Lovecraft: At the Mountains of Madness

by H. P. Lovecraft

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“They were infamous, nightmare sculptures even when telling of age-old, bygone things; for shoggoths and their work ought not to be seen by human beings or portrayed by any beings. The mad author of the Necronomicon had nervously tried to swear that none had been bred on this planet, and that only drugged dreamers had ever conceived them. Formless protoplasm able to mock and reflect all forms and organs and processes—viscous agglutinations of bubbling cells—rubbery fifteen-foot spheroids infinitely plastic and ductile—slaves of suggestion, builders of cities—more and more sullen, more and more intelligent, more and more amphibious, more and more imitative—Great God! What madness made even those blasphemous Old Ones willing to use and to carve such things?”

Another classic from one of the greatest of all horror writers. At the Mountains of Madness continues with Lovecraft’s world building, and his combined universe, creating an unparalleled bleak universe filled with inhuman races vying for dominance. In fact, it seems the human race only thrived at all was because the others spent their energies destroying each other and we snuck in after the wreckage.

Lovecraft has mastered his voice - technical and horrifically detailed. He knows just when to pull back on the description to allow the reader’s imagination to fill in the blank with something much worse that he could dream up. We see this at the end. After all the strangeness and alien details, the final thing is unknown. Unseeable and insane.

Amazingly this story, now considered by all as a classic, was turned down by Weird Tales for length reasons. Instead, it was serialized in three issues of Astounding Stories in 1936 and has never been out of print since.  It is one of his longest stories, but so much happens, so much is revealed, that it doesn’t feel that long. Perhaps on the fifth re-read it may drag, but that first time is magic. My eyes, my brain, was glued to each syllable and every odd description.

Lovecraft continues his science fiction explosion. While the old guys still remain (Yog Sothoth, Nyarlathotep, and Cthulhu) he no longer adds these massively powerful entities to the Mythos. Instead, he creates the everyday intelligent races which populate the few livable spaces in the Universe. We see the belated history of the Elder Things, described as “Like a barrel with five bulging ridges in place of staves. Lateral breakages, as of thinnish stalks, are at equator in middle of these ridges. In furrows between ridges are curious growths – combs or wings that fold up and spread out like fans. . . which gives almost seven-foot wing spread.” They are one of the many (as it turns out) races which held dominance over the Earth before the dawn of man. 

They in turn created (genetically engineered) the Shoggoths - a blobulous race capable shifting into any desired thought or preform any needed task. These eventually developed consciousness. A civil war erupted and an accord is reached. A truce that eventually lead to the degradation and destruction of their society. Also, they apparently ate six foot penguins, which they herded like cattle.

Elder Thing

The Elder Things (actual race name is unknown) are so old that they recorded the arrival of Cthulhu and fought off his “star-spawn” - whatever the hell they are. Lovecraft did not elaborate on the species. If indeed, they were a species. Then warred against the Mi-Go (the Fungi from Yuggoth) a race we saw earlier in The Whisperer in Darkness. They may even be the authors of Pnakotic Manuscripts - an ancient text that predates mankind- mentioned many times in previous Lovecraft tales.

Strangely enough very little has been done with this story in other mediums. There was talk of a film directed by Guillermo del Toro, but it seems to be stuck in development hell. Perhaps it just as well, I doubt any other medium could do the story justice. But I have found a few bits and pieces which I present below. Enjoy and Caveat Emptor.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Animated short of the story

5 Part BBC Radio Drama Based on the Story

On the Film Development of the Story.