[ARMITAGE]
In the beginning, I was walking through an old graveyard near Big Cypress Swamp. It was a celebration of some kind. Everyone we knew was there, and Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. In the middle of the graveyard in walks your grandmother Prudence, may she rest in peace

[MARION]
Grandma Prudence? How did she look?

[ARMITAGE]
Well, we have seen worse. Naturally, I went up to greet her. She said to me...

[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
You thought that I was dead

[GHOUL]
Knock it off, knock it off

[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
But you were quite misled

[GHOUL]
Nothing more than a cough

[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
I've had a lovely rest
Since I met Herbert West
The great reanimator
[MARION]
Herbert West?

[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
He’s really very bright

[GHOUL]
He's a prof! He's a prof!

[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
If you don’t mind a fright

[GHOUL]
Nerves will be badly off

[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
For Pru it would be best
To marry Herbert West
The great reanimator

[MARION]
Marry Herbert West?! She must have heard wrong. She meant Wilbur Whately

[ARMITAGE]
You must have heard wrong, Grandma
It's not Herbert
It's Wilbur Whately, Grandma
That dear Pru is gonna wed
[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
No!!!
It must be Herbert, Henry
My great grandchild
My little Prudence, who you named for me
Herbert's wife was meant to be
She'll never have to die

[Chorus]
Walk it off, walk it off

[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
Or even say good-bye

[Chorus]
That's a thing not to scoff

[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
I'm really quite impressed
With darling Herbert West
The great reanimator

[MARION]
But we already took out an ad in the social register. We already agreed to have lunch with Wilbur!

[ARMITAGE]
But we announced it, Grandma, in the papers
And Wilbur Whaty, Grandma, we were gonna meet for lunch
[GRANDMA PRUDENCE]
No!!!
So you announce it, Henry
That's your problem
As for that Whately kid I say to you
Henry, that’s your problem too

[Chorus]
You thought that she was dead
Knock it off, knock it off
That’s not what Herbert said!
Walk if off, walk if off
With just a small syringe
And research on the fringe
He's a reanimator!

[ARMITAGE]
But what about Wilbur?

[Chorus]
A great reanimator!

[ARMITAGE]
I never liked him anyway
A great reanimator...

[Chorus]
Shhhh! Shhh!
Look, who is this?
Who is this? Who comes here?
Who who who who?
What woman is this, all furtive and misshapen?

[GHOUL]
Could it be?

[FIRST GUEST]
Sure

[SECOND GUEST]
Smells like fish

[PAUL WHITEMAN]
I’ll say

[GHOUL]
Who could be mistaken?

[Chorus]
It's the wizard's girl come from beyond the grave
It's the wizard’s strange creepy albino girl
Vinny Whately! Vinny Whately! Vinny Whately...

[LAVINIA]
Armitage! Armitage! Armitage!
What is this about your daughter marrying my Wilbur?

[Chorus]
Her sweet Wilbur!

[LAVINIA]
Don't you know she's destined for his fearsome older brother?

[Chorus]
Older brother!

[LAVINIA]
If you think your stupid daughter Prudence will escape me

[Chorus]
Will escape me!

[LAVINIA]
The you're also very stupid and you will be sorry

[Chorus]
Very sorry!

[LAVINIA]
Plans! For her we have big plans!
They plan to take your daughter in their arms
Their many mouths, their tentacles
To feed their twisted lust!

[Chorus]
Her sons plan to take your daughter
Into their arms!

[LAVINIA]
Tentacles!

[Chorus]
Mouths!

[LAVINIA]
Tentacles!

[Chorus]
Lust!

[LAVINIA]
Tentacles!

[Chorus]
Tentacles!

[LAVINIA]
Tentacles!

[Chorus]
Yes!!!

[LAVINIA]
Armitage!

[Chorus]
Armitage!

[LAVINIA]
Prudence has to marry Wilbur for his older brother

[Chorus]
He's a monster!

[LAVINIA]
Then my boys will have your daughter in their evil clutches

[Chorus]
Evil clutches!

[LAVINIA]
They'll consume her sould and feast upon her naked body

[Chorus]
Naked body!

[LAVINIA]
Then up on the hill the boys will call upon their father

[Chorus]
Yes, their father!
Shhhhh!

[LAVINIA]
When Prudence marries my sweet son
The horror will start
She'll live about three weeks
'Cause when three weeks are up
He'll take her straight upstairs
The tentacles will uncurl, and...
This they'll give your Prudence
That they'll give your Prudence
That they'll give your Prudence
That's what will happen when she marries my sweet Wilbur!

[MARION]
Merciful heavens! What an awful dream. We should have known there was something wrong with Wilbur. He comes from the more decadent slid of the Whately family

[ARMITAGE]
Yes, that and the strange lumps under his clothing

[MARION]
Well, ordinarily I put no stock in dreams, but if my grandmother Prudence came all the way back from the dead to tell us to avoid Wilbur Whately, then I think we ought to pay attention

[ARMITAGE]
Me too

[MARION]
If Grandma Prudence said knock it off, knock it off
It's Herbert Pru will wed, he's a prof, he's a prof
She'll never have to die
Or even say good-bye
With her reanimator

[ARMITAGE]
To Wilbur I'm averse

[MARION]
Always thought he was off

[ARMITAGE]
His brother's even worse

[MARION]
And their father's no scoff

[ARMITAGE]
Our worries are addressed
She'll marry Herbert West,...

[MARION]
...The great reanimator

[BOTH]
The great reanimator
The great reanimator
The great reanimator