Lovecraftian Holiday: Dunwich Horror Day!

[DoktorH]

it's the Dunwich Horror's birthday, which gives the Bill Murray comedy "Groundhog Day" some eldritch overtones.

[njhorror]

I'm a fan of The Dunwich Horror and all things Dunwich.

[Burblebup]

Quote Originally Posted by njhorror

I'm a fan of The Dunwich Horror and all things Dunwich.

I live 10 minutes or so away from the 'real' Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. Actually, in many ways it's a very Lovecraftian place! Old ruins, a town that toppled into the sea (you can supposedly hear the Church bell ringing at low tide), graves falling over the cliff edge (you used to be able to find bits of bone on the beach), flat marshland with tales of gigantic dogs roaming around the place... And the people that live there seem to have abnormally large eyes and foreheads, with skin that has the texture of scales...

[Nemonymous]

Quote Originally Posted by Burblebup

I live 10 minutes or so away from the 'real' Dunwich on the Suffolk coast.

I love Dunwich, Suffolk.

This is a short piece I wrote on the beach there in 1989: The Mentioning (published in 'Aklo' in 1991)

[If I recall correctly, Mark Valentine was the editor of AKLO]

[Derek]

Thanks for posting the link Des - a powerful evocation of the mysterious and minimalist atmosphere of the Suffolk coastline.

I went to see the Wenhaston Doom painting last year (not far from Dunwich), and it set me off onto some suitably Lovecraftian musings (as per 'Pickman's Model') that perhaps it wasn't just a work of the imagination after all.

Just to be different, for some strange reason, I love the bleak coastal views around Thorpeness and Sizewell B nuclear power station (which might have something to do with those exopthalmic locals).

[Burblebup]

Quote Originally Posted by Nemonymous

Quote Originally Posted by Burblebup I live 10 minutes or so away from the 'real' Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. I love Dunwich, Suffolk. This is a short piece I wrote on the beach there in 1989: The Mentioning (published in 'Aklo' in 1991) [If I recall correctly, Mark Valentine was the editor of AKLO]

Thanks for the link! You've really captured this stretch of the Suffolk coast well! If you haven't walked along the cliffs recently, you would probably be surprised to see just how much has fallen into the sea. You used to be able to walk all the way along, but now the path is largely gone/fenced off.

[Burblebup]

Quote Originally Posted by Derek John

Thanks for posting the link Des - a powerful evocation of the mysterious and minimalist atmosphere of the Suffolk coastline. I went to see the Wenhaston Doom painting last year (not far from Dunwich), and it set me off onto some suitably Lovecraftian musings (as per 'Pickman's Model') that perhaps it wasn't just a work of the imagination after all. Just to be different, for some strange reason, I love the bleak coastal views around Thorpeness and Sizewell B nuclear power station (which might have something to do with those exopthalmic locals).

Ah, Sizewell B! I remember we had to give presentations at school about the wonders of nuclear power to a bunch of executives from there (I think it was just after they had built B and they were on a public relations drive), which they then judged and awarded prizes to the best ones. Anyway, while other people were pretty serious, me and a classmate did our presentation on how nuclear power creates mutant creatures, utilising a range of cutouts of deformed insects, fish and ninja turtles. To cut a long story short, we didn’t get a prize, just some evil looks (from both executives and teachers).
Anyway, there is indeed something very much ‘Lovecraftian’ about Sizewell (Devil’s Reef), with the nearby town of Leiston (where I went to school) functioning as a kind of Innsmouth (and is also kind of ‘Ligottian’ in nature, too). Anyone who has had the fortune of spending time there would understand!

[Nemonymous]

Quote Originally Posted by Burblebup

Anyone who has had the fortune of spending time there would understand!

Indeed.
I've also been to the Minsmere Bird Sanctuary.

[Odalisque]

I have strong, and affectionate, memories of Dunwich, Suffolk. My family had three holidays in a caravan near the Minsmere coastguard cottages (in 1957, 58 and 59). The cottages and caravan were owned by a Mr Barker.

We walked into Dunwich very often during these holidays, and less often to Sizewell (which was in the opposite direction, and significantly further). All of my recollections of Sizewell are from before they built an atomic power station there.

At least once, we visited the Dunwich museum, located in a hut. The most striking exhibits were photographs showing the place falling into the sea. Some of these pictures showed recognisably the same church growing smaller. I think that, by the late 1950s, the building had gone entirely.

[Odalisque]

Quote Originally Posted by Nemonymous

If I recall correctly, Mark Valentine was the editor of AKLO

You recall correctly, Des. I also contributed to "Aklo", and was on very friendly terms with Mark Valentine -- but subsequently lost touch with him entirely.