H.P. Lovecraft At the Mountains of Madness
Plot: A complete short novel, AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS is a tale of terror unlike any other. The Barren, windswept interior of the Antarctic plateau was lifeless--or so the expedition from Miskatonic University thought. Then they found the strange fossils of unheard-of creatures. Also 10 other tales of horror, entities, ghouls, time travel, and many other weird plots.
My Review and Thoughts:
This is one of my all time favorite written authors and stories by a true master of horror that can take a step into the darkened realm of pure terror and showcase it on the page. As a reader you become addicted to Lovecraft’s word play. Lovecraft represents the quality of a true written story. His talent for writing came on the scene and blew the written world and the horror world away. He showcased a talent that flourished into the imaginative realms of horror, terror, suspense and he gave you what true spookiness was about. I have read every Lovecraft story and when it comes to true deep imaginative unexplored horror I will have to say I will stick with the godfather of true horror.
Lovecraft took the reader into a whirlwind of screams to the very edge of what true horror is about. A master like no other, he is the master of horror and will always be apart of me because I grew up with his talent, his exploration into the dark deep evil realms of the subconscious to the very nature of fear.
At the Mountains of Madness and Other Weird Tales holds many of his classic tales that brought his passion for creating memorable stories and showcasing that he was a talented master at words. Many of these are my favorite stories that I reflect back onto. I read this set of stories back in 1995 so it's been 16 years. When I saw the book with a new cover I said lets review it and lets see if it still stands up to the high praise of my memory. Duh course it does. It's the master Lovecraft, it's stepping back to where in a sense dark horror began and to where he created amazing characters and amazing situations and towns and places and the unexplored.
At the Mountains of Madness and Other Weird Stories consist of 11 stories of many types of ordeals that only Lovecraft could birth.
Mountains of Madness was first written in 1931 and was rejected to be published in the magazine Weird Tales because of being to long. So Astounding Stories decided to make a serial of the story in 1936. This is considered the masterpiece of Lovecraft and is often thought as being one of the greatest nightmares ever written on paper. You have your main players William Dyer who is the narrator and professor of geology. He is a character that Lovecraft also used in The Shadow Out of Time. Your next player is Danforth who is a student who goes with Dyer on an expedition.
Now the idea behind the story is that Lovecraft was obsessed in a sense with the Antarctic and the very idea and journeys of exploration upon this great land which had been with him since childhood. The Antarctic at the time and still is, happens to be one of the most unexplored parts of the earth, like the sea to Jules Verne the Antarctica was to Lovecraft. It has also been stated Lovecraft was someone who acted or was affected by the nature of cold. Lovecraft also was a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe and his work of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket which this story ends in the Antarctica.
There has been many speculations throughout the years where the idea of At the Mountain of Madness came from, I just enjoy the idea its from imagination and the wonder of this great story teller but many have tried to pinpoint Lovecraft’s basis of the story some have guessed from the writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs’s all the way to A. Merritt, to many others.
There are also many examples of connections of At the Mountains of Madness to many other Lovecraft stories such as mentioning a few: The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Thing on the Doorstep, The Haunter of the Dark, The Dreams in the Witch House and others, characters or creatures or ideas all mingle together in many of Lovecraft’s stories. I really enjoy the story because it's written in that first person perspective just giving it a great feel of this is what’s happening.
A powerful written tool of literature for the imagination that comes full force into the readers mind so that your there. True understanding of what Lovecraft achieved in becoming the horror on page. Barker like Lovecraft not only writes the horror, he bleeds the horror upon the page written with the very tension that the story is written as.
This is a dark tale, a tale that opens the imagination beyond just fiction, it's a classic tale. A created world of darkness, stunning with its thick imagination that showcases no boundaries. Lovecraft is the true master to horror, Lovecraft is master to the macabre. A spooky in depth approach to the many emotions humans explore.
His writing is monumental in it's force and blunt nature leaving nothing to the imagination of the reader, his talent supplies it all as he adventures from one book to the other. I like reading in the dark with a book light giving it all the wonderful effect. This book is very spooky, very dark and mysterious and deep. Lovecraft is a writing genius and a talented artist in the world of perfect imagination.
The Summary of Each Story:
The Cats of Ulthar: An unnamed narrator, while gazing upon his pet cat, begins to reminisce about a law in the town of Ulthar that forbids the killing of cats and relates the story of how this law came to be. The tale begins with the introduction of an old cotter and his wife who delight in trapping and violently killing any cats who venture onto their property.
The Quest of Iranon: The story is about a golden-haired youth who wanders into the city of Teloth, telling tales of the great city of Aira, where he was prince. While Iranon enjoys singing and telling his tales of wonder, few appreciate it. When a disenfranchised boy named Romnod suggests leaving Teloth to go to the famed city of Oonai (which he thinks may be Aira, now under a different name), Iranon takes him up on his offer.
The Outsider: Details a lonely life of an individual who appears to have never had contact with another individual. The story begins with this narrator explaining his origins. His memory of others is vague, and he cannot seem to recall any details of his personal history, including who he is or where he is from.
The Music of Erich Zann: A university student is forced, by his lack of funds, to take the only lodging he can afford. In a strange part of the city he had never seen before, on a street named "Rue d'Auseil", he finds an apartment in an almost empty building. One of the few other tenants is an old German man named Erich Zann. The old man is mute and plays the violin with a local orchestra. He lives on the top floor and when alone at night, plays strange melodies never heard before.
Cool Air: The tale opens up in the spring of 1923 with the narrator looking for housing in New York City, finally settling in a converted brownstone on West Fourteenth Street. Eventually, a chemical leak from the floor above reveals that the inhabitant directly overhead is a strange, old, and reclusive doctor.
Pickman's Model: The story revolves around a Bostonian painter named Richard Upton Pickman who creates horrifying images. His works are brilliantly executed, but so graphic that they result in his membership in the Boston Art Club being revoked and himself shunned by his fellow artists.
The Silver Key: Randolph Carter discovers, at the age of 30, that he has gradually "lost the key to the gate of dreams." Randolph once believed life is made up of nothing but pictures in memory, whether they be from real life or dreams, and he highly prefers his romantic nightly dreams of fantastic places and beings.
The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath: Randolph Carter dreams three times of a majestic sunset city, but each time he is abruptly snatched away before he can see it up close. When he prays to the gods of dream to reveal the whereabouts of the phantasmal city, they do not answer, and his dreams of the city stop altogether.
The Thing on the Doorstep: The story is divided into 7 chapters: Daniel Upton, the story's narrator, begins by telling that he has killed his best friend, Edward Derby, and that he hopes his account will prove that he is not a murderer. He begins by describing Derby's life and career.
The Shadow Out of Time: The Shadow Out of Time indirectly tells of the Great Race of Yith, an extraterrestrial species with the ability to travel through space and time.
In all there are 11 stories I feel all 11 of them are true horror pieces to remember and enjoy with the pure talent of vintage Lovecraft. A classic book of horror stories to consume, to own to place on the book shelf of fear.
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