At the Mountains of Madness

At the Mountains of Madness is a science-fiction novella written by H. P. Lovecraft in 1931 and published in Astounding Stories in 1936. Like much of Lovecraft’s work, it also helped establish the genre of cosmic horror, or what Lovecraft called “weird fiction”: horror that relies on existential anxieties about humanity’s place in the universe to achieve its effects. The story involves a research team discovering an ancient city buried beneath the Antarctic. At the Mountains of Madness has been adapted into graphic novels, video games, and other media. This guide uses an e-book version of the novel, which is now in the public domain.

Plot Summary

William Dyer is a geologist and a professor at Arkham’s Miskatonic University. He writes in the first-person perspective, hoping to warn people not to venture to Antarctica. A research team is planning such a trip, and Dyer shares his own terrible experiences to persuade them not to go.

Dyer’s initial experiences are routine. The team sails south from Boston with plenty of manpower, equipment, and excitement. They reach Antarctica a month later and begin to search for their landing place.