The World of the Dolphin (Chester Krone, 1972) & a related tale of the Cthulhu Mythos

Today's thrift store find: a 1972 non-fiction paperback about dolphins, published by Belmont/Tower.
#books #vintage_paperbacks #dolphins #horror

Back cover sums up the contents accurately.

"The World of the Dolphin is brought to you by TRUE™ cigarettes. If a dolphin could smoke, they'd smoke TRUE!"

Back when paperbacks had random ads in them.

The book ends on a bit of a downer about the US military training dolphins to be unwitting kamikazes. Krone based this on claims from an article written by Kip Cooper for the San Diego Union in 1970, which the Navy has denied.

Apart from a few other non-fiction / educational books, Krone wrote one 1981 horror novel, BLOOD WRATH, published by Playboy (picture from Goodreads). Back cover description:

"UNCONSCIONABLE TERROR... UNTHINKABLE EVIL...

The group is called the Society for a New World. Its leader is a man of almost superhuman charisma, of unfathomable evil.

His plan is to destroy the major leaders and institutions of American civilization.

Through acts of terror almost unimaginable in their hideousness, his and his disciples will bring the United States and all its citizens to their knees. For once and for all, it shall be shown how crazed fear can destroy the will to resist."

I have not read it so I have no idea if dolphins are involved. Which brings us to...

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Vol. 2 (Ballantine paperback, 1973)
Cover art by John Holmes (not that one)

A collection of short stories originally published as a single volume by Arkham House in hardback in 1969.

Also a thrift find, but last year. I'm including it here because I was coincidentally reading one of the stories last night — "The Deep Ones" by James Wade — and it seems relevant since it's contemporary, involves dolphin communication research, and offers an alternative view on human-dolphin relations.

(Also, both Krone and Wade reference counter-culture intellectual and dolphin-botherer John C. Lilly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Lilly )

"The Deep Ones":

A parapsychologist moves to California (which he hates) to take a job at the Institute for Zoological Studies, where its founder Dr. Wilhelm and his research assistant Josephine Gilman (of the Innsmouth Gilmans) are trying to communicate with dolphins. They hope the new hire can help by putting Gilman into a hypnotic state so she can become "more sensitive to the thought-patterns of the animal" (Wilhelm believes dolphins communicate with each other telepathically).

The Institute shares a beach with a band of dirty hippies, led by a former psychologist from Miskatonic University whose disciples now call him their guru. The fur-coated, bereted guru keeps warning Wilhelm to stop his work with dolphins since it's dangerous to himself and others, which Wilhelm obviously dismisses. Meanwhile, the hippies perform orgiastic rituals every night.

------ SPOILERS IN NEXT IMAGE ------

Turns out dolphins are malevolent aliens in league with the Deep Ones and Cthulhu. The hippies were trying to counteract the forces of the Great Old Ones with their orgies. The dolphin that Gilman was trying to communicate with ends up impregnating her when she's in a trance and they both eventually escape into the ocean to get married in the underwater city of Y'ha-nthlei (this is all explained by the dolphin himself, who was caught on tape literally talking to Gilman).