Review: Tales From Lovecraft Middle School by Charles Gilman

Tales from Lovecraft Middle School is the spine-tingling series about a haunted middle school where monsters roam the halls, mysteries lurk behind every door, and strange transformations take place before your very eyes.

Seventh-grader Robert Arthur just wants to fit in at his new school. But the place is crawling with weird spirits and supernatural creatures. What’s a kid to do? Ask a teacher for help? Some of them are monsters in disguise! Find a classmate he can trust? Many of them are transforming too! If Robert and his friends can uncover the truth about Lovecraft Middle School’s secret history, they might find out who—or what—is behind all the mysteries.

I have mentioned on this blog before that my knowledge of the works of H.P. Lovecraft is pretty limited, and yet he has influenced so many writers of teen and children's horror stories. I think I too would have grown into a fan if I had been given these two books as a child. 

Professor Gargoyle and The Slither Sisters are the first two books in Charles Gilman's Tales From Lovecraft Middle School series, and I loved them. Think Goosebumps, crossed with Lemony Snicket and then throw in a truck load of cthulhu and a plethora of Lovecraftian references and that pretty much sums up these books. Yes, much of the references to Lovecraft's stories will be completely lost on young readers (just as they were probably lost on me), but adult fans will delight in spotting these. I can just imagine legions of Lovecraft fans around the world reading these at bedtime with their children, and this creating a whole new generation of Lovecraft devotees.

The first book opens with protagonist Robert Arthur starting a new school after his neighbourhood has been redistricted. Unfortunately for Robert, not only is he feeling lonely and nervous, he very quickly discovers that his nemesis Glenn Torkells, the boy who has bullied him for so many years, has also started at Lovecraft Middle. It soon becomes apparent though that the attentions of Torkells may be the least of his worries, as a number of strange incidents make Robert realise that there is something sinister lurking in the darker corners of the school. 

Charles Gilman has done a great job with these books, and I can't wait to read the planned future instalments. He has created a story that mixes elements of mystery and horror really well, and Robert Arthur is a great main character. Although a victim of bullying, he still retains a burning curiosity for discovery, which naturally leads him into all kinds of danger. With each book focusing on a different monster/villain, the story flows naturally from one volume to the next, whilst also having plenty of exciting new challenges for Robert to face. I don't want to say too much about these monsters as it will ruin the treats in store for you, but just a glance at the above animated versions of the fantastic lenticular covers will give you a few clues. Professor Gargoyle is particularly nasty, and certainly not the kind of teacher any student would like to find leading their science class.

Both books in the series so far end nicely, not quite with a cliffhanger but certainly with revelations that will have young readers clamouring to read the next in the series. Fortunately we do not have too long to wait for this as the third volume, Teacher's Pest, is due to be published in May. You can find out more about the series and its author at http://lovecraftmiddleschool.com/.

My thanks go to the good people at Quirk Books for sending me copies of these first two books.

Review: At The Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft and I.N.J. Culbard

A tale of terror unlike any other: The barren, windswept interior of the Antarctic plateau was lifeless, or so the expedition from Miskatonic University thought. Then they found strange fossils of unheard-of creatures, carved stones tens of millions of years old and, finally, the unspeakable, mind-twisting terror of the City of the Old Ones.

I first discovered Ian Culbard's work through the brilliant graphic novel adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes novels he has done with Ian Edginton. What struck me the most about these books was how Culbard managed to capture perfectly the atmosphere of these stories, and how he portrays the famous lead characters of these stories better than anyone has on film. So last year when I discovered that he was publishing a graphic novelisation of At The Mountains of Madness, a story by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft I was intrigued. Since I started writing this blog I have done Q and A's with quite a few horror writers and many of them have mentioned Lovecraft either as a major influence in their work, or simply that they are hige fans of his writing. I read one or two of his short stories many years ago, but looking back I think I needed to a good few years more before I could really appreciate them. I had been intending to give them a try and decided that Ian Culbard's volume would make the perfect starting point (especially as I had spotted, and managed to get, the limited bookplate edition from the brilliant Gosh Comics in London).

The premise of the story is a familiar one and has been imitated a number of times since the original novella was written: members of a scientific expedition to the Antarctic discover an alien creature. The story is set in the 1930s, giving Mr Culbard another chance to do what he does so well: produce atmospheric artwork that truly reflects the pulp origins of the story. The book opens with a scientist from an earlier expedition discovering, to his horror, a newspaper article about a new venture to the Antarctic. What follows is the recounting of the events that took place several years earlier during the original expedition, where the team discovered remains dating back more than five hundred million years. Despite objections from some members of the party a decision is made to investigate further using their small fleet of light aircraft (stunningly realised by Ian Culbard), with the occupants of one such craft reporting excitedly about: "Mountains surpassing anything in imagination.It's like a land of mystery in a dream, or a gateway to a forbidden world of wonder". 

As readers we are crying out "Noooo! Don't go!" as the scientists take off in their planes on their quest for more evidence, but then again, thanks to the atmospheric artwork, as readers we have also been experiencing a sense of creeping dread from the moment the characters set foot on the barren continent.These explorers go on to discover the remains of something truly amazing, but with this wonder also comes the discovery of something so horrible and that feeling of growing dread increased exponentially the moment that one of the characters, young Darnforth, uttered the words "Those thing, Professor... they weren't dead, were they? They were only sleeping."

Ian Culbard's retelling of the story is worth buying for the artwork alone (his depictions of what we would assume to be a barren land of ice and snow are breathtakingly gorgoues), but coupled as it is with such a great story this is well worth spending your hard earned money on. Since reading this graphic novel I have had bought for me a copy of Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft and I have read the original story as written by the author. It is hard going at times as Lovecraft was not the most economical user of words, and due to this at times the pace can really drag in what is in essence a very exciting science fiction horror story. However, I persevered and I am truly glad that I did so, although I have to admit that a small part of me really did prefer Ian Culbard's version. Sorry Lovecraft fans!