October Nightmares IV #14: The Haunter of the Dark (1999) by John Coulthart and H.P. Lovecraft - Comic Cosmic Horror


By Sam Graham

There’s little, if not nothing, that I can say about the writings of H.P. Lovecraft that hasn’t already been covered on this site many times over, so I’m not going to try.

But it wouldn’t be October Nightmares if we didn’t lovingly craft some sort of pun-laden tribute to the great man himself.

Lovecraft is everywhere now. His influence reaches further than his fictional pantheon of hentai monsters. Every week nearly, there’s a new book parodying his work. His name has even become an adjective. Although the most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the fact that Lovecraft didn’t live long enough to witness the Cthulhu onesie...

Skipping to the point, in 1986 British artist John Coulthard decided to convert some of H.P.’s greatest hits into graphic novel forms, in effort to finally show the audience what indescribable things look like, and just what the hell non-Euclidean geometry actually means. The result was this 1999 anthology of all his published works on the subject: The Haunter of the Dark, And Other Grotesque Visions.

The book, featuring an introduction by comic legend/hermit Alan Moore, encapsulates the imagery of The Call of Cthulhu, The Haunter of the Dark, and his incomplete The Dunwich Horror. Following that is The Great Old Ones: Evocations by Alan Moore, where Moore applies a cabbalistic style of classification to the OG old ones, along with information on each like a Top Trump card. But there’s even more. After that are some more unused sketches and concept work for other projects.

And when you’ve got Alan Moore gushing over you, you know you’ve done something right.


The artwork here is outstanding. Coulthard drew this whole thing out in pencil, pencil shaded the entire thing, and the mastery of his craft shines like nothing else I’ve ever seen. The detail, the panelling, the varying degrees of shading is superb. The fact that they’re pencil-drawn gives the stories an air of foreboding that Lovecraft spent reams and reams of text trying to convey. It feels like you’re reading something old. Something you shouldn’t be reading.

The comic versions of these stories cover the key plot points, keeping to the bare minimum structure, but even so, there’s a lot of text per panel. This is to be expected though, considering the original author spent a good four pages at the beginning of a novella detailing everything there is to know about a massive drill, only for it never to come up in the story again.

Those four pages were the real mountains of madness, I can tell you.

It’s a shame The Dunwich Horror was never completed. All we are treated to are a handful of sketches. The treacherous roadways to Dunwich, some otherworldly images that signify the Whateley’s occult dealings, a two-page spread of Yog-Sotthoth, an adult Wilbur, and finally, Wilbur’s demise. Complete with his serrated, eldritch dick. I bet he called it his Great One.

Every time I open this book I notice some new detail I hadn’t noticed before. It feels more like a collector’s item for ardent Lovecraft fans rather than a launching point for newcomers, as it skips over the bizarre language used that Lovecraft is so well known for. Still, it’s a welcome addition to the Lovecraft collection. Certainly more obscure (and therefore cooler) than C is for Cthulhu: The Lovecraft Alphabet Book, although not as likely to indoctrinate your kids.


Enjoyed this piece? Then 'like' The Crusades of A Critic on Facebook. Sam also has a Tech Noir novel, 'An Inside Joke', which can currently be viewed herehis first novella 'Iron Country' is available to buy herea horror short story, 'We Must Never Found Out', published here; and finally, another short horror story 'Eagal' available to buy here. Phew.

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