RPGs
The reason for this post, and a book I've been wanting for years, is the Call of Cthulhu campaign Beyond the Mountains of Madness. The word "epic" is thrown around a lot these days (no, really, it is), but this one certainly fits the bill coming in at a blasphemous 440 pages. I haven't had the pleasure to read it myself, but despite some accusations of being a bit too railroad-y, I've heard its praise again and again almost unanimously, of how it's a grip-tightening skin-whitening tense adventure that you can read as if it were a novel, one you can't put down until it's over. (Just make sure you're the Keeper if you plan to do that!) I know many who before reading it had no interest in the Antarctic, but afterwards it became one of their greatest interests, books about historical expeditions such as the Shackelton tragedy and of Antarctic geology and ecology and and travel on their beside tables. The best source for all things related to this campaign is in the Antarctic Dementia section of Chaosium's catalog, wherein you'll also find BtMoM dice, other fiction books filled with Antarctic-themed Lovecraft mythos tales, and books about real-life expeditions and scientific journeys to the frigid area.

Audio/Visual
I happened upon this beautiful video—a recreation of the newsreel for the original novella's Starkweather-Moore expedition. It's dramatic and well-crafted and would serve as a perfect opening to a Call of Cthulhu session.

In terms of visual inspirations for any campaign related to the Mountains of Madness, there's no better than the works of Nicholas Roerich, a painter whose name is invoked no less than seven times in the original novella (Lovecraft describes his work as "strange and disturbing Asian paintings")—his paintings are the visual language in which Lovecraft has his characters describe their surroundings. Ideal, right? (On the website, especially look at his "Himalayas" series and his collection in the museum in Riga, Latvia.)

As for audio, one of my favourite dramatic renditions of any Lovecraft work is the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's (God bless 'em) 70+ minute 1930-styled radio drama. It's really, really good. (Though I was a bit startled by the mutant penguin squawk.) It even has its own poster, and comes with newspaper clippings and reproductions of one of the character's sketchbook pages.

Apparel
What better way to herald in the icy winter season than some At the Mountains of Madness-themed clothing? From the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society we have a dark-blue zip-up Miskatonic University Antarctic Expedition sweatshirt. Even better, there's a special winter Mountains of Madness combo package going one where one can get, for a lowered price, the sweater, the radio play, the poster, and a exclusive letter from Miskatonic U's Professor Dyer rejecting your application to join the expedition. Ha! From Chaosium one can indulge in a Starkweather-Moore Expedition Iron-On Patch, and a sexy denim-blue Expedition T-Shirt!

I hope you enjoyed this post, what with the weather changing and all. If you like this sort of thing—posts that examine possible roleplaying inspirations from all angles, that is—speak up! There may be more to come.