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A review by 6pminhell
At the Mountains of Madness: And Other Tales of Terror by H.P. Lovecraft
3.0
Lovecraft is certainly a dry read, with verbose descriptions of strange surreal creatures and alien species. There is a whole sort of mythos surrounding the creatures in his work that while fascinating to delve into, is difficult to understand without some outside research.
At the Mountains of Madness reminded me of Prometheus in that it was all about discovery of civilization in a foreign land (in this case it was Antarctica). The story was effectively atmospheric and held a sense of dread in how cold, cruel, and inescapable the environment could be, however much of the story focused on analyzing hieroglyphics that worked as exposition for the backstory of the fantastical "Elder Ones" that used to call the Antarctic mountains their home. This was the weakest point for me, it became almost a chore to read and took away from the horrors of the action itself. Some of it added to the dread, but it felt like too much to the point of undermining the effectiveness of the story.
The second story in my version of the anthology was The Whisperer in Darkness, in my opinion the strongest of the three stories. The power of this story lied in it's ambiguities. The letters sent back and forth between the main character and a strange recluse who lived in rural Vermont were interesting, and built uneasiness, tension, and paranoia effectively through ambiguity. The payoff is effective as well, the aliens are never directly seen by the protagonist, leaving a sense of ambiguity in the machine as well as the recluse and his situation. I'm trying to be as vague here as possible in order to avoid spoilers, but this story is definitely worth a read. At 60 pages it's a quick read.
The final story in the anthology was Th Haunter of the Dark, a very brief 18 page story about a writer who explores an abandoned church which used to house a cult. This story was all over the place, with bits and pieces all over the place. It left me wanting more - maybe if it wasn't in Lovecraft's style of writing I might like it more, but that's just me.
Overall, I enjoyed reading these stories. The shortcomings of At the Mountains of Madness and The Haunter of the Dark were definitely alleviated by the strength of the ambiguity, paranoia, and subtlety of The Whisperer in Darkness. If anything, just read that story (it's free here).
At the Mountains of Madness - 3/5
The Whisperer in Darkness - 5/5
The Haunter of the Dark - 2/5
At the Mountains of Madness reminded me of Prometheus in that it was all about discovery of civilization in a foreign land (in this case it was Antarctica). The story was effectively atmospheric and held a sense of dread in how cold, cruel, and inescapable the environment could be, however much of the story focused on analyzing hieroglyphics that worked as exposition for the backstory of the fantastical "Elder Ones" that used to call the Antarctic mountains their home. This was the weakest point for me, it became almost a chore to read and took away from the horrors of the action itself. Some of it added to the dread, but it felt like too much to the point of undermining the effectiveness of the story.
The second story in my version of the anthology was The Whisperer in Darkness, in my opinion the strongest of the three stories. The power of this story lied in it's ambiguities. The letters sent back and forth between the main character and a strange recluse who lived in rural Vermont were interesting, and built uneasiness, tension, and paranoia effectively through ambiguity. The payoff is effective as well, the aliens are never directly seen by the protagonist, leaving a sense of ambiguity in the machine as well as the recluse and his situation. I'm trying to be as vague here as possible in order to avoid spoilers, but this story is definitely worth a read. At 60 pages it's a quick read.
The final story in the anthology was Th Haunter of the Dark, a very brief 18 page story about a writer who explores an abandoned church which used to house a cult. This story was all over the place, with bits and pieces all over the place. It left me wanting more - maybe if it wasn't in Lovecraft's style of writing I might like it more, but that's just me.
Overall, I enjoyed reading these stories. The shortcomings of At the Mountains of Madness and The Haunter of the Dark were definitely alleviated by the strength of the ambiguity, paranoia, and subtlety of The Whisperer in Darkness. If anything, just read that story (it's free here).
At the Mountains of Madness - 3/5
The Whisperer in Darkness - 5/5
The Haunter of the Dark - 2/5