INNSMOUTH NIGHTMARES – BOOK RELEASE PARTY, TOC & Editor’s Introduction
NECRONOMICON
August 20-23, 2015
Providence, RI
Saturday
9-11am
BOOK LAUNCHES and AUTHOR READINGS
INNSMOUTH NIGHTMARES
CULT OF THE DEAD
Copies of both books will be available for sale and signing at this session, snacks provided!
Readings and discussions with Lois H. Gresh, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Laird Barron, William F. Nolan, Richard Gavin, S.T. Joshi, Joe Pulver, Jim Moore, Jason V. Brock, Jonathan Thomas, and more
Innsmouth Nightmares features original stories by leading writers of weird fiction, including John Shirley, Lavie Tidhar, Laird Barron, Paul Kane, Tim Lebbon, Richard Gavin, Steve Rasnic Tem, Wilum H. Pugmire, John Langan, Joe Pulver, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Bill Nolan, Jim Moore, S.T. Joshi, and many more. This is an all-star lineup of The Weird edited by Lois H. Gresh.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction by Lois H. Gresh
2. Windows Underwater by John Shirley
3. Cold Blood by Lavie Tidhar
4. Fear Sun by Laird Barron
5. Thicker Than Water by Paul Kane
6. Strange Currents by Tim Lebbon
7. Mourning People by Nancy Kilpatrick
8. The Barnacle Daughter by Richard Gavin
9. Between the Pilings by Steve Rasnic Tem
10. The Imps of Innsmouth by Wilum H. Pugmire
11. The Open Mouth of Charybdis by John Langan
12. Water’s Edge by Tim Waggoner
13. Dark Waters by William F. Nolan
14. A Girl’s Life by Lisa Morton
15. The Sea Witch by James Moore
16. Brood by Jason V. Brock
17. Gone to Doggerland by Jonathan Thomas
18. The Scent of the Hammer and the Feather by Joseph Pulver, Sr.
19. Baubles by Nancy Holder
20. The Waves Beckon by Donald Tyson
21. The Cats of River Street (1925) by Caitlin Kiernan
22. Some Kind of Mistake by S.T. Joshi
INTRODUCTION
by Lois H. Gresh
This is the book of my dreams. I’ve always been fond of Innsmouth. Directly over my desk, a painting of Innsmouth hangs on an old hook left by the former inhabitants of my house. I spend most of my life at this desk, so Innsmouth is always with me. There’s something very appealing about the tottering village and its shambling denizens, the cults, the dreariness, the turbulence of the sea, and Devil Reef.
When I proposed this anthology to Pete Crowther at PS Publishing, I told him that I wanted to produce a book brimming with extraordinary Innsmouth stories. I wanted to produce a book that I would never grow tired of reading, a book that I would read every now and then for the rest of my life. I think that I succeeded.
I requested stories from all the top writers in the weird genre. I desperately wanted Ramsey Campbell, but alas, Pete had Ramsey squirreled away writing a trilogy of Lovecraftian novels, so Ramsey was a bit tanked out to pen a short Innsmouth tale. Almost everyone else is in this book–all the writers of weird fiction that readers go ape over. Given my obsession with Innsmouth, I was sorely tempted to add a story, but in the end, decided it would be poor form to write a story for an anthology of which I’m editor.
In short, this book is a killer. Every story supplies a knock-out punch.
Opening the book is John Shirley’s Windows Underwater. This is a fantastic fusion of everything that is classically Innsmouth but with an incredible bizarre and futuristic twist. Tight writing, a scene you won’t forget (I love it!), and a great finale. This is John Shirley at his best.
I’m a big fan of Lavie Tidhar’s work, so I figured, if Lavie writes an Innsmouth story, it’s bound to be radically different from everything else. I couldn’t have guessed more correctly. Lavie’s Cold Blood is unlike anything I’ve read about Innsmouth. Truman Capote as the Ultimate Outsider comes to Innsmouth with Nelle to determine the real truth behind murder. Lavie nails Capote’s character, nails [In] Cold Blood–absolutely brilliant.
Approaching Innsmouth from an entirely different angle, Laird Barron’s Fear Sun is futuristic technopunk-weird. It reads as if it’s the beginning of a much longer tale, one that I would snatch up and read should it become available. Fear Sun gives us Innsmouth run by a tough-as-nuts heiress, and for good measure, Laird dishes up a super-secret mad scientist laboratory, a spook, and a Gray Eminence. The writing is pure Laird, perfect in every way.
Are you excited yet?
After reading the first three stories, you may need to calm down before continuing because the killer tales just keep coming. Or you can just plow through these gems, read to the end, then circle back and re-read the whole book.
In Paul Kane’s Thicker Than Water, a jittery young woman sets off with her fiance to meet her future in-laws for the first time. Yes, they live in Innsmouth, and if you haven’t guessed, wedding bells are not exactly chiming. Paul’s depictions of Innsmouth, the water, the in-laws, and the “good provider” are spot-on. I wrote in the guidelines for this book that I wanted weird stories about water, and Paul certainly delivered.
In Tim Lebbon’s Strange Currents, a man is lost at sea, but does he really want to reach land? What is it about the ocean currents that drives his lifeboat? This story evokes a vague feeling of The Call of Cthulhu as well as Innsmouth.
In Nancy Kilpatrick’s Mourning People, a woman must tidy up her mother’s affairs and honor a promise that can only be fulfilled in Innsmouth. Nancy beautifully captures the chilling, weird, depressing mood of Innsmouth.
Richard Gavin’s The Barnacle Daughter asks the question, So who’s your Daddy, do you even know? Young Rose seeks her lost Daddy–is he dead, is he alive, or is he something else? And assuming she finds him, what will happen?
Steve Rasnic Tem’s Between the Pilings gives us stunning images of Innsmouth and its inhabitants. In Steve’s story, a man returns to the site of a very strange childhood vacation, one that didn’t end particularly well.
In The Imps of Innsmouth by Wilum Pugmire, a girl awakens to the old ways of Innsmouth. Classic Innsmouth. Classic Wilum. What more could you want?
John Langan’s The Open Mouth of Charybdis feels a bit like a Twilight Zone tale. As I finished John’s story, the closing Twilight Zone music actually ran through my head. The moral of this story is: never vacation in Innsmouth. You can change the name of a place, but you can’t change its substance.
Tim Waggoner’s Water’s Edge is told in second person, an unusual approach to weird fiction. In this story, we learn what might have happened to the ordinary creatures of Innsmouth since the village’s destruction years ago. Extra bonus: guest appearance by Lord Dagon.
Also featured in INNSMOUTH NIGHTMARES is a new story by the one and only William F. Nolan. Dark Waters is a bittersweet tale about a man who honeymoons in the wrong place. I mean, would you choose Innsmouth for your honeymoon?
Lisa Morton’s A Girl’s Life supplies yet another twist to Innsmouth. In Lisa’s story, a young girl enters puberty, but “the change” isn’t what you think it is.
James A. Moore dishes up dark romance in The Sea Witch. The poor love-sopped fellow in this tale should take a cue from the weird hag who runs the local diner, and he should run for the hills. But he doesn’t. Of course.
In Jason V Brock’s Brood, a local sheriff deals with bizarre corpses and a strange Area 51-like place called The Manuxet River Nuclear Complex.
Then in Jonathan Thomas’ Gone to Doggerland, elderly Fiona gibbers irrationally like any other senile crone–or wait, perhaps her gibbering is something else. Bonus appearance: Aquatic Ape Theory.
Next up is The Scent of the Hammer and the Feather by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., whose poetic prose is unlike anybody else’s working in the weird genre today. Here, he beautifully captures adolescent angst: all the loneliness, the feelings of not belonging, the questioning of one’s very existence.
Nancy Holder’s Baubles is a story of teenage adventure and weird romance. As an aside, would you want a gift bought in Innsmouth? After all, it’s such a cool “hippie” town. Any gift from Innsmouth must be super-cool, right?
In Donald Tyson’s The Waves Beckon, a nurse is fired from the Arkham Hospital and finds work at Innsmouth’s Marsh Care Facility. Oh, need I say more? If you want a fun romp, this is it.
Caitlin R. Kiernan’s The Cats of River Street (1925) evokes the bizarre, bleak, and decaying nature of Innsmouth.
The closing story is S.T. Joshi’s novellete Some Kind of Mistake, in which a born-in-Innsmouth fellow returns home to find Maxwell Gilman, a madman who threatens all of humanity. Beware of global warming. Beware of the technologies that pollute the Earth and its waters. But beware of Gilman? Perhaps, but perhaps not.
I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed editing it. If you like tales about Innsmouth, you’re in for a real treat.
–Lois H. Gresh
March 2015
