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** spoiler alert ** This definitely exceeded my expectations. This was my first time reading H. P. Lovecraft's work, and I can absolutely understand how he was such a pioneer in horror, world-building, and has had a lasting impact on media today. Since it was quite short, I expected to be able to read it quickly, but speed-reading writing from 1936 was biting off a little more than I can chew. That being said, the writing holds up tremendously. It made me want to read more horror books and learn more about Lovecraft's universe. Lovecraft's flirtation with foreshadowing is *chef's kiss.*"The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is absolutely one of those reads that gets better every time because you notice more on each return. I was shocked to learn about the narrator's genetic damnation. (In full disclosure - I had to look up Deep One etymology and family trees to fully follow.) I did learn that part of why Lovecraft wrote this was because his parents had both died in a mental institution and he was terrified of "becoming a Deep one" (finding out he had depression) himself. This did make him pro-eugenics which is sickening but not entirely shocking for a white man born in the early 1900s. (Although still not acceptable.)
I thought Lovecraft's writing did get a bit hung up on the technical side (I am less than interested in learning which streets connect to where on Innsmouth and it didn't seem to serve this particular plot) but all in all, there was suspense, there was shock, there was Deep and dark shit. I'm glad to have read it.