Dunwich is the town that's closest to the Whateley Academy. In fact, Dunwich has two postal zip codes assigned: one for the town, one for Whateley Academy. It's located in the scenic Miskatonic Valley, next to the Miskatonic river.
You will, of course, recognize it as the place where one of H. P. Lovecraft's most famous stories, The Dunwich Horror, takes place. For purposes of the Whateleyverse, it's been relocated to New Hampshire.
There's a train station outside of town. It's kind of decrepit - it may not have had much maintenance since the WPA during the Great Depression.[1] The main (possibly the only) passenger train that stops there is the Grand Miskatonic Shuttle, which is scheduled several times a day.[2]
As of October 2007, the tracks are owned by the Berlin-Mills railway, which is owned by a consortium of wealthy hobbyists. Amtrak runs one train a day. The owners run several trains a day on weekends for the tourist trade. Whateley also charters special trains for events such as the Parents' Day Special.[3]
The train tracks run on the other side of town from the Miskatonic River and the Academy. At least, I don't remember any mention of going over them on the route between Whateley and Dunwich.
The road toward Whateley from Dunwich is a dirt road (what's called an "all weather road"). It goes over a scenic covered bridge[4] and has a couple of campgrounds.[5] The road from the turnoff to Whateley to the school is, however, paved.[5]
Dunwich has maybe 3 long roads and 7 shorter cross roads. It's got one stop light.[5] Other than that, it's a typical scenic town that partly subsists on the tourist trade.
Dunwich has three drug stores and three restaurants.
Dunwich is a typical Lovecraftian "town with a secret." Since it's in the Miskatonic Valley, there's a lot of low-level weirdness going on around it, much of which isn't associated with Whateley students. In fact, Whateley is regarded as a Good Thing, since they're prepared to handle a lot of it. The residents are typically close-mouthed - talking would be bad for the tourist trade! The only obvious thing is that just about every major shop has a sign pointing the direction to a bomb shelter, and the local shops have gun racks, not just the cars and pickup trucks.[6]
The residents are quite used to Whateley students, only asking that the level of weirdness be kept to a minimum. While it hasn't been mentioned, it seems reasonable that the Whateley Administration requires that red flag rules apply to Dunwich and surrounding areas, except when absolutely necessary. A number of students work in town.
The Dunwich Town Council has a representative on the Whateley Board of Supervisors. Currently, that's Mrs. Potter.[7]
Other places of note in Dunwich:
- Rogers' Fabric Boutique. Cecilia Rogers is a famous seamstress, who is certified to make super-hero costumes by the various superhero organizations.[8]
- St. George's Parish, a Catholic parish[9]
- Cordell's Hair Stylist[10]
- Millie's Diner[11]
- Myrtle's Diner[12]
- Sally's Restaurant[13]
- Macy’s Makeovers[14]
- Dr. Traekham's practice[15]
- Dan's Sporting Goods[7]
- Bell and Candle Book Nook[7]
- Feinstein's Stationary[7]
- Magic shop and Bakery - It is run by a 150 year old witch. Don't try the gingerbread.[16]
- The "safe bakery" - TK gets Ayla's birthday cakes here.[16]
- Dunwich Arms Hotel[12]
- Dunwich Movie theatre[17], The four-plex is slightly larger than the smallest movie theatre in Zanesville, Ohio,[18] but is able to boast of its own haunting, courtesy Statler and Waldorf.[19]
- A pizza parlor within walking distance of the theatre[18]
- Dunwich Florists[20]
- Dunwich Printing Supplies[21]
- Dunwich Feed and Supply[12]
- Dunwich self-storage (Being Dunwich, it’s already protected against most psychic and magical attacks)[22]
- An optometrist ("Ask for Anthony Castilian, he’s a good optometrist and he is not weirded out by exotic eyes")[6]
- A prosthetist[6]
References[]
- ↑ Enter the Chaka!
- ↑ The Boston Brawl
- ↑ To Seal Our Happiness: Part 1
- ↑ Jade 2 - Away from Home
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ayla and the Late Trevor James Goodkind
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 To Be Merry and Escape From It All
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 First Day and Other Interesting Things
- ↑ Another Day, We Were Going Where?
- ↑ Petra 1: Rock and a Hard Place - Part 2
- ↑ No Beast So Fierce
- ↑ Vamp
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Jade 8 - Exams
- ↑ Who Dun It?
- ↑ Jade 6 - Dreams and Awakenings
- ↑ Jade 3 - Being a Girl
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Ayla and the Birthday Brawl: Chapter 11 - The Legend of Florimell, or of Wittiness
- ↑ Now the Real Learning Can Begin, Part 6
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Straight from the Squirrel's Mouth, Part 4
- ↑ Now the Real Learning Can Begin, Part 3
- ↑ Ayla and the Tests, Part 7
- ↑ Insanity Prerequisite, Part 1
- ↑ The Second Book of Jobe, Part 1