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The Shadow over Innsmouth
- Narrated by: Richard Coyle
- Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
- Abridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
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Summary
The perfect H. P. Lovecraft title to follow on from 2010's At the Mountains of Madness, and the only HPL title not to appear in a periodical! Perfect also because it is split in to 5 distinct chapters...ripe for abridgement into five half-hour episodes!
The Shadow Over Innsmouth tells the first-person story of a young historian, Robert Olmstead, who, while investigating his family genealogy in New England, is intrigued to learn about a hated and mysterious fishing town called Innsmouth. When he visits he finds the place to be run-down and near-deserted, with a cult-like religion and a strange, degenerate population. His investigation soon turns into a race to escape the town and the the evil creatures he sees emerging from the sea.
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Howard Phillips "H. P." Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 - March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction. As early as the 1940s, Lovecraft had developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fiction featuring a pantheon of humanity-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical.
Although Lovecraft's audience was limited during his life, his reputation has grown and he is now regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century. Stephen King called him "the 20th century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." This 2011 adaptation comprises five episodes, originally aired on BBC Radio 4 Extra, once again read by the superb Richard Coyle and featuring music by acclaimed composer Jon Nicholls. The series is offered here in exclusive extended edition.
What listeners say about The Shadow over Innsmouth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Thomas Foster
- 21-02-20
A Great Story
Richard Coyle is excellent with the narration on this. The story is great, and the atmospheric music that accompanies this adds to the creepiness.
2 people found this helpful
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- DippersNest
- 08-10-19
Great dramatic reading
This was originally on BBC radio, and has a lot going for it. Well edited story. superbly acted, with the best original music and sound.
My only criticism is that it does cut a shade too much material compared with the HorrorBabble version. If you really want complete author's cut.
2 people found this helpful
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- Jay2370
- 28-01-22
An amazing adaption
Always love the stories by H P Lovecraft the audio book s are so well worth listening too
1 person found this helpful
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- Linda
- 09-07-22
Atmospheric HPLovecraft adaptation
I loved this story by HP Lovecraft and the performance by Richard Coyle was just brilliant. The whole adaptation was atmospheric and spooky. I wish it had been longer! I will definitely listen to more like this and certainly more performances by Richard Coyle. Amazing!
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- Tom
- 22-06-22
Classic
Great narration, dramatisation of this abridged version with great music too. Really gets your imagination running wild! holiday to Innsmouth anyone? #WelcomeToInnswich #Instagram
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- Jaden Trott
- 09-05-22
Racist but enjoyable
While clearly racist its well written. A relic of its past that terrifies readers.
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- Adam
- 21-01-22
brilliant and actually quite scary.
nearly didn't listen to this after a recommendation, what a treat i would have missed.
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- Dean Teasdale
- 06-01-22
Superb
A superb and atmospheric rendition of Lovecraft's finest story, subtlely augmented by background effects and music, beautifully performed by Richard Coyle 🙂
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- Anonymous User
- 23-12-21
so sooooo good
this is what audible was made for, the story is spooky as heck, the dude reading it is so into it, the sound effects and music are atmospheric af. All the stars. great stuff.
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- Amazon Customer
- 24-03-21
great for starting into lovecraft
I wanted to start lovecraft and found this was a brilliant gateway book as this essentially builds the world and you meet everything new.
really good to start with if your unsure about how to get into it
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- yugid.mega
- 25-10-19
THIS GUY RIGHT HERE
Oh My God I was not expecting this when I decided to delve into my favorite type of horror. One thing about lovecraftian fiction is that it doesn't matter who reads it, it's all about how they read it and this guy is spot on! The moment I saw I could pick who read the story I flicked through the list, tossing them aside one after anothe, until I heard it. Richard Coyle, where ever you may be, you have a gift for this and I am honored to have heard it. But seriously, it's hard to set the proper tone for a story like this and it's kinda what kept me from audible for awhile. But this guy? This guy did it for me, great story told be a great voice actor, cheers from me.
3 people found this helpful
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- Dadasaur
- 30-09-18
The narration was marvelous. Lovecraft at his best
Richard Coyle brings this undying classic to life with perfect narration. The music is perfect also
2 people found this helpful
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- Martinez
- 31-12-15
Fascinating story told in a audio drama manner.
What made the experience of listening to The Shadow over Innsmouth the most enjoyable?
What made this audio drama enjoyable was is this was yet another very well crafted story by H.P. Lovecraft. A story that is wonderfully produced and narrated by Richard Coyle and company. It is voice acted in many parts, alongside the narration, and every part is a fascinating joy to listen and imagine in your mind IMHO.
There are also well done sound fx's and background music that is tastefully weaved into the narration and acting. Each are brilliantly used to create and set the mood and atmosphere for the story and setting. However, these audio fx sounds, and background music, never overshadow the story itself or the voice acting. In other words, they are well done in a way so that they only lend to the atmosphere created by the story and narrator. Of which, Richard is a great voice actor and his voice is well suited for these types of stories. As you can tell I'm a fan of his work here and with another HP Lovecraft story he narrated called the "At The Mountains of Madness".
What other book might you compare The Shadow over Innsmouth to and why?
"Over the Mountain of Madness" another H.P. Lovecraft masterpiece. The version that was also narrated and voice acted by Richard Coyle.
Which scene was your favorite?
The scene on the docks when the old town drunk in the story is "spilling the beans" on what he knows after the main character shares a bottle of alcohol with him. This scene gives a tremendous amount of background lore about the wonderfully chilling Cthulhu mythos that H.P. Lovecraft artfully and originally crafted into what we know call the sci-fi horror genre.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes. It's almost impossible to stop listening to this audiobook/drama once you start down that grim-dark Lovecraftian path of Cthulhu dark intrigue, horror and suspense.
Any additional comments?
If you pick this story up then do yourself a favor and also pick up the companion story called "At the Mountains of Madness" which is also read by Richard Coyle.
2 people found this helpful
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- Matthew Puddicombe
- 27-10-19
best narration for this story
Almost perfect,
Best sound effects, narration and pacing of an version of this story I've found.
My only complaint is that for some reason they found it necessary to introduce the book and do the credits at the beginning of EVERY chapter... it's a short story, give me a break. Weird, unfortunate choice.
Very minor in the scheme of things.
1 person found this helpful
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- Steven J. Hoffman
- 29-06-19
incredibly powerful performance
I am a huge fan of HP Lovecraft, and this is one of the finest readings of his work I have ever heard. I plan to find out if this reader has recorded other Lovecraft works and if so I plan to listen to them. This reading is augmented by very effective and spooky background music. I was skeptical at first about the music but it heightened the sense of horror and suspense of the storymn
1 person found this helpful
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- Bastion Drake
- 04-05-16
Great
Any additional comments?
Absolutely excellent execution from Lovecraft and Coyle. I would have preferred a lot more sound effects but it was still engrossing.
1 person found this helpful
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- R. Peacock Prat
- 11-04-16
Scary and alluring
The story is very strange, a bit confused, but ultimately the narrator does it great justice with a great reading. If you're looking for something to get your heart pumping The Shadow Over Innsmouth will do the trick. This is a fairly short story so it's a good listen for in the car.
1 person found this helpful
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- Will Reeves
- 26-12-21
one of the best Lovecraft stories.
Great story. The only weakness is the long random long sounds between chapters here.
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- Benjamin H.
- 23-10-21
Get it!
Fantastic story and narration. If you like Lovecraft or just mystery/horror this is a must! Yes it's only 2.5 hours long but you'll be thinking about it for hours afterwards
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- Kindle Customer
- 29-05-21
Excellent read
Horror, wonder and suspense at its best. Where has this been hiding all my life?