The Lady of Innsmouth enchants with her eyes
Though an unblinking gaze she possesses
Her beauty is different–perhaps no surprise,
She has tentacles rather than tresses!

The people of Innsmouth, and villages near,
See her features as reason to hate.
She’s just a bit different–but “different” we fear–
To be mocked, to be shamed, was her fate.

…

So maybe she’s fishy, with tentacled hair
(This, I think, is a lovely mutation)
You now have a chance; you can show her you care,
Cos her statue could use your donation!

So… I have a confession, and then a bit of a plea. My confession is, I have never been a fan of Lovecraft’s writing. I’m not an enemy, either; I simply had not read any (which is perfectly normal, unless you go by the name “Cuttlefish”, and then suddenly for some reason it’s seen as a strange thing).

Friend of this blog Sheryl Westleigh has sculpted a gorgeous bust of the
“Lady of Innsmouth”, inspired by H.P.Lovecraft’s story “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”, and is looking for financial support to cast a limited run of these statues–some in resin, some in cold-cast bronze. From her kickstarter:

I have a real love of taking things which are often considered ugly or creepy and finding the beauty in them. In H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth the residents of Innsmouth are described as being ugly and fish-like with strange unblinking eyes. They are disliked and distrusted by outsiders mostly because they are different. I wanted to take that rough description and create how maybe one of the Innsmouth folk looked as she started transforming into her aquatic self before joining her family below Devil’s Reef.

When Sheryl contacted me to ask if I would promote her Kickstarter, I immediately said yes (I bought a steampunk cuttlefish necklace for Cuttledaughter a few years ago, actually a special order, and loved it, and love her admittedly different view of beauty in the world), and then sought out and read “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”. And, frankly, I prefer her interpretation to Lovecraft’s; hers is more frightening because it is more human. Which, I suppose, is a bit ironic.

Anyway, her Kickstarter page is here; if you are a fan of Lovecraft, or a supporter of the arts, or a tentacle fetishist, you want this. Or, you know, if you want to support a deserving artist with a unique vision with even a small donation (I suppose a large one would be grudgingly accepted as well).

Oh, and, in this case, I suspect that if you tell them that Cuttlefish sent you, you might want to be even more specific than that.