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The Shadow over Innsmouth
Considered to the be one of most influential American authors, Howard Philip Lovecraft is synonymous with some of the best fantasy and horror fiction of the 20th century, second only to Edgar Allan Poe.
Innsmouth is a dilapidated seaside town with secrets as a hybrid race of half-human and half-amphibian creatures worship the gods of Cthulhu and Dagon…
Written in 1931, and published by the Visionary Publishing Company some five years later.
Innsmouth is a dilapidated seaside town with secrets as a hybrid race of half-human and half-amphibian creatures worship the gods of Cthulhu and Dagon…
Written in 1931, and published by the Visionary Publishing Company some five years later.
158 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1936
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
4,166 books17.5k followersHoward Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
— Wikipedia
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
— Wikipedia
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October 22, 2020
”One night I had a frightful dream in which I met my grandmother under the sea. She lived in a phosphorescent palace of many terraces, with gardens of strange leprous corals and grotesque brachiate efflorescences, and welcomed me with a warmth that may have been sardonic. She had changed--as those who take to the water change--and told me she had never died.”
It might have been the uncertain light from the flickering fire casting deceptive shadows across my friend’s face or maybe it was the way the lush, aromatic smoke from our smoldering cigars circled around his head, but I could swear that I was seeing changes morphing the features of Robert’s face as he told me his tale.
He showed me a piece of jewelry with grotesque depictions of insidious looking creatures engraved on its surface. I rubbed the engravings vigorously with my thumb as if I could smear the gold and blur their hideous features.
“I’ve seen them.”
I gave him a startled look. “You mean in your nightmares like the fantastical one about your grandmother.”
He sighed and drained his glass of cognac and signaled into the darkness for another. “Jeffrey, you are my only hope. The only person I know who could even begin to fathom what I have seen, what I have experienced. Out of all my friends, you are the most likely to be able to set aside what you think are absolutes and allow me the courtesy of objectively considering that what I’m telling you could possibly be true.”
I nestled back into the oxblood leather of my chair. I considered the set of his face as best I could. His eyes seemed larger suddenly, black as if the pupils had encroached outside of their normal sphere. A waiter appeared, dressed in dark colors, barely distinguishable from the surrounding darkness except for a white napkin tucked in his belt. He dropped off two more cognacs and evaporated back into the midnight recesses of the room. I’d barely touched the first, but I felt that this might be a fine time to add some fortification, given that I felt an uncontrollable, insane urge to grab one of the decorative shields from the wall of the room so that I would have something between me and the words that were about to be shared.
I flicked a trembling hand in the air. My hand had a pale luminescence as if I were reaching for a torch burning under water. “I appreciate your faith in me, dear Robert, please do continue.”
He flicked the piece of jewelry with his finger. “These images are mere stick figures gouged into a cave wall by an ancient man when one compares them to what they actually look like.”
”I think their predominant colour was a greyish-green, though they had white bellies. They were mostly shiny and slippery, but the ridges of their backs were scaly. Their forms vaguely suggested the anthropoid, while their heads were the heads of fish, with prodigious bulging eyes that never closed. At the sides of their necks were palpitating gills, and their long paws were webbed. They hopped irregularly, sometimes on two legs and sometimes on four.”
“You’ve seen them yourself? If anyone else were describing these creatures to me, I’d think they’d been reading too many Penny Dreadfuls”
“I nearly didn’t escape them.”
He held up a hand to quiet the questions bubbling to my lips.
“I discovered that this piece came from Innsmouth, Massachusetts. My curiosity was peaked as to the origin of the artwork. Little did I know that I was being pulled by more sinister forces than just my own natural interest in the extraordinary.”
“What a peculiar statement, Robert. Are you saying that something was compelling you against your will to go to Innsmouth?”
I watched his hand reach out for his glass. The fingers, as they wrapped around the round curve of the cup, were deformed. It took me a moment to ascertain that the fingers were misshapen by what appeared to be webbing.
I gasped.
“What’s the matter, Jeffrey?”
I looked up at his face and then looked down at the hand again. Robert’s hand now looked as normal as my own.
I laughed weakly. “Your tale of fantastical creatures has permeated my brain with disturbing apparitions.”
Robert leaned forward. “Do I look alright?”
He did, too pale, the standard problem with academics. We all began to look like cave creatures after long bouts of research. Whatever morphing I was seeing was merely my own hallucinations. I was starting to wonder if I’d ingested something that was unbalancing my vision. “You look fine, Robert.”
“I’ve been seeing things in the mirror. The Innsmouth look as they say. It is as if something has been changing in me. I do wonder about my own sanity. I’ve been researching my family tree and have discovered that I am descended from a prominent Innsmouth family.”
“What an odd coincidence that is," I exclaimed.
“I’m beginning to believe that none of this has been happenstance, but more to do with predestination.”
“More like morbid curiosity, my old friend,” I said, but doubt was beginning to hang a heavy stone around my own assurances.
“I’m going back to Innsmouth. I do think that I will bring my uncle with me. You know the one that has been incarcerated for mental illness. I’ve been having thoughts of liberating him.”
“Liberating the insane? Is that wise?”
“Maybe he is not insane. Maybe he is just not where he is supposed to be.”
“You are worrying me, Robert.”
He sighed heavily. “It is all so complicated, but only because I keep denying what needs to be done. I’ve been keeping notes of my research and of my dreams. I’m leaving them with this scholar in Providence, Rhode Island, named H. P. Lovecraft. We’ve been corresponding for some time. A strange young man with a voracious appetite for anything I might know about these creatures.”
After we parted that night, I never saw Robert Olmstead again. After months of hearing nothing from my old friend, I decided to take the train to Providence and see if this Lovecraft fellow had seen or heard anything. I knocked and battered at his door, but he refused to come out to see me. His windows were covered with what looked like sheets of metal. I found a place where a hole had been bored through the window frame. As I peered through the aperture, I was momentarily shocked to find myself looking eyeball to eyeball with him. His eye widened and then fell away from me. I heard this awful clatter followed by what sounded like terror induced moaning.
I heard him scream something odd...something that sounded like Cthulhu. Though he screamed it several times, I’m still not sure I heard properly what he was calling out. After several more minutes of pounding on the door, extorting him, and menacing him with all forms of retribution for not helping me, I finally gave up.
There was nothing for it. I was going to have to go to Innsmouth.
The man who checked me into the hotel didn’t look right. ”He had a queer narrow head with a flat nose and bulgy, stary eyes that never seemed to shut. His skin was rough and scabby and the sides of his neck were shrivelled and creased up.” He had a half drowned, dropped on his head too many times look about him that sent a shiver up my spine.
“Have you seen my friend, Robert Olmstead?” I gave him a brief description. He looked at me for longer than was necessary and finally shook his head.
“Listen, you degenerate rogue, I can tell you are lying.” I slapped my hand on the counter for emphasis which made him jump back. The first look of mild intelligence crossed his amphibian features.
He walked around the counter, picked up my valise, and started up the stairs. I weighed my options, but decided it was late and probably the best thing for me would be to rest and recuperate from the long hours spent on the train. ”It would perhaps have been easier to keep my thoughts from disturbing topics had the room not been so gruesomely musty. As it was, the lethal mustiness blended hideously with the town’s general fishy odour and persistently focussed one’s fancy on death and decay.” To further discombobulate my already acute discomfort, the bolt for the door was missing. I wedged a rickety chair under the door knob. The chair looked old enough that Captain John Smith may have put the grooves in the seat with his very own buttocks.
I didn’t feel comfortable enough to undress or even pull my shoes off. I expected at any moment to have some horrendous beast burst through the door intent on my eminent destruction. I tossed and turned. The musty smell of the room and the general stuffiness of the high humidity was driving me to distraction. Finally out of desperation, I decided to leave the uncertain safety of my room for a brisk walk around the town. Few lights offered any help in determining a surefooted way. Luckily, the moon was full and illuminated a choice of paths. I decided that a walk down to the shoreline was probably my only hope of relaxation.
The smell of the salt air did clear my head. I peered out at the water and thought about the stories that Robert had told me. They couldn’t possibly be true. My fear was that his mind was cracking and that the unfortunate circumstances of his uncle might be one he currently shared. I noticed that the waves were being disturbed, that something, possibly wreckage from some unfortunate vessel, was coming ashore.
”For a closer glance I saw that the moonlit waters between the reef and the shore were far from empty. They were alive with a teeming horde of shapes swimming inward toward the town; and even at my vast distance and in my single moment of perception I could tell that the bobbing heads and flailing arms were alien and aberrant in a way scarcely to be expressed or consciously formulated.”
Fear gripped my spine. I wanted to scream, but only an inhuman gurgle was able to traverse the constriction of my throat. My legs, fortunately, responded, and soon I was fleeing at a helter skelter pace up the pathway to the hotel. There were several of them waiting for me outside the hotel, but I flailed my way through them, shuddering every time my fist or my boot came in contact with their foul, nauseating flesh. I ran down the road and out of town. After my stamina began to fail, I crawled into a ditch and shivered all night long expecting at any moment for a webbed hand to reach for me.
I must say, I feel no end of guilty torment over my decision, but I gave up on my quest to find Robert. Once back in civilisation, I returned to my books. I occasionally happened upon some mention of trouble at Innsmouth, but my eyes would always blur before I could read more than a few words. My hand refused to continue to hold the newspaper. I pined for my good friend, Olmstead, but I feared that if I ever did see him again, he would be a creature intent on making me immortal in the most grotesque of forms.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
It might have been the uncertain light from the flickering fire casting deceptive shadows across my friend’s face or maybe it was the way the lush, aromatic smoke from our smoldering cigars circled around his head, but I could swear that I was seeing changes morphing the features of Robert’s face as he told me his tale.
He showed me a piece of jewelry with grotesque depictions of insidious looking creatures engraved on its surface. I rubbed the engravings vigorously with my thumb as if I could smear the gold and blur their hideous features.
“I’ve seen them.”
I gave him a startled look. “You mean in your nightmares like the fantastical one about your grandmother.”
He sighed and drained his glass of cognac and signaled into the darkness for another. “Jeffrey, you are my only hope. The only person I know who could even begin to fathom what I have seen, what I have experienced. Out of all my friends, you are the most likely to be able to set aside what you think are absolutes and allow me the courtesy of objectively considering that what I’m telling you could possibly be true.”
I nestled back into the oxblood leather of my chair. I considered the set of his face as best I could. His eyes seemed larger suddenly, black as if the pupils had encroached outside of their normal sphere. A waiter appeared, dressed in dark colors, barely distinguishable from the surrounding darkness except for a white napkin tucked in his belt. He dropped off two more cognacs and evaporated back into the midnight recesses of the room. I’d barely touched the first, but I felt that this might be a fine time to add some fortification, given that I felt an uncontrollable, insane urge to grab one of the decorative shields from the wall of the room so that I would have something between me and the words that were about to be shared.
I flicked a trembling hand in the air. My hand had a pale luminescence as if I were reaching for a torch burning under water. “I appreciate your faith in me, dear Robert, please do continue.”
He flicked the piece of jewelry with his finger. “These images are mere stick figures gouged into a cave wall by an ancient man when one compares them to what they actually look like.”
”I think their predominant colour was a greyish-green, though they had white bellies. They were mostly shiny and slippery, but the ridges of their backs were scaly. Their forms vaguely suggested the anthropoid, while their heads were the heads of fish, with prodigious bulging eyes that never closed. At the sides of their necks were palpitating gills, and their long paws were webbed. They hopped irregularly, sometimes on two legs and sometimes on four.”
“You’ve seen them yourself? If anyone else were describing these creatures to me, I’d think they’d been reading too many Penny Dreadfuls”
“I nearly didn’t escape them.”
He held up a hand to quiet the questions bubbling to my lips.
“I discovered that this piece came from Innsmouth, Massachusetts. My curiosity was peaked as to the origin of the artwork. Little did I know that I was being pulled by more sinister forces than just my own natural interest in the extraordinary.”
“What a peculiar statement, Robert. Are you saying that something was compelling you against your will to go to Innsmouth?”
I watched his hand reach out for his glass. The fingers, as they wrapped around the round curve of the cup, were deformed. It took me a moment to ascertain that the fingers were misshapen by what appeared to be webbing.
I gasped.
“What’s the matter, Jeffrey?”
I looked up at his face and then looked down at the hand again. Robert’s hand now looked as normal as my own.
I laughed weakly. “Your tale of fantastical creatures has permeated my brain with disturbing apparitions.”
Robert leaned forward. “Do I look alright?”
He did, too pale, the standard problem with academics. We all began to look like cave creatures after long bouts of research. Whatever morphing I was seeing was merely my own hallucinations. I was starting to wonder if I’d ingested something that was unbalancing my vision. “You look fine, Robert.”
“I’ve been seeing things in the mirror. The Innsmouth look as they say. It is as if something has been changing in me. I do wonder about my own sanity. I’ve been researching my family tree and have discovered that I am descended from a prominent Innsmouth family.”
“What an odd coincidence that is," I exclaimed.
“I’m beginning to believe that none of this has been happenstance, but more to do with predestination.”
“More like morbid curiosity, my old friend,” I said, but doubt was beginning to hang a heavy stone around my own assurances.
“I’m going back to Innsmouth. I do think that I will bring my uncle with me. You know the one that has been incarcerated for mental illness. I’ve been having thoughts of liberating him.”
“Liberating the insane? Is that wise?”
“Maybe he is not insane. Maybe he is just not where he is supposed to be.”
“You are worrying me, Robert.”
He sighed heavily. “It is all so complicated, but only because I keep denying what needs to be done. I’ve been keeping notes of my research and of my dreams. I’m leaving them with this scholar in Providence, Rhode Island, named H. P. Lovecraft. We’ve been corresponding for some time. A strange young man with a voracious appetite for anything I might know about these creatures.”
After we parted that night, I never saw Robert Olmstead again. After months of hearing nothing from my old friend, I decided to take the train to Providence and see if this Lovecraft fellow had seen or heard anything. I knocked and battered at his door, but he refused to come out to see me. His windows were covered with what looked like sheets of metal. I found a place where a hole had been bored through the window frame. As I peered through the aperture, I was momentarily shocked to find myself looking eyeball to eyeball with him. His eye widened and then fell away from me. I heard this awful clatter followed by what sounded like terror induced moaning.
I heard him scream something odd...something that sounded like Cthulhu. Though he screamed it several times, I’m still not sure I heard properly what he was calling out. After several more minutes of pounding on the door, extorting him, and menacing him with all forms of retribution for not helping me, I finally gave up.
There was nothing for it. I was going to have to go to Innsmouth.
The man who checked me into the hotel didn’t look right. ”He had a queer narrow head with a flat nose and bulgy, stary eyes that never seemed to shut. His skin was rough and scabby and the sides of his neck were shrivelled and creased up.” He had a half drowned, dropped on his head too many times look about him that sent a shiver up my spine.
“Have you seen my friend, Robert Olmstead?” I gave him a brief description. He looked at me for longer than was necessary and finally shook his head.
“Listen, you degenerate rogue, I can tell you are lying.” I slapped my hand on the counter for emphasis which made him jump back. The first look of mild intelligence crossed his amphibian features.
He walked around the counter, picked up my valise, and started up the stairs. I weighed my options, but decided it was late and probably the best thing for me would be to rest and recuperate from the long hours spent on the train. ”It would perhaps have been easier to keep my thoughts from disturbing topics had the room not been so gruesomely musty. As it was, the lethal mustiness blended hideously with the town’s general fishy odour and persistently focussed one’s fancy on death and decay.” To further discombobulate my already acute discomfort, the bolt for the door was missing. I wedged a rickety chair under the door knob. The chair looked old enough that Captain John Smith may have put the grooves in the seat with his very own buttocks.
I didn’t feel comfortable enough to undress or even pull my shoes off. I expected at any moment to have some horrendous beast burst through the door intent on my eminent destruction. I tossed and turned. The musty smell of the room and the general stuffiness of the high humidity was driving me to distraction. Finally out of desperation, I decided to leave the uncertain safety of my room for a brisk walk around the town. Few lights offered any help in determining a surefooted way. Luckily, the moon was full and illuminated a choice of paths. I decided that a walk down to the shoreline was probably my only hope of relaxation.
The smell of the salt air did clear my head. I peered out at the water and thought about the stories that Robert had told me. They couldn’t possibly be true. My fear was that his mind was cracking and that the unfortunate circumstances of his uncle might be one he currently shared. I noticed that the waves were being disturbed, that something, possibly wreckage from some unfortunate vessel, was coming ashore.
”For a closer glance I saw that the moonlit waters between the reef and the shore were far from empty. They were alive with a teeming horde of shapes swimming inward toward the town; and even at my vast distance and in my single moment of perception I could tell that the bobbing heads and flailing arms were alien and aberrant in a way scarcely to be expressed or consciously formulated.”
Fear gripped my spine. I wanted to scream, but only an inhuman gurgle was able to traverse the constriction of my throat. My legs, fortunately, responded, and soon I was fleeing at a helter skelter pace up the pathway to the hotel. There were several of them waiting for me outside the hotel, but I flailed my way through them, shuddering every time my fist or my boot came in contact with their foul, nauseating flesh. I ran down the road and out of town. After my stamina began to fail, I crawled into a ditch and shivered all night long expecting at any moment for a webbed hand to reach for me.
I must say, I feel no end of guilty torment over my decision, but I gave up on my quest to find Robert. Once back in civilisation, I returned to my books. I occasionally happened upon some mention of trouble at Innsmouth, but my eyes would always blur before I could read more than a few words. My hand refused to continue to hold the newspaper. I pined for my good friend, Olmstead, but I feared that if I ever did see him again, he would be a creature intent on making me immortal in the most grotesque of forms.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
September 8, 2020
After one false start, in the final months of 1931, Lovecraft completed it: the novella which embodies his two greatest fears. The most obvious of the two, the fear of immigration and miscegenation, was derived from his narrow cultural focus and his xenophobia, but the second—a microcosm of the first—the fear of individual mental and moral degeneration, resulted from a disturbing chapter of his family history. Both Lovecraft’s mother and father died confined to institutions for the insane, and he feared his parent’s genetic destiny would inevitably be his own.
The greatness of Innsmouth lies in the fact that for once (unlike in such regrettable works as “He” and “The Horror at Red Hook”) Lovecraft was able to fashion a parable of these two fears that transcends the racism and eugenics of his day by deepening and darkening them until they become one universal nightmare, one quintessential human horror: the fear our humanity itself may contain the seed of its own devolution.
The plot is interesting from the start. Our young narrator, celebrating his recent coming of age by an antiquarian and genealogical tour of New England (what a classic H.P. protagonist!) is intrigued by what the ticket agent at the Newburyport train station tells him about the port city of Innsmouth. It can only be reached by bus, and its inhabitants are shunned by the people of the surrounding villages and towns principally because of their appearance—particularly the older ones. They look like frogs, and a little bit like fish too:
There certainly is a strange kind of streak in the Innsmouth folks today—I don’t know how to explain it, but it sort of makes you crawl...Some of ’em have queer narrow heads with flat noses and bulgy, stary eyes that never seem to shut, and their skin ain’t quite right. Rough and scabby, and the sides of their necks are all shrivelled or creased up. Get bald, too, very young. The older fellows look the worst—fact is, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a very old chap of that kind. Guess they must die of looking in the glass!....Nobody around here or in Arkham or Ipswich will have anything to do with ’em, and they act kind of offish themselves when they come to town or when anyone tries to fish on their grounds....Yes, there’s a hotel in Innsmouth—called the Gilman House….Our hero engages in a little research at the local library, where a mention of the unique gold jewelry acquired by the sailors of Innsmouth soon leads him to the Newburyport Historical Society, where a single tiara is available for viewing:
It was tall in front, and with a very large and curiously irregular periphery, as if designed for a head of almost freakishly elliptical outline. The material seemed to be predominantly gold, though a weird lighter lustrousness hinted at some strange alloy….It clearly belonged to some settled technique of infinite maturity and perfection, yet that technique was utterly remote from any—Eastern or Western, ancient or modern—which I had ever heard of or seen exemplified. It was as if the workmanship were that of another planet….Even creepier, though, are the pictorial relief that decorate the tiara’s surface.:
The patterns all hinted of remote secrets and unimaginable abysses in time and space, and the monotonously aquatic nature of the reliefs became almost sinister. Among these reliefs were fabulous monsters of abhorrent grotesqueness and malignity—half ichthyic and half batrachian in suggestion—which one could not dissociate from a certain haunting and uncomfortable sense of pseudo-memory, as if they called up some image from deep cells and tissues whose retentive functions are wholly primal and awesomely ancestral. At times I fancied that every contour of these blasphemous fish-frogs was overflowing with the ultimate quintessence of unknown and inhuman evil.Our hero—of course—takes the Innsmouth bus the next day.
Some other remarkable things about Innsmouth are 1) the monologue in dialect by the ancient derelict Zadok Allen, the finest thing of this kind Lovecraft ever produced, 2) the climax, which contains the only extensive action sequence in the Lovecraft canon, involving a carefully planned escape from the Gilman House, a chase through the abandoned buildings and streets of Innsmouth and the surrounding countryside, and 3) a dénouement, of which I will only say that it brings our young hero's genealogical researches to a very unsettling conclusion.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth is, in my opinion, the most important of Lovecraft's longer works. its themes are central to his concerns, its execution is close to flawless, and it continues to terrify readers--at least this reader--after more than a century.
July 16, 2019
One of the quintessential Lovecraft novellas! A first person narrator comes to visit a decayed fishing town named Innsmouth and is having an nightmarish time there. You'll hear about the cosmic horror, read about 'The Order of Dagon', meet Zadoc Allen and his gruesome tale what actually befell the town. Who are the queer people of Innsmouth? How are the 'fish devils' described? Our narrator flees the town by night chased by strange looking humans (are they still humans?). On his research of family history he discovers a relationsship to a Mrs Marsh who was married to the most influential man in Innsmouth. This is one of the eeriest stories I know. Here you get insight what the Old Ones really plan. Very elaborate, very detailey and very scary. This certainly is one of my favourite Lovecraft stories. Absolutely recommended! What a shocker.
December 14, 2022
‘Where does madness leave off and reality begin?’
The eeriness of a small seaside town becomes a tale of cosmic horror in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The only book of Lovecraft’s distributed during his lifetime, Innsmouth figures into Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos and offers a frightening deep dive into humans caught in the sinister plans of a mysterious species with aims of conquest. Chosen by my book club for our November read as none of us had ever read him before, this is a quick and rather fun book. It does get off to a rocky start, but once the plot kicks in this dives into some truly creepy territory (and, alas, fairly xenophobic and problematic territory as well). There is also a deep fear present of hereditary fate, something Lovecraft himself felt in his own family history. The Shadow over Innsmouth looks at the fragility of humankind amidst the cosmos, ideas of madness versus reality, our growing reliance on technology and explores issues of fate in a story that will have you looking to the sea with trepidation.
‘The mere telling helps me to restore confidence in my own faculties; to reassure myself that I was not simply the first to succumb to a contagious nightmare hallucination.’
If nothing else, I am glad I have finally read a Lovecraft story, which has been an aspect I really enjoy about being in a book club because it shakes up my reading list with choices by friend’s who I respect. Personally I hadn’t much interest in Lovecraft due to his name being most known for him having been…well, pretty damn racist, which unfortunately is evident in this story itself. While ole H.P. certainly didn’t put the Love in Lovecraft, we have to recognize that he was an influential American writer that still can turn sales to this day (unfortunately for him this wasn’t the case in his lifetime. Moral of the story is don’t be a racist dick). Lovecraft developed the literary theory of cosmicism, which is that ‘there is no recognizable divine presence, such as a god, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence,’ something you see quite plainly in Innsmouth. Cosmic horror often shows how quickly the human race could vanish, such as how the Deep Ones that lurk off the coast could overcome humanity someday. Lovecraft, who drew influences from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, was also a major influence for Stephen King. ‘[Lovecraft] opened the way for me,’ King has said, ‘it is his shadow, so long and gaunt, and his eyes, so dark and puritanical, which overlie almost all of the important horror fiction that has come since.’ I noticed a similarity in the mood setting of the town here with King’s ’Salem’s Lot, and King’s ‘sequel’ short story to the novel, Jerusalem’s Lot published in Night Shift, actually contains references implying there is a Cthulhu Mythos connection. While King's novel It is, according to him, inspired by the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, Pennywise as an alien coming to prey on humans while lurking in the deep feels very akin to Lovecraft's mythos and ideas of cosmicism.
On the topic of mood setting, I have to admit the beginning of this was a slog. Lovecraft establishes a creepy vibe to the town and its citizens who distrust outsiders, focusing on the ‘Innsmouth look’ of ‘bulging, unblinking, watery eyes,’ greyish skin, a unique walk and a strange attraction to the sea. While effective, the prose is a bit rough and Lovecraft will never use just one adjective when a pair or triple is available, making it feel a bit overwritten. A bookclub friend—shoutout to Carl—mentioned the style does give a whole “ancient text” vibe to the endeavour, which I will concede does add to the overall horror vibes Lovecraft is honing in on. Add a mysterious epidemic that killed half the population and all the churches being replaced by the Esoteric Order of Dagon and you’ve got palpable unease for days. Also shoutout to Greg whole collected some of the best word matchups because he really goes off with ‘bestial Babel’ and I love how the phrase ‘raucous clamor’ trips off the tongue sounding exactly like the noise it describes.
There is an acute loneliness felt in the town, while it is described as small it seems sprawling as well, and the difficulty grasping the scope makes it all the more menacing. While everyone is excited for technological advances such as the train, Innsmouth is more disconnected because of it as it does not run near enough to them. This probes at a fear of technology as something menacing and scientific advances that can override our societal norms or, like the Deep Ones, eventually rise up to rule us.
The secrets of this town are slowly revealed and the narrator, who had previously felt himself better than the locals, finds a personal connection that could mean inescapable doom. The hereditary connections fears draw from Lovecraft’s own life as both his parents were institutionalized (his father when Lovecraft was only 3 years old), and as a child he suffered from extreme nightmares as well as frequent illness. There is a sense of inevitable, horrible fate rumbling forward in this book, a horror we can see but can only embrace as it gets closer. The narrator, in fact, goes from fearful to accepting by the end. And, honestly, the ending to this tale of cosmic woe slaps. It really does go out on a high note.
However, on the topic of genetics, Lovecraft has some troubling beliefs that are represented in this book. Reading as an allegory, the idea of an alien race coming to conquer and breed out the population is the root of replacement theory of white supremacist rhetoric, something that was accused of basically any non-white group immigrating to the US and is grossly still prevalent today. Lovecraft despised anyone who was not Anglo-Saxon (and disparages anyone who is not in his fictions), praised Hitler (there are debates over if he did withdraw from support, and he did have a Jewish wife, though only because he said she was ‘well assimilated’), and held a strong classism belief that Anglo-Saxon intellectual elites should rule all populations. So…not awesome. Though from this world-view, you can get a sense how his fiction is laden in fear of the unknown with narrators who perceive the world around them as threatening.
‘One night I had a frightful dream in which I met my grandmother under the sea. She lived in a phosphorescent palace of many terraces, with gardens of strange leprous corals and grotesque brachiate efflorescences, and welcomed me with a warmth that may have been sardonic. She had changed—as those who take to the water change—and told me she had never died.’
Problematic issues aside, the story is quite fun and the Deep Ones are interesting. There is, of course, the issue that the military decimated an entire town on the word of a person with a history of mental illness claiming sea monsters have corrupted everyone, but just go with it. It is cool as well to see all the fictional towns Lovecraft would revisit throughout his tales, and it was interesting to realize that Arkham Asylum from the Batman universe takes its name from Lovecraft’s Arkham. All in all, I’m glad I read this. It is a bit like Philip K. Dick for me where the story and ideas override the relatively clunky writing, but once the train of plot kicks into high gear, wow does this get creepy and intense. The Shadow Over Innsmouth is an eerie, worthwhile read and makes for a great introduction into the world of Lovecraft.
3/5
The eeriness of a small seaside town becomes a tale of cosmic horror in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The only book of Lovecraft’s distributed during his lifetime, Innsmouth figures into Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos and offers a frightening deep dive into humans caught in the sinister plans of a mysterious species with aims of conquest. Chosen by my book club for our November read as none of us had ever read him before, this is a quick and rather fun book. It does get off to a rocky start, but once the plot kicks in this dives into some truly creepy territory (and, alas, fairly xenophobic and problematic territory as well). There is also a deep fear present of hereditary fate, something Lovecraft himself felt in his own family history. The Shadow over Innsmouth looks at the fragility of humankind amidst the cosmos, ideas of madness versus reality, our growing reliance on technology and explores issues of fate in a story that will have you looking to the sea with trepidation.
‘The mere telling helps me to restore confidence in my own faculties; to reassure myself that I was not simply the first to succumb to a contagious nightmare hallucination.’
If nothing else, I am glad I have finally read a Lovecraft story, which has been an aspect I really enjoy about being in a book club because it shakes up my reading list with choices by friend’s who I respect. Personally I hadn’t much interest in Lovecraft due to his name being most known for him having been…well, pretty damn racist, which unfortunately is evident in this story itself. While ole H.P. certainly didn’t put the Love in Lovecraft, we have to recognize that he was an influential American writer that still can turn sales to this day (unfortunately for him this wasn’t the case in his lifetime. Moral of the story is don’t be a racist dick). Lovecraft developed the literary theory of cosmicism, which is that ‘there is no recognizable divine presence, such as a god, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence,’ something you see quite plainly in Innsmouth. Cosmic horror often shows how quickly the human race could vanish, such as how the Deep Ones that lurk off the coast could overcome humanity someday. Lovecraft, who drew influences from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, was also a major influence for Stephen King. ‘[Lovecraft] opened the way for me,’ King has said, ‘it is his shadow, so long and gaunt, and his eyes, so dark and puritanical, which overlie almost all of the important horror fiction that has come since.’ I noticed a similarity in the mood setting of the town here with King’s ’Salem’s Lot, and King’s ‘sequel’ short story to the novel, Jerusalem’s Lot published in Night Shift, actually contains references implying there is a Cthulhu Mythos connection. While King's novel It is, according to him, inspired by the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, Pennywise as an alien coming to prey on humans while lurking in the deep feels very akin to Lovecraft's mythos and ideas of cosmicism.
On the topic of mood setting, I have to admit the beginning of this was a slog. Lovecraft establishes a creepy vibe to the town and its citizens who distrust outsiders, focusing on the ‘Innsmouth look’ of ‘bulging, unblinking, watery eyes,’ greyish skin, a unique walk and a strange attraction to the sea. While effective, the prose is a bit rough and Lovecraft will never use just one adjective when a pair or triple is available, making it feel a bit overwritten. A bookclub friend—shoutout to Carl—mentioned the style does give a whole “ancient text” vibe to the endeavour, which I will concede does add to the overall horror vibes Lovecraft is honing in on. Add a mysterious epidemic that killed half the population and all the churches being replaced by the Esoteric Order of Dagon and you’ve got palpable unease for days. Also shoutout to Greg whole collected some of the best word matchups because he really goes off with ‘bestial Babel’ and I love how the phrase ‘raucous clamor’ trips off the tongue sounding exactly like the noise it describes.
‘Certainly, the terror of a deserted house swells in geometrical rather than arithmetical progression as houses multiply to form a city of stark desolation. The sight of such endless avenues of fishy-eyed vacancy and death, and the thought of such linked infinities of black, brooding compartments given over to cob-webs and memories and the conqueror worm, start up vestigial fears and aversions that not even the stoutest philosophy can disperse.’
There is an acute loneliness felt in the town, while it is described as small it seems sprawling as well, and the difficulty grasping the scope makes it all the more menacing. While everyone is excited for technological advances such as the train, Innsmouth is more disconnected because of it as it does not run near enough to them. This probes at a fear of technology as something menacing and scientific advances that can override our societal norms or, like the Deep Ones, eventually rise up to rule us.
The secrets of this town are slowly revealed and the narrator, who had previously felt himself better than the locals, finds a personal connection that could mean inescapable doom. The hereditary connections fears draw from Lovecraft’s own life as both his parents were institutionalized (his father when Lovecraft was only 3 years old), and as a child he suffered from extreme nightmares as well as frequent illness. There is a sense of inevitable, horrible fate rumbling forward in this book, a horror we can see but can only embrace as it gets closer. The narrator, in fact, goes from fearful to accepting by the end. And, honestly, the ending to this tale of cosmic woe slaps. It really does go out on a high note.
However, on the topic of genetics, Lovecraft has some troubling beliefs that are represented in this book. Reading as an allegory, the idea of an alien race coming to conquer and breed out the population is the root of replacement theory of white supremacist rhetoric, something that was accused of basically any non-white group immigrating to the US and is grossly still prevalent today. Lovecraft despised anyone who was not Anglo-Saxon (and disparages anyone who is not in his fictions), praised Hitler (there are debates over if he did withdraw from support, and he did have a Jewish wife, though only because he said she was ‘well assimilated’), and held a strong classism belief that Anglo-Saxon intellectual elites should rule all populations. So…not awesome. Though from this world-view, you can get a sense how his fiction is laden in fear of the unknown with narrators who perceive the world around them as threatening.
‘One night I had a frightful dream in which I met my grandmother under the sea. She lived in a phosphorescent palace of many terraces, with gardens of strange leprous corals and grotesque brachiate efflorescences, and welcomed me with a warmth that may have been sardonic. She had changed—as those who take to the water change—and told me she had never died.’
Problematic issues aside, the story is quite fun and the Deep Ones are interesting. There is, of course, the issue that the military decimated an entire town on the word of a person with a history of mental illness claiming sea monsters have corrupted everyone, but just go with it. It is cool as well to see all the fictional towns Lovecraft would revisit throughout his tales, and it was interesting to realize that Arkham Asylum from the Batman universe takes its name from Lovecraft’s Arkham. All in all, I’m glad I read this. It is a bit like Philip K. Dick for me where the story and ideas override the relatively clunky writing, but once the train of plot kicks into high gear, wow does this get creepy and intense. The Shadow Over Innsmouth is an eerie, worthwhile read and makes for a great introduction into the world of Lovecraft.
3/5
October 30, 2017
Aleister Crowley, “The Mad Arab” Abdul Alhazred, Asmodeus, Ozzy Osbourne and John Denver sit in a pub in London, discussing HP Lovecraft’s Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Aleister: This was one of Lovecraft’s later works, first published in 1931, and I think, in my humble opinion, one of his finest.
Abdul: When were you ever humble, my friend?
Ozzy: Thoos twr, Alztr, wy njed dis stwi vry moos twu
John: Um, I think what Ozzy is trying to say is that he liked it too, what about you Asmodeus, um, or should I use your title, I’m not really sure how this works.
Asmodeus: Prince is usually preferred in a more formal setting, Majesty among my own, you know it’s really a very interesting story, I was known as a daemon for most of recorded and prehistoric time, but the producers of Dungeons and Dragons made me a greater devil and so the kids these days see me as a lawful evil deity; but John we’re all here enjoying ourselves, why not let me hair down, call my Odie.
Ozzy: Ve Prnz u FREEKG DOGNZ!!
Asmodeus: Hahaha, yes, Ozzy thank you very much.
Aleister: Yes, and of course this is one of the Cthulhu mythos, though not one of the more recognizable entries in this canon.
Abdul: I think Dagon is mentioned Aleister.
Aleister: Yes, and as is Cthulhu himself and R’lyeh as well as more than a passing notice of the Deep Ones, hail their Evil mention.
Ozzy: HYLA!
John: But isn’t this about a forgotten town full of fish people?
[all laugh]
Abdul: John, that is succinctly spoken, but this wonderful novella is that and so much more.
Asmodeus: Indeed, Lovecraft establishes a setting, set up by a foundation of theatrical foreshadowing, whereby a young man of destiny discovers a town inhabited by a hybrid race that has been blessed with the royal blood of the Deep Ones, though somewhat diluted with the human stain.
Ozzy: Ths ryt, yer hynezz, lb de bludi fiz ppl
[all stare]
Abdul: Maybe it’s me but I cannot understand what Ozzy is saying
[all agree]
Ozzy: SHARON!
Aleister: Well, all that said, The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of Lovecraft’s best and is highly recommended.
Aleister: This was one of Lovecraft’s later works, first published in 1931, and I think, in my humble opinion, one of his finest.
Abdul: When were you ever humble, my friend?
Ozzy: Thoos twr, Alztr, wy njed dis stwi vry moos twu
John: Um, I think what Ozzy is trying to say is that he liked it too, what about you Asmodeus, um, or should I use your title, I’m not really sure how this works.
Asmodeus: Prince is usually preferred in a more formal setting, Majesty among my own, you know it’s really a very interesting story, I was known as a daemon for most of recorded and prehistoric time, but the producers of Dungeons and Dragons made me a greater devil and so the kids these days see me as a lawful evil deity; but John we’re all here enjoying ourselves, why not let me hair down, call my Odie.
Ozzy: Ve Prnz u FREEKG DOGNZ!!
Asmodeus: Hahaha, yes, Ozzy thank you very much.
Aleister: Yes, and of course this is one of the Cthulhu mythos, though not one of the more recognizable entries in this canon.
Abdul: I think Dagon is mentioned Aleister.
Aleister: Yes, and as is Cthulhu himself and R’lyeh as well as more than a passing notice of the Deep Ones, hail their Evil mention.
Ozzy: HYLA!
John: But isn’t this about a forgotten town full of fish people?
[all laugh]
Abdul: John, that is succinctly spoken, but this wonderful novella is that and so much more.
Asmodeus: Indeed, Lovecraft establishes a setting, set up by a foundation of theatrical foreshadowing, whereby a young man of destiny discovers a town inhabited by a hybrid race that has been blessed with the royal blood of the Deep Ones, though somewhat diluted with the human stain.
Ozzy: Ths ryt, yer hynezz, lb de bludi fiz ppl
[all stare]
Abdul: Maybe it’s me but I cannot understand what Ozzy is saying
[all agree]
Ozzy: SHARON!
Aleister: Well, all that said, The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of Lovecraft’s best and is highly recommended.
April 16, 2023
❞ لسوف نرى ما يجعل الكلب ينبح في الظلام ، و ما الذي يجعل القطط تحك آذانها بعد منتصف الليل .. لسوف نبصر هذه الأشياء و أشياء أخرى لم يرها مخلوق يتنفس من قبل .. سنخترق الزمن و الأبعاد و نقترب من السر ❝ .
كان لافكرافت يعيش معنا بجسده ، أما عن وعيه و قلبه فقد كان في عالم آخر حيث الأساطير حقيقة مثبتة ، و ما يكتبه لنا هو ما رآه و شاهده هناك.
فكيف له بكل هذه التفاصيل المكثفة؟
لماذا كان الكاتب لا يحب الخروج من بيته إلا في الليل؟
لماذا كان يكره التجمعات و يعشق العزلة؟
أول من جمع بين ��لعلم الحديث و الأسطورة المرعبة ، بين المولدات الكهربية و القرابين الشيطانية ، ليكون من أكثر المؤثرين علي الأدب الغربي الحديث .
كل مرة أقرأ له يدهشنى غرابة شخصيته ، عبقرية عقله ، و قوة أسلوبه ، و ندرة قصصه المرعبة.
مجموعة قصصية بترجمة الرائع د. أحمد رحمه الله :
١-ظل فوق إينزماوث :
لا يحب أحد مدينة إينزماوث ، لا يحبون أن يتكلموا عنها ، لا يحبون أن يروا أحدا منها ، لا يحبون أن يخطو فيها قدماً.
و لكن ما تفسير هجوم الجيش بشكل مفاجئ علي هذه المدينة الصغيرة؟
صديقنا الراوي يشرح لنا قصته المشئومة ، كيف وصل بالصدفة لهذه المدينة الغامضة؟ ، كيف نجي بأعج��بة منها؟ ، و لماذا أبلغ الحكومة عن مخلوقات مرعبة غريبة (ما بين البشر و الأسماك) تعيش هناك ؟
القصة أسلوبها قوي ممتع قاطع للأنفاس.
٢-ما وراء العالم :
تجربة فيزيائية قام بها (كروفورد) و ذلك ليكسبنا حواساً جديدة فهو يرى أن حواسنا الخمسة ليست كافية لنرى ما وراء هذا العالم. 💀.
٣-الوحش في الكهف :
عندما تضيع في رحلة سياحية بإحدي الكهوف الذي يحوي متاهات صخرية قد تفقد الأمل في الإنقاذ ، و لكن صديقنا لم يفقد الأمل خاصة عندما سمع خطوات أقدام تقترب منه أخيرا ، و لكن انتظر لحظة هل هذه الأصوات قد تصدر عن آدمي حقاً ؟ 👺
٤-وصية راندولف كارتر :
كارتر المسكين اصطحبه صديقه ذات مرة إلي مقبرة منسية ، و قطعا صمتاً دام لقرون بها ، و لكن لماذا يفتح السراديب المغلقة ؟ و ينزل صديقه مفزوعاً بمفرده ثم لا يراه بعدها أبداً.
رحلة ممتعة مع ملك الرعب الأدبى لافكرافت✨.
كان لافكرافت يعيش معنا بجسده ، أما عن وعيه و قلبه فقد كان في عالم آخر حيث الأساطير حقيقة مثبتة ، و ما يكتبه لنا هو ما رآه و شاهده هناك.
فكيف له بكل هذه التفاصيل المكثفة؟
لماذا كان الكاتب لا يحب الخروج من بيته إلا في الليل؟
لماذا كان يكره التجمعات و يعشق العزلة؟
أول من جمع بين ��لعلم الحديث و الأسطورة المرعبة ، بين المولدات الكهربية و القرابين الشيطانية ، ليكون من أكثر المؤثرين علي الأدب الغربي الحديث .
كل مرة أقرأ له يدهشنى غرابة شخصيته ، عبقرية عقله ، و قوة أسلوبه ، و ندرة قصصه المرعبة.
مجموعة قصصية بترجمة الرائع د. أحمد رحمه الله :
١-ظل فوق إينزماوث :
لا يحب أحد مدينة إينزماوث ، لا يحبون أن يتكلموا عنها ، لا يحبون أن يروا أحدا منها ، لا يحبون أن يخطو فيها قدماً.
و لكن ما تفسير هجوم الجيش بشكل مفاجئ علي هذه المدينة الصغيرة؟
صديقنا الراوي يشرح لنا قصته المشئومة ، كيف وصل بالصدفة لهذه المدينة الغامضة؟ ، كيف نجي بأعج��بة منها؟ ، و لماذا أبلغ الحكومة عن مخلوقات مرعبة غريبة (ما بين البشر و الأسماك) تعيش هناك ؟
القصة أسلوبها قوي ممتع قاطع للأنفاس.
٢-ما وراء العالم :
تجربة فيزيائية قام بها (كروفورد) و ذلك ليكسبنا حواساً جديدة فهو يرى أن حواسنا الخمسة ليست كافية لنرى ما وراء هذا العالم. 💀.
٣-الوحش في الكهف :
عندما تضيع في رحلة سياحية بإحدي الكهوف الذي يحوي متاهات صخرية قد تفقد الأمل في الإنقاذ ، و لكن صديقنا لم يفقد الأمل خاصة عندما سمع خطوات أقدام تقترب منه أخيرا ، و لكن انتظر لحظة هل هذه الأصوات قد تصدر عن آدمي حقاً ؟ 👺
٤-وصية راندولف كارتر :
كارتر المسكين اصطحبه صديقه ذات مرة إلي مقبرة منسية ، و قطعا صمتاً دام لقرون بها ، و لكن لماذا يفتح السراديب المغلقة ؟ و ينزل صديقه مفزوعاً بمفرده ثم لا يراه بعدها أبداً.
رحلة ممتعة مع ملك الرعب الأدبى لافكرافت✨.
July 22, 2020
After At the Mountain of Madness, HPL is back in New England with this novelette. Once more, as in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward or The Colour Out of Space, the protagonist investigates the strange events that have been taking place in a deserted town, seemingly afflicted with a curse. In the end, he discovers some unspeakable horror, once more related to the Cthulhu and other malign divinities from space and out of the underworld.
As in many other HLP stories, the descriptions of old architecture abound. However, The Shadow Over Innsmouth shows a couple of distinctive features. One is the use of direct accounts by some of the villagers the protagonist interviews during his investigation: in chap. 3, the tale of old Zadok Allen is entirely told in the words of the informant, and I guess Lovecraft had some fun writing the whole thing with a sort of New Hampshire dialect — it makes it a bit rough to read, to be honest.
Some disturbing teratology is present in this story, as usual. Still, unlike other texts, it is now related to the water world and the undersea instead of the earth, the pits, the underground: characteristically, the pervasive stench is no longer compared to the smell of decaying fungi, like in previous novels, but to the reek of rotten fish. As if Lovecraft was now linking his Cthulhu mythos to the legends of the mermaids, the ondines, the nixe, the hippocampus.
The last part of this story is a hunt in the night, in part echoing Edgar Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, and, towards the end, foreshadowing the zombie chases of film and TV, from the Night of the Living Dead to The Walking Dead and other nail-biting zombie apocalypse fictions.
As in many other HLP stories, the descriptions of old architecture abound. However, The Shadow Over Innsmouth shows a couple of distinctive features. One is the use of direct accounts by some of the villagers the protagonist interviews during his investigation: in chap. 3, the tale of old Zadok Allen is entirely told in the words of the informant, and I guess Lovecraft had some fun writing the whole thing with a sort of New Hampshire dialect — it makes it a bit rough to read, to be honest.
Some disturbing teratology is present in this story, as usual. Still, unlike other texts, it is now related to the water world and the undersea instead of the earth, the pits, the underground: characteristically, the pervasive stench is no longer compared to the smell of decaying fungi, like in previous novels, but to the reek of rotten fish. As if Lovecraft was now linking his Cthulhu mythos to the legends of the mermaids, the ondines, the nixe, the hippocampus.
The last part of this story is a hunt in the night, in part echoing Edgar Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, and, towards the end, foreshadowing the zombie chases of film and TV, from the Night of the Living Dead to The Walking Dead and other nail-biting zombie apocalypse fictions.
April 3, 2018
This is the dark heart of Lovecraft fiction at its finest: secret cults, secret cities under the sea and strange mutated people- what’s not to love?
The Shadow of Innsmouth depicts a fear, a fear of the unknown and a fear of the watering down of the human race. In the isolated town of Insmouth the people are degenerating into a sub-species of man. Their features are changing and their skin is becoming grey and watery: they are beginning to resemble the creatures of the deep.
“One night I had a frightful dream in which I met my grandmother under the sea. She lived in a phosphorescent palace of many terraces, with gardens of strange leprous corals and grotesque brachiate efflorescences, and welcomed me with a warmth that may have been sardonic. She had changed - as those who take to the water change - and told me she had never died.
The narrator who stumbles upon them is stuck with horror and uncomfortableness at this strange town. Much to his dismay he is forced to spend the night there when his travel arrangements go awry. The fear in his voice as he told his narrative was palpable and intense. The strongest aspect of Lovecraft’s prose is his ability to create a dark murky atmosphere. I could see the stuffy and oppressive town in my mind’s eye as I envisioned the hybrid race that walked it streets.
This is the only story of Lovecraft’s to have been bound and printed in book format in his lifetime. And isn’t that just truly sad? I guess his readers weren’t ready for him: the world wasn’t ready for him. I do wish he could have known how influential his work would eventually go on to be in the horror genre.
The Shadow of Innsmouth depicts a fear, a fear of the unknown and a fear of the watering down of the human race. In the isolated town of Insmouth the people are degenerating into a sub-species of man. Their features are changing and their skin is becoming grey and watery: they are beginning to resemble the creatures of the deep.
“One night I had a frightful dream in which I met my grandmother under the sea. She lived in a phosphorescent palace of many terraces, with gardens of strange leprous corals and grotesque brachiate efflorescences, and welcomed me with a warmth that may have been sardonic. She had changed - as those who take to the water change - and told me she had never died.
The narrator who stumbles upon them is stuck with horror and uncomfortableness at this strange town. Much to his dismay he is forced to spend the night there when his travel arrangements go awry. The fear in his voice as he told his narrative was palpable and intense. The strongest aspect of Lovecraft’s prose is his ability to create a dark murky atmosphere. I could see the stuffy and oppressive town in my mind’s eye as I envisioned the hybrid race that walked it streets.
This is the only story of Lovecraft’s to have been bound and printed in book format in his lifetime. And isn’t that just truly sad? I guess his readers weren’t ready for him: the world wasn’t ready for him. I do wish he could have known how influential his work would eventually go on to be in the horror genre.
October 31, 2018
Not what I was expecting
QUITE POPULAR BUT...
This novella is one of the most popular between H.P. Lovecraft's fans, however sadly I must say that I wasn't able to enjoy the reading experience as I'd expected initially.
This is part of the Cthulhu Mythos,...
...set in the fictional town of Innsmouth.
A man who is doing a personal research about the lore and architecture of New England’s towns ending at Innsmouth,...
...feeling it as a kind of calling to go there.
Soon enough he founds that the town is strangely too deserted...
...and those few inhabitants look just not right.
It's a fair premise, but I felt that narrative development was too slow and sparse to my taste, especially taking in account that instead of a short story, it's a novella, therefore, longer to read it.
QUITE POPULAR BUT...
This novella is one of the most popular between H.P. Lovecraft's fans, however sadly I must say that I wasn't able to enjoy the reading experience as I'd expected initially.
This is part of the Cthulhu Mythos,...
...set in the fictional town of Innsmouth.
A man who is doing a personal research about the lore and architecture of New England’s towns ending at Innsmouth,...
...feeling it as a kind of calling to go there.
Soon enough he founds that the town is strangely too deserted...
...and those few inhabitants look just not right.
It's a fair premise, but I felt that narrative development was too slow and sparse to my taste, especially taking in account that instead of a short story, it's a novella, therefore, longer to read it.
October 26, 2015
The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one H.P. Lovecraft's later works - written in 1936 and published in 1936, the only of his works of fiction to be published during his lifetime - he died in 1937. Lovecraft himself disliked the story, thinking it poorly written and not suitable for publication. The first and only print run consisted of only 200 copies, filled with typographical errors, most of which were not sold.
If you'd judge the book by the ineptitude of its publisher and the unrelenting negativity of its own author, you might be convinced that Shadow Over Insmouth rightly belong in the dustbin of literary failures. However, I would argue that this slim novella is very far from a failure - beside expanding on Lovecraft's Cthulu Mythos, it stands very well on its own and can be enjoyed even by readers who are not familiar with his fiction at all. In fact, I'd say that this is probably one of Lovecraft's most readable and accessible stories, if not the most.
Like much of Lovecraft's fiction, The Shadow Over Innsmouth consists of a first person narration of a protagonist relaying his experience after it has actually happened. In this case, the unnamed narrator tells the story of his short sojourn to a reclusive town of Innsmouth. What has happened there was so horrific that he barely escaped with his life, and alerted the government to pursue a secret investigation - which ended with destruction of a large part of the decaying, crumbling city. The whole thing was quickly brushed under the rug, and many questions were left unanswered; since the narrator is the only person who can adequately describe his own experience, his story is the only record of what actually happened during his short, forced stay at Innsmouth.
Many of Lovecraft's narrators are bland and forgettable, barely described; this is true to his vision of humanity as particularly insignificant in the greater picture of cosmic existence; usually, he spends much more effort (and space) at attempting to describe the cosmic and alien creatures which lurk at the edges of our world and beyond it, and the horror that they evoke. In this regard, The Shadow Over Innsmouth stands out with Lovecraft's perhaps most realized and relatable narrator; an unnamed character Lovecraft most possibly modeled after himself, with many small details he borrowed from his own life: a thorough researcher who spent hours at the libraries and other places gathering information about the history of his destination, and a traveler who always picked the cheapest route - usually via bus - and who preferred to eat food from the grocery store rather than dine at a restaurant. In this vision, the narrator's journey can parallel Lovecraft's own experience of perception of the outside world as a place filled with hostile otherness - travel to Innsmouth is a sort of an initiation ritual, with the weird-looking repulsive inhabitants of the town representing Lovecraft's deep fear of miscegenation.
The narrator's character makes Innsmouth very enjoyable. At 21, he intended to take a cheap tour across New England - "sightseeing, antiquarian, and genealogical", planning to travel from Newburyport to Arkham, where his mother's family was located. Both now firmly established in Lovecraft Country, the first real and the other imagined. Since the narrator judges the train to Arkham to be too costly, he has to travel via bus - and the only bus travels via Innsmouth, and is operated by a local driver.The travel agent who told the narrator about the bus also relays some gossip that people have been whispering about Innsmouth; that the inhabitants of the half-deserted city keep very much to themselves, and look different; they have a distinct "Innsmouth Look", with bulging, seemingly unwinking eyes being most noticeable.
The bus eventually arrives, and our narrator is the only passenger; he feels immediate revulsion towards the driver, although he does not understand why. Lovecraft its at his best when he describes Innsmouth itself - a decaying, crumbling town, seemingly almost entirely deserted; the narrator notices grand mansions which were once beautiful but are not boarded up and abandoned, and so are rows of houses which stretch along unpaved streets, the unnatural angles of their empty, broken windows filling him with fear.
The downsides of the novella are the same ones which plague most of Lovecraft's writing - his love for dumping information on the reader and emphasizing every single emotion that his character goes through. Basically, the narrator is told the story of Innsmouth and its inhabitants by other people - the travel agent, a clerk at the chain grocery store in Innsmouth, and most importantly Zadok Allen - the town drunk. Lovecraft does not let his narrator discover these facts, as he has other nondescript characters essentially dump all the information on his head - in long soliloquies. The narrator also does not let the reader figure out what he feels for himself - the story is ripe with description which features every aspect of his unimaginable fear.
Interestingly, The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of the few Lovecraft stories which can be said to contain an actual plot, and I believe the only one which contains what can be described as an action sequence. In most cases Lovecraft focused on building his mythos, not bothering to construct any engaging plot; his characters would find themselves in a situation and elaborate on the horror of the Old Ones, the Shoggoths and the like. The Shadow Over Innsmouth features as a self-contained story - the narrator's arrival in the town, his exploration and interaction with the locals, and his dramatic escape - dramatic for Lovecraft's standard's, at least. The ending, in which the narrator is still haunted by his experience at Innsmouth and chooses to continue his research into the town and its inhabitants, is also typical of Lovecraft's stories - but very satisfying and memorable.
The novella has served as the inspiration for Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, a game released for PC and the original Xbox in 2005. The game is a reimagining of The Shadow Over Innsmouth with a different protagonist, further developing on the plot of the novella and taking the story even further. It's probably the only video game which truly attempts to convey Lovecraftian horror, and does it well enough for me to recommend it.
To sum up, if you haven't read any Lovecraft before The Shadow Over Innsmouth might be a good way to begin - although the story takes place firmly in Lovecraft country, and many of the elements which connect his stories together - such as the town Arkham or the Miskatonic University - are present, they are not an obstacle for new readers who are just beginning to read his works. The best part about reading Lovecraft is that all of his stories are freely and legally available on the internet - you can either read it online read it online, or download for a copy for for your reader from Feedbooks. If you enjoy listening to audiobooks, you might want to try the reading done for BBC Radio 4 a couple of years ago, available on YouTube. Pick your option, and enjoy!
If you'd judge the book by the ineptitude of its publisher and the unrelenting negativity of its own author, you might be convinced that Shadow Over Insmouth rightly belong in the dustbin of literary failures. However, I would argue that this slim novella is very far from a failure - beside expanding on Lovecraft's Cthulu Mythos, it stands very well on its own and can be enjoyed even by readers who are not familiar with his fiction at all. In fact, I'd say that this is probably one of Lovecraft's most readable and accessible stories, if not the most.
Like much of Lovecraft's fiction, The Shadow Over Innsmouth consists of a first person narration of a protagonist relaying his experience after it has actually happened. In this case, the unnamed narrator tells the story of his short sojourn to a reclusive town of Innsmouth. What has happened there was so horrific that he barely escaped with his life, and alerted the government to pursue a secret investigation - which ended with destruction of a large part of the decaying, crumbling city. The whole thing was quickly brushed under the rug, and many questions were left unanswered; since the narrator is the only person who can adequately describe his own experience, his story is the only record of what actually happened during his short, forced stay at Innsmouth.
Many of Lovecraft's narrators are bland and forgettable, barely described; this is true to his vision of humanity as particularly insignificant in the greater picture of cosmic existence; usually, he spends much more effort (and space) at attempting to describe the cosmic and alien creatures which lurk at the edges of our world and beyond it, and the horror that they evoke. In this regard, The Shadow Over Innsmouth stands out with Lovecraft's perhaps most realized and relatable narrator; an unnamed character Lovecraft most possibly modeled after himself, with many small details he borrowed from his own life: a thorough researcher who spent hours at the libraries and other places gathering information about the history of his destination, and a traveler who always picked the cheapest route - usually via bus - and who preferred to eat food from the grocery store rather than dine at a restaurant. In this vision, the narrator's journey can parallel Lovecraft's own experience of perception of the outside world as a place filled with hostile otherness - travel to Innsmouth is a sort of an initiation ritual, with the weird-looking repulsive inhabitants of the town representing Lovecraft's deep fear of miscegenation.
The narrator's character makes Innsmouth very enjoyable. At 21, he intended to take a cheap tour across New England - "sightseeing, antiquarian, and genealogical", planning to travel from Newburyport to Arkham, where his mother's family was located. Both now firmly established in Lovecraft Country, the first real and the other imagined. Since the narrator judges the train to Arkham to be too costly, he has to travel via bus - and the only bus travels via Innsmouth, and is operated by a local driver.The travel agent who told the narrator about the bus also relays some gossip that people have been whispering about Innsmouth; that the inhabitants of the half-deserted city keep very much to themselves, and look different; they have a distinct "Innsmouth Look", with bulging, seemingly unwinking eyes being most noticeable.
The bus eventually arrives, and our narrator is the only passenger; he feels immediate revulsion towards the driver, although he does not understand why. Lovecraft its at his best when he describes Innsmouth itself - a decaying, crumbling town, seemingly almost entirely deserted; the narrator notices grand mansions which were once beautiful but are not boarded up and abandoned, and so are rows of houses which stretch along unpaved streets, the unnatural angles of their empty, broken windows filling him with fear.
The downsides of the novella are the same ones which plague most of Lovecraft's writing - his love for dumping information on the reader and emphasizing every single emotion that his character goes through. Basically, the narrator is told the story of Innsmouth and its inhabitants by other people - the travel agent, a clerk at the chain grocery store in Innsmouth, and most importantly Zadok Allen - the town drunk. Lovecraft does not let his narrator discover these facts, as he has other nondescript characters essentially dump all the information on his head - in long soliloquies. The narrator also does not let the reader figure out what he feels for himself - the story is ripe with description which features every aspect of his unimaginable fear.
Interestingly, The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of the few Lovecraft stories which can be said to contain an actual plot, and I believe the only one which contains what can be described as an action sequence. In most cases Lovecraft focused on building his mythos, not bothering to construct any engaging plot; his characters would find themselves in a situation and elaborate on the horror of the Old Ones, the Shoggoths and the like. The Shadow Over Innsmouth features as a self-contained story - the narrator's arrival in the town, his exploration and interaction with the locals, and his dramatic escape - dramatic for Lovecraft's standard's, at least. The ending, in which the narrator is still haunted by his experience at Innsmouth and chooses to continue his research into the town and its inhabitants, is also typical of Lovecraft's stories - but very satisfying and memorable.
The novella has served as the inspiration for Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, a game released for PC and the original Xbox in 2005. The game is a reimagining of The Shadow Over Innsmouth with a different protagonist, further developing on the plot of the novella and taking the story even further. It's probably the only video game which truly attempts to convey Lovecraftian horror, and does it well enough for me to recommend it.
To sum up, if you haven't read any Lovecraft before The Shadow Over Innsmouth might be a good way to begin - although the story takes place firmly in Lovecraft country, and many of the elements which connect his stories together - such as the town Arkham or the Miskatonic University - are present, they are not an obstacle for new readers who are just beginning to read his works. The best part about reading Lovecraft is that all of his stories are freely and legally available on the internet - you can either read it online read it online, or download for a copy for for your reader from Feedbooks. If you enjoy listening to audiobooks, you might want to try the reading done for BBC Radio 4 a couple of years ago, available on YouTube. Pick your option, and enjoy!
January 19, 2023
2.5 stars, rounded up mainly for that ending twist.
There were a few times last year when I had to rest in bed a lot due to health reasons. My husband, who is a Lovecraft fan, read this book to me on some of those days. And every time he managed to put me to sleep within five minutes. So... That should tell you how boring I thought it was (although the fact that someone was reading it for me was sweet, which may have also contributed to the rounded-up rating).
Apparently, The Shadow over Innsmouth is a fan favorite, so don't take my layman's opinion too seriously. Lovecraft just isn't quite my thing. I love his worldbuilding, the cosmic grandness of Mythos, and the occasional cool quotes, but I'm not that into his writing style. It's a bit too dry and filled with rambling monologues (both in the sense of inner thoughts and one-sided dialogues... his main characters must all be mute). This story is much more stylized compared to, say, The Call of Cthulhu, so maybe that's what makes Lovecraftian fans like it more and non-fans such as me like it less.
That said... The ending was pretty cool!
PS. I didn't take off any stars for the xenophobia/racism oozing from the pages, because that's unfortunately the way Lovecraft was, given his time limitations. But for anyone who might disagree and/or will absolutely not tolerate such undertones, don't read this. The issue is much more obvious here than in many of his other books.
There were a few times last year when I had to rest in bed a lot due to health reasons. My husband, who is a Lovecraft fan, read this book to me on some of those days. And every time he managed to put me to sleep within five minutes. So... That should tell you how boring I thought it was (although the fact that someone was reading it for me was sweet, which may have also contributed to the rounded-up rating).
Apparently, The Shadow over Innsmouth is a fan favorite, so don't take my layman's opinion too seriously. Lovecraft just isn't quite my thing. I love his worldbuilding, the cosmic grandness of Mythos, and the occasional cool quotes, but I'm not that into his writing style. It's a bit too dry and filled with rambling monologues (both in the sense of inner thoughts and one-sided dialogues... his main characters must all be mute). This story is much more stylized compared to, say, The Call of Cthulhu, so maybe that's what makes Lovecraftian fans like it more and non-fans such as me like it less.
That said... The ending was pretty cool!
PS. I didn't take off any stars for the xenophobia/racism oozing from the pages, because that's unfortunately the way Lovecraft was, given his time limitations. But for anyone who might disagree and/or will absolutely not tolerate such undertones, don't read this. The issue is much more obvious here than in many of his other books.
January 26, 2021
إن الظلام قد امتد من حواف إنزماوث إلى داخل غُرفتي. إن تلك الرواية تنشر السواد والظلام في كُل شبر حولك، فكُن حذراً.
تحكي الرواية عن أحد مُحبي العمارة؟ مُحبي التجول؟ المخاطر؟ لا شيء في ذلك مُهم.
أنت تعلم جيداً أنه سيذهب بقدميه إلى ذلك الجحيم المُسمى إنزماوث.. شائعات كثيرة وأساطير حولها فما الحقيقة؟ هل حقاً هُناك دخان بلا نار؟
في الحقيقة، طوال أحداث الرواية كان لدي هاجس أو تصور لبطل الرواية أنه يهزي أو كُل ذلك مُجرد خيال وأنه فقط مُجرد مريض نفسي.. ونهاية الرواية كانت تتويجاً لتخيلي ذلك.. ولكنها مُجرد وجهة نظر قد لا أكون على صواب حولها.
من مُميزات الرواية أن الكاتب نجح في تسريب القلق والتوتر الذي كان يشعر به بطلنا بداخلك.. هُناك سرد تفصيلي لحدث من أهم أحداث الرواية شعرت أنني داخل كُل خطوة به.
هُناك مُبالغات في الوصف في أوقات غير صائبة.. ولكن على الجانب اللغوي كانت مُفيدة -لتميز الترجمة- بالطبع.
من عيوب أو سلبيات الرواية أن رغم كمية التفاصيل الرهيبة لم يكون هُناك خلفيات للشخصيات جيدة أو مرسومة بشكل تجعلك تتعاطف أو تكره.. أنت فقط تكره لأن ذلك الكائن السمكي يُريد أن يقتل بطلنا.. فقط لذلك ليس إلا.
وفي المُجمل العام كانت تجربة جيدة وأحببت عالم لافكرافت الذي لن يتوقف توغلي فيه عند تلك الرواية.
December 8, 2023
I, for one, welcome our fish-headed overlords. Totally gonna mispronounce all of their names, though.
February 2, 2019
I am more or less a Lovecraft-come-lately and read Ruthanna Emrys' excellent Winter Tide without reading this first. Although I was familiar in a general way with the mythos, I had assumed that the backstory about the Innsmouth folk being interned by the US government was Emrys' interpolation -- but no, HPL says they were taken to "concentration camps," which surprised me a bit for 1927. <--not a spoiler. 1st paragraph
Here is a sorta-spoiler, though; it's a question for my friends who read a lot of Mythos fiction:
I really liked this one, despite the rampant xenophobia. I especially appreciated the complex backstory. Read it and then read Emrys.
Here is a sorta-spoiler, though; it's a question for my friends who read a lot of Mythos fiction:
I really liked this one, despite the rampant xenophobia. I especially appreciated the complex backstory. Read it and then read Emrys.
April 5, 2022
THE AMERICAN GOTHIC
I am glad to have discovered Lovecraft by reading this story during an university course on the American Gothic, although I am not used to reading this literary genre.
In any case, the fact that I am not a fan of the genre did not prevent me from acknowledging a well written story and appreciating the author's limitless and somewhat perverse imagination in describing these invented life forms that serve the famous Chtulhu.
Everything was so vivid, as if I were living the same experiences of the narrator: this is, I believe, one of the most exceptional qualities of Lovecraft.
Cthulhu fhtagn ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
I am glad to have discovered Lovecraft by reading this story during an university course on the American Gothic, although I am not used to reading this literary genre.
In any case, the fact that I am not a fan of the genre did not prevent me from acknowledging a well written story and appreciating the author's limitless and somewhat perverse imagination in describing these invented life forms that serve the famous Chtulhu.
Everything was so vivid, as if I were living the same experiences of the narrator: this is, I believe, one of the most exceptional qualities of Lovecraft.
Cthulhu fhtagn ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
April 12, 2018
Warning: When you read H P. Lovecraft's stories, be alerted that Lovecraft can be such a racist sometime in such a manner:
You are ugly-looking then you must be EVIL!
You are old then you must be EVIL!
You are deformed then you must be EVIL!
You have mixed blood in you then you must be EVIL!
You worship pagan gods then you must be EVIL!
You befriend Indians, black people or other people of colors, then you must be EVIL!
These might sound like a joke, but all of these things I mentioned above really ain't so funny after all.
Therefore it is hardly a surprise that The Shadow Over Innsmouth, one of Lovecraft's grandest horror short stories about a trip to an New England decaying town, sea monsters, unfriendly townies, family secrets and Lovecraft's own seafood phobia, also bears the marks of its author's barely veiled racist attitude toward 'suspicious outsiders/strangers'.
However, the racism issues aside, The Shadow Over Innsmouth is still able to capture its readers by the creation of this ominous seaside town (written in a realistic, fine manner and with great details), the well described gloomy atmosphere and the overpowering sense of dread, which haunts the entire story.
Following the footsteps of Gothic horror authors such as Poe, Lovecraft took us to an ill-fated trip to explore Innsmouth, we see strange, scary things through the lone narrator's eyes, we learn the hidden history of the town, we escape, in the narrator's first person POV, from the shadowy streets of Innsmouth in the dead of the night; and at the very end, we experience (with the narrator) the horror of inescapable fate.
The great atmosphere and suspense aside, The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of the few Lovecraft's stories with smooth dialogues and finely written, exciting action scenes; it probably is one of the reasons this story is superb even among Lovecraft's other tales.
By the way, you can always watch the movie version of The Shadow Over Innsmouth on Youtube...but in this movie version the story is renamed 'Dagon'. LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YETHZ...
For beginner: Cthulhu Mythos 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDlS2...
On a happier note: The Adventures of Lil Cthulhu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kQuM...
What the hell did I just watch?
You are ugly-looking then you must be EVIL!
You are old then you must be EVIL!
You are deformed then you must be EVIL!
You have mixed blood in you then you must be EVIL!
You worship pagan gods then you must be EVIL!
You befriend Indians, black people or other people of colors, then you must be EVIL!
These might sound like a joke, but all of these things I mentioned above really ain't so funny after all.
Therefore it is hardly a surprise that The Shadow Over Innsmouth, one of Lovecraft's grandest horror short stories about a trip to an New England decaying town, sea monsters, unfriendly townies, family secrets and Lovecraft's own seafood phobia, also bears the marks of its author's barely veiled racist attitude toward 'suspicious outsiders/strangers'.
However, the racism issues aside, The Shadow Over Innsmouth is still able to capture its readers by the creation of this ominous seaside town (written in a realistic, fine manner and with great details), the well described gloomy atmosphere and the overpowering sense of dread, which haunts the entire story.
Following the footsteps of Gothic horror authors such as Poe, Lovecraft took us to an ill-fated trip to explore Innsmouth, we see strange, scary things through the lone narrator's eyes, we learn the hidden history of the town, we escape, in the narrator's first person POV, from the shadowy streets of Innsmouth in the dead of the night; and at the very end, we experience (with the narrator) the horror of inescapable fate.
The great atmosphere and suspense aside, The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of the few Lovecraft's stories with smooth dialogues and finely written, exciting action scenes; it probably is one of the reasons this story is superb even among Lovecraft's other tales.
By the way, you can always watch the movie version of The Shadow Over Innsmouth on Youtube...but in this movie version the story is renamed 'Dagon'. LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YETHZ...
For beginner: Cthulhu Mythos 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDlS2...
On a happier note: The Adventures of Lil Cthulhu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kQuM...
What the hell did I just watch?
April 2, 2023
Esta novela corta de Lovecraft me gustó más que "La llamada de Cthulhu". Tiene más acción y diálogos, lo que ayuda a hacer más dinámica la historia. Asimismo, su extensión ayuda a darle un mayor desarrollo al argumento. Un protagonista innominado viaja a un extraño y decadente pueblo cuyos habitantes han dado pie a muchos rumores... no diré nada más. Sí voy a mencionar-y si quieren entrar a leer esta historia sin saber absolutamente nada, dejen de leer-que Lovecraft plasma dos grandes temas, uno que se ha vuelto anacrónico y otro que sigue muy vigente: el primero es el temor a que el mestizaje pueda llevar a la degeneración. El segundo, es también un temor: el de estar maldecido por la herencia que nos dejan nuestros antepasados, en particular, por su herencia genética. Aunque en la novela no se menciona, es imposible no pensar en los historiales familiares de enfermedades, ya sea físicas o mentales. ¿Cómo escapar de un terror que está en nuestro interior?
August 3, 2023
لم اكن اعرف اي شيئ عن تلك الرواية قبل قرائتها الا أنها للافكرافت...
مع اكتشافي انها تتكلم عن كائنات بحرية اسطورية تسائلت لماذا معظم روايات هذا الرجل محورها كائنات بحرية بحثت ثم وجدت انه من مواليد ولاية rhode island التي تطل على المحيط الاطلسي وقضى معظم حياته ف new england الولاية الساحلية ايضا يبدو ان ذلك اثر على خيال كتابته ،
كتابات لافكرافت لم اجدها مرعبة بالمعنى الحرفي، لكنها من النوع الكابوسي تهيؤات مرعبة مريضة ، اتخيل مثلا لافكرافت جالس على شواطئ نيو انجلاند مساءً ناظرا للافق السحيق للبحر وظلامه المخيف ثم يذهب للنوم يأتيه كابوس به كائن كبير على هيئة اخطبوط يطارده. يستيقظ ثم يكتب حلمه على الورق يعالجه ثم ينشره...
ف المجمل تجربة جيدة ولن تكون الأخيرة لخيال الكاتب الواسع...
مع اكتشافي انها تتكلم عن كائنات بحرية اسطورية تسائلت لماذا معظم روايات هذا الرجل محورها كائنات بحرية بحثت ثم وجدت انه من مواليد ولاية rhode island التي تطل على المحيط الاطلسي وقضى معظم حياته ف new england الولاية الساحلية ايضا يبدو ان ذلك اثر على خيال كتابته ،
كتابات لافكرافت لم اجدها مرعبة بالمعنى الحرفي، لكنها من النوع الكابوسي تهيؤات مرعبة مريضة ، اتخيل مثلا لافكرافت جالس على شواطئ نيو انجلاند مساءً ناظرا للافق السحيق للبحر وظلامه المخيف ثم يذهب للنوم يأتيه كابوس به كائن كبير على هيئة اخطبوط يطارده. يستيقظ ثم يكتب حلمه على الورق يعالجه ثم ينشره...
ف المجمل تجربة جيدة ولن تكون الأخيرة لخيال الكاتب الواسع...
April 15, 2020
Schatten über Innsmouth war bislang die beste Geschichte, die ich von HPL gelesen habe. Wenn man sich mal an den etwas eintönigen Schreibstil bei der Erzeugung von Grusel gewöhnt hat, dann kann man sich mehr auf die Handlung als solches konzentrieren. Diese wurde geschickt eingeleitet und aufgebaut, mit einem langen, erklärenden Monolog über die schattenhafte Stadt Innsmouth im Mittelteil überbrückt, und dann mit einem rasanten und überraschende Ende versehen. Gute Unterhaltung für eine fast 90jährige Horrorgeschichte.
Der eintönige Schreibstil bezieht sich auf die Tatsache, dass für Lovecraft der Horror immer unerklärbar erscheint, nicht in Worte zu fassen ist oder namenlos daherkommt. Dies sind nur drei der Phrasen, die einfach zu häufig vorkommen und aus heutiger Sicht der Erzählung etwas antiquiert-amüsantes mitgeben. Was mir dabei aber auffiel: Bei Lovecraft wird nie Gewalt erzeugt, auch bei den anderen beiden Geschichten, die ich bislang las, war dies der Fall. Die Hauptperson wird immer nur Zeuge einer Ungewöhnlichkeit, die ihn in Schrecken versetzt. Dies ist immer so schrecklich, dass der Person die Worte fehlen, um es genauer zu beschreiben. Positiv könnte man sagen, dass die Protagonisten immer traumatisiert aus dem Erlebten zurück bleiben. Und weil alles so namenlos schrecklich ist, hat die Phantasie des Lesers auch genug Freiräume, sich bei dem eigenen Kopfkino auszutoben. Hier in dieser Geschichte ziehen gegen Ende die schrecklichen Wesen am Protagonisten vorbei, während er im Graben liegt, die Prozession beobachtet und anschließend in Ohnmacht fällt. Wie gesagt, bei taumelnden Bewusstsein kann man sich schlecht auf die wortreiche Beschreibung des Schreckensszenario konzentrieren. Daher: Namenloses Entsetzen äußern und dann ab ins Reich der Träume.
Was aber wirklich ärgerlich ist, ist der unverhohlene Rassismus Lovecrafts, der an mehreren Stellen zum Ausdruck kommt. Diesmal ist es ja nicht eine einzelne Kreatur, die Schrecken verbreitet, sondern gleich eine größere Gemeinschaft in Form des gesamten Dorfes Innsmouth, welches durch Abkehr von christlichen Glauben und Anbetung eines okkulten Wesens massenhaft degeneriert. Diese Rasse von Menschen mit dem sogenannten Innsmouth-Look sind schon nach Ansicht des Erzählers widerwärtig. Aber selbst dunkle Hautfarbe und andersgeformte Augen werden abgelehnt. Lovecraft war ein Rassist. Bedauerlich, wenn das so klar in einer Geschichte hervortritt. Aufgrund des überraschenden Endes der Geschichte und des guten Unterhaltungswertes würde ich dieses Buch trotzdem Einsteigern in Lovecrafts Welt empfehlen.
Der eintönige Schreibstil bezieht sich auf die Tatsache, dass für Lovecraft der Horror immer unerklärbar erscheint, nicht in Worte zu fassen ist oder namenlos daherkommt. Dies sind nur drei der Phrasen, die einfach zu häufig vorkommen und aus heutiger Sicht der Erzählung etwas antiquiert-amüsantes mitgeben. Was mir dabei aber auffiel: Bei Lovecraft wird nie Gewalt erzeugt, auch bei den anderen beiden Geschichten, die ich bislang las, war dies der Fall. Die Hauptperson wird immer nur Zeuge einer Ungewöhnlichkeit, die ihn in Schrecken versetzt. Dies ist immer so schrecklich, dass der Person die Worte fehlen, um es genauer zu beschreiben. Positiv könnte man sagen, dass die Protagonisten immer traumatisiert aus dem Erlebten zurück bleiben. Und weil alles so namenlos schrecklich ist, hat die Phantasie des Lesers auch genug Freiräume, sich bei dem eigenen Kopfkino auszutoben. Hier in dieser Geschichte ziehen gegen Ende die schrecklichen Wesen am Protagonisten vorbei, während er im Graben liegt, die Prozession beobachtet und anschließend in Ohnmacht fällt. Wie gesagt, bei taumelnden Bewusstsein kann man sich schlecht auf die wortreiche Beschreibung des Schreckensszenario konzentrieren. Daher: Namenloses Entsetzen äußern und dann ab ins Reich der Träume.
Was aber wirklich ärgerlich ist, ist der unverhohlene Rassismus Lovecrafts, der an mehreren Stellen zum Ausdruck kommt. Diesmal ist es ja nicht eine einzelne Kreatur, die Schrecken verbreitet, sondern gleich eine größere Gemeinschaft in Form des gesamten Dorfes Innsmouth, welches durch Abkehr von christlichen Glauben und Anbetung eines okkulten Wesens massenhaft degeneriert. Diese Rasse von Menschen mit dem sogenannten Innsmouth-Look sind schon nach Ansicht des Erzählers widerwärtig. Aber selbst dunkle Hautfarbe und andersgeformte Augen werden abgelehnt. Lovecraft war ein Rassist. Bedauerlich, wenn das so klar in einer Geschichte hervortritt. Aufgrund des überraschenden Endes der Geschichte und des guten Unterhaltungswertes würde ich dieses Buch trotzdem Einsteigern in Lovecrafts Welt empfehlen.
Want to read
February 21, 2018Lovecraft Illustrated Volume 5
Contents:
ix - Introduction by S. T. Joshi
xiii - Foreword by Brian Yuzna
003 - "The Shadow over Innsmouth" by H. P. Lovecraft
091 - "The Shadow over the Shadow" by Pete Von Sholly
093 - "The Harbor-Master" by Robert W. Chambers
123 - "Fishhead" by Irvin S. Cobb
135 - "Fish Schticks" by Robert M. Price
Contents:
ix - Introduction by S. T. Joshi
xiii - Foreword by Brian Yuzna
003 - "The Shadow over Innsmouth" by H. P. Lovecraft
091 - "The Shadow over the Shadow" by Pete Von Sholly
093 - "The Harbor-Master" by Robert W. Chambers
123 - "Fishhead" by Irvin S. Cobb
135 - "Fish Schticks" by Robert M. Price
December 25, 2014
I remember a survival horror game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth a couple of years ago. Only a part of the game is similar to The Shadow Over Innsmouth and it is a combination of more Lovecraft's stories, so it's not exactly the same, but I still remember how the arrival of the main character to Innsmouth, that filthy old hotel, and what happens later made me feel.
Needless to say, I loved this story. I think it is one of those you could recommend to anyone who wants to try Lovecraft for the first time. It is weird, it is horrifying, it is scary. It has everything I love about Lovecraft.
Trying to save some money, a young student ends up riding in a decrepit bus after learning of Innsmouth, a strange coastal town everyone around tries to avoid. His plan is to spend a day in that derelict and almost empty place, to do a bit of sightseeing, to see the architecture of the town, and if possible to find someone to tell him of the history of that area. Well, the plan works, but not exactly the way he expects.
The first thing he notices is the appearance of the townspeople: they don't seem to close their eyes at all and they walk in a weird way, to say nothing of the general hostility towards any newcomer.
As for the town stories, the narrator finds an old drunk who tells him the horrible truth about Innsmouth, about the supposed plague that wiped out almost half of them, the reason behind their appearance and so on. The narrator ends up learning more than he had ever hoped, expected or wanted to know.
The ending is outstanding and makes the story even better.
Needless to say, I loved this story. I think it is one of those you could recommend to anyone who wants to try Lovecraft for the first time. It is weird, it is horrifying, it is scary. It has everything I love about Lovecraft.
Trying to save some money, a young student ends up riding in a decrepit bus after learning of Innsmouth, a strange coastal town everyone around tries to avoid. His plan is to spend a day in that derelict and almost empty place, to do a bit of sightseeing, to see the architecture of the town, and if possible to find someone to tell him of the history of that area. Well, the plan works, but not exactly the way he expects.
The first thing he notices is the appearance of the townspeople: they don't seem to close their eyes at all and they walk in a weird way, to say nothing of the general hostility towards any newcomer.
As for the town stories, the narrator finds an old drunk who tells him the horrible truth about Innsmouth, about the supposed plague that wiped out almost half of them, the reason behind their appearance and so on. The narrator ends up learning more than he had ever hoped, expected or wanted to know.
The ending is outstanding and makes the story even better.
April 9, 2020
Quarantine Reads gets terrifying..
قرائتي الأولى للافكرافت الكابوسي.. وفي جو الحظر الصحي ستشعر أنك حبيسا في مدينة إنزماوث الساحلية الكئيبة برائحة السمك العطنة والملامح الغريبة لأهلها كأنهم يعانون مرضا جلديا غريبا
وصف لافكرافت دقيق بوجهة نظر الراوي الفضولي الذي يصف شكل المدينة ومعمارها وطرقها وسيم اهلها سيجعلك كأنك تتجول بها بل وتختنق من رائحتها كأنك قرب حلقة السمك بالأنفوشي
ثم ياتي عجوزا سكيرا ليحكي لك تاريخ المدينة المرعب والمزعج لأكثر من قرن تبدلت فيه الأحوال
لياتي الفصل قبل الاخير بمطاردة مرعبة ثم مفاجأة بالفصل الأخير حقيقية
وكوثولو قادم
قرائتي الأولى للافكرافت الكابوسي.. وفي جو الحظر الصحي ستشعر أنك حبيسا في مدينة إنزماوث الساحلية الكئيبة برائحة السمك العطنة والملامح الغريبة لأهلها كأنهم يعانون مرضا جلديا غريبا
وصف لافكرافت دقيق بوجهة نظر الراوي الفضولي الذي يصف شكل المدينة ومعمارها وطرقها وسيم اهلها سيجعلك كأنك تتجول بها بل وتختنق من رائحتها كأنك قرب حلقة السمك بالأنفوشي
ثم ياتي عجوزا سكيرا ليحكي لك تاريخ المدينة المرعب والمزعج لأكثر من قرن تبدلت فيه الأحوال
لياتي الفصل قبل الاخير بمطاردة مرعبة ثم مفاجأة بالفصل الأخير حقيقية
وكوثولو قادم
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December 3, 2017
It was bound to happen at some point. An intense, life-long dislike for short stories and first person narrative meant that the intrigue of Lovecraft couldn't quite get me to enjoy this one.
We follow an intrepid traveller, standard Lovecraft, who seemingly at random falls head first in to a weird and wonderful world full of eldritch cults, esoteric goings on and horrors (literally) too horrific to put in to writing (convenient much). He visits a town that is shunned full of weird people etc etc
The imagination is there and the Lovecraftianess is there but this was really pitiful. It was too long to start with and without much happening. It wasn't particularly intriguing either, and the suspense and flow of the piece was terribly lacklustre.
The dialogue was also just the worst. From what I've read so far of Lovecraft's work, he couldn't do dialogue even when it was written in proper English and not the backward idiot dialect we have here. It didn't add anything to it, instead it created a droll experience that turned a very interesting back story into tedium.
I'm kind of glad I read this and didn't enjoy it. I prefer loving something that I can happily pick apart and sometime dislike. If you haven't read any Lovecraft I would personally recommend you don't begin with this one, but then I'm sure someone much more qualified than me will tell you you should. Hey, make up your own mind.
We follow an intrepid traveller, standard Lovecraft, who seemingly at random falls head first in to a weird and wonderful world full of eldritch cults, esoteric goings on and horrors (literally) too horrific to put in to writing (convenient much). He visits a town that is shunned full of weird people etc etc
The imagination is there and the Lovecraftianess is there but this was really pitiful. It was too long to start with and without much happening. It wasn't particularly intriguing either, and the suspense and flow of the piece was terribly lacklustre.
The dialogue was also just the worst. From what I've read so far of Lovecraft's work, he couldn't do dialogue even when it was written in proper English and not the backward idiot dialect we have here. It didn't add anything to it, instead it created a droll experience that turned a very interesting back story into tedium.
I'm kind of glad I read this and didn't enjoy it. I prefer loving something that I can happily pick apart and sometime dislike. If you haven't read any Lovecraft I would personally recommend you don't begin with this one, but then I'm sure someone much more qualified than me will tell you you should. Hey, make up your own mind.
February 9, 2015
كما جرت العادة مع نصوص لافكرافت، تقلب الصفحات متسائلا: مالذي يخيف في الأمر. وما إن تفرغ من الكتاب وتضعه جانبا حتى يجتاحك شعور بالتوجس وتملأ أذنيك همسات الوساوس. السبب في ذلك هو أن لافكرافت يعمل ببطء ودأب ليخلق محيطا سوداويا غامضا لا يسعى أن يصدمك بل أن يتسلل إلى دخيلة نفسك تاركا بصمة رعب في اللاوعي.
تحكي هذه الرواية القصيرة عن رحلة فتى إلى مدينة إنزماوث الملعونة، بأهلها الذين لايختلطون مع العالم الخارجي ولا يتقبلون أحدا. وبما أننا نقرأ للافكرافت فلابد من وجود بحر، وديانة وثنية، وكم كبير من العتمة وانعدام البهجة. رواية لا بأس بها يعيبها الجزء الأخير الذي أفاض في وصف مسار بطل القصة في شوارع المدينة. ليس هناك عمق في الشخصيات ولا تقنيات سرد عالية الكفاءة. اعتقد أن جو القصة هو البطل الحقيقي لهذا العمل. هناك تيمة جيدة نوعا وهي مغزى اتباع دين معين إن لم يلمس اتباعه أثره على حياتهم المادية وخدمة مصالحهم الآنية.
بالمناسبة، تم معالجة هذا العمل سينمائيا في فلم داغون (2001). مستوى الفلم جيد، وتعكس التعديلات المجراة على الحبكة تطور فنيات السرد المعاصرة. وبالرغم من أن مجريات الأحداث في الفلم مختلفة كتيرا عن النص، إلا أن الفلم -برأيي- نجح في الحفاظ على جوهر القصة وعلى -وهو الأهم- الجو السيريالي المقبض. سمني غريبا لكنني أعشق هذه الأجواء فعلا.
تحكي هذه الرواية القصيرة عن رحلة فتى إلى مدينة إنزماوث الملعونة، بأهلها الذين لايختلطون مع العالم الخارجي ولا يتقبلون أحدا. وبما أننا نقرأ للافكرافت فلابد من وجود بحر، وديانة وثنية، وكم كبير من العتمة وانعدام البهجة. رواية لا بأس بها يعيبها الجزء الأخير الذي أفاض في وصف مسار بطل القصة في شوارع المدينة. ليس هناك عمق في الشخصيات ولا تقنيات سرد عالية الكفاءة. اعتقد أن جو القصة هو البطل الحقيقي لهذا العمل. هناك تيمة جيدة نوعا وهي مغزى اتباع دين معين إن لم يلمس اتباعه أثره على حياتهم المادية وخدمة مصالحهم الآنية.
بالمناسبة، تم معالجة هذا العمل سينمائيا في فلم داغون (2001). مستوى الفلم جيد، وتعكس التعديلات المجراة على الحبكة تطور فنيات السرد المعاصرة. وبالرغم من أن مجريات الأحداث في الفلم مختلفة كتيرا عن النص، إلا أن الفلم -برأيي- نجح في الحفاظ على جوهر القصة وعلى -وهو الأهم- الجو السيريالي المقبض. سمني غريبا لكنني أعشق هذه الأجواء فعلا.
April 9, 2017
Classic Lovecraft horror, perhaps the classic Lovecraft horror.
Despite reading many pastiches of his work this is actually my first Lovecraft. He seems like a distasteful enough character that I haven't been rushing to read his stuff. However, I'm just about the read Winter Tide which is a sequel of sorts to this one so I thought I'd knock it off quickly.
Our narrator comes to the town of Innsmouth to investigate a town in decay as well as the strange stories that he's heard about it from neighboring towns. He finds an unsettling place with strange people and gets the full story of the place from an old man there, but soon finds himself running for his life from the strange people of Innsmouth. But the true horror of the place isn't revealed until we find out more about our narrator.
You've got to look past the contempt that Lovecraft has to anything not purely white American of protestant background to appreciate this. (I know he was an atheist, but he's respectful of Christian beliefs in ways that he's not of others). If you do, you find a masterpiece of creepy scene-setting and purple prose strewn campside horror story. Well worth the effort and you can see how influential his writing must have been to the nascent field.
Despite reading many pastiches of his work this is actually my first Lovecraft. He seems like a distasteful enough character that I haven't been rushing to read his stuff. However, I'm just about the read Winter Tide which is a sequel of sorts to this one so I thought I'd knock it off quickly.
Our narrator comes to the town of Innsmouth to investigate a town in decay as well as the strange stories that he's heard about it from neighboring towns. He finds an unsettling place with strange people and gets the full story of the place from an old man there, but soon finds himself running for his life from the strange people of Innsmouth. But the true horror of the place isn't revealed until we find out more about our narrator.
You've got to look past the contempt that Lovecraft has to anything not purely white American of protestant background to appreciate this. (I know he was an atheist, but he's respectful of Christian beliefs in ways that he's not of others). If you do, you find a masterpiece of creepy scene-setting and purple prose strewn campside horror story. Well worth the effort and you can see how influential his writing must have been to the nascent field.
December 25, 2019
This is a remarkable, brilliant horror story. It’s the first thing I’ve ever read by H. P. Lovecraft but I’ve already promised myself that it won’t be the last. I cannot understand why he never became more well-known. Or maybe he did and I was just ignorant of it!
September 23, 2021
I listened to this on Spotify. It is quite an interesting story. The twist at the end was unexpected.
March 12, 2021
Among Lovecraft fans I am probably in the minority in that I don’t enjoy his longer works, specifically, At the Mountains of Madness and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. I would go so far as to say I cannot stand half the narrative of these two books. Lovecraft, for me, works better in small doses, like “Pickman’s Model”, “The Thing on the Doorstep” and many of his best short stories. However, “The Shadow over Innsmouth” is an exception, while not completely free of the patented Lovecraftian verbiage I am not overwhelmed by it (or underwhelmed, I am just whelmed I guess). This novella is steeped in atmosphere, weird imageries, and Cyclopean goodness.
As with a lot of HPL’s works the story is told from an unnamed protagonist’s viewpoint. This poor lad is on his way by bus to Arkham but the bus has to stop over at an obscure little town called Innsmouth, unfortunately, the bus breaks down at this town and he has to stay the night. It turns out to be a night to remember, but not in a good way. Something fishy is clearly going on in this town, not the least the residents with their piscine complexion:
“A narrow head, bulging, watery blue eyes that seemed never to wink, a flat nose, a receding forehead and chin, and singularly undeveloped ears. … long, thick lip and coarse-pored, greyish cheeks seemed almost beardless except for some sparse yellow hairs that straggled and curled in irregular patches; and in places the surface seemed queerly irregular, as if peeling from some cutaneous disease.”
Fishy looking dudes, art by M.Crassus, click image for more details.
Mr. Whathisname soon finds himself in an inverse of a fish out of water scenario where he is the only landlubber. I cannot possibly reveal any more about the plot for fear of the Innsmouthian fishy folks coming after me. Suffice to say that that this is top-notched HPL and should not be missed. If you don’t like horror stories read it for the Omega−3.
As with a lot of HPL’s works the story is told from an unnamed protagonist’s viewpoint. This poor lad is on his way by bus to Arkham but the bus has to stop over at an obscure little town called Innsmouth, unfortunately, the bus breaks down at this town and he has to stay the night. It turns out to be a night to remember, but not in a good way. Something fishy is clearly going on in this town, not the least the residents with their piscine complexion:
“A narrow head, bulging, watery blue eyes that seemed never to wink, a flat nose, a receding forehead and chin, and singularly undeveloped ears. … long, thick lip and coarse-pored, greyish cheeks seemed almost beardless except for some sparse yellow hairs that straggled and curled in irregular patches; and in places the surface seemed queerly irregular, as if peeling from some cutaneous disease.”
Fishy looking dudes, art by M.Crassus, click image for more details.
Mr. Whathisname soon finds himself in an inverse of a fish out of water scenario where he is the only landlubber. I cannot possibly reveal any more about the plot for fear of the Innsmouthian fishy folks coming after me. Suffice to say that that this is top-notched HPL and should not be missed. If you don’t like horror stories read it for the Omega−3.
June 20, 2023
PS PUBLISHING hat 2015 begonnen, unter dem Imprint THE PULPS LIBRARY die Reihe LOVECRAFT ILLUSTRATED herauszugeben. Erschienen sind 17 wertige und schön aufgemachte schmale Hardcover-Bände, mehr - auch von anderen Autoren - scheint derzeit (2023) unter diesem Imprint leider nicht geplant zu sein.
Alle Bände sind von Pete Von Sholly reich illustriert und beinhalten jeweils ergänzende Texte.
THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH, der 5. Band der Reihe, beginnt mit einer Einleitung von S.T. Joshi, gefolgt von einem Vorwort von Brian Yuzna, der als Produzent TSOI unter dem Titel DAGON verfilmt hat. Die wechselhafte Entstehungsgeschichte des (in Spanien gedrehten!) Films kann man hier nachlesen und ich fand sie fast spannender als den Film, den ich mir daraufhin angeschaut habe.
Neben Lovecrafts Story wurden als Anhang noch Robert W. Chambers THE HARBOR-MASTER und Irvin S. Cobbs FISHHEAD abgedruckt, die vermutlich Inspirationsquellen für HPL waren.
Unter dem Titel FISH SCHTICKS schließt ein betrachtender Essay von Robert M. Price den Band ab. So ziemlich also ein Rundum-Sorglos-Paket.
Zu Lovecrafts Erzählung:
THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH gehört zu den Kernerzählungen, die den Cthulhu-Mythos begründet haben, an dem bis zum heutigen Tage zahlreiche Autoren fleißig weiterstricken.
Kann man diese Story überhaupt ein erstes Mal, und unbefangen, lesen?
Mir ging es tatsächlich so, dass ich sie spannender, interessanter und stimmungsvoller fand als bei früheren Lesedurchgängen.
Ein Schatten liegt nicht nur über Innsmouth, sondern auch über dem namenlosen Erzähler. Dabei ist es kein Licht, dass seinen Schatten verursacht, sondern eine "kosmische" Dunkelheit, die als DNA in seiner genealogischen Herkunft liegt.
Viel wird über die literarischen Einflüsse geschrieben, die HPL zu dieser Geschichte angeregt haben. Allerdings habe ich mir die Frage gestellt, ob die Leiden des Erzählers ihren Autor nicht furchtbar beunruhigt haben müssen. Lovecraft hatte in schwieriges Verhältnis zu Frauen und war in heute unerträglichem Maße fremdenfeindlich. Er sah sich als (neu)englischen Gentleman, der vorzugsweise in der Welt des 18. Jahrhunderts verharrte und mit dem Lauf der Welt im 20. Jahrhundert nichts anfangen konnte. Ein Sonderling also, der sich etwas auf seine Herkunft zugute hielt und in ihr Halt und Berechtigung fand. Die Protagonisten seiner Erzählungen entsprechen meist diesem Typus, sind Altertumsforscher, leicht bis schwer neurotisch und immer vom kosmischen Schrecken und dem damit einhergehenden drohenden Wahnsinn bedroht.
Ich denke mir, dass die Angst vor allem Fremden und vor neuzeitlichen Veränderungen daraus resultierte, dass Lovecraft in ganz besonderem Maße eine sichere Umgebung brauchte, in der er sich geborgen fühlen und wirken konnte. Das alte Providence, mit seinen für amerikanische Verhältnisse uralten Bauwerken, das ist ein Teil von Lovecraft.
Aber gerade die Vergangenheit war für HPL doch zugleich eine Bedrohung, gerade dort, wo es am wichtigsten ist, nämlich in der Familie. Er, der so viel Wert auf seine Herkunft legte, hatte einen Vater, der in einer Nervenheilanstalt starb und eine Mutter, die psychisch ebenfalls stark angegriffen war. Unter Nervenschwächen und allerlei damit verbundenen Beschwerden litt schon das Kind HPL.
Wie mag es sich für ihn angefühlt haben, eine Erzählung zu schreiben, die in Innsmouth angesiedelt ist, einer dem Verfall preisgegebenen Kleinstad, die einstmals vielleicht gar nicht so viel anders als Providence war?
Und wie es es zu dem Verfall gekommen? Indem sich die Einwohner mit fremden Göttern einließen und mit der fremden Rasse sogar Nachkommen zeugten. Viel ist in diesem Zusammenhang von Blut und Degeneration die Rede, die Eltern tragen die Schuld am Niedergang, an dem die Nachkommen leiden müssen.
Auch wenn HPL literarische Anregungen hatte: Wird er nicht tief im Innern den Verfall seiner eigenen Familie vor Augen gehabt und ihn mit Schrecken reflektiert haben?
Ob das so ist, ich weiß es nicht. DER SCHRECKEN ÜBER INNSMOUTH ist jedenfalls auch nach fast 100 Jahren immer noch eine Erzählung, die über ganz massives Schauer-Potenzial verfügt und zum Nachsinnen anregt.
May 16, 2020
Δεύτερο βιβλίο Λάβκραφτ της χρονιάς.
Ας ξεκινήσουμε με το προφανές: ΑΥΤΟΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ Ο ΠΙΟ ΓΑΜΑΤΟΣ ΑΒΥΣΣΑΙΟΣ ΠΟΥ ΕΧΩ ΔΕΙ ΠΟΤΕ.
Ουφ, το 'πα. Θέλω να το πω χρόνια τώρα. <3
Στα σοβαρά: Πώς γίνεται να μην αγαπάς τον Ίσκιο πάνω από το Ίνσμουθ. Πώς. Πώς γίνεται, εσύ που το έχεις ξαναδιαβάσει και ξέρεις τι παίζει, να μην παρατηρήσεις όλες τις μικρές λεπτομέρειες που σου δίνει από την αρχή - αφού φυσικά σου έχει κατασποϊλάρει το τέλος, αλλά who cares, αν ξέρεις από την πρώτη παράγραφο ότι θα τελικά ο Ύφαλος του Διαβόλου θα φάει τις τορπίλες του, τότε κάτι άαααλλο θα έχει να σου πει στις υπόλοιπες 80 σελίδες ως εκεί. Πώς γίνεται να μην παραξενευτείς όταν δεις ότι φύγανε οι τορπίλες κι έχει ακόμα δέκα σελίδες ως το τέλος, και τρίβεις τα χέρια σου γιατί υποψιάζεσαι τι άλλο θα σου πει, αλλά θες να στο πει, πώς λέει η διαφήμιση "θέλω να τ' ακούω".
Τα υπόλοιπα διηγήματα είναι ή του ύψους ή του βάθους. Το κυνηγόσκυλο, που δεν θυμόμουν καν αν το έχω ξαναδιαβάσει (αλλά θυμόμουν την εξαιρετική του απόδοση από τον Tanabe Gou. Κριπίλα μέχρι θανάτου. Ο Βάλτος του Φεγγαριού κλασσικό, αλλά δεν με γοήτευσε όπως παλιότερα. Ο Ίβιδος χαριτωμένο, επίσης κάτι που είχα ιδέα καν ότι υπήρχε, και κάπου χάνω το νόημα του. Και το αποκρουστικά ηλίθιο (για μένα) Φυλακισμένος από τους Φαραώ. Το έχω διαβάσει άλλη μια φορά, σε μελλοντικές αναγνώσεις απλά θα το παρατήσω. Δεν είμαι εντελώς σίγουρη, αλλά παίζει να είναι το χειρότερο πράμμα που έχει γράψει ποτέ αυτό ο άνθρωπος.
Ας ξεκινήσουμε με το προφανές: ΑΥΤΟΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ Ο ΠΙΟ ΓΑΜΑΤΟΣ ΑΒΥΣΣΑΙΟΣ ΠΟΥ ΕΧΩ ΔΕΙ ΠΟΤΕ.
Ουφ, το 'πα. Θέλω να το πω χρόνια τώρα. <3
Στα σοβαρά: Πώς γίνεται να μην αγαπάς τον Ίσκιο πάνω από το Ίνσμουθ. Πώς. Πώς γίνεται, εσύ που το έχεις ξαναδιαβάσει και ξέρεις τι παίζει, να μην παρατηρήσεις όλες τις μικρές λεπτομέρειες που σου δίνει από την αρχή - αφού φυσικά σου έχει κατασποϊλάρει το τέλος, αλλά who cares, αν ξέρεις από την πρώτη παράγραφο ότι θα τελικά ο Ύφαλος του Διαβόλου θα φάει τις τορπίλες του, τότε κάτι άαααλλο θα έχει να σου πει στις υπόλοιπες 80 σελίδες ως εκεί. Πώς γίνεται να μην παραξενευτείς όταν δεις ότι φύγανε οι τορπίλες κι έχει ακόμα δέκα σελίδες ως το τέλος, και τρίβεις τα χέρια σου γιατί υποψιάζεσαι τι άλλο θα σου πει, αλλά θες να στο πει, πώς λέει η διαφήμιση "θέλω να τ' ακούω".
Τα υπόλοιπα διηγήματα είναι ή του ύψους ή του βάθους. Το κυνηγόσκυλο, που δεν θυμόμουν καν αν το έχω ξαναδιαβάσει (αλλά θυμόμουν την εξαιρετική του απόδοση από τον Tanabe Gou. Κριπίλα μέχρι θανάτου. Ο Βάλτος του Φεγγαριού κλασσικό, αλλά δεν με γοήτευσε όπως παλιότερα. Ο Ίβιδος χαριτωμένο, επίσης κάτι που είχα ιδέα καν ότι υπήρχε, και κάπου χάνω το νόημα του. Και το αποκρουστικά ηλίθιο (για μένα) Φυλακισμένος από τους Φαραώ. Το έχω διαβάσει άλλη μια φορά, σε μελλοντικές αναγνώσεις απλά θα το παρατήσω. Δεν είμαι εντελώς σίγουρη, αλλά παίζει να είναι το χειρότερο πράμμα που έχει γράψει ποτέ αυτό ο άνθρωπος.
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