At the Mountains of Madness: And Other Tales of Terror (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“One of the greatest short novels in American literature, and a key text in my own understanding of what that literature can do.”
–MICHAEL CHABON



“Lovecraft’s fiction is one of the cornerstones of modern horror.”
–CLIVE BARKER


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Description

A complete short novel, AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS is a tale of terror unilke 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...and the carved stones tens of millions of years old...and, finally, the mind-blasting terror of the City of the Old Ones. Three additional strange tales, written as only H.P. Lovecraft can write, are also included in this macabre collection of the strange and the weird.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 5th printing edition (September 13, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345329457
• ISBN-13: 978-0345329455
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,270 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best introduction to Lovecraft and the Mythos, December 28, 2002

By	OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I recommend this as the best one-volume introduction to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. If you finish this single volume you will be familiar with the atmosphere and the terminology of a large part of the Cthulhu Mythos. That's probably why this particular edition has remained in print so long. After _The Dunwich Horror_, it was my introduction to Lovecraft.

In the first story, "At the Mountains of Madness", you find yourself immediately immersed in the world of the Necronomicon, Miskantonic University, and the cosmic pantheon of the Cthulhu Cult and the Elder Things.

The second tale, "The Shunned House", shows what the master could do with a more conventional horror story. It is one of the best stories of a cursed house and family ever written.

The third story, "Dreams in the Witch House", serves as an excellent introduction to the cursed city of Arkham, though there are also strong elements of Miskantonic, the Necronomicon, and the speculations of fourth dimensional connections between our own world and "the farthest stars of the transgalactic gulfs."

Finally, there is "The Statement of Randolph Carter", which may be the most perfect short horror story ever written.

Of course if you are really hooked and want all the details about Lovecraft's world, then get the _Encyclopedia Cthulhiana_, that is if you are lucky enough to find a copy....

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece of horror plus extras, March 27, 2002

By	Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The scariest stuff ever written, December 7, 1999

By	Doug Vaughn (Washington, Dc USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I first read these stories years ago while spending the summer with a friend in rural Arkansas. The house had no electricity so we read late at night by kerosene lamp. I can still remember the feelings that these pieces evoked and how hard it was to go to sleep in the dark afteward. Now, even as an adult, reading in a comfortabley lighted room, these stories still scare the hell out of me.

There has never been another writer like Lovecraft. His stories are oblique and suggestive and the reader's own mind provides much of the horror. He understood what lurked just beneath the civilized veneer of our consiousness and he manages to tease it out so well.

This is fiction for those who like to feel their skin crawl. Simply the best of its kind ever.