Haunt of Horror: Lovecraft [Hardcover]

Haunt of Horror: Lovecraft collects Haunt of Horror: Lovecraft #1-3. Richard Corben adapts and illustrates poems and short stories by H. P. Lovecraft. This volume also includes the source material.

This volume is far superior to Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allen Poe, because that one was terrible and this one gives Corben, a respected horror artist, an opportunity to give image to some of Lovecraft's vague monstrosities. On the whole, Corben does a fair job, although it certainly doesn't help that the entire volume is marred by horrendous narration and dialogue.

Corben's black and white artwork is one of Haunt of Horror's few pluses. He clearly has some stylistic range (although a few of his cartoonier pieces are questionable choices), and he does a fine job with light and shadow, allowing him to set tone and mood appropriately in spite of the literary travesty taking place all around.

Many of these stories are told in such a way as to make the reader ask, "So what?" There's nothing remarkable here.

Richard Corben has a great deal of experience in the world of horror comics; here he selected the works he adapted and provided the art. The very attractive cover has some color, but otherwise Mr. Corben selected gray tones, which worked well enough in the old Creey and Eerie, and worked well enough for me here. Marvel put out three issues of HP Lovecraft's Haunt of Horror in 2008. This well made cloth bound hardcover collects the three of them in graphic novel form. Page count is 112. List price is a little expenseive at $19.99 but Amazon discounts it to $13.59.

Here are the contents:
Dagon
The Scar (after Recognition) (Fungi from Yuggoth)
A Memory (Fungi)
The Music of Erich Zann
The Canal (Fungi)
The Lamp (Fungi)
Arthur Jermyn (after Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family)
The Well (these next two are after poems by HPL)
The Window

Mr. Corben provides his adaption and then the text of the original HPL story or poem, allowing us to see what he has chosen to include. I very much liked this; he is allowing us to see the original text juxtaposed against his version. While I applaud his willingness to take on some of the Fungi from Yuggoth, it seems that no one wants to adapt any of HPL's major works. John Coulthart has taken on The Call of Cthulhu and The Haunter in the Dark, with amazing results. Over the years I have seen two less than stellar adaptions of The White Ship. Otherwise what we have is the Graphic Classics versions, which were pretty darned weak. One day I'd like to see a really good comic book adaption of The Shadow Over Innsmouth or The Dunwich Horror. Anyway, for the most part I really liked Mr. Corben's versions of these lesser works of HPL. Superior art included the image of Dagon, the monstrous creatures in The Scar and The Lamp, and the overall depiction of The Canal. Mostly Arthur Jermyn did nothing for me.

The most direct comparison for this book is graphic novel compilation The Worlds of HP Lovecraft volume #2 from Transfuzion Publishing, which includes adapations by Steven Phillip Jones of The Music of Erich Zann, Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family and Dagon. Mr. Jones more freely adapted the stories into modern times; the artwork comes down to your individual preferences. Of course you can get both and then you don't have to choose.

I was happy to get HP Lovecraft's Haunt of Horror. The graphic novel certainly is a handsome production. You don't have to choose between the comic and the text, as Mr. Corben has thoughtfully provided both.

Collects Haunt of Horror: H. P. Lovecraft #1-3, comprising the short stories Dagon, The Music of Erich Zann and Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family; four poems from Fungi from Yuggoth: Recognition, A Memory, The Canal and The Lamp; and the poems The Well and The Window.

Richard Corben not only adapts but unfortunately also interprets and expands upon the original Lovecraft material. Thankfully, Lovecraft's uncorrupted prose is reproduced following each illustrated tale, and these are the parts of the collection for which you will no doubt yearn.

Corben's illustrations are presented in black and white with shades of gray "coloring" only. I found this style suited the tales contained within the series, as each lent itself to the "dark and stormy night" atmosphere. By and large, this observation concludes my positive remarks.

Corben's drawing style shifts slightly with each tale, no doubt a stylistic interpretation in itself; however, for the most part it falls flat--the illustrations neither greatly contribute to nor detract from the stories themselves (the only exception being Arthur Jermyn, which I felt was the strongest in the series). The fault lies solely with Corben: given the tales Corben weaves from mere poems, the illustrations themselves are largely Corben's interpretations of his *own* expansive interpretations of Lovecraft's prose.

One such interpretation occurs in The Lamp and includes the jeans of an obviously pantiless female becoming unzippered as she is being attacked by a creature of darkness, resulting in a sensual pose of anguish. Much as I appreciate the nod to gratuitousness, if this isolated absurdity doesn't knock you right out of the narrative's grasp and expose Corben as the quote-unquote wizard behind the curtain, I'm not sure you can still be counted among the living.

On the other hand, the scene IS memorable, and she DOES have nice abs...Mmm!!! Thanks for *something* Corben!

In the end, you'll want more Lovecraft and less Corben. Far, far less.

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