In the Mad Mountains: Stories Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft
by Joe R. Lansdale, Mike Mignola (cover art)
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Pub Date Oct 15 2024 | Archive Date Not set
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Description
“Joe Lansdale squares up to the Great Old Ones—and taps into rich veins of awe and wit.”
—Kim Newman, author of the Anno Dracula series
Ten-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba Ho-tep) returns with this wicked short story collection of his irreverent Lovecraftian tributes. Knowingly skewering H. P. 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, Reverand 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.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Joe R. Lansdale
“The Bleeding Shadow”
Dread Island
“The Gruesome Affair of the Electric Blue Lightning”
“The Tall Grass”
"The Case of the Stalking Shadow"
“The Crawling Sky”
"Starlight, Eyes Bright"
In the Mad Mountains
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
“Joe Lansdale squares up to the Great Old Ones—and taps into rich veins of awe and wit, with always a backbeat thrumm of cosmic terror. You’ll never look at the howling void in the black heart of the universe the same way again.”
—Kim Newman, author of the Anno Dracula series
“Here’s Lovecraft’s trick: he uses polyphony, many voices, to build his narrative case for the existence of cosmic squids whistling in the dark. Here is Lansdale's trick: doing it better, with a wider array of voices, including those of Poe and Twain and the classic American folk tale and his own Texas noir sensibility. This collection is a box of cursed yet delicious chocolates. Take a bite of every one!”
—Nick Mamatas, author of Move Under Ground and I Am Providence
“Horror royalty Joe Lansdale’s take on cosmic horror and the Cthulhu Mythos is everything you'd hope for—bloody, profane, grimly humorous, and as vivid as Technicolor hell splashed on a 20-foot tall silver screen.”
—Laird Barron, author of Not a Speck of Light
Praise for Joe R. Lansdale
“A terrifically gifted storyteller.”
—Washington Post Book Review
“Joe R. Lansdale is one of the more versatile writers in America.”
—Los Angeles Times
“A zest for storytelling and gimlet eye for detail.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Lansdale is an immense talent.”
—Booklist
“Lansdale is a storyteller in the Texas tradition of outrageousness . . . but amped up to about 100,000 watts.”
—Houston Chronicle
“Lansdale’s been hailed, at varying points in his career, as the new Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner-gone-madder, and the last surviving splatterpunk . . . sanctified in the blood of the walking Western dead and righteously readable.”
—Austin Chronicle
Marketing Plan
*Select outreach to leading horror, crime, mystery, and thriller print and online reviewers and editors
*Social media advertising campaign to include Instagram book tour and influencer outreach
*Email marketing campaign and ongoing promotion
*Promotion along with Joe R. Lansdale backlist titles
*Custom book trailer and video graphics including 3D jacket images
*In-person events to include regional Texas, U.S., and European venues
*Galley and finished copy giveaways on Goodreads and through author and publisher
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781616964245 |
| PRICE | $16.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 256 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Thomas E, Reviewer
Look, as soon as I see the words inspired by Lovecraft, I'm already in. I confess though at first dipping into In the Mad Mountains I got a little nervous, Lansdale stated that he was more keen on the Old Ones rather than the rather niche and esoteric "alas dear reader I cannot describe what I saw that fateful night" antics of Lovecraft. (I was nervous about this because bizarrely that semi-kitschy stuff is what I like most)
Anyway I needn't have been worried, although I will say the flavour of Lansdale's stories are a little different than Cosmic Horror - I would say more Horror Horror, or adventure horror - but in the end all GOOD.
The Bleeding Shadow has a Lovecraft Country vibe and is a very rough around the edges piece about a deal with the devil predictably gone wrong.
Dread Island, reads as a sort of "horror up" of classic tales. Possibly of any of the tales enclosed this has some of the most vivid imagery, and even though I prefer my horrors unknown the horrors presented in this story are quite memorable.
The Gruesome Affair of the Electric Blue Lightning, is a riff on Poe's Dupin. It's a little more light hearted than the previous too works, but in my opinion is just a wee bit too much. Not only does the story drag from Poe and Lovecraft, we also have Grimm and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein shoehorned in
The Tall Grass was perhaps my favourite tale of the bunch. It has a kind of more Cosmic vibe in terms of a relatively open ended story that's more about the MC brushing up against something horrific and then having to move on with their life.
The Cast of the Stalking Shadow is a solid piece, leaning back into more horror adventure than cosmic horror.
The Crawling Sky is a bit of a strange one. A recurring character for Lansdale the story reads as a more action adventure with Cosmic Horror influence. It's fun enough with a VERY rough around the edges vibe too.
Starlight, Eyes Bright stands out more weird addition, less overt grossness and more mystery. Something that is always favourable in a short story collection is a bit of variety in tone between stories and Starlight provides that.
In the Mad Mountains - I confess I found the final piece perhaps one of the weaker additions. In my opinion this is where the action adventure meeting cosmic horror didn't gel the best. I felt like the tale wanted to provide that Cosmic alarm and terror, while also having wee action set pieces which didn't create a consistent vibe. I also just felt like it was a bit much - too many elements thrown together in one tale.
Overall I really enjoyed this one - Lansdale has a bit of a cheeky lilt to his prose which is a unique touch to the genre, which like I said I'm a sucker for anyways!!
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