The Trials of Obed Marsh

De: Matthew Davenport

Narrado por: Steven Gordon

H. P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth introduced us to a corrupt and fallen town, owned and controlled by the dark Esoteric Order of Dagon. But how did Innsmouth fall so far from the healthy New England town that it had been? What could possibly convince an entire port town to abandon their beliefs and morality for the darker path of the Necronomicon?

The answer was found in the lost journals of Obed Marsh. This is the tale of how a man, devout in his Catholic beliefs, could be corrupted and torn from grace. This is the explanation of how he took all of Innsmouth with him. This is The Trials of Obed Marsh.

©2013 Matthew Davenport (P)2013 Matthew Davenport

Lovecraft Reborn!

This short story captured the mood and tone of Lovecraft. Really enjoyed the back story of Innsmouth as it fit in perfectly with the existing mythos. The ending was masterfully done and I have to give Davenport credit for allowing the reader to experience it on their own terms (I'll leave it at that so not to give away anything).

Intriguing though lacking

What about Steven Gordon’s performance did you like?

He's an exceptional narrator, and I loved the pacing and shifts in his voice when conveying different characters.

Any additional comments?

Obed Marsh, Innsmouth’s sinister patriarch and the town’s first acolyte of Dagon, has been a figure of menace, hovering in the background of the town since HP Lovecraft first introduced him through the drunken, rambling monologue of Zadok Allen in The Shadow over Innsmouth.

Here, Davenport attempts to bring the misty figure of Obed into focus, and provides his own interesting interpretation of the years leading up to the seaside town’s transition. A tricky task, and he also attempts to rehabilitate Marsh, as much as is possible.

He does so by consistently stressing Obed’s devotion to his family and his town, and his hopes for the future. As the old saying goes: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Or Y'ha-nthlei in this case.

To accept this version of events, the reader must assume that Zadok Allen’s account was incomplete. Understandable, given his age at the time and his limited exposure and understanding.

However, the story has three flaws. The first being a lack of young Zadok himself. Perhaps I missed it and must listen again, but I had hoped for a brief appearance of the boy as a witness to the horrific climax he would later relate.

From a glance at other reviews, there also seems to have been a mistake about the town’s religious affiliation. Davenport had originally written it as a Catholic town. Apparently he later tried to fix this, because the audio I listened to specified Protestant, but the references to religion still had a Catholic feel, and he did not specify the multiple Protestant denominations that would be in existence.

Finally, while Davenport chronicles Obed’s story as the slow slide of a good man to damnation, the tale lacks the pure insanity, the mind-warping madness, that encounters with such alien and inimical creatures would bring. He also skimps on the more intimate and chilling (pun there) references to breeding with the Deep Ones. The matter isn’t touched on as much as I would suspect from an intimate account of Obed’s life. Nor does he convey the horror of certain moments, such as-

SPOILER

-Obed’s realization that his son has been made a true convert to Dagon. The shift to actually sacrificing travelers was not touched on with enough horror either, I thought.

SPOILER ENDS

Nonetheless, the story remains effective in other ways, as Davenport shows the little compromises made in the name of necessity that sweep a good man into the depths with the inevitability of an undertow. He also references other aspects of the Lovecraft cosmos, such as the Dream Lands, and employs them in a subtle and truly terrifying turn of events at the end.

I say give it a try.

2

Ship Capitan Obed Marsh is a known and loved political figure in his community. His crew brings home jewels and precious metals from a neighboring Polynesian island, making their town prosperous and wealthy.

In exchange, the crew must allow the islanders to teach them about their god, Dagon. The crew agrees to learn but not participate, and Obed tells himself its a small price to pay for prosperity. And what the very Protestant townsfolk don't know wont hurt them, right?
But of course, things get complicated, and the town falls into darkness. This is the story of how that happened.

My favorite aspect of this story was the spiritual element- dream world creatures and rituals vs the Christian God and the soul. The question of God providing now vs. in the afterlife.

My least favorite part about the book: not so great production quality. (Audio book) Several times I could hear noises in the background. The narrator was easy to listen to and had a good voice and he did a good job but the background noises were very distracting at times, especially towards the end of the story.

Would I recommend this to a friend? Like with any other book, it depends on the friend and what genre they enjoy. I did enjoy it and I am curious about what else the author might have written.
Overall, I give it 3 and a half stars.

"When you sup with the devil...."

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This ingenious story fleshes out the narrative hinted at in HP Lovecraft's classic The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and explains how a small New England fishing village came to be associated with hybrid horrors from the deeps.

Captain Marsh is an ambitious man who wants the best for his family, his crew and his town. That leads him into a questionable trade with South Sea islanders and the enigmatic Cult of Dagon, a fish-god with a taste for human blood. As the years progress, Marsh is drawn in ever deeper, and even as his ties with the cult grow stronger he is haunted by bloody nightmares of what he might be unleashing...

If you could take any character from The Trials of Obed Marsh out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Dinner with the Deep Ones would certainly be a very exciting experience, but you'd only go through it once!

Any additional comments?

Cthulhu fthagn

Prequel to The Shadow Over Innsmouth

Would you consider the audio edition of The Trials of Obed Marsh to be better than the print version?

I've only listened to the audio version, which I thought was well told and effective.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It was interesting to see Obed Marsh's journey from being a competent ship captain who cared about his community get twisted and manipulated into bringing the Order of Dagon back to his home town. Also, his horror at his son's love of the order, was nicely portrayed.

What about Steven Gordon’s performance did you like?

Overall, Steven Gordon gave a nice performance with a steady, Lovecraftian narration and good, differentiated voices for all the characters.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The tag line for the movie version of this book would be "The Shadow falls over Innsmouth."

Any additional comments?

"The Trials of Obed Marsh" is a prequel of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth" that tells how Obed Marsh encountered the Order of Dagon and introduced it to Insmouth. Also, the story gives us details of the attack on Innsmouth that was blamed on a mysterious plague. Overall, it fit pretty neatly in this corner of the Cthulhu mythos, though it seemed Marsh's voyages to the Pacific were pretty easy for the 1830s. Also, it seemed a little strange that Innsmouth's dominant faith is described generically as "Protestant" and despite that, they hold mass at one point. For me, the most effective part of this story was seeing how Marsh and his family descended into madness.