Titan Books are re-releasing this series of books, originally from 1994 by Fedogan and Bremer. The first,Shadows over Innsmouth, would make a terrific Halloween read, if you were looking for something this year.The book starts big. After an introduction by Stephen, we’re off and running with the inspiration for this collection, one of HP Lovecraft’s longest tales (about 64 000 words), The Shadow over Innsmouth. If you haven’t read it before, it’s an impressive read, showing all the strengths (and weaknesses) of Lovecraft’s writing.At times it can be a little overwrought, a little repetitive and over-dramatic, and yet, with its details of creepy Innsmouth, New England, its weird religions and slimy otherworldly inhabitants, its florid language and relentless sense of unease (not to mention the oft-derided tone of racism), it must be said that even after 75-plus years since its original publication, there’s no denying that the tale still has a certain power, even when there are places where it appears that ol’ Howard Phillips has merely stumbled across his typewriter keys. The bar is set quite high.It’s certainly no mean feat, but there’s a broad and rich collection of authors chosen to attempt the task, such as Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Kim Newman, Brian Lumley, Basil Copper, Michael Marshall Smith and others.You might think that a book with seventeen stories all about the same place in New England might be a little limiting. And it may be, although Lovecraft’s detailed setup means that even after 60-odd thousand words there’s a lot of places that the rest of these tales could then go, from the rich historical background of the town and surrounding New England area to the present day weariness that seems to be part of the culture, the undoubtedly creepy back-story of Innsmouth’s inhabitants and their attempts to keep strangers out or alternatively catch unwary visitors.Some of the tales here take the Cthulhu mythos further: to England (Brian Mooney’s The Tomb of Priscus Brian Lumley’s Dagon’s Bell and Michael Marshall Smith’s To See the Sea), to Ireland (Peter Tremayne’s Daoine Domhain), to Romania (Nicholas Royle’s The Homecoming) and even internationally, over the internet (David Langford’s Deepnet).The story following Lovecraft’s tale must be a tough choice, because it must stand perhaps the closest comparison to the original. Thankfully, Basil Copper’s lengthy story, Beyond the Reef, doesn’t let us down. It is a pleasantly surprising read, similar in tone to HPL’s tales and a great follow on to the original, but set twenty or so years later. I loved the strange goings on at Lovecraft’s mythical University, Miskatonic U. Sadly Basil died this year. I wish I had read more of his work before his death.After that, the other fifteen tales go past in some speed, but no major loss of quality. Particularly liked were Kim Newman’s A Quarter to Three (mainly for its horribly bad pun at the end), Ramsey Campbell’s The Church in High Street and Dagon’s Bell by Brian Lumley. All of these writers are as good as I expected, with Campbell and Lumley being well known for their own versions of Lovecraft’s tales. Neil Gaiman’s Only the End of the World Again is an interesting tale combining Deep Ones and lycanthropy.Of the lesser-known authors, Jack Yeovil’s* The Big Fish is an abrupt change of gear from many of the stories in the collection, written from the perspective of 1942 as a weary and cynical Chandler-esque story (with added Cthulhu). Not to be taken too seriously, and good fun to read. David Sutton’s Innsmouth Gold is also good, and a bit more serious, but leaves matters rather unresolved at the end. In Daoine Domhain Peter Tremayne broadens the Mythos by transporting most of the tale to Ireland to show the mythical origins of the Cthulhu story. Michael Marshall Smith’s To See the Sea tells of a Wicker Man-type event on the English coast, Peter Mooney’s The Tomb of Priscus gives the Cthulhu background a historical and archaeological feel, Brian Stableford’s The Innsmouth Heritage a scientific dimension.Not all are quite as good, though none are really bad. Guy N Smith’s Return to Innsmouth does well to recap the original Lovecraft story before giving it its own minor twist. If I had not read the original one hundred pages or so previously, I think I would have enjoyed this one more, but in the end my abiding impression was that it mainly summarised Lovecraft’s original tale. DF Lewis’s tale (Down to the Boots) was rather short and thus left little impression.Nevertheless, the writing on the whole in this collection is pretty strong. There’s enough here to keep the reader happy with more ‘hits’ than ‘misses’ overall. What I also liked was that this is also a collection that pays attention to the extra little details, clearly ‘a book’ rather than an e-book product. The book is profusely illustrated throughout by some admirably ghoulish Cthulhulian drawings from artists Dave Carson, Martin McKenna and Jim Pitts, to whom the book is dedicated. These set off the text grandly.Finally, to round the collection off, there’s some biographical notes in the Afterword about each of the contributors, updated from the 1994 version. Jack Yeovil’s (aka Kim Newman) biography is quite an imaginative entertainment in itself.So: fancy giving Lovecraft a try but never got round to it? Or how about having read Lovecraft but wanting to read more contemporary writers’ varied takes on the Lovecraft canon? This book caters to you both. It’s a terrific collection, and worthy of Halloween reading. (Had I not read it already…!)Well done to Titan for re-releasing this one.There’s a companion volume, Weird Shadows over Innsmouth, which I’m now going to track down, also due October. Iä-R’lyeh! Cthulhu fhtagn! Iä! Iä!
There are a few good collections of Cthulhu Mythos stories, but this isn't one of them. I'm not as harsh as Jonathan Brigg below about this collection -- which consists oddly enough of British writers with one obvious exception -- but not by much: there is a discouraging amount of dross here. Ramsey Campbell's story is one of his early stories, from 1962. Kim Newman's (writing as Jack Yeovil) "The Big Fish" is more of a fun Philip Marlowe pastiche than a moment of cosmic horror. Neil Gaiman's "Only the End of the World Again" is likewise more of light entertainment than horror. Only Michael Marshall Smith's "To See the Sea" comes anywhere close to what a reader expects by the words "Cthulhu Mythos". Last of the stories worth mentioning is Lovecraft's own "Shadow over Innsmouth"; it may not be on the same level as "The Call of Cthulhu" or "The Color out of Space", & Lovecraft himself admitted he had no flair for dialogue, but the idea & the basic plot is still strikingly original & creepy. I don't know what it is about the Cthulhu Mythos that leads to so much bad writing. Much of what I've found reads as if it were fanfic. Most of the better stories are the tongue-in-cheek stuff, the light-hearted parodies like Newman's story here. It's as if there is no new original ways to deliver the theme of man's own irrelevance on his home world exists, or the fact we know so little of the great darkness surrounding us has become a cliche. Hopefully someone will soon publish stories in this sub-genre and give new life to these ideas in fiction form.
What do You think about Shadows Over Innsmouth (2001)?
I've never read Lovecraft before, but I've been meaning to for quite some time, based on his reputation as a father of modern supernatural horror, and my passing experience of the Cthulu role playing game. I listened to an audio version story of The Dunwich HorrorThe Dunwich Horror several weeks ago, though (Which I enjoyed), so I was quite looking forward to reading this anthology, which I felt would be a good introduction to the mythos, and the author's work.The first story in this anthology is the original Lovecraft story, The Shadow over Innsmouth. It was good, but I have to say, I enjoyed The Dunwich Horror more, and even within this collection, it wasn't my favourite.There are seventeen stories here, including The Shadow over Innsmouth. Like most anthologies, some were amazingly good, some were good or just "okay", and some were downright silly. They all have something to do with Innsmouth, and extend Lovecraft's original story in their own way. Some of them are actually SET in Innsmouth, while others are set in faraway lands whose history or people somehow relate back to that town.What I liked about the collection as a whole was that there was no contradiction in any of the stories, and they were set in such a way that they flowed very nicely into each other. I now feel that I know a fair amount about the town, Dagon, and the Deep Ones, and I think I'll be exploring the whole mythos further!I found the original story by H.P. Lovecraft a bit difficult to read, particularly those sections where Zadok was talking, because the accent came through thickly in the writing. I think that's a little over-done, and that there's a reason why many modern writing courses teach not to go overboard with regional inflections when writing dialogue! Also, the language is general is a little archaic and I'm not used to it any more. Still, I can appreciate Lovecraft's genius, and the world he has created, and I am most definitely not put off - I'll be reading more, as I said.If you're looking for an introduction into Lovecraftian horror, I think that this anthology will serve your purposes well. You'll come out with an appreciation for the rich tapestry that was started by the man, and carried on very respectfully by many other authors after his death.
—Graham Downs
If you aren't familiar with the word "furtive", you will be by the time you finish this anthology. What can I say about Shadows over Innsmouth. It's a compilation of authors and as such there were parts I enjoyed more than others. It was my first time reading Lovecraft and the same can be said for every other author here, save Gaiman. And well, I gotta say, I struggled with Lovecraft a bit in the same way I tend to struggle with most literature that can't really be classified as contemporary. So while I really appreciate his original ideas and masterful understanding of horror, I can do without the overly detailed visual descriptions and persistently formal tone.A few of the other stories were really fun and entertaining but several were boring and pointless. Basically the original Lovecraft story minus the originality.
—Lyndon Perry
This is a book you'll enjoy if you love to read. That is to say, if you put all your eggs in one basket -- such as, "I'll read this book and if it's good, I'll read others" -- nope, this is not that book. Some of the stories are mediocre, some are excellent; this makes for a very uneven collection. One of the stories is an extended pun, and not at all amusing. However, there is one story, To See the Sea, which is worth the price of the book. So, for Lovecraft fans, this is indispensable. Of course, you may also wish to find the original hardcover, published by Fedogan & Bremer. It's a better investment than vintage port, and it travels more easily.
—Emmett Hoops
