know. But remember, when it's time, you open up the gates to Yog Sothoth with a long chant, the one on page seven and 51 of the book. But mind you feed it enough. Cause if it gets out before you opens to Yog Sothoth, it's all over. It's no. You.

[Henry Armitage]

He's going now.

[Ronald Coleman]

He's dead.

[Henry Armitage]

Will bless.

[Ronald Coleman]

The birds. They didn't catch him. Yes, he's free. He's gone.

[Henry Armitage]

It was the winter following Wizard Whateley's death that I first met Wilbur. He came in person to the library at Miskatonic University to consult a copy of the hideous Necronomicon, which was kept there in its Latin version, as printed in Spain in the 17th century. I tell you, when he came into my office, I was a appalled at his appearance. Eight feet tall, shabby, dirty, bearded. But I was even more appalled by his voice when he spoke to me.

[Ronald Coleman]

I wrote you a letter a month past, Doctor. I wanted a loan of the book.

[Henry Armitage]

Well, that's a book that's never loaned from this library. I doubt if it is from any library.

[Ronald Coleman]

Well, I have to see it then.

[Henry Armitage]

Very well. It skipped right here. As you know, there are only three copies of this book in existence. That's why we're Careful. Here. You can look at it on this table.

[Ronald Coleman]

Wizard said it would be on page 751. What?

[Henry Armitage]

What is it you're looking for?

[Ronald Coleman]

The formula. The long chant. The one that opens the gate to Yog Sothoth.

[Henry Armitage]

I felt a wave of fright, as tangible as a draft from the tomb. He seemed humble, like. Like the spawn of another dimension, like something only partly of mankind, linked to black gulfs beyond all spheres of force and matter, space and time. Presently, he raised his head and spoke again.

[Ronald Coleman]

It's here, all right, but I'll have to have a copy.

[Henry Armitage]

That paragraph there. I don't know. Yes, suddenly.

[Ronald Coleman]

Then read it, Doctor. Let's hear how you make it out.

[Henry Armitage]

All right. That shouldn't be difficult. Let's see. Nor is it to be thought that man is the oldest or the last of Earth's masters. The Old Ones were. And the Old Ones shall be not in the. The. The spaces that we know, but. But between them. But only Yog Sothos knows the gates. Yog Soth is the gate to. To. To where the Old Ones broke through of old. Their hands are at your throat, yet ye see them not Dr. Armitage.

[Ronald Coleman]

You see, I reckon I've got to take that book home. There's things in it I've got to try, and you can't hold me up.

[Henry Armitage]

No, I'm sorry.

[Ronald Coleman]

I tell you, Doctor, I'll have the book sooner or later, no matter what. You see it that's waiting for me at home? Well, wait much longer.

[Henry Armitage]

It was a week later that I was awakened suddenly by the fierce yelping of the great watchguard on the campus, followed by a sound from a wholly different throat. A scream. And I knew instantly that Wilbur had come. Come back for the Necronomicon. I hastened into my clothes and rushed across to the library, where a crowd had gathered before the smashed window of my office. Inside, there was a fearful groaning and growling, and some instinct warned me that what was taking place there was not for unfortified eyes to see. I brushed back the crowd, motioning only to Professor Rice to come in with me. When we open the study door, professor rice screams.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

No, Dr. Armitage. No way.

[Ronald Coleman]

Come up.

[Henry Armitage]

Come. Close the door. We can't let them see he's alive. But, Lord, what a job that dog's done. Torn him to bit. The horrible sound that morning. You suppose we ought to call a doctor?

[Dr. Warren Rice]

A doctor? A doctor for that? No doctor in the world would know what to do for that. Look, Armitage, it's not human. Nor animal. Where did it come from? Can you tell me. Can you tell me what it is?

[Henry Armitage]

No, I couldn't tell what Wilbur Whately was a thing that lay half bent on its side in a pool of greenish yellow. Yellow stickiness was 9ft tall. The dogs had torn off all the clothing and some of the skins. It was partly human beyond a doubt, with very manlike hands and head. But. But the torso and lower parts of the body were fabulous. The chest had the leathery hide of a crocodile or alligator. Below the waistline the skin was covered with coarse black fur. And from the abdomen long greenish gray tentacles. The limbs terminated in ridgy veined pads that were neither hooves nor claws. And as Dr. Rice and I stood staring at this. This presence, the. The whippoorwills began to cry in unison outside the study window. And then the thing on the floor roused and mumbled. The wood war will listen. Dead now. Look. Look. Look. What's happening?

[Dr. Warren Rice]

He's. He's disintegrating, of course.

[Henry Armitage]

Fast too. Fading away. But he isn't made of matter as we know it on earth. I guess he took after his father. So there'll be nothing left.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

His father? What was his father?

[Henry Armitage]

I daren't think. I thought then that what came into our world with Wilbur Whateley left with him. I forgot what he himself had told me of it, which was waiting in the field house Wizard Whatley had built where the cattle were driven to disappear. But Wilbur Whately left a diary written in a strange Alphabet resembling Sanskrit. It and I worked off and on for weeks to decipher it. And finally I read the following passage written by Wilbur when he was no more than 8 years old.

[Ronald Coleman]

That upstairs is more ahead of me than I had thought it would be and is not like to have much earth brain. I can see it a little when I make the sign or blow the powder of even gaze at it. And it is like them. I see Halloween on the hill. I wonder how I shall look when the earth is cleared and there are no earth beings. Maybe like that upstairs looks which has no body. Even fed with all the blood.

[Henry Armitage]

Toward morning in a cold sweater terror I called Dr. Rice to my house and told him we have to destroy what's in that farmhouse.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Why can't we just leave the thing locked up there? The house is boarded tight.

[Henry Armitage]

Yes, but you think boards will hold it. Don't you realize, man? It hasn't been fed. It hasn't had blood since the 18th of September when Wilbur Whately came here to die. We left for Dunwich that night. And we've been here on Sentinel Hill ever since, working desperately to discover the formula in time. But a week ago tonight, shortly after dawn. Yeah. Hello, Dr. Armitage?

[Lem Brown]

This is Len Brown. I. I was just up beyond the glen, Doctor, looking for cows I lost last night.

[Henry Armitage]

Yes, Lem.

[Lem Brown]

Well, Doctor, something's been there. Smells like thunder. And there's prints in the rut. Great round prints. Biggest barrel heads. Like a elephant has been along.

[Henry Armitage]

Any. Anything else, Lem?

[Lem Brown]

That's all I see except bushes and trees push back from the road like. Like a house was drug along.

[Henry Armitage]

Did you hear anything?

[Lem Brown]

Yes. Long toward morning.

[Henry Armitage]

Long.

[Lem Brown]

I heard a sound over toward Whateley's place. A kind of ripping or tearing of wood. Like a big box was being opened up. Kenzie, he heard it too.

[Henry Armitage]

Lem, who. Who lives nearest the Whateley farm?

[Lem Brown]

Why, that'd be Elmer Fry's place.

[Henry Armitage]

Oh, he's on this line too, isn't he? Hang on and I'll ring him.

[Lem Brown]

Yes? Dr. Armitage, this is Central.

[Henry Armitage]

I'm trying to get Elmer Fry. Central, Doctor.

[Lem Brown]

He must be out somewheres and his whole family. I was ringing there an hour ago. Earl Sawyer saw Elmer's cow stampedin in Cold Spring Glen.

[Henry Armitage]

You didn't get him? All right, but if you hear or see anything more, let me know. I'll be here working all day. Rice. Rice, wake up. It's loose. It's out of the house. One family gone already. We have to work. Pray God we find that formula in time. A week since it broke loose. A week of terror and panic here and dark Dunwich Township. Each night it moves about the countryside, leaving the trees crushed in a 30 foot swathe as though by a moving mountain, leaving its monstrous tracks and a trail of tarry stickiness, leaving crushed and gutted farmhouses and whole herds of cattle drained of blood. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is the story to this moment. And tonight is Halloween. Tonight we are here to. Just one moment, please. Dr. Rice, did you hear something?

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Oh, with the window closed?

[Henry Armitage]

No. Well, we'll throw it open. I thought so. Listen. Sound from a thousand bending trees. Sound like the sea moving across a forest. Yes. Yes, it's coming here. Of course. All hallows, it comes to Sentinel Hill. Dr. Rice, I'll try the formula and the powder from the altar stone. I want you to stay here at the microphone and report what you see.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Very well, Dr. Armitage.

[Henry Armitage]

Oh, wait a minute. Before I go to any scientists who may be listening to me if I fail, there is a possible Alternative formula in Falconer's Mystical Formulae of the Middle ages on page 24. Listen, there are the whippoorwills. I better get out there. Take over, Dr. Wright.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Yes, I'll do as well as I can. Armitage.

[Henry Armitage]

Good luck.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Armitage is climbing to the top of the hill to the altar stone. I can see him plainly, for the moon is high and the night clear down the hill toward the dark village. I can see the grasses and shrubbery bending down, marking the monster's ascent. It moves quite fast and I feel a proximity to phases of being utterly forbidden. Now, Dr. Armitage stands now on the altar stone and is holding the powder which, if the books are correct, will make this thing for an instant visible. It is quite close to him now, perhaps 20 yards or less. He lifts his hands, he flings the powder in a wide arc. They can see.

[Henry Armitage]

Oh, no, no. Dr. Rice. Come in, Dunwich. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your suspense announcer. Due to condition. Oh, just a moment please. One moment, please. Dr. Rice, can you hear me?

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Yes, I can hear you. Yes. For a moment I was overcome when I saw. Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps you can hear now the incantation of Dr. Armitage.

[Ronald Coleman]

Listen.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

The whippoor wills mean death. And Dr. Armitage is walking back here now. So we know that whatever it was, it is gone. It is dead. We can be thankful indeed. You see, I saw. Dr. Armitage.

[Henry Armitage]

Yes.

[Ronald Coleman]

Did you.

[Henry Armitage]

Did you see it, Dr. Wright?

[Dr. Warren Rice]

I saw it.

[Henry Armitage]

Large.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Yes.

[Henry Armitage]

What did it. What did it look like to you?

[Dr. Warren Rice]

It looked here like something made of squirming ropes, but bigger than a barn and shaped well like an egg. And dozens of legs like barrels that half closed when it stepped. And nothing solid about it. And at least 15 or 20 mouths or trunks opening and closing. But what was it?

[Henry Armitage]

Oh, a kind of. Kind of force. A kind of force that doesn't belong in our part of space. Did you. Did you notice the half face on top?

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Half face like a human face?

[Henry Armitage]

Very large, but yes, quite, quite human. And quite like Wilbur's. Like all the weightless.

[Dr. Warren Rice]

Then it was. It was.

[Henry Armitage]

That's right. It was Wilbur's twin brother. And you saw what three weeks growth had done. And it was the child of Lavinia's who called its father's name on Sentinel Hill as Wizard Whately prophesied. You heard it calling Yog Sotho. Ladies and gentlemen, this night is over. It is all saints day. May heaven bless us all. The dunnage horror with Ronald Coleman as your star of Suspense. This is the Armed Forces Radio Service.

[Narrator]

There's more from Suspense, the Horror and all of the Relic Radio podcasts at the website relicradio.com our shoutcast stream is there with even more old time radio lots to listen to. Thanks to your support. If you'd like to help out, visit donate. Relicradio.com or click on one of the links on the website. We've got some downloadable sets for certain donation amounts, though any amount is always helpful and appreciated. My thanks as always to those who have helped out. Thanks for joining me this week, be back tomorrow with Strange Tales and next Saturday with our next episode of the Horror.