The Shadow Over Innsmouth

[j d worthington]

Does the name even make sense from a linguistic point of view ?

Innsmouth, or Dunwich? In either case -- yes. Simply put, Innsmouth would be "the mouth of the River Inn"; Dunwich would (most likely) reflect the impression of the landscape ("dun" meaning "an almost neutral brownish gray to dull grayish brown") combined with the common suffix "wich" (or "wick"), generally denoting a creek or bay, or a small creek, islet, or bay. However, Skeat notes that this word is also often conflated or confused with an alternative use of "wick", meaning "town" (from Anglo-Saxon wic, a villate, town); but in certain place names it also reflects a peculiar use of Icelandic vic and means "brine-pit"... which, given the devilish goings on in the Massachusetts Dunwich, may mean Lovecraft was having a little fun while adding to the subtler layers of resonance. This is certainly the sort of pun he would allow himself, because it does serve to increase the associations (and therefore the atmosphere) of the tale. While tending to avoid (and dislike) overt humor in weird fiction, a more subtle use of wordplay or an in-joke which did not detract from the atmospheric tensity of the tale was something he indulged in rather more frequently....

 

[Fried Egg]

Dunwich is definitely a real place in the UK, or at least was, it is famous for having been nearly completely washed into the sea over the last thousand years. Here are the ruins of a churn in Dunwich (1904) which has since fallen into the sea too:

 

[J-WO]

Oops, my bad. I don't think there is an Innsmouth in the UK. But I'll tell you all how I came to that mistake. There was an old issue of White Dwarf (Pre-issue 100) that had a Call of Cthulu scenario in it. It featured Deep Ones as the baddies and was set in a fictional New England fishing town called Walberswick.

Walberswick does exist in the UK and is very near to Dunwich. I assume the scenario writer must have visited the area or spotted Dunwich on the map and purloined other local names.

I think the scenario was called The Watchers of Walberswick and had some great dialogue bits for the Keeper to use. It was the very thing that introduced me to the mythos and set me on a mission to beg mum to buy that book with the cover she did not approve of.

Apologies for my phantom Innsmouth, folks.

 

[w h pugmire esq]

I'm reading through "Waking Up Screaming....", and "The Dreams in the Witch House" does look like a better anthology. I would have bought a compendium if it was available in e-pub, regardless going with books that take selections, even if they are hand picked for a reason

I don't think the texts in Wake Up Screaming (or any of the Del Rey books) are the reliable S. T. Joshi texts. The three Penguin editions have their textual flaws, but they are such wonderful books, and I love those annotations. The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories is my favorite of the three collections from Penguin. I carried all three editions with me when, in October of 1707, their editor took me on a walking tour of Lovecraftian sites in Providence. I have an extra set of the three Penguin editions, so if you would like them private message me your home address and I shall send them as a gift. They really are fine editions and serve as an excellent introduction to Lovecraft's weird fiction.

 

[Tinsel]

Thank you for the generous offer! I actually now have all three of the Penguin texts on my Sony Reader so I should not take those books from you. The nice thing about this Reader is that I can look up words in a dictionary with the pen device. There is another epub book on there that is somehow specially made for the Reader and it is a Lovecraft book but I did not purchase it. I'm not sure if it is worth it, but what would be nice is to have an epub that has a lot of additional side notes that are available at the tap of the pen device. Those will be the books of the future. Anyway, that must have been interesting to visit Lovecraftian sites, but what is this about 1707?

I started the first book...Call of Cthulhu...and I'm going to read the third story...Arthur Jermyn...maybe tonight.

 

[w h pugmire esq]

I don't know how easily it is in the U.K. to get the Barnes & Noble single volume edition, H. P. Lovecraft -- The Fiction. The first edition was recently republished. Despite the fact that it is riddled with new errors that were somehow introduced into Joshi's texts, this is still a wonderful one-volume edition of all of Lovecraft's fiction that he wrote himself (no collaborations or revisions excepting "Through the Gates of the Silver Key"). In an appendix, S. T. has included an early draft of the "Innsmouth" tale. From his notes:

"The discarded draft of 'The Shadow over Innsmouth' is found on the back of the extant manuscript of the final draft of the story, and individual pages of it have apparently been incorporated into the finished story. It has several points of interest, including the narrator's visit to the Marsh retail office--a scene excised from the final draft."

It also supplies the name of the narrator, who remains nameless in the final version of the tale. I still remember when I first read the "chase" scene, and I was spellbound by Lovecraft's description of that horde of deep ones, hopping and bleating, pursuing the narrator. "And yet I saw them in a limitless stream -- flopping, hopping, croaking, bleating -- surging inhumanly through the spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic nightmare." Gawd, what a wonderful sentence! And what a scene. It mystifies me when people complain of Lovecraft that his weird fiction isn't scary; or when people complain that he cannot describe his horrors. What? He is one of the most descriptive writers in the genre. When I saw the film Dagon, I was extremely impressed with its depiction of the Deep Ones -- especially the one bloke who dragged himself along as he sat on his wee trolley.

 

[Ningauble]

In an appendix, S. T. has included an early draft of the "Innsmouth" tale.

That is also available in Miscellaneous Writings (Arkham House, 1995).

 

[Tinsel]

I don't know how easily it is in the U.K. to get the Barnes & Noble single volume edition, H. P. Lovecraft -- The Fiction. The first edition was recently republished. Despite the fact that it is riddled with new errors that were somehow introduced into Joshi's texts, this is still a wonderful one-volume edition of all of Lovecraft's fiction that he wrote himself (no collaborations or revisions excepting "Through the Gates of the Silver Key"). In an appendix, S. T. has included an early draft of the "Innsmouth" tale. From his notes:

"The discarded draft of 'The Shadow over Innsmouth' is found on the back of the extant manuscript of the final draft of the story, and individual pages of it have apparently been incorporated into the finished story. It has several points of interest, including the narrator's visit to the Marsh retail office--a scene excised from the final draft."

It also supplies the name of the narrator, who remains nameless in the final version of the tale. I still remember when I first read the "chase" scene, and I was spellbound by Lovecraft's description of that horde of deep ones, hopping and bleating, pursuing the narrator. "And yet I saw them in a limitless stream -- flopping, hopping, croaking, bleating -- surging inhumanly through the spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic nightmare." Gawd, what a wonderful sentence! And what a scene. It mystifies me when people complain of Lovecraft that his weird fiction isn't scary; or when people complain that he cannot describe his horrors. What? He is one of the most descriptive writers in the genre. When I saw the film Dagon, I was extremely impressed with its depiction of the Deep Ones -- especially the one bloke who dragged himself along as he sat on his wee trolley.

I noticed how well the story was written. I listened to the audio by the ARTC in which that narrator, did an awesome job in reading a large number of excerpted text. That audio only cost $5 but it was one of the best entertainments that I have ever bought, better than a movie. Anyway, I know what you are saying, I see it too. At the time I did not know that H.P. wrote in such a way that he build upon his other stories, so that "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" uses ideas from other stories. Still it is either the best or next to the best story telling that I have ever read. I liked some of the descriptedness existing in Bram Stokers "Dracula" or in "Treasure Island".

I may still finish this story outline because it is such a good story, but since I had read this story as the first story that I had ever read of his works, it seemed more cryptic than it does now. I now know his writing pattern of his horror stories, not the science fictions.

Those Penguin books on my Reader are plenty now if I could just finish them. I'm not a great volume reader. I read a couple more yesterday but they were actually odd stories, "Celephais" and "Nyarlathotep". There is some neat imagery in "Nyarlathotep" but it is very far out. I'm going to have to read them again but I doubt that they will make much sense.

 

[Tinsel]

Read "Celephais" again and it made a lot more sense, but it is an odd story. Lots of imagery but not that interesting unless a person is planning to escape to another world that is more beautiful than this one, although this world can be okay too, in some ways. It sounds like Kuranes was tired of London. I've never been to London and I'm already tired of it myself. Tired of hearing about it.

 

[Extollager]

I'm not the HPL fan that I was in my teens, but I like much of this story. One reason I like it is that it is more exciting than many of his stories. Another reason I like it is that Lovecraft gives himself away in the manner that is almost endearing. Let me explain. As you read, you sense how lovingly HPL is creating the whole Innsmouth "myth." It clearly is a bid to raise the artistic level of the supernatural-horror-in-literature story. The story is loaded with good descriptive details, so that early on it is almost like some neat old road story. The presentation of Innsmouth is pretty convincing. There's real craftsmanship here.

And then you get that scene on the dock, where the old coot is talking, and suddenly he lets out an "Eeee--yahhhhhh--yahhhhh!" (I am quoting from memory.)

And there it is! Lovecraft wanted to write a classic of the literature, something worthy to stand with Machen's "Willows," let's say -- BUT THE INNER PULPSTER WILL OUT!!

I have literally had tears coming to my eyes from mirth as I read this scene.

One pictures Lovecraft in his room SOUNDING OUT this scream, playing with combinations of letters to get it EXACTLY RIGHT!!

One could even imagine the aunts glancing at the ceiling -- "Howard must be writing one of his stories."

Artistically the transcribed scream is a tremendous blunder, but truly, I find it endearing.

 

[j d worthington]

Interesting take on things, that. There are a number of arguments I could adduce to refute it... but it's so darned neat a little statement that to do so would be churlish.

Or, to put it more simply: I like!

 

[Extollager]

My blushes -- I meant BLACKWOOD'S "The Willows," of course.

That was my first posting to this site, and already I let slip a howler. Let it not be a portent!

 

[J-WO]

I'm led to believe Robert Howard used to read back his Conan stories loudly in his basement. Must have been odd for anyone upstairs.

As for the old drunken coot of Innsmouth, I always found the way he just vanishes (almost in the blink of an eye) pretty effective.

 

[j d worthington]

I'm led to believe Robert Howard used to read back his Conan stories loudly in his basement. Must have been odd for anyone upstairs.

I'm not at all sure how accurate that is, really. I know Bob Howard had his quirks, but I've a strong suspicion this is one of those myths which grow up around just about any especially unusual writer.

As for HPL himself... while he did read his stories to friends (or relatives), I don't recall any actual indication he read them aloud while composing them, nor do I think it all that likely. Recall that he grew up reading the best writers around (as well as a large number of pulphounds), and was able to compose very fluent rhetorical passages, with all the techniques of prose or prose-poetry, with relative ease much of the time; his letters, essays, and verse (often written with, according to friends, the nonchalance of verbal discourse) show that....


As for the old drunken coot of Innsmouth, I always found the way he just vanishes (almost in the blink of an eye) pretty effective.[/QUOTE]

 

[J-WO]

I'm not at all sure how accurate that is, really. I know Bob Howard had his quirks, but I've a strong suspicion this is one of those myths which grow up around just about any especially unusual writer.

To be fair, my source was a stranger at a convention who, I suspected, had quaffed one or two real ales. I can see why this is a myth with legs to it--it serves two purposes. Firstly, it highlights Howard as eccentric (just as we wish him to be) and, also, its a rousing story for any bunch of aspiring genre writers. Bob is shown to be someone who truly 'meant it', someone whose energy we should emulate. This myth, true or not, has probably been doing the rounds since Worldcon '39!

But, oh dear, I seem to have gone slightly off thread...

 

[j d worthington]

Hmmm... seems I neglected to edit out that last line when responding to the first bit. Oh, well....

I don't say it isn't true -- it may be. Certainly, according to some who knew him (E. Hoffmann Price, for instance, who wrote some wonderful essays on the man) Howard had his share of... oddities. I'm not sure just how psychologically stable I would say he was; though I have come to the conclusion that his suicide was not a sign of some mental/emotional disturbance, but rather a long-decided (and long-deferred) action reached in cold, sober thought.

However... I do think it somewhat unlikely; and the only source I know of for such is The Whole Wide World, the film adaptation of Novalyne Price's (no relation) brief biographical piece, One Who Walked Alone (though she may have recounted something about this there; I have not had the opportunity to read it)....

 

[J-WO]

A-ha! It does have a hint of the cinematic, doesn't it? How better to express his work to the viewer than having Howard declaim it loudly as he types? My bet is it has its root in that there film. After all, far more people will see that than read about him.

BTW, I don't wish to derail this thread into a particularly gloomy ditch, but what makes you conclude his suicide was long-deferred and sober? Are you saying it wasn't so much on account of his mother's death--as is usually portrayed--but that he'd been waiting for his mother's passing before he would do it?

 

[j d worthington]

BTW, I don't wish to derail this thread into a particularly gloomy ditch, but what makes you conclude his suicide was long-deferred and sober? Are you saying it wasn't so much on account of his mother's death--as is usually portrayed--but that he'd been waiting for his mother's passing before he would do it?

As a matter of fact, Howard had commented for several years that he intended to commit suicide should he find himself in a situation he found uncongenial past a certain point; it was actually his concern for his mother which most likely prolonged his life to that point, and her terminal coma which allowed him to finally put his decision into action. At least, that is what I gather from recent (and more thorough) research on Howard. HPL said much the same thing; he had more of an interest in living than Howard, I think, but he also had firmly made up his mind that a minimum standard being passed, he had no intention of bothering with what he called "the farce" any longer. However, his interests were rather broader than Howard's, and both his milieu and his ability to visit people all over the country -- and places from Canada to Key West -- almost on pennies, and thoroughly enjoy such experiences, gave him a zest for everyday life which I think Howard did not quite share, given his rather isolated circumstances.

 

[J-WO]

Yep, beneath it all, Lovecraft certainly had a positive turn of mind.

 

[j d worthington]

Yes, his letters to Helen V. Sully on the subject make for enlightening -- not to mention both amusing and charming -- reading....