History Literature / TheShadowOverInnsmouth

* OnlySaneMan: Zadok Allen, despite his drunkenness.
** Robert Olmstead fits this role better. [[spoiler: Until the end.]]

* HalfHumanHybrid

* HumanSacrifice
* [[spoiler: InTheBlood]]

** TimeAbyss

* NotSoSafeHarbor

** ArtisticLicenseBiology: What we think of as the "fish odor" is actually the smell of [[http://www.humantouchofchemistry.com/node/10 dead fish]]. So unless [[Film/ReAnimator Herbert West]] is up to something [[NonHumanUndead even worse]]. . .
*** The smell is present in live fish as well, as anyone who's gone fishing can attest. It just gets stronger after the fish dies.
*** Also the only remaining notable industry in town is fishing so there's a lot of fish to stink up the joint.

* [[spoiler: AndThenJohnWasAZombie: By the end of the story, the narrator is coming to terms with his Innsmouth heritage and future as a Deep One.]]

I thought these ill-bred people's gill-slits showed."''\\
--''Dagon Tabernacle Choir'' [[http://www.cthulhulives.org/Solstice/fish-menplayer.html]][[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tTHn2tHhcI]]

Innsmouth is a small, run-down village on the northern coast of Massachusetts, near Ipswich, Gloucester, and [[LovecraftCountry Arkham]]. Locals don't like it much. There are whispered rumors about dark dealings with the supernatural, the taint of foreign blood, and some sort of hereditary deformity. While touring New England, a young man learns of the town's sinister reputation and [[SchmuckBait decides it's worth a visit]]. Curiouser and curiouser, he bribes the local drunk, said to be the [[OnlySaneMan only normal human left]], with his favorite poison. The tale he tells is crazy yet the narrator cannot ignore the sinister atmosphere and the evidence before his own eyes. After barely escaping with his own life, our hero eventually [[spoiler: discovers that he himself is one of the hybrid FishPeople, a direct descendant of Innsmouth's most prominent family]].

"[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_Over_Innsmouth The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]" is one of Creator/HPLovecraft's longest and most famous stories. Among the various beasties of the CthulhuMythos, the Deep Ones and their half-human spawn are among the most popular and enduring, inspiring numerous other authors (including [[http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-over-Innsmouth-Stephen-Jones/dp/0345444078/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308273466&sr=1-2 Neil Gaiman]]), as well as the 2001 film ''Film/{{Dagon}}'', the 2007 film ''Film/{{Cthulhu}}'', and the video game ''VideoGame/CallOfCthulhuDarkCornersOfTheEarth''.

''Innsmouth'' has also been adapted twice as an audio drama by the Atlanta Radio Theater Company and the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. It has also been [[http://www.clasicadecomedias.com/version_teatral.html adapted for stage in Spain.]]

* CorruptHick: The locals. They live in the ruined town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts. They are very secretive, do not like outsiders, have a very strange religion, and don't look quite human. . .

* CorruptHick: The locals. They live in the ruined town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts. They are very secretive, do not like outsiders, walk awkwardly, and don't look quite human. . .

* AuthorAvatar: The narrator shares his antiquarian interests and frugal travel habits with Lovecraft. [[spoiler: His horror at his inhuman heritage may also reflect Lovecraft's fear of hereditary insanity, thanks to his father's breakdown, and his shock at learning that his great-grandmother was . . . WELSH]].

* CorruptHick: The locals. They live in the ruined town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts. They are very secretive, do not like outsiders, walk awkwardly, and look like a human combined with a fish or a frog.

* DyingTown: Innsmouth. Everyone is poorer, even the Marsh family; half the buildings are abandoned and crumbling, and population is going down. But if you think of it as a [[spoiler:breeding ground for Deep Ones...]]

* {{Infodump}}: Zadok Allen, though arguably done right.

** Robert Olmstead fits this role better. [[spoiler:Until the end.]]

* EscalatingChase

* HahvahdYahdInMyCah: The real fun of the ARTC version is hearing the cast affect some truly ridiculous New England accents.

* DyingTown: Innsmouth ''appears'' to be this.
** [[spoiler: It ''is'', as a town (everyone is poorer, even the Marsh family; half the buildings are abandoned and crumbling, and population is going down). But if you think of it as a breeding ground for Deep Ones...]]

** [[spoiler: It ''is'', as a town (everyone is poorer, even the Marsh family, and population is going down). But if you think of it as a breeding ground for Deep Ones...]]

** AdaptationalBadass: HPL depicted the Deep Ones as a pathetic degenerate subhuman race. Most writers since have turned them into aquatic supermen who would even give Aquaman a run for his money.

--''Dagon [[RunningTheAsylum Tabernacle Choir]]'' [[http://www.cthulhulives.org/Solstice/fish-menplayer.html]][[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tTHn2tHhcI]]

"[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_Over_Innsmouth The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]" is one of Creator/HPLovecraft's longest and most famous stories. Among the various beasties of the CthulhuMythos, the Deep Ones and their half-human spawn are among the most popular and enduring, inspiring numerous other authors (including [[http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-over-Innsmouth-Stephen-Jones/dp/0345444078/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308273466&sr=1-2 Neil Gaiman]]), as well as the 2001 film ''{{Dagon}}'' and the video game ''DarkCornersOfTheEarth''.

''Innsmouth'' has also been adapted twice as an audio drama by the AtlantaRadioTheaterCompany and the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. It has also been [[http://www.clasicadecomedias.com/version_teatral.html adapted for stage in Spain.]]

** YouFailBiologyForever: What we think of as the "fish odor" is actually the smell of [[http://www.humantouchofchemistry.com/node/10 dead fish]]. So unless [[ReAnimator Herbert West]] is up to something [[NonHumanUndead even worse]]. . .

* TheFilmOfTheBook / LovecraftOnFilm: ''{{Dagon}}''.

* TomatoInTheMirror:[[spoiler: The narrator is a Deep One hybrid himself, descended from Obed Marsh and one Pth'thya-l'yi]].

"[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_Over_Innsmouth The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]" is one of HPLovecraft's longest and most famous stories. Among the various beasties of the CthulhuMythos, the Deep Ones and their half-human spawn are among the most popular and enduring, inspiring numerous other authors (including [[http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-over-Innsmouth-Stephen-Jones/dp/0345444078/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308273466&sr=1-2 Neil Gaiman]]), as well as the 2001 film ''{{Dagon}}'' and the video game ''DarkCornersOfTheEarth''.

** YouFailBiologyForever: What we think of as the "fish odor" is actually the smell of [[http://www.humantouchofchemistry.com/node/10 dead fish]]. So unless [[ReAnimator Herbert West]] is up to something [[NonHumanUndead even worse]]. . .

* TheFilmOfTheBook / LovecraftOnFilm: ''{{Dagon}}''.

-->And yet I saw them in a limitless stream - flopping, hopping, croaking, bleating - urging inhumanly through the spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic nightmare.

* SinisterMinister: Zadok Allen recalls how the Esoteric Order of Dagon took over the town and Captain Marsh's crewmen were promoted as priests of the new religion. Creepy tiara-wearing priests still lurk in dark corners, and several are seen among the narrator's pursuers toward the end.

* TomatoInTheMirror:[[spoiler: The narrator is a Deep One hybrid himself, descended from Obed Marsh and one Pth'thya-l'yi]].

*** Arguable. Even in the original story the Deep Ones are immortal, possess powerful magic and are capable of ingenious, long-reaching plans to regain their influence in the surface world. The ending especially hints that what is seen in Innsmouth is nothing more but the tiny surface of a massive iceberg.
*** They are considered "degenerate" and "subhuman" by human moral standards, but it is stated in the original story that they could wipe out the human race, if they cared to.
*** The point remains that they don't care to. The race is defined in this story by apathy. They just lie face down on the ocean bottom until somebody drops them a line (pun intended) and then contact with the Deep Ones causes the human society involved to decay and collapse. (Innsmouth being the second human society noted for this in this story.) Perhaps the Deep Ones do have vast powers down below, but just give up on humanity because the human cultures they come into contact with actually are so degenerate that it's not worth the minor effort required to wipe humanity out. (That and the loss of the booty calls of course.)
*** That's true of the majority of Lovecraft's creations, though - humans are so insignificant to them that they just don't care.

* YogSothothSays: Obed Marsh, an Innsmouth sea captain, had made a deal with the Deep Ones that they would bring gold and fish in exchange for human sacrifice. And then the Deep Ones demanded more...

*** The smell is present in live fish as well, as anyone who's gone fishing can attest. It just gets stronger after the fish dies.

* [[spoiler: TomatoInTheMirror: The narrator is a Deep One hybrid himself, descended from Obed Marsh and one Pth'thya-l'yi]].

*** They are considered "degenerate" and "subhuman" by human moral standards, but it is stated that they could wipe out the human race, if they cared to.