The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft
Rumours abound of sinister goings-on in the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth. The once prosperous town, which has fallen into a state of decrepitude and decay, is a stopover destination for Robert Olmstead, a young historian on a tour of the region. Despite hearing ominous tales of the town and its grotesque inhabitants, Olmstead feels compelled to explore Innsmouth. He finds the place almost deserted, except for a few inhospitable locals with strange, unblinking eyes - the so-called, Innsmouth Look. He meets the town drunk, Zadok Allen, who tells him the terrifying history of the town, about Devil Reef and mutant humanoids, sea gods, gold, and human sacrifice. The deranged ramblings of a madman? As night falls on Innsmouth, Olmstead soon has cause to wonder. The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1931) is an integral part of what has become known as H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. The novella was published in 1935, and at some 26,000 words, is one of the author's longest works. The podcast is read by Mike Bennett, author of Underwood and Flinch.
Episodes
Chapter One. The narrator, Robert Olmstead, recounts how, when on a tour of New England, he became interested in the sinister, rumor-shadowed town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts.
Chapter Two. Olmstead travels to Innsmouth and and finds it a crumbling, mostly deserted town full of dilapidated buildings, populated by shambling people with strange narrow heads, and watery, staring eyes.
Chapter Three: The narrator manages to lure Innsmouth's nonagenarian drunkard, Zadok Allen, into conversation. At first the old man is reluctant to speak of the town's shadowed past, but as whiskey gradually loosens his tongue, he tells the terrifying tale of what lies under the sea beyond Devil Reef.
Chapter Four: Dismissing Zadok's tale as lunatic fantasy, the narrator returns to town to catch the Arkham bus, only to find it experiencing engine trouble - despite making good time on its last run. Olmstead is thus forced to spend the night in the town's musty hotel, The Gilman House. Later, as he lies in bed trying to sleep, he starts to hear strange noises, whispered voices, and then the quiet fumbling of someone trying...
In the final episode of the story, Olmstead makes a shocking and terrible discovery.
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