God rest ye, foolish scholars all,
who sought the southern snow;
to chart the peaks no soul had climbed
a hundred years ago.
Our drills awoke forgotten things
that should have slumbered still.
O tidings of eldritch stone,
eldritch stone!
O tidings of eldritch stone.
We crossed the frozen mountain wall
where no bird dared to fly;
the city waited, still and vast
beneath an ageless sky.
The carvings told a history
older than Earth's own seas.
O tidings of eldritch stone,
eldritch stone!
O tidings of eldritch stone.
The Elder Things had dreamt too long,
their works endured the cold;
but deep beneath their shattered halls
a darker tale was told.
The murals slowly changed their tone,
from triumph into dread.
O tidings of eldritch stone,
eldritch stone!
O tidings of eldritch stone.
So leave the ice to winds alone,
turn back while reason stays;
for some old doors were sealed by fear,
not merely by the glaze;
and some old truths are best entombed
in protoplasmic night.
O tidings of eldritch stone,
eldritch stone!
O tidings of eldritch stone.
_____________________________
I wrote this Lovecraft-inspired Christmas carol after reading At the Mountains of Madness for the hundredth time. It's one of my favorite stories by H. P. Lovecraft, I've even started reading it to my children.
I recently stumbled upon the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society and their Lovecraft-themed Christmas carol parodies, and it inspired me to write one of my own. Rather than focusing on Cthulhu, Innsmouth, or the more familiar eldritch horrors, I wanted to retell the story of At the Mountains of Madness itself, setting it to the melody of the traditional Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen."
H. P. Lovecraft is my favorite writer of cosmic horror, and this little parody is my tribute to, in my opinion, one of his greatest works.