wilburmas

''it was in the township of dunwich, in a large and partly inhabited farm house set against a hillside four miles from the village and a mile and a half from any other dwelling, that wilbur whately was born at 5am on sunday, the second of febuary, 1913. this date was recalled because it was candlemas, which people in dunwich curiously observe under another name; and because the noises in the hills had sounded, and all the dogs of the country side had barked persistently, throughout the night before. ...

''there was a hideous screaming which echoed above even the hill noises and the dogs' barking on the night wilbur was born, but no known doctor or midwife presided at his coming. neighbors knew nothing of him till a week afterward, when old whateley drove his sleigh through the snow into dunwich village and discoursed incoherantly to the group of loungers at osborn's general store. ... "i dun't keer what folks think--ef lavinny's boy looked like his pa, he wouldn't look like nuthin' ye expeck. ye needn't think the only folks is the folks here abouts ... let me tell ye suthin'--some day yew folks'll hear a child o' lavinny's a-callin its faher's name on the top o' sentinel hill!"

''the only persons who saw wilbur during the first month of his life were old zechariah whately, of the undecayed whateleys' and earl sawyers common-law wife, mammie bishop. mammie's visit was frankly one of curiosity, and her subsequent tales did justice to her observations; ... public interest in the whateleys subsided after most of the country folk had seen the baby, and no one bothered to comment on the swift development which the newcomer seemed everyday to exhibit ... his motiions and even his vocal sounds showed a restraint and deliberateness highly peculiar in an infant, and no one was really unprepared when, at seven months he began to walk unassisted, whith falterings which another month was sufficient to remove...

''the next january gossips were mildly interested in the fact that "lavviny's black brat" had commenced to talk, and at the age of only eleven months ... his facial aspect, too, was remarkable for its maturity; for though he shared his mother's and grandfather's chinlessness, his firm and precociously shaped nose united with the expression of his large, dark, almost latin eyes to give him an air of quasi-adulthood and well nigh preternatural intelligence. he was, however, excedingly ugly despite his appearance of brilliancy, ... he was soon disliked even more decidedly than his mother and grandsire, ... dogs abhorred the boy, and he was always obliged to take various defensive measures against their barking menace ...

''when wilbur was a year and seven months old--in september of 1914--his size and accomplishments were almost alarming. he had grown as large as a child of four, and was a fluent and incredibly intelligent talker ... at home he would pore diligently over the queer pictures and charts in his grandfather's books, while old whateley would instruct and catachise him through long, hushed afternoons ... wilbur was growing up uncannily, so that he looked like a boy of ten as he entered his fourth year. he read avidly by himself now; but talked much less than formerly ... the aversion displayed toward him by dogs had now become a matter of wide remark, and he was obliged to carry a pistol in order to traverse the countryside in safety. his occasional use of the weapon did not enhance his popularity amongst the owners of canine guardians ...

''it had for some time been noticed that dogs had begun to hate and fear the whole whately place as violently as they hated and feared young wilbur personally ... about 1923, when wilbur was a boy of ten whose mind, voice, stature, and bearded face gave all the impressions of maturity, ... wilbur was by this time a scholar of really tremendous erudition in his one-sided way, and was quietly known by correspondence to many librarians in distant places where rare and forbidden books of old days are kept . he was more and more hated and dreaded around dunwich because of certain youthful disappearances which suspicion laid vaguely at his door, ... he was now tremendously mature of aspect, and his height, having reached the normal adult limit, seemed inclined to wax beyond that figure ... his height had increased to more than seven feet, and shewed no signs of ceasing its development.

''the following winter brought an event no less strange than wilbur's first trip outside the dunwich region ... almost eight feet tall and carrying a cheap new valise from osborn's general store, this dark and goatish gargoyle appeared one day in arkham ... he had never seen a city before, but had no thought save to find his way to the university grounds; where, indeed, he passed heedlessly by the great white-fanged watchdog that barked with unnatural fury and enmity, and tugged frantically at it stout chain ... deep and terrible the snarling, half-mad growls and barks continued; always in mounting volume, but with hideously significant pauses. then there rang out a scream from a wholly different throat--a scream as roused half the sleepers of arkham and haunted their dreams ever afterward.''

h.p.lovecraft, the dunwich horror.