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The Web of Easter Island
When Carter Graham uncovers a strange little image, unlike anything else on Earth, which responds to cosmic forces and laws beyond those known to science, he sets out to unravel that greatest of all mysteries - man and his relation to the universe.This strange search leads him through terrifying experiences to the final and horrifying realization of the awful consequences of his probings.
191 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1948
1 person is currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Donald Wandrei
125 books33 followersDonald Albert Wandrei was an American science fiction, fantasy and weird fiction writer, poet and editor. He was the older brother of science fiction writer and artist Howard Wandrei. He died in St. Paul in 1987.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/d...
Along with August Derleth, he was co-founder of Arkham House publishers.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/d...
Along with August Derleth, he was co-founder of Arkham House publishers.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 31, 2016
'The Web Of Easter Island' is very weird, and not just in terms of its genre. As a novel it doesn't really work, probably because Wandrei was a short story writer who dabbled in detective fiction and 'astounding' science fiction, and these elements, tossed into the book, confuse the narrative structure and distract from its core as piece of 'weird fiction'. The dialogue is pretty bad, and the characterizations of women are awful. On the other hand, it conjures a powerful, dreamlike hallucinatory atmosphere that is hard to rival. The climax on Easter Island especially is powerful, bizarre, disorientating and actually quite chilling. If Wandrei had sustained this tone and atmosphere through the entire book, this would have been a masterpiece.
November 21, 2012
I've been wanting to read this book for the best part of twenty years, and finally found a copy at a convention.
The imagery is powerful, but the book is so overwritten in parts I found a lot of it hard to take seriously, and the best chapter in the book sets up a potentially interesting murder scenario on board a boat and then doesn't feature the characters again! Alas, 'Web' has turned out to be something of a disappointment - if I could I'd give this two and a half stars, but have upgraded it to three because of the power of some of the less overblown sections of the book, particulary the (surprisingly racy for the time) chapter mentioned above.
Maybe if I'd managed to read it all those years ago when I was a massive fan of anything to do with Lovecraft's 'Mythos'...
The imagery is powerful, but the book is so overwritten in parts I found a lot of it hard to take seriously, and the best chapter in the book sets up a potentially interesting murder scenario on board a boat and then doesn't feature the characters again! Alas, 'Web' has turned out to be something of a disappointment - if I could I'd give this two and a half stars, but have upgraded it to three because of the power of some of the less overblown sections of the book, particulary the (surprisingly racy for the time) chapter mentioned above.
Maybe if I'd managed to read it all those years ago when I was a massive fan of anything to do with Lovecraft's 'Mythos'...
January 19, 2021
This book is actually more weird fiction than it is science fiction, but science fiction readers who don't know what weird fiction is will consider this book science fiction. And they wouldn't be wrong. So I classify it as both. It's not really horror. I mean, the opening chapter (of 13) has some horror elements in it, but then the horror goes away never to return.
The novel starts out really strong. I thought I was in for a serious treat. But then about a third of the way in the plot bogs down and never really recovers. I still read the entire novel with pleasure, but I confess the last two thirds was more work to read than fun.
I'm disappointed to have to admit that. I really wanted to enjoy this novel. It was only the fourth novel to be published by Arkham House, which mostly reprinted weird fiction short stories in anthologies and author short story collections. All of Arkham House's novels are well worth reading. If you wanted at this time to write a weird fiction novel, Arkham House was the only game in town. Every other story appearing in the genre was by necessity short stories written for periodicals, a few of which from top billed writers were being called novels, because they could serialize them over a number of issues or command ninety pages of a single issue, but these were really at best novellas.
The premise of Donald Wandrei's novel is quintessentially Lovecraftian. A glowing green object from another dimension, or maybe it's from another planet, is discovered on Earth. This object has strange undefined properties that may confer on its possessor powers. The novel starts out strong when it shows some of these powers being wrongly used because they're not understood. Our protagonist gains possession of the talisman, but then loses it to a small time crook who doesn't understand what he has. The story then gets interesting as the crook acquires a love interest who seems to know what he has.
But then the novel takes a sharp left turn into nowhere. It's as if Wandrei put the book down for a while because he didn't know where to go from the box he had written himself into. When the story resumes, Wandrei writes the crook and girlfriend out of the story and brings the protagonist back in who quests after the talisman.
Eventually, the story meanders to our protagonist going to Easter Island where he reunites with the alien talisman, but by this point we've had so many pages of narrative we really don't care. The talisman was put on Earth by aliens and has time travel properties it puts the protagonist through. Then the novel abruptly ends, for which I was thankful.
I'm giving the story three stars for a good beginning, unique situations it sets up, and for the admittedly good narrative writing style and word choices. It can't get more than that from me because it fails to ultimately meet its potential and bogs down into a not very meaningful ending.
The novel starts out really strong. I thought I was in for a serious treat. But then about a third of the way in the plot bogs down and never really recovers. I still read the entire novel with pleasure, but I confess the last two thirds was more work to read than fun.
I'm disappointed to have to admit that. I really wanted to enjoy this novel. It was only the fourth novel to be published by Arkham House, which mostly reprinted weird fiction short stories in anthologies and author short story collections. All of Arkham House's novels are well worth reading. If you wanted at this time to write a weird fiction novel, Arkham House was the only game in town. Every other story appearing in the genre was by necessity short stories written for periodicals, a few of which from top billed writers were being called novels, because they could serialize them over a number of issues or command ninety pages of a single issue, but these were really at best novellas.
The premise of Donald Wandrei's novel is quintessentially Lovecraftian. A glowing green object from another dimension, or maybe it's from another planet, is discovered on Earth. This object has strange undefined properties that may confer on its possessor powers. The novel starts out strong when it shows some of these powers being wrongly used because they're not understood. Our protagonist gains possession of the talisman, but then loses it to a small time crook who doesn't understand what he has. The story then gets interesting as the crook acquires a love interest who seems to know what he has.
But then the novel takes a sharp left turn into nowhere. It's as if Wandrei put the book down for a while because he didn't know where to go from the box he had written himself into. When the story resumes, Wandrei writes the crook and girlfriend out of the story and brings the protagonist back in who quests after the talisman.
Eventually, the story meanders to our protagonist going to Easter Island where he reunites with the alien talisman, but by this point we've had so many pages of narrative we really don't care. The talisman was put on Earth by aliens and has time travel properties it puts the protagonist through. Then the novel abruptly ends, for which I was thankful.
I'm giving the story three stars for a good beginning, unique situations it sets up, and for the admittedly good narrative writing style and word choices. It can't get more than that from me because it fails to ultimately meet its potential and bogs down into a not very meaningful ending.
May 26, 2025
Un breve romanzo nella più squisita tradizione del cosmic horror di ispirazione lovecraftiana.
Uno studioso, Carter E. Graham, dopo aver vagato in lungo e in largo alla ricerca di un nesso fra gli antichissimi monoliti che sembrano narrare una storia alternativa dell'umanità, (la stessa cosa che anni dopo farà il buon, semiomonimo, Graham Hancock, di cui consiglio senz'altro la serie Netflix), si imbatte in una tragedia a pochi passi dal museo di cui è curatore, causata da una misteriosa statuetta. Il romanzo parte da questa premessa: "Ma, come ognuno sa, molte leggende traggono le loro origini dai fatti che l'archeologia non tiene in considerazione, e le tradizioni folkloristiche hanno basi solide quanto la scienza." Premessa che con me sfonda una porta aperta, perché l'archeologia misterica è una delle mie passioni. Ho trovato bellissima la parte investigativa, specie quella nella terribile fossa, meno coinvolgente la parte finale, specie le ultime pagine, in cui ci si allontana, a mio parere troppo, dalla realtà che viviamo, e dalla sottotraccia soprannaturale che nella prima parte era tanto efficacemente introdotta nel nostro mondo.
La prosa è molto alta, talvolta troppo, figlia del suo tempo; alcuni episodi un po' troppo slegati dal resto. Avrei apprezzato un approfondimento maggiore di alcuni personaggi, per aumentare l'effetto orrorifico sul lettore, ma do un quattro convinto, perché mi sono divertita.
Uno studioso, Carter E. Graham, dopo aver vagato in lungo e in largo alla ricerca di un nesso fra gli antichissimi monoliti che sembrano narrare una storia alternativa dell'umanità, (la stessa cosa che anni dopo farà il buon, semiomonimo, Graham Hancock, di cui consiglio senz'altro la serie Netflix), si imbatte in una tragedia a pochi passi dal museo di cui è curatore, causata da una misteriosa statuetta. Il romanzo parte da questa premessa: "Ma, come ognuno sa, molte leggende traggono le loro origini dai fatti che l'archeologia non tiene in considerazione, e le tradizioni folkloristiche hanno basi solide quanto la scienza." Premessa che con me sfonda una porta aperta, perché l'archeologia misterica è una delle mie passioni. Ho trovato bellissima la parte investigativa, specie quella nella terribile fossa, meno coinvolgente la parte finale, specie le ultime pagine, in cui ci si allontana, a mio parere troppo, dalla realtà che viviamo, e dalla sottotraccia soprannaturale che nella prima parte era tanto efficacemente introdotta nel nostro mondo.
La prosa è molto alta, talvolta troppo, figlia del suo tempo; alcuni episodi un po' troppo slegati dal resto. Avrei apprezzato un approfondimento maggiore di alcuni personaggi, per aumentare l'effetto orrorifico sul lettore, ma do un quattro convinto, perché mi sono divertita.
February 9, 2014
There being comparatively so few horror novels published prior to the era of the "blockbuster" initiated by Ira Levin, William Peter Blatty, Stephen King, etc., I was really looking forward to this one. I was particularly interested, because it was originally published by Arkham House (which Wandrei co-founded), pretty much the only publisher to keep horror alive between the decline of the pulp magazines and the blockbuster era, and who published quite a few genuine classics of the genre. The novel is a bit of a letdown, however, if still mostly enjoyable. Most of the novel is atmospheric cosmic horror along the lines of Arkham House's inspiration, H.P. Lovecraft. But Wandrei doesn't seem to have been entirely clear about what he wanted the novel to be. Early on there's a completely incongruous chapter that reads like an especially bad excerpt from Mickey Spillane and is almost entirely pointless. And, without giving any specifics away, the novel ends as futuristic science fiction, thus negating the rest of the novel. I wish Wandrei had simply maintained his focus on the basic story and left those two chapters out. The novel is otherwise a good example of Lovecraftian horror, complete with Lovecraft's trademark "return of the old ones" theme, mounting horror, grotesque imagery, and even the occasional stretch of purple prose.
January 27, 2025
Donald Wandrei, corrispondente di H. P. Lovecraft e Clark Ashton Smith, scrisse nel 1932 la prima versione del suo unico romanzo, "I giganti di pietra" ("Dead Titans, Waken!"), che fu rifiutato da più editori. Con August Derleth, nel 1939, fondò poi la Harkham House, casa editrice per lavori a tematiche lovecraftiane (come il nome lascia intendere), e lì si (auto)pubblicò il proprio romanzo con un diverso titolo ("The Web of Easter Island") nel 1948 (questa è la versione ripubblicata in Urania Collezione nel 2018, ancora con la vecchia traduzione di Andreina Negretti).
Il prologo, al cimitero del Diavolo di Isling, ci introduce a un orrore che scaturisce da qualcosa che era sepolto in quel luogo: qualcosa che induce incubi e provoca violente morti, mentre in sottofondo sentiamo frasi recitate nel classico cthulhubabble.
Il professor Carter E. Graham, cacciatore di misteri cosmici sparsi per il mondo, si interessa al mistero di Isling, proprio vicino a casa (e a Stonehenge) e trova una statuetta verdognola e una lastra di uno strano materiale che portano incisi misteriosi glifi e simboli geometrici. E anche lui sente alcune parole pronunciate nella lingua misteriosa appena prima che il treno su cui viaggia deragli.
Ma è solo l'inizio: in tutto il mondo si verificano eventi strani, naufragi inspiegabili, antichi riti che tornano in auge, immagini di una mostruosa razza gigantesca in procinto di divorare esseri umani che compaiono tra i disegni dei pazienti di un istituto psichiatrico bavarese: i Titani stanno per tornare e sarà il professor Graham, che nel corso dei suoi studi si è già imbattuto nelle loro tracce, a doverli fermare, sull'isola di Pasqua tra i giganti di pietra. E oltre.
Incubi, lingue sconosciute, geometrie non euclidee, colori nuovi, dei dormienti, orrori cosmici: la storia di Wandrei è evidentemente una riproposizione dei temi del Maestro ma, alla fine, si affranca concedendosi un respiro che appartiene più alla sf che al weird. Pur risentendo inevitabilmente del tempo trascorso da quando fu scritta, il breve romanzo risulta essere ancora godibile per chi ama queste particolari atmosfere.
Il prologo, al cimitero del Diavolo di Isling, ci introduce a un orrore che scaturisce da qualcosa che era sepolto in quel luogo: qualcosa che induce incubi e provoca violente morti, mentre in sottofondo sentiamo frasi recitate nel classico cthulhubabble.
Il professor Carter E. Graham, cacciatore di misteri cosmici sparsi per il mondo, si interessa al mistero di Isling, proprio vicino a casa (e a Stonehenge) e trova una statuetta verdognola e una lastra di uno strano materiale che portano incisi misteriosi glifi e simboli geometrici. E anche lui sente alcune parole pronunciate nella lingua misteriosa appena prima che il treno su cui viaggia deragli.
Ma è solo l'inizio: in tutto il mondo si verificano eventi strani, naufragi inspiegabili, antichi riti che tornano in auge, immagini di una mostruosa razza gigantesca in procinto di divorare esseri umani che compaiono tra i disegni dei pazienti di un istituto psichiatrico bavarese: i Titani stanno per tornare e sarà il professor Graham, che nel corso dei suoi studi si è già imbattuto nelle loro tracce, a doverli fermare, sull'isola di Pasqua tra i giganti di pietra. E oltre.
Incubi, lingue sconosciute, geometrie non euclidee, colori nuovi, dei dormienti, orrori cosmici: la storia di Wandrei è evidentemente una riproposizione dei temi del Maestro ma, alla fine, si affranca concedendosi un respiro che appartiene più alla sf che al weird. Pur risentendo inevitabilmente del tempo trascorso da quando fu scritta, il breve romanzo risulta essere ancora godibile per chi ama queste particolari atmosfere.
April 25, 2020
Strange book...
Parts of it were really good, other parts were a bit 'naïve'; especially where he was writing about women, but he was barely 20 when writing it so I can forgive him some adolescence...although clearly he had never set foot in, or possibly even met anyone from, England - some early sections were laughable in their representation, which made me nervous for the rest of the book, but in fairness he did bring it back.
This owes a huge debt to HPL (to whom it is dedicated), with 'The Call of Cthulhu' and 'Dagon' being the most obvious influences, but for me it's a novella stretched out way beyond what was required, just to make up the word count - a good edit, especially cutting whole chunks of the first half, would improve it...and I have to wonder about the ending - I like the concept, and wonder if it was always the intention and just a little messily delivered...or if he didn't have an ending, stumbled about and then tied it up nicely with the final few paragraphs.
What did make me smile was a section depicting Graham's early studies, as he travelled from location to location, marvelling at the ancient mysteries and archaeology, and how such things could ever come to be - almost a premonition of Graham Hancock as I imagine him putting together the manuscript of 'Fingerprints of the Gods' - a coincidence, but as my attention drifted one that brought me back...
One for the purists.
Parts of it were really good, other parts were a bit 'naïve'; especially where he was writing about women, but he was barely 20 when writing it so I can forgive him some adolescence...although clearly he had never set foot in, or possibly even met anyone from, England - some early sections were laughable in their representation, which made me nervous for the rest of the book, but in fairness he did bring it back.
This owes a huge debt to HPL (to whom it is dedicated), with 'The Call of Cthulhu' and 'Dagon' being the most obvious influences, but for me it's a novella stretched out way beyond what was required, just to make up the word count - a good edit, especially cutting whole chunks of the first half, would improve it...and I have to wonder about the ending - I like the concept, and wonder if it was always the intention and just a little messily delivered...or if he didn't have an ending, stumbled about and then tied it up nicely with the final few paragraphs.
What did make me smile was a section depicting Graham's early studies, as he travelled from location to location, marvelling at the ancient mysteries and archaeology, and how such things could ever come to be - almost a premonition of Graham Hancock as I imagine him putting together the manuscript of 'Fingerprints of the Gods' - a coincidence, but as my attention drifted one that brought me back...
One for the purists.
April 11, 2022
Da quando un'antichissima statuetta è stata scoperta ad Isling , succedono eventi oscuri . Lo scienziato Carter Graham,che da sempre è appassionato di civiltà antiche , incuriosito dalla scoperta si reca sul posto . Il mistero si infittisce perché la statuetta sembra sia collegata al tempio di Stonehenge e all ' Isola di Pasqua .
Ho trovato questo romanzo molto particolare perché mescola il mistero, un pizzico di horror, l'archeologia e fantascienza , ma la scrittura però è un pò confusionaria . Un capitolo divaga un pò dalla trama , sembra una storia messa lì per dilungare il libro.
Il protagonista mi piace per la sua voglia di conoscenza ,di scoprire il mondo e i suoi misteri . L' Isola di Pasqua e Stonehenge hanno sempre affascinato anche me .
È una lettura interessante .
Ho trovato questo romanzo molto particolare perché mescola il mistero, un pizzico di horror, l'archeologia e fantascienza , ma la scrittura però è un pò confusionaria . Un capitolo divaga un pò dalla trama , sembra una storia messa lì per dilungare il libro.
Il protagonista mi piace per la sua voglia di conoscenza ,di scoprire il mondo e i suoi misteri . L' Isola di Pasqua e Stonehenge hanno sempre affascinato anche me .
È una lettura interessante .
June 10, 2025
C'è una strana teoria che gira nel web in cui si pensa che le teste dell'isola di pasqua abbiano un corpo intero che attraversa il centro della terra, finendo con le dita dei piedi nelle pietre di Stonehenge (anche se è stato dimostrato che non esiste nessuna connessione).
L'autore deve averlo letto da qualche parte sicuramente ;-)
Mi sono avvicinata a questo titolo, principalmente perché di derivazione coscmic-horror. Mi aspettavo un racconto più Lovecraftiano, ma del suo stile ho trovato ben poco.
Alcuni passaggi li ho trovati veramente inutili ai fini della storia e il finale è stato abbastanza strampalato.
Non ho ancora capito come si possa essere passati da un investigativo, a un cthulu ftangh e un'invasione aliena.
Ma rimango volentieri con il dubbio.
L'autore deve averlo letto da qualche parte sicuramente ;-)
Mi sono avvicinata a questo titolo, principalmente perché di derivazione coscmic-horror. Mi aspettavo un racconto più Lovecraftiano, ma del suo stile ho trovato ben poco.
Alcuni passaggi li ho trovati veramente inutili ai fini della storia e il finale è stato abbastanza strampalato.
Non ho ancora capito come si possa essere passati da un investigativo, a un cthulu ftangh e un'invasione aliena.
Ma rimango volentieri con il dubbio.
October 30, 2020
I bought a copy of the Arkham House book years ago. I put off reading it for fear that I might damage the book. Thus, the novel had a bit of a mystique for me. The first 3/4 of the book is quite good and exactly what I expected--a Lovecraft pastiche written in less dense prose. The book is quite episodic, and I enjoyed the parts around Isling. However, the book went off the rails when the protagonist arrived at Easter Island. I get what the author was going for, but Wandrei was less adept than Lovecraft at describing the truly bizarre. Disappointed.
August 7, 2018
Romanzetto horror in stile lovecraftiano, di cui tra l'altro Wandrei era buon amico al punto che fu nominato esecutore testamentario.
L'idea di base non è originale, in compenso lo sono le due ambientazioni, iniziale e finale, e certe idee anti-lovecraftiane sull'importanza dell'azione dell'uomo, o degli uomini.
Non posso dire che mi sia particolarmente piaciuto ma si lascia leggere ed ha diversi punti positivi nella trama.
Due stelle e mezza.
L'idea di base non è originale, in compenso lo sono le due ambientazioni, iniziale e finale, e certe idee anti-lovecraftiane sull'importanza dell'azione dell'uomo, o degli uomini.
Non posso dire che mi sia particolarmente piaciuto ma si lascia leggere ed ha diversi punti positivi nella trama.
Due stelle e mezza.
December 16, 2018
Una misteriosa ed enigmatica statuetta che sembra essere al centro di una serie di morti misteriose porta l'archeologo Carter Graham in una terrificante ricerca oltre i confini della ragione e del tempo.
Romanzo di chiara ispirazione lovecraftiana, I Giganti di pietra alterna passaggi azzeccati e intriganti a momenti di scarso effetto e ad altri decisamente poco approfonditi. L'opera di Lovecraft rimane molto lontana.
Romanzo di chiara ispirazione lovecraftiana, I Giganti di pietra alterna passaggi azzeccati e intriganti a momenti di scarso effetto e ad altri decisamente poco approfonditi. L'opera di Lovecraft rimane molto lontana.
June 13, 2023
I liked this book quite a lot, although the last two chapters and especially the conclusion were a bit of a disappointment to me (they made me think of Wells's Time machine).
In general, the writing is strong and evocative, and this topic never ceases to fascinate me (plus Easter Island is on top of my bucket list), but I especially enjoyed what happens under the graveyard and what happens at sea...
In general, the writing is strong and evocative, and this topic never ceases to fascinate me (plus Easter Island is on top of my bucket list), but I especially enjoyed what happens under the graveyard and what happens at sea...
November 25, 2018
È evidente l'influenza di Lovecraft in questo romanzo breve che riprende (senza tuttavia rinnovarli o caratterizzarli) i temi cari al solitario di Provvidence.
Personaggi poco approfonditi e dialoghi abbastanza banali. Ciò che davvero vale in questo romanzo è la crescente oppressione nascente da un pericolo senza nome eppure noto. La ripetizione e la ricerca di aggettivi sempre più iperbolici crea, appunto, quel crescente pathos che l'autore riesce a mantenere per tutta la durata del romanzo breve (o racconto lungo). Ottima infine la traduzione italiana.
Personaggi poco approfonditi e dialoghi abbastanza banali. Ciò che davvero vale in questo romanzo è la crescente oppressione nascente da un pericolo senza nome eppure noto. La ripetizione e la ricerca di aggettivi sempre più iperbolici crea, appunto, quel crescente pathos che l'autore riesce a mantenere per tutta la durata del romanzo breve (o racconto lungo). Ottima infine la traduzione italiana.
April 6, 2021
I liked the book, a beautiful mysterious start with the finding of the little green statue in the old graveyard of Isling. Bit by bit the reader discovers alongside with Museum director and archeologist Dr. Graham what this tiny but powerful statue's origin is, and what threat it means to the world. The final chapter was a bit of a disappointment.
August 12, 2017
The green stone that ate Willy: The Web of Easter Island and Dead Titans, Waken! by Donald Wandrei
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2017...
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2017...
June 19, 2019
Le premesse erano buone, ma lo sviluppo è stato pessimo... Peccato!
December 31, 2016
Atmospheric and intense, but ultimately a little disappointing -- this is really a short story pumped-up to novel length with the addition of a middle section (involving an unresolved murder mystery) with two characters who do not appear elsewhere.
The final apocalyptic section is over-written even by Lovecraftian standards and again inflated to excessive length...atmospheric, but not that great.
Perhaps if I had read this as a young teenager I would be entranced...but even then the failures of plot logic might have leapt out at me. One for afficionados only.
The final apocalyptic section is over-written even by Lovecraftian standards and again inflated to excessive length...atmospheric, but not that great.
Perhaps if I had read this as a young teenager I would be entranced...but even then the failures of plot logic might have leapt out at me. One for afficionados only.
February 10, 2016
I love this book!
Read it almost 50 years ago and enjoyed it.
Reread it yesterday and still enjoyed it.
Read it almost 50 years ago and enjoyed it.
Reread it yesterday and still enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews