“At The Mountains of Madness” tells the first-person tale of geologist William Dyer, a professor from Miskatonic University in the USA. He writes to disclose hitherto unknown and closely kept secrets in the hope that he can deter a planned and much publicized scientific expedition to Antarctica. For he has been there and seen the unimaginable horrors that lay beyond the mountains.
“At The Mountains of Madness” was written by HP Lovecraft in 1931, originally a serialised story published in Astounding Stories magazine in the US. While considered by fans to be part of the Cthulhu Mythos stories that HPL is most famous for, some academics argue that the author was actually ‘demythologising’ much of his earlier work. Whichever it is, the story is massively popular, and there are talks of a movie adaptation by Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro in the offing.
Part 1 - The Discovery
William Dyer, a geologist from Miskatonic University, writes of his incredible experiences whilst exploring Antarctica, in the hope of dissuading a new team from travelling to the same location. We learn of his team of scientists and students, their hopes of uncovering new geological discoveries and how, after an initial survey of a mountainous region, some of their party, under the leadership of Prof. Lake, discovered 14 incredible and mysterious ‘somethings’. But as the Antarctic wind whips up, communication between the camps is lost, and Dyer is left wondering what has happened to his friend Lake, high up in the mountains.