Title: The Innsmouth Nook
Author: A. Lee Martinez
In: Death’s Excellent Vacation (Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 4th November 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gollancz
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘So what brings you to Clam Bay?’ he asked.
All they wanted to do was open up a quaint little B&B in a small coastal town. But then tourism dropped off. And the locals really didn’t like these two interlopers coming into their town. And then, well, things just got worse.
To start with, I was a little bit “eh” about this story. I mean, two guys from the Big Smoke move to a tiny, backwater town… it’s not exactly a groundbreaking or really very original story. But then it started to develop. And I got hooked. And now I’m still thinking of it with fond memories.
As someone from a tourism area, I completely understand how drastically tourism can impact on a town. This story helped to drive this fact even further home. Plus, it was quite entertaining the new form of tourism that started to encroach on the town.
This short story is a great mix of mythology and folklore. And just the general wit, fun and mayhem that I seriously enjoy in a good short story and paranormal fantasy tale.
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