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At the Mountains of Madness and Other Works of Weird Fiction
When Prof. William Dyer, a geologist from Miskatonic University, investigates an abandoned, hieroglyphed city forged with weird non-human geometry in the ice-wastes of Antarctica, he uncovers evidence of an ancient and cataclysmic war waged between races of malignant long before the advent of the human race, the Elder Ones battled for supremacy with the Star-spawn of Cthulhu, leaving behind a lurking protoplasm of unimaginable cosmic evil.
At The Mountains Of Madness is a crucial work in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, the author's first interpretation of his occult paroxysms in science-fictional terms, dating dark entities back to the primordial aeons of the Earth's existence.
This new edition also includes Lovecraft's two other major "science fantasy" The Whisperer In Darkness and The Shadow Out Of Time, plus the related poem-cycle Fungi From Yuggoth, and a new introduction by DM Mitchell (editor, The Starry Wisdom).
At The Mountains Of Madness is a crucial work in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, the author's first interpretation of his occult paroxysms in science-fictional terms, dating dark entities back to the primordial aeons of the Earth's existence.
This new edition also includes Lovecraft's two other major "science fantasy" The Whisperer In Darkness and The Shadow Out Of Time, plus the related poem-cycle Fungi From Yuggoth, and a new introduction by DM Mitchell (editor, The Starry Wisdom).
- GenresScience FictionHorror
224 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2011
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
7,080 books19.9k followersHoward Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 29, 2017
I read this book to fill the ‘Monsters’ square of my 2017 Halloween Book Bingo card.
I’ve read a few accounts of Antarctic exploration and At the Mountains of Madness starts out in exactly the same style, but then it veers dramatically off course--the tale becomes an H. Rider Haggard adventure novel crossed with a cheesy horror movie! Lovecraft is very skillful at making the readers use their imaginations—he doesn’t describe the horrors experienced by the men of the expedition. Instead, he shows us a destroyed campsite and lets the expedition leader tippy-toe around the ancient ruins, jumping at every sound. There is a lot of hinting and alluding to mysterious writings, rather than descriptions of actual creatures, which would have become silly quite quickly. Much better to let each reader’s mind fill in the details that they would find the most horrifying.
It has taken me a long time to get around to reading Lovecraft, probably because I’m not much of a horror reader. If you are going to read any significant amount in this genre, a basic knowledge of Lovecraft and his Cthulhu mythos will stand you in good stead. I now realize that I have been missing allusions to his work in a number of short story collections that I’ve read in the past.
I’ve read a few accounts of Antarctic exploration and At the Mountains of Madness starts out in exactly the same style, but then it veers dramatically off course--the tale becomes an H. Rider Haggard adventure novel crossed with a cheesy horror movie! Lovecraft is very skillful at making the readers use their imaginations—he doesn’t describe the horrors experienced by the men of the expedition. Instead, he shows us a destroyed campsite and lets the expedition leader tippy-toe around the ancient ruins, jumping at every sound. There is a lot of hinting and alluding to mysterious writings, rather than descriptions of actual creatures, which would have become silly quite quickly. Much better to let each reader’s mind fill in the details that they would find the most horrifying.
It has taken me a long time to get around to reading Lovecraft, probably because I’m not much of a horror reader. If you are going to read any significant amount in this genre, a basic knowledge of Lovecraft and his Cthulhu mythos will stand you in good stead. I now realize that I have been missing allusions to his work in a number of short story collections that I’ve read in the past.
April 18, 2021
Mountains of Madness and Fungi of Yuggoth were a little harder to read for me. I enjoyed them at about a 3.5/5. The other two stories The Whisperer In Darkness and The Shadow Out Of Time were solid 4-5/5 for me. I would recommend this if you are interested in Lovecraftian Horror and want to see where it came from.
October 15, 2022
Consistent to a fault, Lovecraft showcases a mastery of suspense and true existential horror, while letting a tried and true structure trip him in the end.
August 21, 2017
Read for the trip to Antarctica, but the other stories also had settings in Vermont and Australia. I enjoyed the second story set in Vermont the most. It seemed the most eerie. Lovecraft is all about the atmosphere.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews