At the Mountains of Madness

By: H.P. Lovecraft

Narrated by: H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society

Length: 1 hr and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of a polar expedition meeting unspeakable horrors is brought to life in the style of a 1930s radio drama, featuring a large cast of actors, thrilling sound effects, and original music.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

Public Domain (P)2007 HPLHS, Inc.

some portions unintelligible

In one segment, half the dialogue was unintelligible because of excess background airplane noise - the remainder of the program good. it was their first Radio Theatre, improved since then

2 people found this helpful

Great dramatization!!!

I think this was the first production of Dark Adventure and its amazing! Unlike many modern productions of Lovecraft's work this is not campy or silly. It's a faithful dramatization of the story that goes beyond just listening to someone read the book. The news broadcasts give it a realistic feel in the same vein as Orson Wells production of War of the Worlds. Fans of Lovecraft and/or old time radio will love this!

2 people found this helpful

Great Teaser

The story felt like it was the middle of a good book
I would've loved it more if it could have had a solid beginning and end. Just all around more of a story.

2 people found this helpful

I appreciate the effort

I felt this performance was a genuine effort to retell this story in a theatrical manner, an effort which I appreciate. However, I felt most of the static-ridden radio calls were nearly unintelligible and, while era appropriate, made my listening experience difficult.

1 person found this helpful

Keep in mind it's DART's first radio play

So it is understandable that they're still tweaking things. As other reviewers have said, the "old news" segments are indeed really, really noisy. It's not incomprehensible, but if you're wearing hearing aid or have problem hearing in noise, I suggest that you avoid it. Otherwise, if you can make through that part, the rest of the play is really good. Performances of Professor Dyer and Danforth are commendable, the framing device works very well, and managed to overcome a lot of the excessive exposition problems that HPL originally had.

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic Adaptation

This is the first work of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s radio theater show. A portion is hard to hear (the long distance radio broadcast section), but the rest of the adaptation is wonderfully clear and captures the essence of the work. It explains the history of what the expedition found better as well. Subsequent episodes were improved. A fun, fantastic work that puts you in the story. I’m collecting all of their shows, they are excellent and the cast is gifted. Worthy of multiple listens.

Fantastic as always

A great rendition of one of the best short horror stories. Though I do with the audio was a bit cleaner. It’s sometimes thought to hear the speakers and sometimes characters who are right next to each other sound like they are communicating through tin cans. But all that aside it’s a fantastic listen and well worth the couple of bucks.

Good but....

In the begging they tell some of the story through a radio broadcast to make it more immersive but it’s hard to understand at times.

Love listening to this!

I love this dramatization of Lovcraft's classic! Its a short version of the story that's an absolute delight to listen to. As other reviews have stated, there is a part or two in the beginning that's hard to hear the first time round, but it's a small matter really. All in all, I'd say give a try!

Splendid and brilliant

A unique high quality production that will delight your inner geek. A fantastic gate way from which to explore the Lovecraft myth.

Sub-par.

The original story 'At the Mountains of Madness' is one of H. P. Lovecraft's best stories, and I heartily recommend it. The BBC also Did a great radio adaptation of it years ago, which makes for a chilling listen.

This version however, sadly misses the mark. The first half is so obscured by radio static that it's almost impossible to follow what's going on. The framing device of a radio interview massively detracts from the horror of the original, by making it almost feel tabloid esque. It's very "vintage", but it's not very scary or even very interesting. It would have been better to keep it as a straight re-telling, with voice actors.

This being said, Dark Adventure Radio Theatre does have some great Lovecraft adaptations to listen to. So my advice is to check out one of their other ones. Give this one a miss.