At the Mountains of Madness

I struggle trying to review this book. I think one has to consider it from two different viewpoints, both as a reader who has, and has not, experienced the original novella by Lovecraft. I was in the latter camp and I enjoyed this book. But I think it stands not on its own, but rather as a

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companion to the original.

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A graphic novel is perhaps a better format for this particular story then the original. Some of Lovecraft is masterful in its use of inference and suspense, like The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Nut the horror of the Elder things can be truly grasped from illustrations. It would be interesting to

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see other titles brought to life in the GN genre.

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Good art and a good adaption of H.P Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. A good entry for new readers.

An okay graphic adaptation that does not match Lovecraft's creepy, purple prose.

I bought this on the recommendation of Dave Morris of Fabled Lands. It is a very tight rendition of HP Lovecraft's 'At the Mountains of Madness', with artwork somewhat resembling Hergé's Tintin, though a bit more comic-y. I particularly liked the increasing darkness of the panels as Danforth and

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the Professor descended deeper into the alien city in the ice. The brevity of the graphic novel form is both a strength and a weakness here. You *see* the Elder Thing in the ice, without the pages of description. There is certainly some creepy buildup, especially during the plane trip over the mountains, but something of the slowly growing horror of the wordy original is lost. This is by no means the fault of the artist, who has done a superb job, but is inherent in the adaptation of a novella to graphical form. A very good adaptation of one of Lovecraft's best stories.

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The problem with illustrating this particular one is that you see how silly the giant penguins actually look.

I've been playing "Arkham Horror" these last few months. The game is based on H. P. Lovecraft's novels. It was fun and interesting to quickly read a Lovecraft story and see references that the game makes in this context. Otherwise, I would not really recommend purchasing this. Fun at the library.

I knew almost nothing about At the Mountains of Madness before starting it. Basically I knew that it was by Lovecraft and it was the story of a scientific expedition to Antarctica and the horrors they found there....see, almost nothing. After reading the novella, I read up on it a little more

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because I wanted to know where it fit in with some of Lovecraft's other stories. This book is one of his later works, written 5 years after his more famous Call of Cthulhu. I was curious about the publication chronology of his stories because, similar to some of his other stories, there is a great effort given to the scholarly veracity of his tale. Specifically, this story involves researchers from the Miskatonic University (as referenced in many of his other stories) and references some of his other writings as well known books present in the university library. The Cthulhu Mythos and the "Elder Things" is well known by the characters in this story and it is presumed to be well known to other researchers and readers of this report.

The story is told hesitantly by a member of an expedition to Antarctica that happened in ~1930 and made some amazing discoveries. The narrator, William Dyer, explains that the reader is likely aware of some of the official reports that came by means of wireless transmissions during the early portions of the expedition but very few people know the entire story. Dyer says that he would much rather let the true story remain hidden forever but he feels like it must be told now in an effort to prevent subsequent expeditions from trying to pick up where his left off. He is afraid that additional expeditions will encounter the same sort of disasters as happened to him or, worse yet, they could set in motion larger scale horrors to the world.

Lovecraft, through Dyer, gives a very detailed account of the expedition in a manner that is both very scholarly and very accessible. Specific and minute descriptions are given of the purpose of the expedition, the tools and processes to be used and the findings made by the team through their various samplings and experiments. The group consists of geologists, biologists and other scholars with high-tech equipment used to bore deep into the frozen wasteland and excavate samples in the hopes of studying rock, soil, plant and animal fossils, etc. They have numerous small airplanes at their disposal as well as dogsled teams.

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[CAUTION: minor plot spoilers -- Skip the next ~2 paragraphs to avoid the spoilers]

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One day, a team of researchers led by Professor Lake makes a scouting expedition inland via airplane to identify good locations. Over the radio, they describe a massive mountain range with strange formations high up that seem somewhat unnatural. After landing, they discover the remains of some ancient life form with both animal and plant characteristics. They set up camp and begin studying the specimens, sending reports via radio to Dyer's team back near the coast. The reports are met with growing curiosity and excitement. Lake also indicates that his sled dogs seem hatefully distrustful of the specimens and have been barking and snarling ever since discovery. Sometime through the night radio contact is lost and Dyer's team back on the coast nervously waits to decide what to do next, hopeful that perhaps a storm or other natural occurrence is to blame for lost communication.

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[CAUTION: slightly larger plot spoilers]

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The next day Dyer flies to find Lake's team and determine what happened. When they arrive, they find Lake's camp in ruins; most of the men and dogs are violently dead while others are missing. Some of the ancient life forms have been ritualistically buried under star-shaped mounds. The remaining ancient life forms are missing. In the center of the camp they find a man and a dog laid out as though undergoing what appears to have been an autopsy or biological dissection experiment. Ever the scientists they don't want to jump hastily to any conclusion and so, in spite of the horrific scene and any fear they may have, they set out to find the missing man. Dyer and a fellow researcher named Danforth fly a plane up into the mountains and discover that the formations seen by Lake and his team proved to be buildings from some ancient civilization. They find a place to land and begin exploring the city. The huge buildings are filled with statues and ancient carvings through which they gain some knowledge of the history and makeup of this ancient civilization. They recognize similarities to the stories they've read in the Necromonicon and other books talking about Elder Things and the Cthulhu.

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[END OF SPOILERS]

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In terms of a horror novel, this book is not a "slasher" story filled with a ton of action or gore. The scenes of destruction and violence happen "off screen" such that the reader is presented with an almost clinical or crime-scene description of the area rather than an action packed sequence outlining the struggles. Dyer frequently asserts to the reader that the horrors he encountered are too terrible and should not be shared with humanity but that he will share what he can in an effort to prevent others from experiencing the horror he discovered. There is a feeling of foreboding and suspense but it's was kept at a distance by Dyer's desire to shelter the reader and by the overly scientific tone of the writing.

Having read some, but not all of Lovecraft's stories, I found this novella especially interesting. It went into significant detail on the Cthulhu mythos and the history of the Elder Ones. It detailed their arrival on Earth, the inner workings of their cultures and civilizations. I don't know how much of this is outlined in his other stories. Based on previous stories I've read, this felt like the most complete almost "end-to-end" history I'd seen...perhaps it pieces together elements created in his other books. And yet, it still leaves a lot unknown and left to further exploration. Dyer and Danforth made many discoveries and unraveled many threads but the final horrors they faced were still left somewhat nebulous and there was much they were unable to explore.

Overall I enjoyed this story. I've expressed before that I'm not a big fan of the overly graphic or gory horror genre with its sometimes overly violent tendencies. As such, I found this particular "horror" story right in my wheelhouse. I will admit that it was a little dry at times but it's short enough that it was easy enough to keep pushing through. I'm really enjoying exploring Lovecraft's imaginative worlds and seeing the influence he made on future storytelling.

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3.5 out of 5 stars

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Lovecraft has been a bit hit or miss for me but this one, despite a fairly predictable climax, was oddly mesmerizing. Not much actually happens, but the slow reveal of the Dreadful Truth is very nicely done, and, well, not only does this offer a generous sampling of classic Lovecraftian gods and

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monsters, but there are six foot tall monster penguins!

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When the expedition mutinied on him, Professor Dyer should have cut his losses and returned to the ships as Lake lead the team further and further afield.

Step by step, the whole expedition is sucked into this obsession.

Considering what happened to Lake's party, Dyer's actions are nonsensical.

Are

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the blind penguins Lovecraft or artistic license?

This is vague horror that creeps into your soul. Thinking horror instead of jump scare horror.

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Very good adaptation of Lovecraft's work.

This is an interesting view into H.P. Lovecraft's story. The art is simplistic, but also evocative. I enjoyed the story, but it was somewhat superficial - it didn't bring me into the world as much as I had hoped.

Evocative artwork that feels right for the period, without simply imitating it. Culbard has done a good job adapting the story, with minor alterations to better fit the medium, and the slight expansion of the framing device works well. Really enjoyed this.

I read several comic adaptations of Lovecraft's stories, manga adaptation of "At the Mountain of Madness" being one of the very good ones, but this series of books by I.N.J. Cullbard are just wonderful.

Presented in the wonderful drawings, this story was truly augmented and presented in the most

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cinematic way possible. Story itself follows the original Lovecraft's novel but manages to create the pressure of unseen terror, always that something lurking from within shadows without making the visual presentation difficult to the eyes.

Excellent adaptations, highly recommended to all fans of horor and especially Lovecraft.

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