Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Before diving into a review, it's important to address the racist undertones of the story. Lovecraft was a known racist and xenophobe, and Shadow over Innsmouth's inspiration leans heavily on his fear of miscegenation. For the purpose of this review I'll be looking at the elements in the story on their own, and rating it accordingly.
An unnamed narrator dictates his narrow escape from the decrepit Innsmouth, Mass and how the US government raided the town and detained most of its population. The narrator was a college student touring New England, and becomes intrigued with the fishing town of Innsmouth. All the surrounding towns deplore the town and its citizens, and the town is surrounded with ghoulish rumors. Paganism, human sacrifice, and mutated populous. Despite being a derelict town devoid of industry, Innsmouth suspiciously as a successful gold mine despite no ores, always bountiful fishing, and strange alien jewelry. The townspeople of Innsmouth are well known for their hostility of outsiders.
Despite the warnings to stay away, the narrator finds his way to Innsmouth to investigate. His game plan was to only stay for the day then leave on the first bus out. But when the bus breaks down, the narrator is forced to stay for the night. The narrator then learns that not only are the rumors about Innsmouth true, they are far worse than anyway can fathom...
What I love about The Shadow over Innsmouth is that the story starts off innocent enough, and then progressively becomes more dreadful and terrifying. And it never stops. With the passing of each page the narrator finds himself deeper and deeper into eldritch horror. Even the slight moments of reprieve the narrator has swings back with a rebound effect and the situation becomes more dire. And of course a classic Lovecraft ending. For the story elements and plot, The Shadow Over Innsmouth gets a 4/5 and must read for Lovecraft fans. But as Lovecraft fans, we have to acknowledge the racial connotations in the story. Adding back the racist tones that were intended by the author, the review obviously tanks. One cannot earnestly give a review of a story that maps out the author's racist ideology.
But as fans of Lovecraft works/mythology we can claim back the genre from what people call "The Shadow over Lovecraft." There are numerous new media/stories that re-tell and evolve the story away from the racism to help separate the mythos from H.P Lovecraft himself. That way we can still enjoy The Shadow over Innsmouth, Dagon and the Deep ones without having to excuse Lovecraft's views/ideologies.
An unnamed narrator dictates his narrow escape from the decrepit Innsmouth, Mass and how the US government raided the town and detained most of its population. The narrator was a college student touring New England, and becomes intrigued with the fishing town of Innsmouth. All the surrounding towns deplore the town and its citizens, and the town is surrounded with ghoulish rumors. Paganism, human sacrifice, and mutated populous. Despite being a derelict town devoid of industry, Innsmouth suspiciously as a successful gold mine despite no ores, always bountiful fishing, and strange alien jewelry. The townspeople of Innsmouth are well known for their hostility of outsiders.
Despite the warnings to stay away, the narrator finds his way to Innsmouth to investigate. His game plan was to only stay for the day then leave on the first bus out. But when the bus breaks down, the narrator is forced to stay for the night. The narrator then learns that not only are the rumors about Innsmouth true, they are far worse than anyway can fathom...
What I love about The Shadow over Innsmouth is that the story starts off innocent enough, and then progressively becomes more dreadful and terrifying. And it never stops. With the passing of each page the narrator finds himself deeper and deeper into eldritch horror. Even the slight moments of reprieve the narrator has swings back with a rebound effect and the situation becomes more dire. And of course a classic Lovecraft ending. For the story elements and plot, The Shadow Over Innsmouth gets a 4/5 and must read for Lovecraft fans. But as Lovecraft fans, we have to acknowledge the racial connotations in the story. Adding back the racist tones that were intended by the author, the review obviously tanks. One cannot earnestly give a review of a story that maps out the author's racist ideology.
But as fans of Lovecraft works/mythology we can claim back the genre from what people call "The Shadow over Lovecraft." There are numerous new media/stories that re-tell and evolve the story away from the racism to help separate the mythos from H.P Lovecraft himself. That way we can still enjoy The Shadow over Innsmouth, Dagon and the Deep ones without having to excuse Lovecraft's views/ideologies.
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An interesting premise that was unfortunately a slog to get through. Readers should save themselves the time and just read a summary.
This was my first Lovecraft, and I read it in preparation for reading [b:Winter Tide|29939089|Winter Tide (The Innsmouth Legacy, #1)|Ruthanna Emrys|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463670456s/29939089.jpg|47306624] by [a:Ruthanna Emrys|8154083|Ruthanna Emrys|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1464921954p2/8154083.jpg].
I'm not a huge fan of "classic" speculative fiction, and so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The tension in this 1931 horror novella builds up slowly but surely, and makes for an entertaining read.
I'm not a huge fan of "classic" speculative fiction, and so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The tension in this 1931 horror novella builds up slowly but surely, and makes for an entertaining read.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Another delicious fishy god story from Lovecraft. The ending of this particular story is especially satisfying. Goddamn I love this man (as a writer. His racism is obviously deplorable).
This is my first Lovecraft story…that wasn’t written for Harry Houdini, anyway. I am coming to the story after recently playing Call of the Sea. Being previously uninformed about much of the Cthulhu mythos, I am glad I read this story now in particular. A lot more about that video game makes sense!
I wouldn’t consider myself a horror fan by any means. I didn’t find myself particularly moved by this tale, perhaps because the author’s own xenophobic fears were leaking through too strongly. But the last chapter sort of made me think better of the story as a whole. Perhaps if I was a young woman in the early 20th century this might have creeped me out. Reading it today, I think the fish people in hats and suits are cool and an underwater city sounds dope.
I wouldn’t consider myself a horror fan by any means. I didn’t find myself particularly moved by this tale, perhaps because the author’s own xenophobic fears were leaking through too strongly. But the last chapter sort of made me think better of the story as a whole. Perhaps if I was a young woman in the early 20th century this might have creeped me out. Reading it today, I think the fish people in hats and suits are cool and an underwater city sounds dope.
Short, spooky and mysterious. I really liked the ending. I wish he had had more interaction with the creatures themselves.
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was creepy and all but not the best story
First dive into reading Lovecraft himself, rather than reading/playing things influenced by his works.
I only wish I had made the dive into his works sooner!
Read and listened (https://youtu.be/wJiSK3KW628)
I only wish I had made the dive into his works sooner!
Read and listened (https://youtu.be/wJiSK3KW628)