THE DUNWICH HORROR

A woman groans and writhes with the pain of childbirth in a bedroom from a bygone era as two elderly women - who appear to be twins - and an elderly man watch. She is then led out of the room by the elderly man.

At the Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts, Dr. Henry Armitage has just finished a lecture on local history and the very rare and priceless book known as the Necronomicon. He gives the book to his student Nancy Wagner to return to the library. She is followed by a stranger, who introduces himself as Wilbur Whateley. Wilbur asks to see the book, and although it is closing time and the book is reputedly the only copy in existence, Nancy allows it under the influence of his hypnotic gaze.

Wilbur's perusal of the book is cut short by Henry, who has researched Wilbur's family's sordid past. His warnings about the Whateleys go unheeded by Nancy, who decides to give Wilbur a ride back to Dunwich after he intentionally misses his bus. At a gas station on the outskirts of town, Nancy first encounters the ill-will that the locals feel for Wilbur.

Once back at the Whateley house, she meets Old Whateley, Wilbur's grandfather. Wilbur disables her car, and then drugs Nancy. She decides under the influence of hypnosis and the drug to spend the weekend, and she does not change her mind when Nancy's classmate Elizabeth arrives with Henry from Arkham the next morning. The duo do not abandon Nancy, however. They investigate further and discover that Wilbur's mother, Lavinia, is still alive and in an asylum. Dr. Cory, the town doctor, informs Henry that Lavinia delivered twins when Wilbur was born, but one was stillborn. As he was not there for the delivery, he never saw the body. The childbirth was traumatic, during which Lavinia lost her mind and nearly died.

A drugged and hypnotized Nancy is seduced (or raped) by Wilbur on an old clifftop altar by the sea. In the meantime, Elizabeth enters the Whateley house looking for Nancy. She opens a locked door and releases a creature, Wilbur's monstrous twin, which kills her and escapes. Upon Wilbur and Nancy's return, Old Whateley confronts them about the presence of Nancy's car, and in an ensuing argument, falls down a flight of stairs and dies. Wilbur takes him to the local cemetery for a decidedly non-Christian burial, but the local townsfolk vociferously stop him.

Wilbur fights and kills a guard in the process of stealing the Necronomicon. Lavinia dies in the asylum, looking much older than her 45 years. Using the book, Wilbur prepares Nancy for sacrifice on the altar in a pagan ritual to summon "The Old Ones," during which the Whateley estate is consumed by a conflagration. Wilbur's twin runs amok in and around Dunwich, killing several people. Confronted by Armitage, Wilbur chants and calls down his demonic father as his adversary chants reverse spells. Wilbur is struck by lightning and falls into the sea.

The physically unharmed Nancy is escorted off the sacrificial altar by Armitage and Cory, who calm her by stating that the Whateley line has ended. However, Nancy is pregnant with Wilbur's ill-conceived child.

Wilbur attempts a pagan ritual using Nancy and the Necronomicon, but is struck by lightning and killed; Nancy is rescued and unharmed.

The climax pits Wilbur's occult ambitions against the interventions of Dr. Armitage and the townsfolk, ultimately thwarting the summoning of 'The Old Ones.' The supernatural threat is quelled, and Nancy survives, suggesting the power of human intervention—and perhaps luck—against arcane evil.