Francois Baranger, born in 1970, is a multi-faceted artist and illustrator. He works primarily as a concept designer for films (Harry Potter, The Clash of the Titans, Beauty and the Beast) and computer games (Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls). He has also illustrated a number of book covers. In 2013, he wrote his first science fiction novel, Dominium Mundi, and in 2017, he wrote the thriller The Domino Effect. It was during his early years that he discovered Lovecraft, mainly thanks to role-playing games. Ever since, he has had a passionate interest in fantasy worlds in general, and for those created by a certain writer from Providence, Rhode Island in particular. After dreaming for years about seeing an illustrated version of Lovecraft's works, Baranger finally decided to create one himself, and chose the most classic short story of them all, The Call of Cthulhu, first published in French in 2017 and translated into English in 2019. This is his second book based on Lovecraft's work. H.P. Lovecraft, born 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island, died 1937, was an American writer mainly known for his influential horror novels. Although he achieved limited success during his lifetime, his reputation has grown over the years. Lovecraft's so-called cosmic horror touched on themes such as man's inadequacy and the horror of the incomprehensible and indifferent universe surrounding us. With short stories like The Call of Cthulhu, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and The Shadow over Innsmouth, Lovecraft laid the foundation of a mythology, which, over the years, has been studied and developed by a number of successors. The short novel At the Mountains of Madness is perhaps his most ambitious work, and has been on its way to the silver screen several times, without success yet. Lovecraft's characteristic prose, heavy on adjectives, grand imagination, and his frantic storytelling technique have formed a school, and his legacy in popular culture is unprecedented. Along with Edgar Allen Poe, Lovecraft is undoubtedly one of the greatest horror writers of all time
From the foreword by Maxime Chattam: Beyond his formidable talent for capturing images on paper, there is this enlightened vision of adventure, mystery and horror. Somehow, he manages to transport us onto the ice. Each spread is a journey; every turn of the page, a thrill. You will soon feel the cold.