The Innsmouth Cycle: The Taint of the Deep Ones (Call of Cthulhu Fiction) [Paperback]

H. P. Lovecraft (Author), Robert M. Price (Editor)

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"Iä! Y'ha-nthlei! City of our blood / Where ancient kinfolk call for my return / To long-drowned altars where strange votives burn / For Him who dreaming waits beneath the flood... / My journey to your depths begins tonight / To serve immortal till the stars turn right."

These lines from a poem by Ann K. Schwader are the coda for this fine collection of tales about H.P. Lovecraft's Innsmouth--that decadent, smugly rotting New England town where half-human creatures with forbidding batrachian faces follow the arcane practices of the Esoteric Order of Dagon. In his erudite and witty introduction, Robert M. Price calls Innsmouth "the most effective, most evocative ... example of Lovecraft's full-blown alien civilizations." The Innsmouth Cycle includes 13 stories and 3 poems, including the three tales by Lord Dunsany, Robert W. Chambers, and Irvin S. Cobb that inspired Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth." This collection is planned as the first of a pair, the second half of which will be Tales of Innsmouth, containing (according to Price) all new works of "fishy fiction."

A fun detail: this book is "respectfully dedicated to Ben Chapman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon." --Fiona Webster

Product Details

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: Chaosium (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568821131
• ISBN-13: 978-1568821139
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,387,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Intro to Innsmouth stories, April 2, 2000

By 

Debbie Williams (The foggy Gulf coast of Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Innsmouth Cycle: The Taint of the Deep Ones (Call of Cthulhu Fiction) (Paperback)

Like other books in this series, Robert Price has done a good job of bringing together a collection that covers the both hard to find Mythos classics like 'The Deep Ones' and more modern stories such as 'Live Bait'. Of course The Shadow Over Innsmouth is included to give new readers a foundation from which to jump into the other stories.

Some of the stories are great, but this book could have used one or two more stories. At 233 pages, it is one of the shortest books in the series. On top of this, the first two stories were pre-Lovecraft.

While it is interesting to read these Lovecraft inspirations, these stories along with Shodow, whioch most readers will already own, take up the first 88 pages.

Nevertheless I enjoyed nearly all the stories, most of which were new to me.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Water-Wings Since Dagon, tales of aquatic enhancement, June 29, 2002

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Innsmouth Cycle: The Taint of the Deep Ones (Call of Cthulhu Fiction) (Paperback)

There are certain praises I have for this book, with its inclusively delightful incorporation of preLovecraftian influences in addition to the Lovecraftian influenced, and I have some complaints about it, too, the biggest of which deals with the number of stories and their length. (Its advertised as having "thirteen tales and three poems," but some of the "tales" are actually really short poems as well.) Still, its not a bad mixture of stories for any reader and it does deal with the Deep Ones, Dagon worshippers whose plight (and antics) pull on my heartstrings.

Random selections of some of the better beasts collected herein (not mentioning Shadows over Innsmouth because it doesn't need recognition) include:

The Harbor-Master, by Robert W. Chambers, one of "preLovecraftian" stories mentioned that actually merits a look not only because its a well-written piece but also because it shows where Lovecraft procured ideas for "The Innsmouth look" and Devil's Reef. I give it a five star rating.
Fishhead, by Irvin S. Cobb, is also another precursor to Shadows over Innsmouth that further illustrates the "Innsmouth Look." It is a strange look into the mentality of the public at the time, plus the mention Reelfoot Lake (I've lived near there and its frightening) sends a four and one-half star shiver down my spine.
The Deep Ones, by James Wade, described by the editor as "Lovecraft's version of flipper," is another piece that deserves recognition. Besides being a nice framework focusing on the 60's that deals with Innsmouth, that title alone gets it a jovial 4.5 star rating out of me.
and
The Innsmouth Head, by Franklyn Searight, an excellently written piece that warrants a pat on the creative back of the author by these hands. It poses the five-star question, "What do you do when fishing off of Devil's Reef and suddenly finding yourself hooking a bipedal reptilian?" which shouldn't be answered, "I keep its head and chuck the rest, of course!"

All in all, its a nice read because it shows how people, including Lovecraft, perceive words and then build upon previous thoughts in their own ways. Besides, Deep Ones need a little love (and sunglasses for those unblinking eyes), too.

3.0 out of 5 stars if wishes were fishes.........., April 9, 2003

By 

jan erik storebø (norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Innsmouth Cycle: The Taint of the Deep Ones (Call of Cthulhu Fiction) (Paperback)

(oh these titles). HPL's story is here of course. also the story Fishhead about a man with a special contact with the sea and Innsmouth head where a creature's head gives strange dreams. good stories. some of the other stories were a bit interesting, but nothing more. good pulp, not great. worth reading.