Ivo Torello
Il maledetto paese che puzzava di pesce

Here is the prolific Ivo Torello with a new chapter (the third one) of The Strange Cases of Ulysse Bonamy. Let me start by saying that these booklets come with an attractive graphic design (the cover illustration is by Elena Nives Furlan) and with titles that are, in their own way, brilliant. This The Damned Village That Smelled of Fish, in particular, will undoubtedly capture the imagination of H.P. Lovecraft fans, who will immediately think of the story The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Torello, for his part, is a great admirer of the Recluse of Providence, even though his production has taken other directions, especially since The House of Shells. However, his Predators from the Abyss (a cult novel that will soon be reprinted by Hypnos Editions) was steeped in “Lovecraftian” quotes and a genuine “sense of wonder,” although the overall tone was very enjoyable and light. With The House of Shells, Torello created his original language, mixing erotic novel, history, magic, and weird.

The series dedicated to Ulysse Bonamy is a child of that novel's success: I believe that deciding to adopt a serial character was a winning idea. The historical context is that of the Roaring Twenties of '30s Paris, and Ulysse Bonamy closely resembles Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer and certain figures of occult detectives such as John Silence by Algernon Blackwood, Carnacki by William Hope Hodgson, and perhaps Harry Dickson by Jean Ray. This time, Bonamy will find himself having to go to a remote village in southern France with the task (although it resembles more of a blackmail commissioned by the monster sculptor Ian Anton Morleu) of finding the fabled Leviathan's Tail, a legendary relic. He must follow the traces of his friend Claude Mercier, who tragically drowned while conducting research there. To do this, he travels with Morleu's niece Georgeta, who will drive him in her vehicle named Hecate. We are in the '30s, so modern tourism towards the French Riviera doesn't exist yet (except for the English who come there to spend the winter). The village is called Bouche-sur-Mer, and apparently, no one knows where it is. Once they arrive, the two are enveloped by a mephitic smell of fish. There's no one around, and once they reach the inn, they are served by an elephantine woman, her husband, and their retarded son. It seems they have ended up in a place where crossbreeding among relatives has produced disastrous effects. Bouche-sur-Mer is, in all respects, an uninhabited village where fishermen go out early in the morning to return after sunset. The geometry of the place is crooked, the church is uninhabited and populated only by stray cats, and the few characters who are seen are elusive. Undoubtedly, Bouche-sur-Mer resembles an Innsmouth transposed to the south of France. The key to solving the mystery will be the diary (an old gothic novel device) of Claude Mercier found in his room by Ulysse Bonamy, which will lead them to visit another church consecrated to an ancient cult. The spirit of Lovecraft, in any case, hovers over the story, and the circle closes when Georgeta gives Ulysse a copy of Weird Tales, where Dagon and an American writer are mentioned.

Ultimately, Torello hits the mark again (in my opinion, this The Damned Village That Smelled of Fish is the best in the series so far), and he succeeds in engaging the reader with perhaps conventional but nonetheless highly effective devices that reveal a proficient craftsman of writing. Available on the Hypnos Editions website: http://www.edizionihypnos.com/.

Ivo Torello “The Damned Village That Smelled of Fish” – Hypnos Editions – 135 pages – Euro 9.90 – 2020