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The Haunter of the Dark and Other Grotesque Visions
H. P. Lovecraft is the most important and influential horror writer of the twentieth century. His stories of occult nightmare and cosmic terror have drawn praise from William S. Burroughs, Angela Carter and Jorge Luis Borges and continue to inspire new generations of writers and artists.
John Coulthart is one of H. P. Lovecraft's major visual interpreters. As an artist for David Britron's Lord Horror series, his work has been described as "shocking…harmful", "harrowing" and "brilliant" and has been banned on the grounds of obscenity by British law courts.
This collection presents all of Coulthart's Lovecraft-inspired work from the past decade including two complete comic strip adaptationsThe Haunter of the Dark and The Call of Cthulhuover thirty pages of previously unseen drawings and paintings plus selections from the controversial Lord Horror series Hard Core Horror and Reverbstorm, which have been evolving Lovecraftian imagery in bold new directions.
Material specially created for this volume includes The Great Old Ones, a kabbalah of Lovecraft's gods with accompanying evocations by Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell and many other graphic novel classics.
136 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 1, 2008
The Haunter of the Dark
By H.P. Lovecraft
1935
Began: November 14th, 2008
Finished: November 14th, 2008
I have been reading Lovecraft since about 2001, when I helped my sister and her husband relocate from Monterey, California to Encinitas. I had obviously heard of his writings for years, but finally bought a book around that time.
Probably like most other modern readers, Lovecraft can be an exquisite feast, but a trial as well. His use of language can be both a blessing to his subject matter and a curse, and his various methods (which I think could be called clichés today) can wear thin.
Still, I have been in the mood for some Lovecraft and selected “The Haunter of the Dark” randomly. I had read it before, but I didn’t remember it well.
1.5 Characters
Unsatisfactory with positive exceptions
The characters in this story do their job, and there really is only the main character, Robert Blake, though the narrator could also be considered a kind of character. In regards to Blake himself, I admit that I don’t feel much empathy for him, or even sympathy. In short, I didn’t care about him.
3 Pace
Good
Unlike some of Lovecraft’s other stories, “The Haunter of the Dark” has a fairly fast pace that keeps a reader from being diverted or bored.
3 Story
Good
The story is almost an excuse for a “haunted house” exploration, but Lovecraft keeps things moving. There actually isn’t so much a story here as one event and the consequence of it, though there is some interesting back story concerning the Church of Starry Wisdom. I also have to give this one some extra credit for the clever clue as to how Robert Blake really died (with a nod to Edgar Allan Poe), and the possibility that the Haunter, though terrifying, inhuman, and mind-blasting, did not apparently kill him.
2 Dialogue
Satisfactory
I think most modern readers know that dialogue was not Lovecraft’s strong suit. Fortunately, this story does not have any. I give it a strictly average rating based upon the conversation that is implied.
2.5 Style/Technical
Satisfactory with positive exceptions
This is the hardest category to rate Lovecraft. He dwells on explaining the town scenery, but is very proficient and creating an atmosphere of dread. He also is a master at keeping things subdued, and not revealing all the shadows in his world.
At the same time, there is something pretentious in his writing. It is not that he is trying and failing at being scary, he is successful there, but he strikes me as someone who is trying to be a great author instead of a good one. He puts so much art and poetic effort into his grammatical constructions that his story fades. He wasn’t a great writer, and this story is a good example of that, but he had amazing ideas, and if he had kept his prose direct, then he might have been great. But would his stories carry the same flavor then?
2.4 Overall
“The Haunter of the Dark” is a good, scary story. There isn’t much of a resolution (I probably need to read Robert Bloch’s “The Shambler from the Stars” and “The Shadow from the Steeple” to fully appreciate it), and the world feels somewhat “dead” due to the protagonist’s lack of character or involvement with other people, but it’s a good story about a decayed old church, the strange people who met there, and the terrible secret that was left behind.
By H.P. Lovecraft
1935
Began: November 14th, 2008
Finished: November 14th, 2008
I have been reading Lovecraft since about 2001, when I helped my sister and her husband relocate from Monterey, California to Encinitas. I had obviously heard of his writings for years, but finally bought a book around that time.
Probably like most other modern readers, Lovecraft can be an exquisite feast, but a trial as well. His use of language can be both a blessing to his subject matter and a curse, and his various methods (which I think could be called clichés today) can wear thin.
Still, I have been in the mood for some Lovecraft and selected “The Haunter of the Dark” randomly. I had read it before, but I didn’t remember it well.
1.5 Characters
Unsatisfactory with positive exceptions
The characters in this story do their job, and there really is only the main character, Robert Blake, though the narrator could also be considered a kind of character. In regards to Blake himself, I admit that I don’t feel much empathy for him, or even sympathy. In short, I didn’t care about him.
3 Pace
Good
Unlike some of Lovecraft’s other stories, “The Haunter of the Dark” has a fairly fast pace that keeps a reader from being diverted or bored.
3 Story
Good
The story is almost an excuse for a “haunted house” exploration, but Lovecraft keeps things moving. There actually isn’t so much a story here as one event and the consequence of it, though there is some interesting back story concerning the Church of Starry Wisdom. I also have to give this one some extra credit for the clever clue as to how Robert Blake really died (with a nod to Edgar Allan Poe), and the possibility that the Haunter, though terrifying, inhuman, and mind-blasting, did not apparently kill him.
2 Dialogue
Satisfactory
I think most modern readers know that dialogue was not Lovecraft’s strong suit. Fortunately, this story does not have any. I give it a strictly average rating based upon the conversation that is implied.
2.5 Style/Technical
Satisfactory with positive exceptions
This is the hardest category to rate Lovecraft. He dwells on explaining the town scenery, but is very proficient and creating an atmosphere of dread. He also is a master at keeping things subdued, and not revealing all the shadows in his world.
At the same time, there is something pretentious in his writing. It is not that he is trying and failing at being scary, he is successful there, but he strikes me as someone who is trying to be a great author instead of a good one. He puts so much art and poetic effort into his grammatical constructions that his story fades. He wasn’t a great writer, and this story is a good example of that, but he had amazing ideas, and if he had kept his prose direct, then he might have been great. But would his stories carry the same flavor then?
2.4 Overall
“The Haunter of the Dark” is a good, scary story. There isn’t much of a resolution (I probably need to read Robert Bloch’s “The Shambler from the Stars” and “The Shadow from the Steeple” to fully appreciate it), and the world feels somewhat “dead” due to the protagonist’s lack of character or involvement with other people, but it’s a good story about a decayed old church, the strange people who met there, and the terrible secret that was left behind.
February 5, 2008
This is a graphic novel by John Coulthart.
This just really didn't do much for me. Coulthart, whose style owes much to H. R. Giger, has a talent for drawing the grotesque, but his renditions of The Haunter of the Dark and Call of Cthulu (particularly the former) would be extremely difficult to understand if the reader wasn't already familiar with the stories, especially since the lettering is annoyingly difficult to decifer. The illustrations for The Dunwich Horror show much more promise, but this may be because the work is incomplete and had not been lettered. While his monsters flow and squirm nicely, his human figures are wooden and tend toward all looking very similar. The included "kabbalah of Lovecraft’s gods with accompanying evocations by Alan Moore" is a bunch of pretty cool illustrations accompanied by complete drivel.
This just really didn't do much for me. Coulthart, whose style owes much to H. R. Giger, has a talent for drawing the grotesque, but his renditions of The Haunter of the Dark and Call of Cthulu (particularly the former) would be extremely difficult to understand if the reader wasn't already familiar with the stories, especially since the lettering is annoyingly difficult to decifer. The illustrations for The Dunwich Horror show much more promise, but this may be because the work is incomplete and had not been lettered. While his monsters flow and squirm nicely, his human figures are wooden and tend toward all looking very similar. The included "kabbalah of Lovecraft’s gods with accompanying evocations by Alan Moore" is a bunch of pretty cool illustrations accompanied by complete drivel.
May 6, 2014
Not recommended as an indtroduction to H.P. Lovecraft's stories due to the tiny print.
But BIG recommendation for the artwork and as a companion to text or audiobook versions of Lovecraft's classic tales.
Well worth a purchase at under $20 dollars.
But BIG recommendation for the artwork and as a companion to text or audiobook versions of Lovecraft's classic tales.
Well worth a purchase at under $20 dollars.
April 5, 2021
An excellent collection of Lovecraftian artwork and adaptations from the criminally underrated artist John Coulthart including several collaborations with Alan Moore
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April 8, 2009http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1180401...[return][return]In H.P. Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark, and other Grotesque Visions, John Coulthart provides us with lavishly and horribly illustrated retellings of both 'The Haunter of the Dark' and 'The Call of Cthulhu', along with pictorial meditations on the Kabbalah envisioned as aspects of the Great Old Ones, with invocations by Alan Moore, who also provides a quite bizarre introduction. Tremendous stuff, and would be a good if not very gentle introduction to Lovecraft for those who don't know his writing.[return][return]Purists may complain that Coulthart's depiction of Providence does not look like the real thing at all. This is true, but misses the point: Lovecraft's stories are only weakly rooted in the real details of geography, mainly for local colour, and Coulthart was probably right to create a Providence of his own mind rather than worry too much about what buildings Lovecraft might have known.[return][return]Coulthart asks, 'Sixty years from now, when Stephen King and James Herbert have gone the way of Dennis Wheatley and Seabury Quinn, will their books still be read as Lovecraft's are today?' He thinks not, and I agree with him.
November 16, 2008
When this book came in at work I drooled over it...and subsequently had to purchase it. John Coulthart's illustrations compliment Lovecraft's stories beautifully. Any fan of Lovecraft is sure to enjoy it.
January 3, 2011
Perfect horror work for Halloween week. Features of a great description of each of Lovecraft's "gods".
December 19, 2010
H.P. Lovecraft really is a master st creating atmosphere and suspense. Great read!
October 2, 2012
A good 'un!
June 23, 2016
a fictional story being read is relevant and fascinating at the same time
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews