Adaptations are never easy if not done right. My love for H.P. Lovecraft is by far, not the easiest but it is his stories that I enjoyed, even though I read only one collection of his stories (The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories, which I had read and reviewed). Now, this recently released collection of four of his short stories into graphic novel is what excites me to read, especially when I enjoy the artwork by I.N.J. Culbard, which he too adapt the stories. There are four stories adapted into this one massive graphic novel - The Dream - Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, At the Mountain of Madness and The Shadow Out of Time - are related to one another in ways of the world building itself. But do any of it achieved its potential of enjoyment... to me, only two out of four of them are good.

The first two stories were some what slow and boring. Nothing really much happening and the narrative itself is rather monotonous. I can't help but feel like I am going into a history lesson class of the universe of ancient ones. Sadly, it doesn't bring the horror out of the stories and ends up pretty much a dud to me. The last two achieve what was intended - the true horrors of the unknown mystery that inspires movies like Alien or John Carpenter's The Thing that has a good substantial influence of Lovecraft's work - a perfect blend of science fiction and horror. The artwork brings out the best in the stories and fits very well here as it does brings out the macabre of the scary.

Fans of Lovecraft will enjoy parts of the stories but for those who do not know Lovecraft, might not appreciate much. To me, I would say it deserves a 3.5 out of 5 for this one.

Apparently this is going to be a super slow burn of a series. I've been eagerly awaiting these showing up on my library lending website, since I wasn't 100% sold on purchasing them. Now, I'm a little glad I waited. If I had purchased this issue, I don't know if I would have continued. Since I read it as a borrow, I'm much more willing to be intrigued and continue on!

This issue is very much a set-up issue. We meet the inhabitants of Wild's End, who easily come to life. It wasn't difficult for me at all to accept a quaint town, filled with walking and talking animals. In fact, INJ Culbard's art was really the spotlight of this whole issue. It has this whimsical feel to it, which makes me now understand why this is so often compared to The Wind in the Willows. It feels just like that. A bit quiet, a bit peaceful. Which makes me all the more excited for the madness that will soon ensue.

A meteor has landed in the town. What's next? I'll be sure to find out.

Despite it being a pretty busy month of for me, I did manage to start getting back into better reading habits. It's hard to be disappointed in the fact I only managed four books when I look back on the month.  July was pretty busy and it pulled me away from my shelves.  I spent most of the month getting use to being at my new job full time with the new promotion.  On top of making the shop mine, I was trying to get my staff on a cleaning schedule, and just getting use to being in charge.  All of this happened on top the business adding new things to promote new business and opening a new store front.  Which forced me to step up and prove why our GM and owner promoted me.  On top of all of that the weather as been amazing so I've been out paddle boarding when time allows, and of course a family visit.  I also started writing again, it's been a few months since I've had the need to put pen to paper.  So I feel it was a good month for me and my reading!  Even if I didn't tackle any of my TBR pile.

Books read: 4
Number of pages: 1232 
Reading Challenge Update: 21 books to my 45 book goal
Series Finished: None
Series Started: 1 with the Novice
BINGO Squares: 2

Randolph Carter wanders the dreamlands in search of Kadath, home of the gods, in order to find a path to the sunset city of his dreams.

First off, I'm going to say something that may get me eaten alive by a swarm of zoogs but I've never held the writing of H.P. Lovecraft in high regard despite loving a lot of his concepts. Untold aeons ago, I read the prose version of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. When I saw the graphic novel version, I decided it was time to revisit it.

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath works fairly well as a graphic novel. The adaptation has a somewhat disjointed feel, which I think fits the tale since it is a dream, after all. Unlike a lot of Lovecraft tales, it's a quest story rather than a race toward insanity. Randolph Carter encounters all manner of Lovecraftian beasties on his journey and I.N.J. Culbard depicts them rather well. Much like the pacing, the art contributes to the dreamlike feel of the story.

Even though I only have vague recollections of reading the prose version of this story, I felt like something was missing at times. The transitions from scene to scene were a little rough in places. Overall, though, I felt this was a worthwhile adaptation. Three out of five stars.