A great collection of cosmic horror stories from excellent authors. A beautiful homage to the master of cosmic horror.

This book really didn't vibe with me. I'm sorry. I'm a huge lovecraft fan and this didn't hit the standard. I don't like making big posts about books i don't enjoy, but this just didn't do it for me at all. Writing is wonky, the language is lacking, the stories don't have elements of cosmic horror done well. Part of Lovecraft's charm is the high level of language that is almost literary.

My review is now available over at Horror DNA.

"Joe R. Lansdale’s In the Mad Mountains: Stories Inspired By H.P. Lovecraft showcases a master storyteller riffing on the voices and themes of other writers while crafting something unmistakably his own. Lansdale reimagines the mythos, atmosphere, and some of the characters of cosmic horror and classic literature through his distinct, muscular prose...."

I am so thankful to Tachyon Books, Joe R. Lansdale, Mike Mignola, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this galley before publication day. I really enjoyed the dialogue and plot of this book and can’t wait to chat this one up with my friends!

Horror is alive and well in this eerie collection of what Joe Lansdale considers to be his eight best Lovecraftian tales, each with different settings and styles. The author writes terrifyingly down-home stories while merging his classic stylings with the eldritch horrors of H. P. Lovecraft. Exploring the darkest corners of the human psyche, here is a lethal journey through Lansdale’s twisted landscape, where ancient evils lurk and sanity hangs by a fraying thread. Knowing Lovecraft’s paranoid mythos, the author embarks upon haunting yet sly explorations of the unknown, capturing the essence of cosmic dread. These are stories that I will not forget. When I read my first Lovecraft, I thought how talented he was and no one could do Lovecraft’s mythos. I was wrong, Lansdale has done a great job.

In the Mad Mountains is a collection of short fiction by Joe R. Lansdale inspired by/homage to H.P. Lovecraft. Released 15th Oct 2024 by Tachyon, it's 256 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

Most of the stories contained in the collection have been previously published between 2009-2015 in other publications, but they're collected her for the first time (conveniently packaged for consumption). The author notes and commentary are new, and as always, worth reading. It's nice to get some background history from the author about the works.

Lansdale is a prodigious talent. These stories are cherry picked from his massive oeuvre and complement one another well thematically. It's not -all- body horror and squishy stuff, there are some which would be equally at home in a Bradbury homage (“Starlight, Eyes Bright”), but there is also adventure horror aplenty for the straight-up Lovecraftians in the room.

Four and a half stars. It's a perfect spooky season/Hallowe'en read, even better with a buddy. The cover art by Mike Mignola is a nice bonus and suits the book perfectly.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

First, a confession. I am not very familiar with the works of H. P. Lovecraft. I read some of his stories in my younger days and saw a few of the 60s horror movies adapted from them. But I don’t remember many details other than names like Cthulhu and the “Necronomicon.” I am more familiar with Joe Lansdale, one of today’s most versatile mystery, horror, Western and science fiction writers. Lansdale’s latest story collection, “In the Mad Mountains,” comprises “Stories Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft,” according to its subtitle. The book may be inspired by Lovecraft, but the stories take advantage of all the author’s areas of expertise and his sense of humor in an often creepy and always entertaining collection.

“In the Mad Mountains” has eight stories, most of them at novelette length. The stories vary widely in tone, setting, and style. Six of these stories have been published in other collections and anthologies since 2009. Those anthologies often had specific themes, which accounts for the unique themes of the tales initially included in those anthologies. The author provides a brief introduction to each story that often makes the story easier to follow. Most people would classify all of them as horror stories. Certain specific horror themes I recognized from my limited knowledge of Lovecraft’s work are common to most stories. The best way to describe the collection is to detail each story briefly.

“The Bleeding Shadow” is southern Noir from the 1950s (with fantasy horror elements) that reminded me of something Walter Moseley might have written. Here, the narrator is an unlicensed private investigator (in an era when blacks couldn’t get licenses) who is hired by an ex-flame to find her musician brother, Tootie. His only clue to Tootie’s whereabouts is a demo jazz record Tootie sent her. When the narrator plays the record, the music is unearthly. When he tracks down Tootie, he learns why.

“Dread Island” is the author’s unofficial horror sequel to “Huckleberry Finn.” Huck narrates, and other familiar Mark Twain characters like Tom Sawyer and Jim put in an appearance. In the story, Huck and Jim’s search for the missing Tom leads them to the titular island in the middle of the Mississippi River. There, they discover Uncle Remus’s characters come to life, like Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. Huck also learns that the island has trapped many unwary travelers over the years, including passengers on wrecked steamships and even Amelia Earhart. Also putting in an appearance that is far less welcome than Earhart is a demonic creature from another dimension that Huck calls “Cut Through You.”

If “Dread Island” is a tribute to Mark Twain, “The Gruesome Affair of the Electric Blue Lightning” is what the author calls a “Poe pastiche.” This story was written to imitate Poe’s detective works featuring C. Auguste Dupin. Here, Dupin and his companion, the story’s narrator, investigate a mysterious warehouse fire in which the lightning that caused the fire appeared to originate in the building and rise to the sky. One significant character in the story bears a fantastic similarity to Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Dupin uses a rare copy of the Necronomicon to solve the case.

“The Tall Grass” is the book’s shortest story and one of the creepiest. The narrator is a passenger on a train that pauses in the middle of the night in a field with, you guessed it, very tall prairie grass. The train seems abandoned except for the conductor, who advises the narrator to stay on board. There wouldn’t be much of a story had the narrator done so. He disobeys the conductor, gets lost in the grass, and encounters something bizarre. The images in this story stayed with me longer than any others from “In the Mad Mountains.”

“The Case of the Stalking Shadow” stars Dana Roberts, one of the author’s series characters. As an adult, Dana is a “supernormal investigator.” This story details how she acquired that interest. In “Shadow,” a teenage Dana spent the summer at a friend’s house, along with some younger children. One day, they played hide-and-seek in the nearby woods, which had a bad reputation. Not surprisingly, the game didn’t go well for Dana, and she found herself chased by a strange creature. She returned to the site years later to discover something even stranger. This story reprises a familiar theme in these tales: characters encountering portals between dimensions through which some very disquieting creatures pass.

“The Crawling Sky” is a Western featuring another Lansdale series character, the Reverend Jebidiah Mercer. He’s a frontier demon hunter, whose latest mission takes him to see a squatter who moved into a vacant house with the idea of turning it into a farm. The home includes a dry well filled with stones dumped there by an earlier resident. When the squatter removed the stones, he learned, to his regret, what they covered. The Reverend must get the thing from the well back where it belongs. This story has a hilarious introduction in which the Reverend persuades one of the townsfolk to fix him dinner, only to discover that horsemeat steak is on the menu. That revelation was scarier for me than the rest of the story, although the Reverend enjoyed the meal.

“Starlight, Star Bright” doesn’t feel like any of the other stories in the collection. A woman finds a piece of glass that she’s convinced contains something otherworldly. The story makes little sense, but it has a mystical feel to it. This one is very much a matter of taste, and it was my least favorite in the collection.

The author ends with the second longest story in the book, the titular, “In the Mad Mountains.” It has some of the same elements as “Dread Island,” but in a much harsher setting. A lifeboat containing a group of shipwreck survivors washes up on an arctic coastline. The survivors discover the wreckage of other ships and planes nearby, some of them over a century old. Although they can fish and scavenge the wrecks’ galleys for supplies, they realize they will eventually need to reach civilization. This is the gloomiest story in the book, and the explanation of the landscape on which they landed is the most bizarre.

If readers didn’t already know the authorship of these stories, most would probably believe that eight different authors wrote them. Joe Lansdale adapts a separate tone for each one that captures both the story’s spirit and my understanding of Lovecraft lore. Many stories feature portals to other worlds or places where the usual laws of space and time don’t work. Lansdale mixes humor, setting, and horror well. I liked the Twain and Poe tributes best because of the bold and successful attempts to match his famous predecessors’ style and incorporate typical Lovecraft elements. “In the Mad Mountains” is enjoyable for Lansdale and Lovecraft fans alike.   

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

Joe R. Lansdale is a legend that does not need to hear my opinion on his writing. He has won several awards (including ten Bram Stoker Awards), has had his novels and stories adapted into movies and tv episodes, and his Hap and Leonard series of novels became a series that lasted three seasons. After publishing 40 novels and tons of short stories, my opinion is not going to change much. This is why when I look at his collection of Lovecraft inspired short stories, In the Mad Mountains, my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. 

There are many stories in this collection that did not really do much for me. Lovecraft mythos is not on the top of my list of horror I adore, but I thought that if anyone could make stories that are great additions to the collection of writers who are doing great things with Lovecraft’s world, Joe R. Lansdale would be one of them. Instead many of the stories are not terribly engaging. Lansdale does some interesting things with putting characters into Lovecraft’s world. In “Dread Island”, Huck Finn and Jim have to find Tom Sawyer on an island that only shows in the middle of the Mississippi River on random nights before the island disappears again. “The Gruesome Affair of the Electric Blue Lightning” places Edgar Allan Poe’s detective, C. Auguste Dupin, with the Necronomicon. Two of the stories even bring his own characters from other books into his stories (“The Cast of the Stalking Shadow” and "The Crawling Sky"). 

These stories are good, but there are not really that many great stories. I really enjoy the first story, “The Bleeding Shadow”, about a ex-lover Alma May who wants the main character to find her brother, Tootie, and the final story “In the Mad Mountains,” about a group of people shipwrecked in the ice and weird things start killing them all. The rest of the stories are okay, and many of them have been published in other anthologies, or in the case of “The Tall Grass” adapted into an episode of Love, Death + Robots. These stories might be stronger in these original anthologies, surrounded by a variety of different voices because with this collection, there does not seem to be much variation in voice or structure.  Either way, Joe Lansdale is still a legend, and any book by him is worth reading. This one is just not his strongest.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Joe R Lansdale is one of those authors who could get 5 stars for writing the tax code. It's far too easy to be sure you'll love what he writes....you almost have to feel sorry for the other guys. Anyway, IN THE MAD MOUNTAINS is Lansdale's dip into the world of HP Lovecraft. Readers of my era ALL read Lovecraft, it was almost a requirement of passage. This collection of stories is easily recognizable as Lovecraft tribute. They are also VERY GOOD.....but we knew they would be. So good, they read quickly and leave you wanting more when finished. But most of Joe R Lansdale's fans feel that way after any of his books. 5 easy stars.

If you, like me, love the televised adaptations of Lovecraft because you just can’t wade through the thick formal Lovecraft prose, this book will be a treat. All the creepy atmosphere and thought-provoking plots with none of the convoluted wordplay to untangle. In the Mad Mountains definitely gives off Victorian horror vibes but also reminds me of Black Mirror too.

Some of these tales are genuinely frightening. The story named in the title really made me think for days after reading it of how I would deal with being put in the characters’ position.

In the Mad Mountains is a great example of a writer in his prime working at the top of his game. It will scare the pants off of you while also making you think about deep philosophical questions. That’s a hard feat to pull off and so this collection of eight tales is highly recommended. 5 stars and a favorite!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for providing me with an advanced review copy.

I am a fan of a lot of Joe Lansdale's work, and I found the pieces in this collection--some co-written with his daughter Kasey Lansdale--clever, entertaining, and original. Lovecraft was a massively racist, antisemitic, and misogynist writer whose cosmic horror has nonetheless become enormously influential in the genre, and Lansdale handles those legacies well, satirizing Lovecraft, taking the best parts and ideas, and turning Lovecraft's own prejudices against him. Lansdale uses pre-existing places and characters to heighten the pastiche and intersections of authors, horrors, and worlds: Auguste Dupin, Huck Finn, Jim, Brer Rabbit, the Necronomicon, and others will be familiar to many readers. It's a wild, fun, often brilliant ride of a book.

Mike Mignola's cover is simply awesome! Plus "Landsdale" and "Lovecraft" are trigger words for me: put them together, my brain goes numb and I start salivating. OK, that's perhaps too graphic (and hopefully a bit inaccurate), but it captures very well the impact of such a book to my hardened reading habits. Landsdale himself explains in his foreword that, though the volume does not contain every Lovecraft story he's written, it does contain his best stories of this type; and indeed, despite the absolutely non-Lovecraftian writing style, the 8 tales within are bound to impress for their wide range, their imaginative scope, and their distance from Lovecraft's actual writings: there's hardly any overlap, so, though the stories touch upon the Great Old Ones and the Necronomicon, standard Lovecraft fare, the claim of "stories inspired by H. P. Lovecraft" should be taken with a grain of salt. The opening novelette, for example, "The Bleeding Shadow," a hardboiled detective tale about jazz blues music, though obviously inspired by Lovecraft's short story of "The Music of Erich Zann," has African American protagonists (femme fatale included), and it's implausible that Lovecraft, being an elitist and a racist, would have approved of any of its details. As far as imaginative scope goes, look at a couple of stories such as "Dread Island," in which Huck Finn and Jim get a taste of cosmic horror when they visit an island offering some nasty Lovecraft-inspired encounters, and "The Gruesome Affair of the Electric Blue Lightning,” an Auguste Dupin pastiche, with a nod to Frankenstein, a rather funny story indicative of a hugely creative mind. That said, there's one story standing out above the others, one which I liked tremendously: "In the Tall Grass". The title reminds one immediately of the well-known Stephen King and Joe Hill short story, though as Lansdale himsef explains in his story notes (every story has a preceding story note), his story came earlier. This tale is truly creepy, and I totally loved it. There's a western cosmic horror story as well, and one from the the Love, Death+Robots series, However, there is one story that outstayed its welcome, and that's the last (and longest) story, "In the Mad Mountains" - I admit it was a bit of a chore to read, not because it's too bleak (it is) but because it tries to do cosmic horror in combination with action and adventure, the former undermining the latter. As the other stories though, it's consistently well-written and have no regrets I stumbled upon it. Overall, the collection does feel pulpy and the stories demand to be read with a "tongue-in-cheek" attitude; sometimes the author goes for comedy, other times for a noir atmosphere - but always with an eye on the horror aspects. I highly recommend it to all horror lovers who're looking for solid stories scary and entertaining at the same time,

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I... did not like this. The undertones of a few stories felt racist and I also didn't see any connection to H.P Lovecraft. It was horror sure but that doesn't mean it was H.P Lovecraft. I guess "inspired by" doesn't mean it'll evoke the same emotions that Lovecraft's stories do but I guess I expected more???

Title: In the Mad Mountains: Stories Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft
Author: Joe R. Lansdale
Pub Date: October 15, 2024
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
4 of 5 ⭐

Joe Lansdale’s In the Mad Mountains: Stories Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft is a romp through literary voices and eras—from a noir devil-and-crossroads tale to a Twain-esque extension of Huck Finn’s adventures into the cosmic dark, and then onward to revisit Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin in solving a mystery of existential import. This reader walked away impressed with Lansdale’s uncanny ability to render into the vein of cosmic horror the style of other eras and authors who were most definitely not writing cosmic horror. Twain would be proud. As would Poe and some others. Lansdale’s tales are fun, carefully constructed, and an important contribution to the opus of cosmic horror in our fallen world.

Horror anthologies are like a mixed bag—some stories will chill you to the bone, while others may not land as hard. That's just the nature of the beast. This lands in the middle - it contains a refreshing variety of stories, and a few of them really stand out for their inventive scares and atmospheres that linger long after you've put the book down.

A major highlight is the inclusion of stories showcasing various perspectives on horror,

Of course, as with any anthology, not every story hits the mark. Some feel predictable or lack the punch you expect from a truly great horror tale. But that’s the trade-off with collections like this—you’ll find a few gems, some so-so entries, and maybe one or two that don’t quite leave an impression.

Overall, the anthology is worth a read, especially for the unique stories that explore the mythos. The diversity of voices here elevates it beyond your typical collection, even if not every piece is a home run.

In the Mad Mountains by Joe R. Lansdale - A Chilling Collection of Horror Short Stories

If you’re a fan of horror that lingers long after the last page, In the Mad Mountains by Joe R. Lansdale is a must-read. This fantastic collection of short stories draws inspiration from horror legends like Sherlock Holmes, H.P. Lovecraft, and Stephen King, delivering retellings that are both familiar and uniquely terrifying.

One standout story, “The Tall Grass,” left me utterly unsettled, and I couldn’t bring myself to switch off the lights after finishing it. Each tale in this collection expertly creeps under your skin, building an atmosphere of dread that lingers.

For fans of horror fiction searching for something spine-chilling, this book is exactly what you've been waiting for. A big thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. Without a doubt, In the Mad Mountains deserves a full 5-star rating.

"Eleven-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba Ho-tep) returns with this wicked short story collection of his irreverent Lovecraftian tributes. Lansdale is terrifyingly down-home while merging his classic gonzo stylings with the eldritch horrors of H. P. Lovecraft. Knowingly skewering Lovecraft's paranoid mythos, Lansdale embarks upon haunting yet sly explorations of the unknown, capturing the essence of cosmic dread.

A sinister blues recording pressed on vinyl in blood conjures lethal shadows with its unearthly wails. In order to rescue Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn traverses the shifting horrors of the aptly named Dread Island. In the weird Wild West, Reverend Jebidiah Mercer rides into a possessed town to confront the unspeakable in the crawling sky. Legendary detective C. Auguste Dupin uncovers the gruesome secrets of both the blue lightning bug and the Necronomicon.

Exploring the darkest corners of the human psyche, here is a lethally entertaining journey through Joe Lansdale's twisted landscape, where ancient evils lurk and sanity hangs by a rapidly fraying thread."

I love the Poe/Lovecraft/Lansdale mashup!

A great set of stories. If you like Joe Lansdale and you like Lovecraft (like Joe says in his foreword, Lovecraft's stories and mythos, not his writing style) then you will love this.

I’m a huge fan of the author and was looking forward to reading In the Mad Mountains. I am also a huge fan of Lovecraft so this book was a ‘must read’ for me. The stories are cosmic horror which I don’t read very often but were clearly inspired by Lovecraft. I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection but a few stand out. Dread Island crosses Lovecraft with Huckleberry Finn. I know what mad genius had that brilliant idea? I also loved The Tall Grass and Dread. I’d recommend this collection.

This book is a must have for fans of all things cosmic horror.

Every story in this collection is a competent cosmic horror. A few of them like The Tall Grass and Dread are standouts. Dread especially so considering I've never read the source material. The titular story was good but not doing anything particularly original which is broadly true of this collection. Still, I'll be picking up a shelf copy for my Lovecraft collection because they are solid stories and I'll want to revisit them.