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Let me start by saying that Tales Out of Innsmouth is not my least favorite Cthulhu fiction anthology, far from it. I can think of three other books I found more disappointing than Tales Out of Innsmouth. However, I read those three books not expecting much out of them, the subjects of the trio being aspects of the Mythos I was less than interested in. With Tales Out of Innsmouth I expected much, both because of the authors working on it and the fact the book focused on Innsmouth; the previous Innsmouth anthology from Chaosium was excellent, and I expected no less from this anthology. Oh, how I was disappointed.

This anthology of thirteen stories is edited by Robert M. Price, who contributes both an excellent introduction and a foreword to each story. Unfortunately, several of the latter are rather bad, though he does manage not to spoil any of the stories in them; in previous anthologies he revealed major plot twists in the foreword, ruining most of the enjoyment that would come from reading the story.

The first tale is "The Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth," by HP Lovecraft and John S. Glasby. Glasby wrote this tale based on a first draft and outline H.P.L. did for what was to become "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." Though not an outstanding tale, Glasby knows how to write a story, which is more than I can say for some of the other contributors to this anthology.

Next up is "Understudy," by Gary Myers. This nice little tale shows what would happen if Deep Ones had gotten involved with the filming of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Third is "The Doom That Came to Innsmouth," by Brian McNaughton. I had high hopes for this story, only to find it the worst tale in the book. It had three flaws that brought doom to it. 1. The protagonist of the tale is apparently the Green River Killer. In the real world the Green River Killer was the title given to a serial killer in the northwestern United States who was never caught. I think it was in very poor taste to have this connection to a real life killer who has never been brought to justice for his crimes. I don't mind when people write stories involving killers whose misdeeds happened long ago (such as Jack the Ripper) or write stories set in violent times in our history (such as World War II). I do mind when there are family members of the deceased still alive who have no closure in their lives, who have never had justice served against the individual who took their loved ones away from them forever. This was just wrong, pure and simple.

2. In this tale the government sets up their Deep One research center in Innsmouth, with minimal security and an idiotic staff. The government even knows there are people in Innsmouth still in contact with the Deep Ones, and still they act like morons! Hmm...I think the government would be wise enough to set up such a center well away from the sea, or at least heavily guard it.

3. In this story a Deep One is resurrected just in time to save the tale's protagonist. Fair enough, except for the fact that earlier in the story it was established how much the government loves to examine Deep Ones and hybrids, and the Deep One is found surrounded by autopsied hybrids, yet has nary a mark upon him. Why would the government waste time dissecting hybrids when they had a full Deep One to dissect?

"Return to Y'ha-nthlel," also written by John S. Glasby, uses the old "hypnotic regression causes physical changes" plot, with nothing new added to the concept. Pierre Comtois's "The Old Ones' Signs," on the other hand, was an excellent tale. Many times we've had stories where a character discusses Obed Marsh and how he made a pact with the Deep Ones. "The Old Ones' Signs" is the first tale to give us a first-hand account of Obed's initial meeting with the Deep Ones, courtesy of a crewman serving under Marsh on the voyage in which the meeting took place.

Next up is "Fleas of the Dragon," by C.J. Henderson. For years I've been impressed by Henderson's short Mythos stories, considering him one of the two best Mythos authors around. I finally read one of his detective novels last year, finding it disappointing. Then earlier this year I found one of Henderson's Teddy London supernatural mysteries novel, entitled Some Things Come Back, which Henderson wrote under his pseudonym Robert Morgan. The novel was so bad I almost lost all respect for Henderson. His protagonists are god-like in their abilities (Teddy London has supernaturally perfect senses, the ability to call on the knowledge of all his ancestors, the ability to absorb souls from people as easily as you or I breath and use them to power psychic blasts, and oh, yes, go to a pocket reality which he can reshape as he wishes and that he can draw opponents into and leave there. Let's not even discuss his wife, kids, and co-workers, let alone his friends), haughty and insufferable to mere mortals, and just so unlikeable you wish they would die. Henderson also seemed to have lost the ability to tell a good story while writing the novel, which had such highlights as a villain built up to be nigh-invulnerable for the entire book dying in about four pages at the hands of several minor characters, one of whom just appears out of nowhere with a weapon that just happens to affect said nigh-invulnerable guy, and an almost-nuclear holocaust bringing little more than a "So What?" from the main characters.

Why am I telling you all this? Because "Fleas of the Dragon" stars Teddy London and pals, and the story is set just before the novel I read. London and company are no more likeable in the novel, and for some reason their abilities are a shadow of what they are in the novels; how else would you explain Teddy, with all his powers, being almost unable to fend off four Deep Ones? Oh, this story also has the idea that on their first encounter with the supernatural no mere mortal mind can accept it, causing people to break down in terror and leave London and friends to take care of things. This is odd, as in all the other tales by Henderson I've read he loves to tell tales where mankind is more than ready and able to take on the Great Old Ones and their multidimensional mooks. This tale is crap with a capital C.

Next up is "Mail Order Bride," by Ann K. Schwader. The story starts out strong, keeps its brisk pace, then peters off into lameness. It's as though Schwader suddenly decided that she should junk the enjoyable and novel tale she was telling, and go with a traditional "Man Can't Win Against the Mythos" ending. I can think of four ways the story could have ended better, and if you read it I'm sure you'll be able to do the same.

"The Idol," by Scott David Aniolowski, surprised me. Mr. Aniolowski is not one of my favorite Mythos authors, so it came as a shock to me at what an excellent tale he had woven here. You truly wonder whether the star of the story is really a child of the Mythos, or merely a mentally disturbed man. Aniolowski does this without causing your opinion to be biased one way or the other, leaving you to decide for yourself, something that most authors writing such a tale fail to do.

This is followed by "Guardian of the Pit," written by Franklyn Searight, which is a bland tale on which I'll say no more, simply because there is not much to it. Next up is "Trust Me" by Stanley C. Sargent. Sargent has written excellent tales in the past, and I believe that only by coasting on his reputation those quality works got him could he have gotten an awful tale like "Trust Me" published. A six-page tale which is all just a build up to an unfunny one-line joke delivered on the last page. Truly sad. This is followed by another equally bad tale by Sargent, entitled "Just a Tad Beyond Innsmouth." How the latter got nominated for Origins voting is beyond me, but I suspect heavy alcohol consumption by whoever choose the nominees.

Then comes "The Deep End," by Gregory Luce. This was my first time reading Mr. Luce's work, and I hope that it is not the last. "The Deep End" is excellent, with Mr. Price's comment that it is very pulpish a compliment I believe this tale earns. Starting off slowly, Luce's tale gradually speeds up until it reaches a roller-coaster pace. Repeatedly Luce would whip out an overused horror cliche, and just when I was ready to write the tale off as lame he'd break out of the cliche with a cool plot twist, with this formula repeated several times throughout the story. Without a doubt this is the best tale in the book, and it should be the story nominated for voting on the Origins ballot.

Finally there is "It Was the Day of the Deep One" by Peter H. Cannon. A hilarious story that, like "Mail Order Bride," starts off strong only to fall apart at the end. In the case of this tale, however, it feels as though Mr. Cannon grew bored with it or perhaps had a deadline to meet, causing him to end it abruptly.

So do I recommend Tales out of Innsmouth? If you don't mind paying $13.95 for a handful of quality stories surrounded by bad ones I'd say yes. If you're a Cthulhu fanatic or already have all the other anthologies I'd say yes. Otherwise purchase another title in the anthology line and leave this one to flounder.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Tales Out of Innsmouth
Author: Aniolowski, Cannon, Comtois, Glasby, Henderson, Lovecraft, Luce, McNaughton, Myers, Sargent, Schwader, and Searight. Robert M. Price Editor Category: Fiction Anthology Company/Publisher: Chaosium Line: Call of Cthulhu Cost: 13.95 Page count: 284 ISBN: 1-56882-127-1 SKU: 6024 Capsule Review by Ralph Dula on 06/12/00. Genre tags: Modern day Historical Horror Comedy Conspiracy	Let me start by saying that Tales Out of Innsmouth is not my least favorite Cthulhu fiction anthology, far from it. I can think of three other books I found more disappointing than Tales Out of Innsmouth. However, I read those three books not expecting much out of them, the subjects of the trio being aspects of the Mythos I was less than interested in. With Tales Out of Innsmouth I expected much, both because of the authors working on it and the fact the book focused on Innsmouth; the previous Innsmouth anthology from Chaosium was excellent, and I expected no less from this anthology. Oh, how I was disappointed. This anthology of thirteen stories is edited by Robert M. Price, who contributes both an excellent introduction and a foreword to each story. Unfortunately, several of the latter are rather bad, though he does manage not to spoil any of the stories in them; in previous anthologies he revealed major plot twists in the foreword, ruining most of the enjoyment that would come from reading the story. The first tale is "The Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth," by HP Lovecraft and John S. Glasby. Glasby wrote this tale based on a first draft and outline H.P.L. did for what was to become "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." Though not an outstanding tale, Glasby knows how to write a story, which is more than I can say for some of the other contributors to this anthology. Next up is "Understudy," by Gary Myers. This nice little tale shows what would happen if Deep Ones had gotten involved with the filming of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Third is "The Doom That Came to Innsmouth," by Brian McNaughton. I had high hopes for this story, only to find it the worst tale in the book. It had three flaws that brought doom to it. 1. The protagonist of the tale is apparently the Green River Killer. In the real world the Green River Killer was the title given to a serial killer in the northwestern United States who was never caught. I think it was in very poor taste to have this connection to a real life killer who has never been brought to justice for his crimes. I don't mind when people write stories involving killers whose misdeeds happened long ago (such as Jack the Ripper) or write stories set in violent times in our history (such as World War II). I do mind when there are family members of the deceased still alive who have no closure in their lives, who have never had justice served against the individual who took their loved ones away from them forever. This was just wrong, pure and simple. 2. In this tale the government sets up their Deep One research center in Innsmouth, with minimal security and an idiotic staff. The government even knows there are people in Innsmouth still in contact with the Deep Ones, and still they act like morons! Hmm...I think the government would be wise enough to set up such a center well away from the sea, or at least heavily guard it. 3. In this story a Deep One is resurrected just in time to save the tale's protagonist. Fair enough, except for the fact that earlier in the story it was established how much the government loves to examine Deep Ones and hybrids, and the Deep One is found surrounded by autopsied hybrids, yet has nary a mark upon him. Why would the government waste time dissecting hybrids when they had a full Deep One to dissect? "Return to Y'ha-nthlel," also written by John S. Glasby, uses the old "hypnotic regression causes physical changes" plot, with nothing new added to the concept. Pierre Comtois's "The Old Ones' Signs," on the other hand, was an excellent tale. Many times we've had stories where a character discusses Obed Marsh and how he made a pact with the Deep Ones. "The Old Ones' Signs" is the first tale to give us a first-hand account of Obed's initial meeting with the Deep Ones, courtesy of a crewman serving under Marsh on the voyage in which the meeting took place. Next up is "Fleas of the Dragon," by C.J. Henderson. For years I've been impressed by Henderson's short Mythos stories, considering him one of the two best Mythos authors around. I finally read one of his detective novels last year, finding it disappointing. Then earlier this year I found one of Henderson's Teddy London supernatural mysteries novel, entitled Some Things Come Back, which Henderson wrote under his pseudonym Robert Morgan. The novel was so bad I almost lost all respect for Henderson. His protagonists are god-like in their abilities (Teddy London has supernaturally perfect senses, the ability to call on the knowledge of all his ancestors, the ability to absorb souls from people as easily as you or I breath and use them to power psychic blasts, and oh, yes, go to a pocket reality which he can reshape as he wishes and that he can draw opponents into and leave there. Let's not even discuss his wife, kids, and co-workers, let alone his friends), haughty and insufferable to mere mortals, and just so unlikeable you wish they would die. Henderson also seemed to have lost the ability to tell a good story while writing the novel, which had such highlights as a villain built up to be nigh-invulnerable for the entire book dying in about four pages at the hands of several minor characters, one of whom just appears out of nowhere with a weapon that just happens to affect said nigh-invulnerable guy, and an almost-nuclear holocaust bringing little more than a "So What?" from the main characters. Why am I telling you all this? Because "Fleas of the Dragon" stars Teddy London and pals, and the story is set just before the novel I read. London and company are no more likeable in the novel, and for some reason their abilities are a shadow of what they are in the novels; how else would you explain Teddy, with all his powers, being almost unable to fend off four Deep Ones? Oh, this story also has the idea that on their first encounter with the supernatural no mere mortal mind can accept it, causing people to break down in terror and leave London and friends to take care of things. This is odd, as in all the other tales by Henderson I've read he loves to tell tales where mankind is more than ready and able to take on the Great Old Ones and their multidimensional mooks. This tale is crap with a capital C. Next up is "Mail Order Bride," by Ann K. Schwader. The story starts out strong, keeps its brisk pace, then peters off into lameness. It's as though Schwader suddenly decided that she should junk the enjoyable and novel tale she was telling, and go with a traditional "Man Can't Win Against the Mythos" ending. I can think of four ways the story could have ended better, and if you read it I'm sure you'll be able to do the same. "The Idol," by Scott David Aniolowski, surprised me. Mr. Aniolowski is not one of my favorite Mythos authors, so it came as a shock to me at what an excellent tale he had woven here. You truly wonder whether the star of the story is really a child of the Mythos, or merely a mentally disturbed man. Aniolowski does this without causing your opinion to be biased one way or the other, leaving you to decide for yourself, something that most authors writing such a tale fail to do. This is followed by "Guardian of the Pit," written by Franklyn Searight, which is a bland tale on which I'll say no more, simply because there is not much to it. Next up is "Trust Me" by Stanley C. Sargent. Sargent has written excellent tales in the past, and I believe that only by coasting on his reputation those quality works got him could he have gotten an awful tale like "Trust Me" published. A six-page tale which is all just a build up to an unfunny one-line joke delivered on the last page. Truly sad. This is followed by another equally bad tale by Sargent, entitled "Just a Tad Beyond Innsmouth." How the latter got nominated for Origins voting is beyond me, but I suspect heavy alcohol consumption by whoever choose the nominees. Then comes "The Deep End," by Gregory Luce. This was my first time reading Mr. Luce's work, and I hope that it is not the last. "The Deep End" is excellent, with Mr. Price's comment that it is very pulpish a compliment I believe this tale earns. Starting off slowly, Luce's tale gradually speeds up until it reaches a roller-coaster pace. Repeatedly Luce would whip out an overused horror cliche, and just when I was ready to write the tale off as lame he'd break out of the cliche with a cool plot twist, with this formula repeated several times throughout the story. Without a doubt this is the best tale in the book, and it should be the story nominated for voting on the Origins ballot. Finally there is "It Was the Day of the Deep One" by Peter H. Cannon. A hilarious story that, like "Mail Order Bride," starts off strong only to fall apart at the end. In the case of this tale, however, it feels as though Mr. Cannon grew bored with it or perhaps had a deadline to meet, causing him to end it abruptly. So do I recommend Tales out of Innsmouth? If you don't mind paying $13.95 for a handful of quality stories surrounded by bad ones I'd say yes. If you're a Cthulhu fanatic or already have all the other anthologies I'd say yes. Otherwise purchase another title in the anthology line and leave this one to flounder. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 2 (Sparse)