At the mountains of madness
by H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937)
- Free to read
- 3 hours to read
- 12 chapters
- Reading level: 10th to 12th grade
"At the mountains of madness" by H. P. Lovecraft is a science-fiction and cosmic horror novella written in 1931 and published in 1936. The story follows Dr. William Dyer as he recounts a catastrophic Antarctic expedition in 1930, hoping to prevent future explorers from returning. His team discovers an ancient alien civilization predating humanity, preserved ruins beyond towering mountains, and prehistoric creatures that defy classification. As they uncover the terrifying history of Earth's original inhabitants through ancient murals, they encounter something far more dangerous lurking in the frozen wasteland.
- Fantasy fiction
- Horror tales
- Antarctica
- Fossils · Collection and preservation
- Scientific expeditions
- Stone carving
Read the opening
Chapter II
Popular imagination, I judge, responded actively to our wireless bulletins of Lake's start northwestward into regions never trodden by human foot or penetrated by human imagination, though we did not mention his wild hopes of revolutionizing the entire sciences of biology and geology.
His preliminary sledging and boring journey of January 11th to 18th with Pabodie and five others—marred by the loss of two dogs in an upset when crossing one of the great pressure ridges in the ice—had brought up more and more of the Archæan slate; and even I was interested by the singular profusion of evident fossil markings in that unbelievably ancient stratum.
These markings, however, were of very primitive life forms involving no great paradox except that any life forms should occur in rock as definitely pre-Cambrian as this seemed to be; hence I still failed to see the good sense of Lake's demand for an interlude in our time-saving program—an interlude requiring the use of all four planes, many men, and the whole of the expedition's mechanical apparatus.
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About this edition
This free edition of At the mountains of madness by H. P. Lovecraft comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #70652, released 2023-04-27. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Science-Fiction & Fantasy, Crime, Thrillers and Mystery, Novels, American Literature.
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