A review by philibrarian
The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft

5.0

Every once in a while a story comes along that you just can't put down. This was one of them. As soon as I started reading I was pulled in by the uneasy mystery of a town on the brink of ruin...or so it seemed. Having only ever heard of Lovecraftian lore I decided it would be worth seeing what the hubbub was all about. I was looking for a scary read and picked this one up, and boy was it scary! Lovecraft's skill at describing created an atmosphere of apprehension from the first paragraph. His words envelop you as he describes ruin and the feelings it evokes. He isn't just wordy for the sake of being wordy though. He deftly crafts a place that is alive, the buildings themselves having a personality that puts the reader on edge. I wanted to know more, to become enclosed in the eery feeling of things being off and not being able to do anything about it. I was blown away by how this book pulled me. What truly elevated this for me was the ending, it was the kind of twist that left me in awe. The idea of becoming what we fear and being okay with it is a fascinating one. It reframes the story in such a way that it invites the reader to question if what they fear may in fact be their lack of understanding of what they are witnessing. Maybe all it takes is acceptance of our fears to become comfortable with them. This will certainly be the kind of story I think about for a long time to come.