The Shadow Over Innsmouth Study Guide
1. Why does the narrator’s uncle commit suicide?
a. Because he was turning into a Deep One.
2. What caused the Deep Ones to colonize Innsmouth?
a. Captain Obed Marsh invited them to the town.
3. What horrifying fact does the author discover at the end of the story?
a. That he is related to the Marsh family and is turning into a Deep One himself.
4. What is the name of the narrator?
a. Trick question. The narrator’s name is never revealed.
5. How did the narrator escape from Innsmouth the morning after he was chased?
a. By following the train tracks back to civilization.
6. Why does the narrator go to Innsmouth in the first place?
a. He was on a sightseeing tour of antique houses.
7. How does the narrator escape from the hotel?
a. He escapes by going through adjoining hotel rooms, jumping out the window onto the roof of another building.
8. Why do people in Innsmouth lose their hair and have large eyes?
a. They are turning into Deep Ones (Fish people).
9. What two industries does the town of Innsmouth make money from?
a. Fishing and gold mining.
10. Why is the narrator stuck in Innsmouth?
a. Because they tell him that the bus broke down. (Probably a lie.)
11. What was the narrator’s weird dream about at the end of the story?
a. Being a deep one and living in their underwater kingdom.
12. What is the name of the hotel in Innsmouth?
a. The Gilman House
13. Who explains the mystery of Innsmouth to the narrator?
a. Zadok Allen
14. Why is the narrator’s cousin in an insane asylum (Arkham)?
a. He is turning into a Deep One.
15. Why is it difficult for the narrator to obtain alcohol?
a. The story takes place during Prohibition.
16. Who is the only person in Innsmouth who does not live there?
a. The grocery clerk.
17. What does the narrator buy for Zadok Allen?
a. Whiskey.
18. How does the narrator manage to escape from the deep ones while out in the open?
a. He imitates the shambling gait of the Innsmouth people.
19. Where does the narrator go to when he informs the authorities about Innsmouth?
a. Boston
20. What object from Innsmouth does the librarian show the narrator?
a. A bizarre tiara.
21. What does the captain suggest about evolution?
a. That it works both ways and animals could revert back to earlier forms.
22. Why am I not giving Amanda food?
a. I don’t have any and she’s not allowed to eat in my class anyway.
23. What is the name of the formation off the coast of Innsmouth?
a. Devil’s Reef
24. What supposedly killed half of Innsmouth’s population in the mid-1800s?
a. A plague that was claimed to have originated in Asia.
25. In reality, the townspeople were killed because….
a.
26. What bothers the narrator about the Tiara?
a. The tiara has an elliptical shape and was not made for a human head.
27. When the author escapes from his hotel, how is the alarm raised?
a. A light is directed towards the reef.
28. What happened to the islanders who worshipped the Deep Ones?
a.
29. What mystical symbol is capable of warding off evil in the story?
a. The Swastika
30. What is the name of the author?
a. H.P. Lovecraft