Rating: Summary: Never go to Antarctica Review: "...ever hear tell of a shoggoth?..."When I first read these words in "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," my reaction was: Huh? I've been trying to find out what a shoggoth is ever since, and why they inspire such terror. "At the Mountains of Madness" reveals everything about these creatures, as well as unveiling a rather unusual chapter of the Earth's history. Sure, Lovecraft was good at gut-wrenching terror, but I like him best when he writes about fantastical, otherwordly encounters. That's why "Mountains" is one of my favorites, along with "The Shadow out of Time." Written back when Antarctica was still largely unexplored, the story chronicles the adventures of a research team from Miskatonic University in Arkham, and their discovery of a deserted alien city millions of years old. Seems Humans aren't the only ones to populate Earth....but what if the former inhabitants aren't entirely gone? Great story, truly. The shoggoths are certainly worthy of insanity -- don't read this while eating Jell-O. As for the other three stories in this book..."The Shunned House" was pretty good, but not great. It's a stand-alone story -- no "Iä"s here. "The Dreams in the Witch-House" was quite good; nice and creepy. It even had a reference to "Mountains." Slick. "The Statement of Randolph Carter" is really short and doesn't explain itself at all. Maybe "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath," which features Randolph Carter, has more info...I should read that next. I think this book is worth the price, even though it's cheaply printed. As a hopeless Lovecraft fan, I'm glad to have learned more about the Cthulhu Mythos -- which, by the way, are at least as twisted and intricate as the X-Files conspiracy. Ah, insane genius! Heh, heh, heh....
Rating: Summary: The greatest horror story H. P. Lovecraft ever wrote Review: "At the Mountains of Madness" is far and away the best of H. P. Lovecraft's tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. Once upon a time I would have thought "The Haunter of the Dark" was the best, but I heared Rod Serling explain once that Lovecraft wrote that particular short story as something of a in-joke (the victim is "really" author Robert Bloch; the two were taking turns killing each other off in stories). However, this novella has a scope and intensity that goes beyond any of Lovecraft's short stories. I have always thought that "At the Mountains of Madness" would make a great film, even though I shudder at what Hollywood would do with its tendency to rely on special effects, the lessons of "The Blair Witch Project," "The Others," and "The Mothman Prophecies" to the contrary. However, I must admit that I notice Lovecraft's story contains elements of two of my all time top-10 science fiction/horror films, "The Thing From Another Planet" and "Five Million Years to Earth" (a.k.a. "Quatermass and the Pit"); think the claustrophobic arctic environment of the former and the discover of eldritch demons from the latter. Here we have an expedition from Miskatonic University that makes a startling discover buried beneath the snow of strange ancient creatures. When the expedition is slaughtered and the creates they found are taken away, a search team makes the grave mistake of following the trail to an immense ruined city. I am sure I do not have to tell you how big of a mistake this ends up being. I can remember staying up late at night reading this story, completing captivated and descending into terror step by step along with the doomed protagonists of the story. "The Mountains of Madness" achieves a level of pure terror that I never found in Poe. I am at a total loss to explain why generations of horror readers have to be reintroduced to Lovecraft's writings. But nobody ever promise fair and then you die. I notice there are three other Lovecraft short stories in this volume. That is certainly nice, but you buy this one for the title story. "At the Mountains of Madness" is not the first Lovecraft story you want to read, because you really need to have a feel for the Cthulhu Mythos before you sit down to enjoy this one. But when you are ready for the ultimate Lovecraft story, there is no doubt this is the one.
Rating: Summary: Boring Review: ...I thought his use of language was very layered and rich, if not even quite dated. It took me a couple chapters just to get the lingo down. I think the writing style here is quite dry and the story is only maddening in the sense that it bored my socks off. I kept reading with the expectation that it would pick up, and when I got 95% done I was expecting some fantastically creepy ending that would make up for such monotonous content. Again, I was disappointed. This book might give a 6yr old the chills but it certainly didn't do it for me, nor did it entertain me.
Rating: Summary: As good if not better then The Shadow over Innsmouth Review: A LOVECRAFT ESSENTIAL.At the mountains of madness is a great story that should scare you stupid. Plus, Dreams in the Witch-House,The Statement or Randolf Carter, and The Shunned House are also great reads.
Rating: Summary: TALES OF FEAR Review: a NOVEL, A FILM,ANY PIECE OF WORK, WHEREVER IT TAKES PLACE,WHATEVER IT SHOWS, IT ALWAYS RESEMBLES SOMETHING THAT HAS PRIMARILY TO DO WITH US, OUR SOCIETY, OUR PSYCHE, THE STRUCTURE WE LIVE IN, THAT SURROUND US AND THAT WE FORM. lOVECRAFT, TELLS THE STORY OF HOW eco-COMPUTERS TOOK OVER AND SUBSEQUENTELY, DESTROYED THE CIVILIZATION THAT FOUND THEM. tHIS BOOK IS A THRILL! iT IS NOT SO MUCH AN ACCOUNT OFTHIS OLD, GREAT CIVILIZATION DEPICTED IN THE STORY, IT IS ABOUT OUR OWN FEARS, OUR MADNESS. rEAD IT!
Rating: Summary: A masterpiece of science-fiction by Lovecraft Review: As The Dream Quest for Unknown Kadath is Lovecraft's most magical work, At the Mountains of Maddness is his most compelling science-fiction novel. Suggested no doubt by Byrd's expeditions, it plunges even further and deeper into a vista of the past, of space, and of chilling dread. And then-- we're at South Station Under! A master.
Rating: Summary: The Antartic Plateau was lifeless... Review: at least that is what the Miskatonic University expedition thought before finding the fossiles and carved stones! This great story plus 'The Shunned House', 'The Dreams in the Witch-House' and 'The Statement by Randolph Carter' (a character in more than one Lovecraft story) all in this small book. Great for people who wish to get into Lovecraft or people who love him and want to add to their collection.
Rating: Summary: The Antartic Plateau was lifeless... Review: at least that is what the Miskatonic University expedition thought before finding the fossiles and carved stones! This great story plus 'The Shunned House', 'The Dreams in the Witch-House' and 'The Statement by Randolph Carter' (a character in more than one Lovecraft story) all in this small book. Great for people who wish to get into Lovecraft or people who love him and want to add to their collection.
Rating: Summary: A masterpiece of horror plus extras Review: At the Mountains of Madness is one of Lovecraft's most singular, lengthy, and important pieces of fiction. Set in the cold wastes of Antarctica, it takes us far afield from the mysterious world of Lovecraft's New England yet in close proximity to the mythical framework of his most noted writings. A cadre of scientists from Miskatonic University travels to the coldest continent in order to pursue important geological work, but their mission is quickly transformed by one team's discovery of an ancient cavity housing hordes of scientific specimens at the base of an undiscovered range of weird, majestic mountains. The most important specimens found in the pit are largely intact bodies of terrifically strange creatures having both animal and vegetable characteristics and sporting immense, bat-like wings. As the first team begins a study of the creatures, the other party members rush to the campsite. However, they find only death, destruction, and mystery there when they arrive. Mysterious caves, peculiar shapes, and other incredible aspects of the adjacent mountains leads the expedition leader to dub them "the mountains of madness." Scientific curiosity impels two of the men to fly over those mountains to see what lies on the other side. What they find is an empty, ancient city, which they set out to explore. Statues and strange hieroglyphics lead the men to conclude that this city was once the most revered spot of the Old Ones mentioned in the Necronomicon and the Pnakotic Manuscripts, a city built long before man's first ancestors walked the earth. As they move deeper within the bowels of the city, they discover that it is not quite deserted after all. The story is a masterful one and provides us with a unique viewpoint concerning the race of ancient beings Lovecraft injected into his horror fiction. It can become tedious at times, but these moments are rare. The sense of mystery and trepidation rises consistently throughout, and the ending more than satisfied this particular reader. There are three stories included alongside At the Mountains of Madness, all of them interesting but not among Lovecraft's greatest creations. "The Shunned House" is basically a ghost story, albeit one featuring Lovecraftian images, themes, and atmosphere. "The Dreams in the Witch-House" is almost stereotypical to some degree--a young man seeks out a place of mystery and dark history in an attempt to gain cosmic knowledge. In this case, the young man is a mathematics student hoping to combine possible ancient knowledge of curved space and time with his powerful mathematical formulae with some hope of transcending the barriers of earth's three dimensions. As can be expected, he soon finds himself in over his head, experiencing terrible things each night at the hands of a supposedly deceased old witch and her horrible rat-like familiar. This story seemed to have great potential, yet I thought it sort of broke down during the latter half, lacking Lovecraft's usual ending flourish and flair. The final story included here is "The Statement of Randolph Carter," which relates a pivotal experience in the life of Randolph Carter, who would become Lovecraft's master of dreams and seeker of Kadath in the ice-cold wastes. All of these stories are a basic staple of a Lovecraft diet, and At the Mountains of Madness is compulsory reading. These stories can be found elsewhere and in more impressive packages, but this particular book is easy to acquire and relatively inexpensive.
Rating: Summary: Possibly the best Lovecraft's long story Review: By the start I was amazed with this piece of fantastic art. The realistic descritions of the Antartic land and the culture that the author shows (latest investigations of that wonderful years) is incredible. I never wanted to finish reading.
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