Review: The Shadow over Innsmouth

The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rating 4 out of 5| Grade B+; Thalassophobia & ichthyophobia at its glorious worst

Enough with the 'Fishy Smell' for Shaggoth's Sake !

When one treads through the vast collection of Lovecraftian literature, a disturbing picture begins to emerge. One in regards to its sheltered & neurotic author. One who was afraid of, pretty much everything. From racist fears like fear of other ethnicities & race-mixing, to frankly hilarious ones, such as fear of non-Euclidian geometry, gelatinous structures & the color gray.

Nowhere is this more apparent, than in one of the author's more enduring tales, 'The Shadow over Innsmouth'. The premise of the story is, as usual, a gaunt depressed white guy, a stand in for the author, living in Arkham (God's gift to the world), who goes searching for his roots in the mysterious town of Innsmouth, filled with its distinct looking populace.

And in typical Lovecraftian fashion, all the necessary details to unravel the mystery is given to him, and us as the readers through an extended flashback by some crazy person. Which tells a tale of how, the founder of the town had struck a deal with sinister gods & fish people, for children to be sacrificed to them, in exchange for prosperity & riches. The townfolk, in time, even went as far as interbreeding with the fish people from the depths, in a bid for immortality. Resulting in the odd, slimy, fish like features of the local denizens, as well their pupil less haunting Innsmouth Look.



More than the story in itself, which is OK, I suppose what stands out is the blatant representation of Lovecraft's own prejudices which are put on paper. From his fear of other races & ethnicities, whom he sees as being less than the civilized people (hence the fish folk), as well as his fear of race mixing and thus corrupting the pure blood of 'normal' people.

Although the end of the story, does show the protagonist, having himself discovered his heritage of being a Innsmouth descendant, slowly devolving into a creature with the Innsmouth look. You can look at this as a negative, or under the assumption that, underneath all that childhood trauma, racism and disturbing mental issues, Lovecraft had begun to accept the absurdity of his own views, subconsciously trying to redeem himself. His later works, which are less overt when it comes to the racism & phobia were a step in the right direction. Though time and tide were not on the man's side. Fated to die painfully and unrecognized, his life's work would live on in the minds of readers.

View all my reviews