Customer Reviews

The Innswich Horror

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To be honest, I was a tiny bit disappointed with THE INNSWICH HORROR. It wasn't a bad book by any stretch of the imagination but after reading Lee's books BRAIN CHEESE BUFFET, HEADER 2, and GOING MONSTERING, I think I was spoiled by the author's brand of extreme gross-out. I was expecting the same in THE INNSWICH HORROR.

That being said, this is still a strong book. It's sort of a sequel to Lovecraft's THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH but with a bit more violence and perversion. Yes, there is some twisted stuff that would have made Lovecraft cringe and will probably gross-out a normal person but it's pretty tame compared to a lot of Lee's recent work.

What THE INNSWICH HORROR has going for it mostly is plotting. This is one of Lee's most suspenseful books. It's well-paced and is neither too long or too short for the story he wants to tell (Some of Lee's mass market novels are a bit too long such as BRIDES OF THE IMPALER).

Just so you don't think Edward Lee is just another author who has decided to cash in on the name of Lovecraft, it should be known that Lee is a true fan of HPL. Just check various interviews with the man to see that he is not just a casual devotee to the Cthulhu mythos. Edward Lee respects the source material and the author. Keep in mind, though. Lee does not really write mythos fiction. He tells the stories he wants to tell but often uses the backdrop or style of Lovecraft/Cthulhu mythos. You'll know what I mean after reading THE INNSWICH HORROR and also his very excellent TROLLEY NO. 1852.

This will please fans of Lovecraft who don't mind a little bit of sex and gore to go along with the suspense. For fans of his more hardcore work, just be prepared to NOT be grossed out but instead, enjoy this enjoyable suspense tale in the tradition of the master himself H.P. Lovecraft.

Foster is a grand Lovecraftian fan. He is also rich, allowing him to carry his fantasies to the next level. That means finding rare ooks, looking for rare items, and taking trips. In the late 30s Foster decids to do just that, hoping to seek out the same spots that inspired Sahadows over Innsmouth. What he finds is a town that is not on the map, buildings with names that seem misdirected by only a few letters, and oddities that seem to follow the book. Things get odder when he finds himself befriending people who go missing, falling in love, and then finding himself in a place that seems all-too-real when it comes to H.P.L's works.

I've been a Lee fan for a long time and was surprised by this book because it didn't have a hardcore horror feel to it. That wasn't a bad thing, either, because too much of something sometimes says that a writer is running low. Besides, writers plow out tributes to the people they look up to all the time, and Lee seemed to know quite a bit about Shadows. He knew passafes that would fit and buildings that would work, plus a way to hide the town. He also knew some characters to add and a person to put in as a main character, keeping everything flowing. He even put mysteries here - the hotel that seems to have eyes on you always, beautiful women everywhere but always pregnant, and social programs that fixed up this town and made it look nothing like it once was.

That begs the question - what else can it hide?

Without giving too much away, I have to say that I liked a lot of the chase through the book. i kept waiting for something horrific to show its head but, in Lovecraftian style, the thing stayed just out of sight. In Edward Lee style the things that ahppen are a bit worse than L.P.H. would have shown, howeve,r but that was fine. What was great was that the world he was fielding was one that I really liked. The only thing that really hurt was the ending.

When it came to the ending, you expect the follow-up that both Lovecraft and Lee would give. No happiness, no touching things, and a lot of monstrosity. There is little to none of the rules that are followed here, however, and they seem to force themselves on the reader. I am only talking about a 10 page area, mind you, and these do not keep me from the 4 stars I think the book should get. Still, the thing should have been different and that would have made a more beautiful Lee/Lovecraft mix.

Though not a lengthy tome, coming in around 165 pages, "The Innswich Horror" is a masterpiece of horror.

The main character, Foster Morley, is likable, imperfect and charmingly stilted in the manner of The Master's most memorable protagonists. Only two years after H.P Lovecraft's death Morley, a wealthy, idle gentleman in his early thirties, sets off on a scenic tour along the route his idol, Mr. Lovecraft, once traveled. He expects nothing supernatural or mysterious, he merely wants to see the places that inspired his idol's imaginative tales, but in a pleasant and prosperous little fishing village he finds that his assumptions about reality may be horribly, terribly in error.

The story is creepy and twisted, occasionally sickening; it is not for the young and innocent nor anyone faint of heart, but it is outstanding as both a gripping adventure and nightmarish work of horror. I have never read Edward Lee before but if this book is any indication of his talents I will be reading everything by him I can get my hands on. I highly recommend this book to lovers of darkness, despair and depravity. If those things aren't your cup of tea; move along, there is nothing for you to see here.

If you're fond of HP Lovecraft and have ever read other works by Edward Lee, you'll be pleased with this book. It was just under 200 pages but I enjoyed it greatly and finished it in just over a day. This story follows a fictional account of a HP Lovecraft enthusiast, who while traveling in Massuchusets discovers a town errily suggestive of the haunted fishing port town of Innsmouth from Lovecrafts story. This story is set in the 30's and is one of the better Edward Lee tales I've read. As always there is an element of dark perverse horror in the tale, but we only peek at it and hear undertones of it and it is done rather tastefully in degrees where it fits aptly within the story. This is unusually tame by most Lee standards.

I highly recommend this to readers of Lovecraft. Mr. Lee is clearly fond of the mythos subject matter and did a commendible job on the story.

This book is a pseudo-sequel to HP Lovecraft's masterpiece 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth'- my favorite Lovecraft piece. This book had a lot to live up to, and I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed at all. In fact I was astonished at how much I loved it. I couldn't put it down- I read it one sitting (including carrying it to the porch with me for cigarettes).

The book takes a metafictional approach to Lovecraft's work (rather like Lee's Lovecraft piece 'Trolley No. 1852). In this one a rich fan of Lovecraft sets out on a journey of places that 'the master' went, in an attempt to recreate his footsteps and see the places that inspired him. His favorite piece is 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth', and when he sets out to find the town that Lovecraft morphed into Innsmouth, he unwittingly discovers that Lovecraft didn't twist the story too much and instead left quite a few of the more horrific details OUT...

As other reviewers have mentioned this book is neither as 'gross-out' as Lee's other books, or as Mythos-y as Lovecraft himself- but that doesn't detract from the novel at all. If you can take fiction that goes into some rather unpleasant places, and you've read 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth' (whether you liked it or hated it it doesn't really matter, I think it could be enjoyed either way)- then you NEED to read this book.

It was a lot of fun, and really sold me on looking more into Lee's work.

Highly recommended.

Lovecraft's number one fan, Foster Morely, takes a bus ride to follow in his hero's footsteps and gets involved in bizarre shenanigans.

This is a well plotted and entertaining book, more so than real Lovecraft stuff which isn't difficult. The character of Foster Morely was well developed and by the time he gets into the sticky situations, the reader has grown to like him somewhat.

This isn't the usual Edward Lee stuff. It isn't hardcore grossout comedy, as is his usual forte. It's just a nice homage to Lovecraft and an interesting little story that is well worth spending money on.

Just having finished Trolley # (I forgot) and being disappointed with it, this was definitely a better story. Still not up there with the older stuff, but in the right direction. I haven't read enough of Lovecraft to make many parallels, but it seemed true enough to the genre. Enjoy!

While reading this novel I couldn't help but hear a song my daughter blares over and over again; "It's the best of both worlds..." Indeed this is the best of both, for horror fans old and new. H. P. Lovecraft and Ed Lee!! How can this go wrong. This book was a far departure from what i am used to when I pick up a Lee book. I have mostly read his small press stuff that is choke full of evil, perversion and red neck hilarity. But, in this novel he shies away from what many might call his trademark and plays it straight writing in the style of Lovecraft or at least a contemporary of his. Without a doubt it shows that Lee can write and is pretty darn learned man, with both the language and using set pieces from the era, circa 1930's. I love everything Cthulhu, and this was the first of many Lee has written, though there are a good number of nods to the master in several of his works. This is Lee's "sequel" to Shadows Over Innsmouth, so if you have not read the story by Lovecraft it wouldn't do you any harm to read it first, though it won't hurt or ruin the story if you haven't and don't want to bother. Those with an open mind will get a kick out of this Lee book. Those who just want his disgusting works, might find this one lacks what they want. Even when the book starts to go in the direction of perversion, Lee uses simple language rather then vulgarity to get the message across, i.e., when the main character is alone with his thoughts about a certain lady, Lee writes (not verbatim), "and then I did what men alone often do..." So you can see this is no Bighead. Give this book a try, if you are looking for something new and fresh from Lee. And thanks to Deadite, this new affordable edition is easy to get your hands on.

Edward Lee has become well known for his extreme and disturbing writings and if that is what your looking for in this book you may be disappointed even thought it is still a good read.

The story follows a gentleman called Foster Morley who is a big H.P.Lovecraft fan and visits the town of Innswich whilst in search for the inspiration behind Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth". But the deeper that Foster investigates behind the town and Lovecraft's visit the more dark secret he starts to uncover...

The book is well paced with plenty of suspense and is easy to get into even if you've never read a Lovecraft book (I havn't). If you are a Lovecraft fan then you will enjoy this although will find more sex and gore than Lovecraft's work although not enough to ruin a brilliant tale.

4/5

Having read numerous Edward Lee titles in the past, I knew exactly what I was in for as far as disturbing/gross literature. Having not read any H.P. Lovecraft though, I feel I was lost a little bit in the story. Foster Morley decides to indulge himself in the H.P. Lovecraft world by taking a bus tour of where Lovecraft traveled in north Massachusetts to understand where the horror author got his ideas from, and possibly see things he saw to further his own personal knowledge. When he decides to head into Innswich Point on his own though, which he is hoping Lovecraft himself visited before his death in the late 1930's, he is in for well more than he bargained for. What perversions will he find with the residents? What horrid sights will be beheld in the small waterfront town? Foster is about to find out...