I've been ask'd by ye Miskatonic River Press to write yem a wee collection of Mythos tales, and we have decided that I should try to set ye stories in Lovecraft Country. So this subject of locales is heavy on me mind. The locale that moft intimidates me is Innsmouth: what could have happened to that seaport dwelling after its rape? I am tempted to have the government return those whom they took away as a result of others bargaining with Innsmouth gold, a huge fortune that government greed cou'd not resist. Or with a threat of human annihilation from a race of beings who cou'd easily wipe us out. Modern day Innsmouth could be a wonderful fictive examination for an author who is clever enough to imagine it. Reading the story anew, it is simply stunning, the way that HPL brings the town to eerie life, in such a powerful way.
But I think the town that I am moft anxious to write about is Kingsport. That town really haunts me, especially now that I have visited Marblehead.
The wonder of Lovecraft's locales is that each is individually unique, they have their own specific landmarks and auras. They are each especially suited for that which occurs in them. And how interesting that Lovecraft was inspir'd to create his own locales. He insisted that, as a writer, he was a "realist" -- & yet he invented mythical magical locales in which to set his weird fiction. I find that fascinating.
Much beloved Wilum:--
Know thou verily that those who did the taking away were not themselves of the acient race of the Deep Ones, stretching back in undisputed rule from well before the birth of Virginia Dare?
The T-men speak of bootlegging off Devils Reef, and yet we know there was ancient rivalry among the clans that inherited the tiara.
