What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’

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Updated 10 April 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’

Author: H.P. Lovecraft

“The Shadow over Innsmouth” is one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most popular and influential stories, first published in 1936. It follows the narrator, a student on a rambling tour of New England, who stumbles upon the mysterious town of Innsmouth in Massachusetts.

The town of Innsmouth is shrouded in secrecy and strange rumors. The narrator becomes increasingly curious about the town’s dark history and the peculiar appearance of its inhabitants.

As the narrator digs deeper, he discovers a connection between his own family and the sinister activities of Innsmouth. He becomes entangled in a web of conspiracy, horror, and forbidden knowledge.

Eventually, he finds himself pursued by the inhabitants of Innsmouth, who are determined to keep their secrets hidden.

“The Shadow over Innsmouth” is notable for its themes of forbidden knowledge, cosmic horror, and the idea of hidden, ancient races lurking beneath the surface of our world.

It is often considered a significant contribution to Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, a shared fictional universe featuring ancient deities, forbidden texts, and otherworldly horrors.

Lovecraft was an American writer who developed cosmic tales as a weird, horror fiction literary genre.

His works have profoundly impacted subsequent generations of writers, and his creations, such as the Cthulhu Mythos, have become iconic within the genre.

Lovecraft’s works were not widely recognized during his lifetime, and he primarily published his stories in pulp magazines.

After his death, his writing gained more recognition and a dedicated following.

Other notable works of his are “The Call of Cthulhu,” “At the Mountains of Madness,” and “The Dunwich Horror.”

Lovecraft’s stories continue to captivate readers with their atmospheric descriptions, intricate mythologies, and the sense of cosmic dread they evoke.

 

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Doctors by Nature’ by Jaap De Roode

Updated 15 January 2026
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Doctors by Nature’ by Jaap De Roode

Ages before the dawn of modern medicine, wild animals were harnessing the power of nature’s pharmacy to heal themselves. “Doctors by Nature” reveals what researchers are now learning about the medical wonders of the animal world. 

Drawing on illuminating interviews with leading scientists from around the globe as well as Jaap de Roode’s own pioneering research on monarch butterflies, he demonstrates how animals of all kinds—from ants to apes, from bees to bears, and from cats to caterpillars—use various forms of medicine to treat their own ailments and those of their relatives.