http://spwebdesign.livejournal.com/63... ( )

"At the Mountains of Madness" still proves an engaging, tense read over 70 years after its initial publication. The one issue some may have with the story is the lack of dialogue throughout its pages, but with vivid description and playing with the sense of the unknown and mysterious, the story provides a gripping, self-building story that is sure to please most who read it. ( )

One of Lovecraft's most ambitious and best long stories. Set in Antarctica, an expedition discovers a lost civilization. Lovecraft has always been known (and either loved or hated, I myself love) for his matter of fact early century style storytelling and this is no different. The masterful way he draws the reader in, if you can commit to the wordy passages, keeps one delving further and further into the story, wondering what is going to be around the corner or what gem of detailed ancient history he is going to create for us next. Beautifully written with detail, background and a building intensity that will leave you wonderfully satisfied. Horror at it's best. I love Lovecraft! With an Introduction by China Mieville and Lovecraft's own essay on horror. ( )

This novella is written in the form of a plea by a geologist to the scientific community to cancel any Antarctic expeditions. The narrator is, reluctantly, sharing the details of his tragic Antarctic expedition, in which a large portion of the group died and another experienced complete mental breakdown. This was my first experience with Lovecraft, and I have become completely enamoured. Lovecraft's conception of horror seems to be that the anticipation of some unknown, terrible, and weird event is the height of terror, and I couldn't agree more. While graphic descriptions of gruesome events might be, in its own way, terrible, I found Lovecraft's slow building of tension and his intricate and eerie worldbuilding to be much more effective in unsettling my mood and, once, even my dreams. As a bonus, Lovecraft's use of language is often lyrical and evocative. If you like your horror down and dirty, with an intense, immediate start and lots of violence to keep it moving, Lovecraft may not be for you. But, if you subscribe to Hitchcock's theory that there's nothing more frightening than an unopened door, I'd recommend this eerie, mysterious tale. ( )

After decades of hearing about this writer, I've read him. There is not one line of dialogue in his writing. It is an amorphous mass of description, much like pointillistic painting with words. I like it, but it is a bit rich for my blood as a steady diet. I shall use him as my brandy alexander, my cherry cordial, my Black Forest cake slice, between more palatable writers.

At the Mountains of Madness is a brilliant horrific story, building consistently, although much is left to the imagination, especially with the carvings and sculptures on the walls at varying levels of the narrator's descent. The reader who digests Lovecraft must, by necessity, have a vivid imagination, as he paints the picture with a light darkness and lets the reader interpret the depth of that darkness. I'm glad, though, that finally I took the plunge and am looking forward to reading more by this master. ( )