A SCOUT IS BRAVE
Will Ludwigsen
July 1, 2024
Lethe Press
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Hello horror fiends! It’s your old pal Skull with a most excellent read to help you celebrate the recent birthday of H.P. Lovecraft. A Scout Is Brave by Will Ludwigsen ties in beautifully to Lovecraft’s novella A Shadow Over Innsmouth   and moves the action forward to 1963. The U.S. is in turmoil, with issues like the Vietnam war looming and events like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy stirring the pot, so it almost seems like a reprieve for the Castillo family when Dad is offered a job far away from Queens, NY. Not only that but the Innsmouth Oil Speculating Consortium is offering a hefty salary along with a rent-free house. Heck, they’re even paying moving expenses!

While that is pretty sweet for an out of work construction and demolition diver, it doesn’t take long for the Castillos to realize that Innsmouth, Massachusetts is one strange place. All the houses are boarded up, the population is tiny, and their leader is an eccentric preacher named Mr. Pritchett who keeps rattling on about “the deep ones” and “returning to glory.” Young Bud Castillo also finds out that everyone in town is elderly and there aren’t any other kids to play with. This is a major disappointment because he really wants to get a new Boy Scout troop going. Bud carries his handbook everywhere and strives to be the most all-American good guy that he can possibly be. Yeah, he has a temper sometimes, but so does his old man, who recently got fired from his job because the boss’ son left him in the Harlem River with no air to breathe.

Then, while walking around the dilapidated old town, Bud discovers a library. It’s all boarded up in front, so he goes around back hoping that there might be a way in. Just when he finds one, Aubrey Marsh practically drops right into his lap. While he’s small and a bit odd looking, Aubrey appears to be a real live boy. Things are looking up! With a couple more fellas, they’ll be able to put a Scout troop together in no time. Except that Aubrey is the only other kid in town. Still not daunted, Bud decides that they can still have their own sort of troop. Aubrey dives into the idea of becoming a boy scout with amazing enthusiasm and becomes solid friends with not only Bud, but his mother and dad, too. Sometimes he helps them understand the situation in Innsmouth. But others, he relies on them to help him with his quest for answers about what happened to the previous residents of the town.

Unfortunately, as Aubrey and Bud collect facts and start putting pieces of the puzzle together, the picture it reveals is an alarming one. Dad says that he doesn’t know exactly what the people of Innsmouth are doing with an oil drilling rig, but it certainly isn’t drilling for oil. Reverend Pritchett becomes even more animated as the work gets closer to completion, babbling about some kind of long-awaited reunion and eternal life. The townspeople follow suit, making things awkward. Then Mrs. Castillo gets kidnapped while Bud and his Dad are taken hostage. Suddenly the job is no longer a voluntary thing and Aubrey disappears. Will the Castillo family ever be reunited? Are the townspeople truly headed towards great glory, or something worse than death? Why is Mrs. Marsh such an excellent swimmer? And where the heck is Aubrey? As the novel rockets towards its explosive conclusion, all these questions and more will be answered! All you need to do is grab yourself a copy of A Scout Is Brave to get the scoop.  

Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer rates A Scout Is Brave by Will Ludwigsen a BIG 5 STARS! Superbly written and perfectly connected to Lovecraft’s original concept of Innsmouth, it’s clear that Ludwigsen is very familiar with the Cthulu mythos. Like many good horror stories, A Scout Is Brave is also about accepting yourself and others for who they really are. Maybe you’re a Puerto Rican Jew from Queens, like Bud, or a half human-half amphibious creature from the sea who desperately wants to be a real boy. The best things in life are friends, because they’re the family we get to choose, or who chooses us. Too many blood families get hung up on stupid stuff like who a person should love, or what they’re career path is supposed to be, and the big icky one: religion. The truth is that no perfect race or life form exists in the universe. We all have flaws, but also a lot of good to offer others who can see past them. Worshipping a higher power is not always a good thing, especially when those powers are angry sea creatures that want to take over the world.

While A Scout Is Brave is listed as a YA read in some markets, this book is great for adults, too. Especially those of us who had a less than stellar childhood and were forced to move state to state after finally making a few friends. It is scary at times, but also full of love, and some really cool details that bring Innsmouth into the present day. It is also currently on sale at the Lethe Press’ website: www.lethepressbooks.com along with some other seriously boss titles. Your old pal Skull encourages you to pop on over there and take a look! While you’re checking out cool things, you might also enjoy visiting Will Ludwigsen’s page at: www.will-ludwigsen.com Thanks for visiting your old pal Skull and if you wouldn’t mind, give us a follow at: www.damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com

About the reviewer

When darkness falls Brian James Lewis becomes his alter ego, Skull, and burns the midnight oil reading and reviewing recent arrivals to his lair, the Skullcave! You can catch up with him on social media at: https://facebook.com/DamagedSkullWriterandReviewer where he’d really appreciate some follows to get more exposure for Indy horror writers and presses!

You can also find him on: X/Twitter@skullsnflames76

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