PRAISE FOR WEIRD SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH
“Not just H. P. Lovecraft fans will revel in this fine follow-up to Jones’ Shadows Over Innsmouth, a World Fantasy finalist. As in its predecessor, the stories in this anthology draw inspiration from Lovecraft’s classic novelette of alien miscegenation, ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth,’ but avoid Cthulhu Mythos clichés.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Jones has brought together some of the industry’s top-notch authors... This collection is strongly recommended for Mythos fans. Due to the overall quality of the writing, though, it is strongly recommended for everyone else, too.”
HELLNOTES
“Fascinating and recommended.”
ALL HALLOWS
PRAISE FOR SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH
“If you love Lovecraft then this anthology is a must-have. Story after story presents you with situations and characters that Lovecraft himself could have created. I’m hard-pressed to think of another effort that stays so true to the original.”
SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE
“Shadows Over Innsmouth is a very strong anthology, buttressed by some outstanding art by Dave Carson, Martin McKenna and Jim Pitts.”
THE SCREAM FACTORY
“Fans of Lovecraft’s Mythos will enjoy the stories.”
SF SITE
“Shadows Over Innsmouth is good, slimy fun.”
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“A fascinating idea for a horror compilation.”
LANCASHIRE EVENING PRESS
“This is an intelligent, witty anthology.”
THE GOOD BOOK GUIDE
“Lovecraftians will rejoice.”
BOOKLIST
Other macabre collections of Lovecraftian horror from Titan Books
Available now:
BLACK WINGS OF CTHULHU, VOLUME ONE
SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH
Coming soon:
BLACK WINGS OF CTHULHU, VOLUME TWO
ACOLYTES OF CTHULHU
THE MADNESS OF CTHULHU
WEIRD SHADOWS OVER
INNSMOUTH
WEIRD SHADOWS OVER
INNSMOUTH
Edited by STEPHEN JONES
Illustrated by
RANDY BROECKER
LES EDWARDS
BOB EGGLETON
ALLAN SERVOSS
TITAN BOOKS
WEIRD SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH
Print edition ISBN: 9781781165294 • E-book edition ISBN: 9781781165300
Published by Titan Books
A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd
144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP
First Titan Books edition: October 2013
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Stephen Jones asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Copyright © 2005, 2013 by Stephen Jones
Original hardcover edition published 2005 by Fedogan & Bremer
Illustrations © 2005, 2013 by Randy Broecker, Les Edwards, Bob Eggleton and Allan Servoss
‘Introduction: Weird Shadows...’ copyright © Stephen Jones 2005, 2013.
‘Discarded Draft of “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”’ copyright © August Derleth 1949. Originally published in The Acolyte, No.2, Spring 1944. Reprinted by permission of Arkham House Publishers, Inc.
‘The Quest for Y’ha-Nthlei’ copyright © John Glasby 2005.
‘Brackish Waters’ copyright © Richard A. Lupoff 2005.
‘Voices in the Water’ copyright © Basil Copper 2005.
‘Another Fish Story’ copyright © Kim Newman 2005.
‘Take Me to the River’ copyright © Paul McAuley 2005.
‘The Coming’ copyright © Hugh B. Cave 1997, 2005. Originally published in somewhat different form in Dark Dixie Anthology III. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agent.
‘Eggs’ copyright © Steve Rasnic Tem 2000. Originally published in City Fishing. Reprinted by permission of the author.
‘From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6’ copyright © Caitlín R. Kiernan 2005.
‘Raised by the Moon’ copyright © Ramsey Campbell 2001. Originally published in The Spook, June 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Fair Exchange’ copyright © Michael Marshall Smith 2005.
‘The Taint’ copyright © Brian Lumley 2005. Afterwords: Contributors’ Notes’ copyright © Stephen Jones 2005, 2013.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
For NATE
in the year of his spawning,
and those Great Old Ones
MIKE and PAULA
for putting their trust in me.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
WEIRD SHADOWS...
by Stephen Jones
DISCARDED DRAFT OF ‘THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH’
by H. P. Lovecraft
THE QUEST FOR Y’HA-NTHLEI
by John Glasby
BRACKISH WATERS
by Richard A. Lupoff
VOICES IN THE WATER
by Basil Copper
ANOTHER FISH STORY
by Kim Newman
TAKE ME TO THE RIVER
by Paul McAuley
THE COMING
by Hugh B. Cave
EGGS
by Steve Rasnic Tem
FROM CABINET 34, DRAWER 6
by Caitlín R. Kiernan
RAISED BY THE MOON
by Ramsey Campbell
FAIR EXCHANGE
by Michael Marshall Smith
THE TAINT
by Brian Lumley
Afterword
CONTRIBUTORS’ NOTES
INTRODUCTION
WEIRD SHADOWS...
AROUND THE END of the 1980s, I had a brilliant idea for an anthology.
To celebrate the centenary of the birth of supernatural fiction writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1890, Shadows Over Innsmouth would use the author’s 1931 novella ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ as the literary touchstone for a number of established authors to expand upon his concepts and create a loose, fictional history of the decaying Massachusetts seaport in the story and its ichthyoid denizens, the Deep Ones.
I was so certain that the book would sell that, for the only time in my career, I went ahead and started commissioning stories from authors without a publisher’s deal. Luckily, most of the writers I contacted shared my enthusiasm for the project, and before long I had compiled mostly original stories by an impressive line-up of names, including Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Basil Copper, Neil Gaiman, Kim Newman, Brian Stableford, Michael Marshall Smith and others, including Lovecraft’s seminal 26,000-word story itself.