The Dunwich Horror

Dr. Henry Armitage has just finished a lecture on the 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 later introduces himself as Wilbur Whateley. Wilbur's mother, Lavinia, is still alive and in an asylum. The house burns down in a conflagration that may have been a pagan ritual.