“A pair of decadent young men pursue the abhorrent thrill of grave robbing . . . A German submarines crew is driven mad by the call of an underwater temple . . . An explorer in the Arabian Desert discovers a hideous city older than mankind. This moody and evocative manga gets back to the dark foundations of the Cthulhu mythos, adapting three of H. P. Lovecrafts original stories that first shaped the outlines of cosmic horror!”

[Text from the publisher’s website and from the backcover]

>> Please, read the warning for possible spoilers <<

H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and other stories (魔犬 ラヴクラフト傑作集 / Maken Lovecraft Kessakushuu / lit. “Demon Dog Lovecraft Masterpiece Collection”) is a Seinen manga by Gou Tanabe adapting horror stories by H.P. Lovecraft. It was first serialized in Enterbrain’s Comic Beam and Kadokawa’s online Comic Walker magazines before being compiled into a volume by Kadokawa in August 2014. This is the first of Tanabe’s famous adaptations of Lovecraft stories to be translated in English (Dark Horse also published At the mountain of madness in 2019) and, strangely, one that has not yet been translated in French in the Ki-oon prestigious collection which already includes six titles (which I have already commented on this blog).

It includes three stories:

In “The Temple”, the lone survivor of a stranded German U-Boat is writing about their discovery of an hellenic-style temple beneath the sea which is calling to them… It was written by Lovecraft in 1920 and published in Weird Tales #24 in September 1925. Tanabe published his adaptation (「神殿」/ Shinden / “Temple”; 64 pages) in the March and April 2009 issues of Comic Beam. As usual, Tanabe adaptation is quite faithful — beside the fact that he moved the timeline from WW1 to WW2.

In “The Hound”, two young bored gentlemen who are seeking more and more gruesome esoteric experiences (like reading John Dee’s translation of The Necronomicon!) embark on a grave robing expedition that will make them the target of an infernal beast ! It was written by Lovecraft in September 1922 and published in the February 1924 issue of Weird Tales — it is the first time he mentions the forbidden book written by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred. Tanabe published his adaptation (「魔犬」/ Maken / “Demon Dog”; 60 pages) in the July 2014 online issue of Comic Walker.

In “The Nameless City”, an explorer discovers an ancient mythic city in the Arabian desert. He enters a cave that brings him down to coffins filled by palaeogean reptilian corpses and frescoes telling of a vanished civilization. Then there are doors opened on a bright light: he finds himself outside, elsewhere, where there are living creatures! Luckily, the doors close… It was written by Lovecraft in January 1921 and published in the November 1921 issue of The Wolverine — it is the first time he mentions the Cthulhu Mythos. Tanabe published his adaptation (「名もなき都」/ Namo naki miyako / “Nameless City”; 32 pages) in the August 2014 online issue of Comic Walker.

Tanabe superbly adapts Lovecraft’s stories with a fluid storytelling and a very dark, detailed and imaginative artwork. This manga offers a good and pleasant reading that constitutes an interesting introduction to the world of H.P. Lovecraft. Highly recommanded.

H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and other stories, by Gou Tanabe. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Comics, July 2017. 184 pages, 5 x 7.125 in., $US 14.99 / $C 17.50, ISBN 978-1-50670-312-1. For a teenage readership (14+).

For more information you can check the following websites:

[ Amazon • Goodreads • Google • Nelligan • Wikipedia • WorldCat ]

© 2014 Gou TANABE. All rights reserved. English-language edition & all other material © 2017 Dark Horse Comics.

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