H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror” is one of the great tales of cosmic terror. It has inspired a variety of covers attempting to capture the unspeakable horror within its pages. This hallucinogenic Lancer cover (I don’t know the artist) is a personal favorite:
Which makes me wonder what the uncredited artist behind this 1950s cover was thinking with such a bland scene.
Presumably this is the moment after a Miskatonic University guard dog has killed the half-human Wilbur Whately, who proceeds to dissolve into slime. But honestly, the man and dog could be witnessing anything: a robbery in progress, the man’s wife in bed with his best friend, a cat knocking tonight’s dinner off the table.
Was it a pathetic failure of imagination? Or given the “Bart House Mystery” label was it designed so that non-horror readers wouldn’t realize what they were in for? Either way, even the poster for the forgettable movie adaptation had more verve.
#SFWApro.
