At the Mountains of Madness

Dyer reflects “with vast hesitancy and repugnance” on what he witnessed in Lake’s destroyed campsite (25). The simple explanation, Dyer tries to tell himself, is that Lake and the men were driven insane by the mysterious mountains and killed one another. The men and dogs show signs of strangling or lacerations, while some appear to have been dissected as though by “a careful butcher” (26). Gedney and one dog are missing from the dead. The Elder Thing that Lake dissected has reassembled its body and stands, buried in snow and motionless, with the other damaged specimens. The strewn remains of a human and a dog cover the dissection table, while Lake’s anatomical tools are missing. Dyer and his team bury any men and dogs that they find and make an itinerary of all the missing equipment. Whatever killed the men seemed to have carefully inspected and cast aside tools, books, and food. Dyer takes photographs of the mystifying scene.

Dyer inspects the damaged Elder Things. Some men use the plane to search for Gedney but find nothing, reporting that the mountain range seems endless. Dyer’s men are horrified and confused, but the strangeness of what they have discovered fascinates them.