What do you think?
Rate this book
The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft, Volume 1
Chilling! Uncanny! Macabre! The wall that separates reality and nightmare comes fast undone in this, the complete, horrific chronicle of young H.P. Lovecraft! Is he a harmless writer of supernatural fiction -- or a secret god of destruction and despair? This is one strange tale, indeed!
184 pages, Paperback
First published April 28, 2010
6 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 5, 2018
Nicely done tale of Lovecraft as struggling writer in the pulp milieu. Interesting take on Lovecraft's personal life. I liked the art a lot, except that to me, imagery of the 'monsters' in Lovecraft's mythos always seems childish and cartoony compared to what the stories create in my mind. Definitely worthwhile for Lovecraft fans.
October 10, 2014
Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed. The narrative just showed a lack of depth and knowledge about Lovecraft and his fiction. I'm aware that the entire plot is fictional, but the entire pastiche just feels very un-lovecraftian.
February 17, 2025
Mother has been under Dr. Brand's care for nearly two full years. Father before her, spending the final five of his miserable life in Providence's own cozy Bedlam. I suspect, notwithstanding the esteemed doctor's benign opinion, that he believes my turn to wear the simple raiment of the madman is nigh. I wish it were a notion of which I could confidently and fully disabuse him- But I fear there's more to this pernicious dreaming than coincidence. Only time's inexorable march shall reveal what.
Whilst shopping for something altogether different on the Oxfam online secondhand bookstore, I couldn't resist doing my usual cheeky searches for Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.
Amongst my finds was this graphic novel, which I'd not heard of before. It collects all four issues from the limited series and imagines a world where Lovecraft and the Elder gods are interconnected.
Pitching Lovecraft as a struggling writer who is only able to get his stories published in pulp magazines, it sees him attacked and mugged by a group of drunken sailors. Dreaming of monsters tearing the sailors apart on their vessel, Lovecraft wakes to the news of horrific murders at the docks.
Blurring the lines between reality and madness, the story felt a bit frantic in places and difficult to follow in others. It was an interesting take on it all and touched nicely on the mythos, featuring the necronomicon and the Old Ones, amongst other key features of Lovecraft's works.
Overall, it doesn't live up to other works of this nature, especially with Alan Moore setting such a high bar with Neonomicon. 3 1/2 stars.
The Old Ones were,
The Old Ones are,
And the Old Ones shall be.
They wait stoic and strong,
for here shall
They reign again.
Whilst shopping for something altogether different on the Oxfam online secondhand bookstore, I couldn't resist doing my usual cheeky searches for Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.
Amongst my finds was this graphic novel, which I'd not heard of before. It collects all four issues from the limited series and imagines a world where Lovecraft and the Elder gods are interconnected.
Pitching Lovecraft as a struggling writer who is only able to get his stories published in pulp magazines, it sees him attacked and mugged by a group of drunken sailors. Dreaming of monsters tearing the sailors apart on their vessel, Lovecraft wakes to the news of horrific murders at the docks.
Blurring the lines between reality and madness, the story felt a bit frantic in places and difficult to follow in others. It was an interesting take on it all and touched nicely on the mythos, featuring the necronomicon and the Old Ones, amongst other key features of Lovecraft's works.
Overall, it doesn't live up to other works of this nature, especially with Alan Moore setting such a high bar with Neonomicon. 3 1/2 stars.
The Old Ones were,
The Old Ones are,
And the Old Ones shall be.
They wait stoic and strong,
for here shall
They reign again.
February 10, 2014
The review below is cross-posted from my blog: http://ridethenightmare.blogspot.co.u...
I think I mainly enjoyed this graphic novel because of the way it resonated with me as an aspiring writer of fiction. That's a bit odd in that I'm not a huge fan of Lovecraft's actual writing. I'm more into Lovecraft for his philosophical struggle and unique artistic vision - his actual prose inspires me very rarely. But it is Lovecraft's vexed career as a writer that forms the central motif of this period comic set in the 1920s. It's a very well-told and gripping tale if relatively simple. The complexity comes not in the plot but in the meditation on art and life. It's about 'high' literary aspirations in a world that can only take what you make as pulp fiction, lurid shockers to be read and trashed. If what you make can be read at all, that is. The opening portrays the editor of Weird Tales magazine complaining to Lovecraft's fellow writer Clark Ashton Smith that Lovecraft's stories are just too bizarre and not gripping enough. The scene shows how even the pulps didn't have much time for Lovecraft's truly (not just surfacely) weird tales. (Various characters throughout, such as policemen, remark that they've never been able to actually finish reading one of Lovecraft's stories.)
Lovecraft was too freakish and monstrous for the literary canon and too meditative and visionary for the pulps. Add to that a childhood disfigured by parental mental illness and a failed attempt at romance (central plot features of the graphic novel) and you have the quintessential (and slightly clichéd) Unhappy Poet. Such a man might be prone to make monsters in his art, but in this comic's story the monsters step outside Lovecraft's brain and murderously into his world. It's another fairly hackneyed trope, but fun enough nonetheless and, again, not really the point.
The point is that it's incredibly difficult to grope toward an original artistic vision in a world that needs to sell, sell, sell, and in a world where we're all nursed on lowest-common-denominator aesthetics and ontologies. Probably about half of the graphic novel's text is comprised of actual quotes from Lovecraft's writings - I recognised a number of them from both his fiction and non-fiction writing. Some seemed obviously from letters or journals. There's a lot of soul-searching and frustration and bleak determination, but in a way I found sincere and inviting, not goth-angsty.
The illustrations are fine. They are skilful drawings that get the job done and tell the story well. It's not really my style, but some of the monsters are interesting interpretations, quite gruesome and repugnant. They flesh out effectively the sheer madness of what it would be like to see the brain-shattering otherworldliness of such beings disgustingly intersect with our own organic matter and psyche. There was, however, perhaps not enough emphasis on the cosmos, the dreadful sense of deep space and lightyears so crucial to the ambient of the Lovecraft's monstrosities, his seminal 'cosmic horror'.
One thing I found interesting was that the editor of Weird Tales complained that Lovecraft didn't have busty blondes and the accompanying sexual under- or overtones in his tales, the misogynistic soft-smut that sold so well. But this graphic novel's illustrator made sure to include a number of panels of fairly graphic sex and nudity (the comic would surely need to be rated R for a number of elements). I thought most of these sex scenes fairly gratuitous. Some of them were commenting on men's abuse of women (e.g. prostitution), but as is so often the case in our society, these depictions drag the male imagination through a suspiciously loving and lingering objectification of lust-embellished female bodies in order to 'subvert' that same male gaze. I find this element of the comic highly ironic in light of the complaint that Lovecraft couldn't sell well without such lubricious voyeurism. There is a deeper and real issue in Lovecraft about phobia of sex and relationships, but that's not really touched on in this comic in favour of a more simple Hollywood tragic romance line.
Speaking of Hollywood, there have apparently been talks with Ron Howard about adapting this comic to film. I found myself wishing that might happen as I read it, especially as a number of counter-cultural writers have had films made about them in the last decade (e.g. Hunter S. Thomson and Allen Ginsberg). I just wish a more visionary director than Howard could get hold of it.
Fellow Lovecraft enthusiasts might at least enjoy seeing Lovecraft's own words on writing and life strung together into a tale as I did. And those interested in a first glimpse of the thinking and worldview behind this tragic mad genius of outré literature might find this graphic novel an accessible intro (but please don't stop here as it is probably misleading in some ways). The book cemented a growing feeling for me, that in spite of the fact that I don't care for Lovecraft's actual prose, he is becoming something of a writer's writer for me, a rather poignant champion of artistic integrity in a world that doesn't value that often enough.
I think I mainly enjoyed this graphic novel because of the way it resonated with me as an aspiring writer of fiction. That's a bit odd in that I'm not a huge fan of Lovecraft's actual writing. I'm more into Lovecraft for his philosophical struggle and unique artistic vision - his actual prose inspires me very rarely. But it is Lovecraft's vexed career as a writer that forms the central motif of this period comic set in the 1920s. It's a very well-told and gripping tale if relatively simple. The complexity comes not in the plot but in the meditation on art and life. It's about 'high' literary aspirations in a world that can only take what you make as pulp fiction, lurid shockers to be read and trashed. If what you make can be read at all, that is. The opening portrays the editor of Weird Tales magazine complaining to Lovecraft's fellow writer Clark Ashton Smith that Lovecraft's stories are just too bizarre and not gripping enough. The scene shows how even the pulps didn't have much time for Lovecraft's truly (not just surfacely) weird tales. (Various characters throughout, such as policemen, remark that they've never been able to actually finish reading one of Lovecraft's stories.)
Lovecraft was too freakish and monstrous for the literary canon and too meditative and visionary for the pulps. Add to that a childhood disfigured by parental mental illness and a failed attempt at romance (central plot features of the graphic novel) and you have the quintessential (and slightly clichéd) Unhappy Poet. Such a man might be prone to make monsters in his art, but in this comic's story the monsters step outside Lovecraft's brain and murderously into his world. It's another fairly hackneyed trope, but fun enough nonetheless and, again, not really the point.
The point is that it's incredibly difficult to grope toward an original artistic vision in a world that needs to sell, sell, sell, and in a world where we're all nursed on lowest-common-denominator aesthetics and ontologies. Probably about half of the graphic novel's text is comprised of actual quotes from Lovecraft's writings - I recognised a number of them from both his fiction and non-fiction writing. Some seemed obviously from letters or journals. There's a lot of soul-searching and frustration and bleak determination, but in a way I found sincere and inviting, not goth-angsty.
The illustrations are fine. They are skilful drawings that get the job done and tell the story well. It's not really my style, but some of the monsters are interesting interpretations, quite gruesome and repugnant. They flesh out effectively the sheer madness of what it would be like to see the brain-shattering otherworldliness of such beings disgustingly intersect with our own organic matter and psyche. There was, however, perhaps not enough emphasis on the cosmos, the dreadful sense of deep space and lightyears so crucial to the ambient of the Lovecraft's monstrosities, his seminal 'cosmic horror'.
One thing I found interesting was that the editor of Weird Tales complained that Lovecraft didn't have busty blondes and the accompanying sexual under- or overtones in his tales, the misogynistic soft-smut that sold so well. But this graphic novel's illustrator made sure to include a number of panels of fairly graphic sex and nudity (the comic would surely need to be rated R for a number of elements). I thought most of these sex scenes fairly gratuitous. Some of them were commenting on men's abuse of women (e.g. prostitution), but as is so often the case in our society, these depictions drag the male imagination through a suspiciously loving and lingering objectification of lust-embellished female bodies in order to 'subvert' that same male gaze. I find this element of the comic highly ironic in light of the complaint that Lovecraft couldn't sell well without such lubricious voyeurism. There is a deeper and real issue in Lovecraft about phobia of sex and relationships, but that's not really touched on in this comic in favour of a more simple Hollywood tragic romance line.
Speaking of Hollywood, there have apparently been talks with Ron Howard about adapting this comic to film. I found myself wishing that might happen as I read it, especially as a number of counter-cultural writers have had films made about them in the last decade (e.g. Hunter S. Thomson and Allen Ginsberg). I just wish a more visionary director than Howard could get hold of it.
Fellow Lovecraft enthusiasts might at least enjoy seeing Lovecraft's own words on writing and life strung together into a tale as I did. And those interested in a first glimpse of the thinking and worldview behind this tragic mad genius of outré literature might find this graphic novel an accessible intro (but please don't stop here as it is probably misleading in some ways). The book cemented a growing feeling for me, that in spite of the fact that I don't care for Lovecraft's actual prose, he is becoming something of a writer's writer for me, a rather poignant champion of artistic integrity in a world that doesn't value that often enough.
March 4, 2017
Mac Carterin käsikirjoittama "The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft" on sangen onnistunut kauhusarjakuva, jossa kauhukirjallisuuden mestari kuvataan onnettomana, surullisena ja päähänpotkittuna kaverina, joka kärsii kauniin kirjastonhoitajattaren huomion puutteesta ja kirjoittamiseen liittyvästä rimakauhusta.
Se on kuitenkin vasta alkua, sillä mystiset murhat alkavat riivata Provedencessa sijaitsevaa kaupunkia - ja niillä tuntuu olevan enemmän kuin tarpeeksi yhtymäkohtia H.P:n näkemiin kosmisiin painajaisiin.
Sarjakuvaan perustuva elokuva on tiettävästi suunnitteilla, ja hyvä niin, sillä tässä piilee potentiaalia hyvinkin pitkälle.
Se on kuitenkin vasta alkua, sillä mystiset murhat alkavat riivata Provedencessa sijaitsevaa kaupunkia - ja niillä tuntuu olevan enemmän kuin tarpeeksi yhtymäkohtia H.P:n näkemiin kosmisiin painajaisiin.
Sarjakuvaan perustuva elokuva on tiettävästi suunnitteilla, ja hyvä niin, sillä tässä piilee potentiaalia hyvinkin pitkälle.
October 27, 2011
I'm on a major, major Lovecraft kick, so I'm pretty much willing to pick up anything tangentially related to the guy. This is a graphic novel I got for $3 in a sale, and it was...different than I expected. The conceit is that Lovecraft's demons actually come to life when he sleeps and commit all sorts of atrocities in Providence.
It's silly fun. It's not great, but not terrible, but it doesn't really try to be anything it isn't. I'm glad I picked it up, but I wouldn't recommend anyone rush this to the top of their list, either.
It's silly fun. It's not great, but not terrible, but it doesn't really try to be anything it isn't. I'm glad I picked it up, but I wouldn't recommend anyone rush this to the top of their list, either.
June 29, 2013
I was late to discovering HP Lovecraft, my family wasn't too big into the scary books and movies. Frankly I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to those also. I do love these though the books written by him and about him. Truly gifted author.
May 18, 2011
Story lines from Lovecraft as the biography of the author. Eh.
December 11, 2014
While interesting, I couldn't place this in what I knew of his timeline, and thought that somehow this wasn't.... something.
May 7, 2012
Decent idea, decently executed. Worth the $3 I paid. Lovecraft's horror doesn't translate very well to visual media, but they did it better than I expected.
September 29, 2016
A really interested twist of H.P Lovecraft personal story, that its better with a more deep understanding of his real story. really good graphics and a descent storyline.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2014
Meh,, nice drawing, but not impressed at all by the story line.
own-different-version
November 27, 2017I have "Chapt. 1 About a Writer and His Book"
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews