[solo] The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft

[philchenevert]

This project can be found in our catalog at https://librivox.org/the-dunwich-horror-by-h-p-lovecraft-2/

There are many dimensions that coexist with our universe and overlap it only in very specific places. The horrific beings that live on these other dimensions are ancient, terrifying and very malign. The Old Ones live on these worlds. This story is about one of these overlapping spots in a decaying community in the USA where these beings can interact with our world and where humans succeed in calling them forth in all of their stench, fetor and power with the intent of destroying all life on our planet. Mere humans cannot resist their power. Is there any hope? - Summary by phil chenevert

• Text source (only read from this text!): http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50133
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[Kitty]

may I DPL this one, please ? I would love to hear you read Lovecraft

Sonia

[philchenevert]

may I DPL this one, please ? I would love to hear you read Lovecraft

Sonia

Oh yes !! And I would love to read it for you. I am eagerly anticipating this.

[Kitty]

Oh yes !! And I would love to read it for you. I am eagerly anticipating this.

so let's venture into those backwoods together. You may go ahead and check out the lay of the land, I'll follow when all is clear.

Sonia

[Kitty]

when did this get posted ? I don't get any notifcation if you don't post at least a short sentence, Phil. It was by pure chance that I looked into this thread today.

Will PL tomorrow, promised.

Sonia

[philchenevert]

Sorry Sonia. I posted that yesterday morning and was going to wait until I had the second part up before alerting you because I won't have that one up until Tuesday.

[Kitty]

I posted that yesterday morning and was going to wait until I had the second part up before alerting you because I won't have that one up until Tuesday.

ah no rush I personally prefer not to PL all the sections in one go. I'm going to savour it.

Sonia

[Kitty]

and so I dared to start listening to it, even though it's quite late here already Already the whole atmosphere is quite unsettling and typical Lovecraft. Nice reading throughout, especially in the direct speeches I loved the old wheezing grandfather on his deathbed.

Textually all is fine, no big meaning changing errors, and you don't require word-perfect anyway, if I'm not mistaken. It all flows nicely and is easy to listen to.

There was however a strange chirping echo audible in some parts, and I don't know what that could have been. When I first heard it I thought it would be an uncanny effect for the story but I think it's not intentional. It started at 13:20 "Lavinia was one who would be apt to mutter such things" and stopped again at 16:04. Then all was well again, but some times later it appeared again for short periods.

Maybe you find the source for it. It's not too disturbing, especially not in such a story as this, but I wanted to point it out nevertheless. I listened with earphones, maybe without it wouldn't even be noticeable.

In any case, a great start into the story and looking forward to the next instalment. Section 1 is PL ok.

Sonia

[philchenevert]

Thank you Sonia for your thoughtful listening. I was experimenting with different mic positions at various times during this recording and that may have caused different ambent noises to be picked up more than others. I could not isolate that sound you spoke of but then I am hard of hearing and always disgusted with the poor quality of my recordings. Yes it's true. I have had to accept that my recordings will always be 'marginally acceptable' in my ears because of the poor set up I must use. So thanks again for the feedback and please keep it coming.
EDIT: But I do this for the wonderful therapeutic value of performing, not for perfect products so it ain't gonna stop me!
EDIT 2: Section 2 is in the MW.

[Kitty]

I could not isolate that sound you spoke of but then I am hard of hearing and always disgusted with the poor quality of my recordings. Yes it's true. I have had to accept that my recordings will always be 'marginally acceptable' in my ears because of the poor set up I must use.

oh I wouldn't call it "poor quality", it was a bit strange to the ear, but I got used to it. And most of the section was in excellent quality.

Also in this section 2, it immediately starts with the strange echoey sound, which stops abruptly at 5:32 and gives way to a clear sound till the end of the section. So can you remember if you changed mic gear at that point ? Maybe we can pin down what caused it if we know what you changed at that point.

Anyway, the tone becomes totally clear again exactly with the start of your snarling “Iä Shub-Niggurath! As a foulness shall ye know Them.” The effect of the change in tone gave me a real shudder here, so I guess it was a perfect timing !

EDIT: But I do this for the wonderful therapeutic value of performing, not for perfect products so it ain't gonna stop me!

oh and it shouldn't stop you ! The listening pleasure is too great to miss. Please record lots more.

So the horror has really started now. I have read this story a long time ago and now I notice I couldn't remember big parts of it. Maybe back then I only read an abbreviated story. The whole incident in the library of Miskatonic was new to me. But maybe my mind only erased such a memory for self-preservation I do still remember the iconic final sentence of the story though. That one never left my mind. I love poignant last sentences and Lovecraft excelled at that.

I also liked that he mentioned The Great God Pan by Machen. Also a great horror story, which I believe we have already recorded for LV.

I only have one small note to make, which would benefit from correcting:

> at 33:55: “and cowed, uncommunicative groups came and went where the fiendish thing had occurred” – you say “occupied”, but I think “occurred” makes the sentence more correct in meaning

Looking forward to the finale !

Sonia

[philchenevert]

Sonia. I have uploaded section 2 again. Examining the tract I noticed the frequencies above 3000 to be much higher than usual in the first five minutes which could account for the whine so I used a low pass filter to drop those frequencies by about 12 dB. It does sound better to me but understand that I really cannot hear the whine or noise, I rely on your better hearing to guid me. I fixed the wrong word and have uploaded the file again. Spooky and creepy, the Horror is lose in the world. Does it slither and slosh towards you? .... better check under your bed!

[Kitty]

Sonia. I have uploaded section 2 again.

will check tomorrow, I'm too tired out tonight

Examining the tract I noticed the frequencies above 3000 to be much higher than usual in the first five minutes which could account for the whine so I used a low pass filter to drop those frequencies by about 12 dB. It does sound better to me but understand that I really cannot hear the whine or noise, I rely on your better hearing to guid me.

the funny thing is I fear my ears are not the best either There are some frequencies that I clearly don't hear, as revealed by a hearing test from the doctor. But obviously your "whining noise" was audible to me. I'll relisten to the beginning and check if I still hear anything.

Great that you found this glitch in the frequencies. I'm not tech savvy enough so I wouldn't even know where to look.

Spooky and creepy, the Horror is lose in the world. Does it slither and slosh towards you? .... better check under your bed!

now thanks for this.... you know that I am about to go to bed soon ? If you don't hear anything from me again, you know what happened....

Sonia

[Kitty]

I survived the night without incidents

And Part 2 is now Spot PL ok. Nicely patched.

Sonia

[philchenevert]

Whew! Glad there were no slitherings in the night for you or for me.

I have uploaded section 3. I would like to do more research into the source of odd/strange sounds in my tracks. Unfortunately I have already modified the first two, but if you hear the sound or squeal in this one, please just note the areas so I can post it for others with more technical expertise to listen to and perhaps give me some ideas.

May Yog-sothoth sleep very, very soundly

[Kitty]

my compliments to your near native-speaker accent in "old-ones"-speech careful not to be too accurate there or you really may conjure them up

I would like to do more research into the source of odd/strange sounds in my tracks. Unfortunately I have already modified the first two, but if you hear the sound or squeal in this one, please just note the areas so I can post it for others with more technical expertise to listen to and perhaps give me some ideas.

well the best example was in the first section, the one I mentioned where it first appeared at 13:20 "Lavinia was one who would be apt to mutter such things" and stopped again at 16:04.

a good sample in this section 3 was from 1:58 till 2:13 for example.

And I only have one PL note to make, where I think the meaning is a bit odd in context, even though considering the whole text, the meaning of "odd" may have to be re-evaluated anyway

> at 27:35: "and among whose fantastic ancient trees they had to scramble as if up a ladder" - you say "frantic" which is a bit odd for trees. But it's your decision whether you want to change it

The rest is perfect. I loved the rural accent you're giving the natives.

Thanks for the highly entertaining (and a bit frightening) story.

Sonia