Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom

After visiting his father in Arkham Sanitarium, young Howard Lovecraft ignores his father's warning and uses the legendary Necronomicon to open a portal to a strange, frozen world filled with horrifying creatures and grave danger. Alone and scared, Howard befriends a hideous creature he names Spot who takes him to the castle of the king where he is captured and sentenced to death.

From Publishers Weekly

The latest in the fertile field of Lovecraft spinoffs follows a young Howard, aka H.P., Lovecraft through an adventure in a dangerous netherworld. The plot takes elements of Lovecraft's actual childhood, including his father's nervous breakdown, and uses them to introduce readers to tropes in Lovecraft's work. The young Howard goes through a portal to another universe, where a mysterious book holds the key to freeing a society of children from an evil power that has encased them in a frozen, hostile world. Howard takes on the quest with the help a giant squid, facing danger and finding many of his assumptions are false. A chilly watercolor palate links the artwork of the various artists—each chapter has a different one—and the emotions on Howard's face become more complex as the story grows darker. Although marketed for all ages, the book, will likely appeal more to younger readers, who should find the plot's twists and turns and the young protagonist appealing. Older readers and hardcore Lovecraft fans may be put off by the juvenile dialogue and some of the panels that play up the cuteness, rather than the horror, of the story. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This graphic novel opens on Christmas Eve, 1894, with young Howard Lovecraft being led into a sanitarium to visit his hospitalized father. A few embellishments notwithstanding, it's a true story—until his father begins ranting about a book that Howard must destroy: “It's evil! Eeeeeeeeeeevil! Hahahahaha!” That same night, of course, Howard's mother hands him that very book and soon he is reading aloud the kind of unpronounceable nonsense Lovecraft fans adore: “Nr'fga' ra'nazen flugn.” Like that, he is whisked away to the icy kingdom of R'yleh, where he befriends a tentacle-tusked beast whom Howard dubs “Spot.” Before their adventure is over—fans, breathe a sigh of relief—the names of both Dagon and Cthulhu will be invoked. Though sometimes his action can be disorienting, Podesta succeeds at giving his young protagonists the look of haunted dolls and his settings a Caligari cant. Grumps miffed by the current trend to infantilize Lovecraftian mythos will not be comforted by the modern plot arc and the constant quipping, but even they will appreciate the upsetting twist ending and the haunting final panel. Grades 5-8. --Daniel Kraus

About the Author

Bruce Brown is an all ages graphic novelist. His work has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Rue Morgue magazine and Publisher's Weekly. He is the creator and author of the Howard Lovecraft graphic novel series. The series was created to introduce the works of H.P. Lovecraft to children of all ages.

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