Lovecraft: The Shadow over Innsmouth

by H. P Lovecraft





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“Yield up enough sacrifices an’ savage knick-knacks an’ harbourage in the taown when they wanted it, an’ they’d let well enough alone. Wudn’t bother no strangers as might bear tales aoutside—that is, withaout they got pryin’. All in the band of the faithful—Order o’ Dagon—an’ the children shud never die, but go back to the Mother Hydra an’ Father Dagon what we all come from onct—Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah-nagl fhtagn—”
     Old Zadok was fast lapsing into stark raving, and I held my breath. Poor old soul—to what pitiful depths of hallucination had his liquor, plus his hatred of the decay, alienage, and disease around him, brought that fertile, imaginative brain! He began to moan now, and tears were coursing down his channelled cheeks into the depths of his beard.”

 

Cover the of first printing of the story

Once tossed about like a hot potato, this story is now considered a classic and a staple of the Cthulhu Mythos. This story was initially rejected by Weird Tales, not for its content, but because of its length. It was too long for a magazine issue, but could not be easily broken into two parts. Eventually it was printed into a badly produced paperback, then reprinted in the January 1942 issue of Weird Tales- after the author’s death.

The basic plot is rather straightforward. A man describes how his trip to Innsmouth lead to a government investigation of the town, where odd people having the strange wide-eyed “Innsmouth look”, run rampant and perform strange rites on a place called Devil’s Reef and at the former Masonic Lodge, now called the Esoteric Order of Dagon. One thing leads to another, things are discovered, murders are attempted, and the narrator runs off only to make a startling revelation that turns him around.

Lovecraft further adds another layer to his Mythos. He creates another race the Deep Ones, who honor Father Dagon and Mother Hydra, live under the sea, and sometimes mate with men. But these aren’t beautiful mermaids- oh no. They are carnivorous bug-eyed monsters who are reportedly immortal. They mingle with human from their nests all over the world and their base in America happens to be the New England port of Innsmouth. Dagon is a throwback to a previous story of Lovecraft of the same name. His actual connection is up in the air. He might be an Adam figure to them and dwells in their underwater city- which apparently is some sort of extra-dimensional portal as well. He isn’t an object of worship, as their deity is Cthulhu.

Cover of  Weird Tales January 1942

It has been speculated (not just by me) that these Deep Ones are the same race mentioned in At the Mountains of Madness as arriving with Cthulhu’s landing on the earth. The so-called Star-Spawn of Cthulhu. These may well be the same race, only evolved over the millions of years. An appearance of the Soggoth at the end of the story, one of the slave race of the Elder Things from At the Mountains of Madness, adds credence in my mind.

A number of adaptations and films have been made from this story, including my favorite Lovecraft film Dagon- which unfortunately I could only find the trailer for. But many of the others are below. Enjoy and Caveat Emptor.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

                                            Cthulhu (2007) full film

                    Escape from Midwich Valley (Innsmouth) short- (2015)

                    Insmus wo Oou Kage (1992 Japanese Television
                            Adaptation)

                                                Dagon (2001) Trailer

                                    Radio Adaptation of the Story