The Monstrous Dreams of Mr Providence, written and illustrated by Daria Schmitt is a magical adventure set in what first appears to be an ordinary city park. Mr Providence is the caretaker, and lately he has noticed that things are not quite what they seem and when night falls the park is home to several mysterious entities. The situation escalates when a mysterious book filled with blank pages appears and Mr Providence begins to wonder if he will be able to continue to protect his park and the people who love to visit it.
For me the strongest thing about the book was the artwork, which was absolutely beautiful, the use of colour was particularly striking. The story, which is apparently related to a HP Lovecraft story, was okay but not particularly engaging.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

No. Just no. Problematic. What… what did I just read? I have thoughts.

Firstly let’s start with the only thing I liked, the artwork; the artwork is so damn breathtaking. Some seriously bloody beautiful pieces and an interwoven pop of colour that adds so much depth to the lands.

I get the intention of the storyline but there’s some major issues and things we need to talk about here. One being; does the author know all sides of H.P. Lovecraft?

I ask this because H.P. Lovecraft, whilst a brilliant writer was also incredibly racist with many antisemitic tropes woven into his works. Ones one would stereotypically wish to avoid or correct. Or at least acknowledge. What worries me is this author somehow leaned into their love of Lovecraft so much that this work is (perhaps accidentally) HUGELY problematic. And not only that… their chosen story is also mimicking huge issues.

So what are they? First of all let’s talk about the plot (we will have some vague spoilers here so skip if you don’t want to read them)

1) The plot follows H.P. Lovecraft who is deemed to be mentally ill by the ‘mental health services’ for his ‘beliefs and delusions’ of a world in which his stories come to life.’ They believe the book he wrote is spreading some kind of issue amongst their worlds and that he is insane, so they try to take him in, and also we have the plot of people prying the literature from his hands and stealing his written works to stop the ‘spread’.

Now, the struggles to protect this literature and his beliefs are the main theme. Rather reminiscent of the holocaust, with literature being deemed ‘perverted’ and stolen.

I thought maybe I was jumping to conclusions or inferring this dramatically. But then… then we had the mental health services themselves. A man named Zadok who wishes to stop H.P.’s corrupt behaviour. Zadok is a Hebrew name meaning ‘just’ or ‘righteous.’ This is a serious issue. The one person we are introduced to in this book as having a Hebrew name is a morally corrupt ‘mental health’ officer trying to capture a man for having different views and basically imprison him. The reversed victim antisemitic take was really something. (He is described as being draconian and zoophobic, and portrayed as a villain.)


It left a sour taste in my mouth that seriously ruined the art. The art is gorgeous, captivating and so true to H.P. Lovecraft. I just wish the literature proportion and storyline had been either researched with caution to his views or plotted out in a way that wasn’t so truly awful to read. I mean, I’m not sure why this hasn’t been pointed out in other reviews but I can see how it may be missed if you weren’t aware of his problematic issues and also of the origin of the name Zadok (Zadoc alternate spelling.)

I’m just unsure how this made it through sensitivity reads without being brought up.

Also there’s an awful lot of ableism in there, and I get it’s meant to be a theme but it only made it lean more so into being reminiscent of the holocaust with the attack on disabled people.

I just… I’m shocked by the story of this and a little let down in all truth.


TW’s//

Scenes depicting almost drowning, ableism, ableist slurs, racism, antisemitism, plot reminiscent of the holocaust but centring a non Jewish man who himself was antisemitic & racist.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

An absolutely gorgeous graphic novel by Daria Schmitt. I loved the contrast between the monochrome reality and coloured surreal world, and how, instead of black and white, colours are used as an indicator of something horrific happening. The art style creates a strong atmosphere in The Monstrous Dreams of Mr. Providence

However, I'm not too entirely sold on the notion that this graphic novel is a prelude to Lovecraft's The Strange High House in the Mist (the short story is included in its entirety within the graphic novel), as there seems to be a disconnect between the two despite elements linking them. I keep feeling as though there is a deeper, more complicated meaning to the graphic novel and Lovecraft's short story, but am simply unable to decipher what that meaning is right now. One day, I'll return to this and hopefully figure it out.

A creative graphic novel with beautiful artwork. I found the plot a bit abstract, but enjoyed reading through it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a singular piece of graphic fiction, with fine pen art aping Victorian book etchings, though dark, a dank and thoroughly befitting this riff on Lovecraftian lore. Its a little odd in fact that the brief but dense tale of a mysterious park does indeed end up being a prequel to an actual Lovecraft tale (The Strange High House In the Mist), as if comparisons were impossible to dodge, or were already baked in. It is certainly one where certain panel and splash pages are made to be poured over, if not for detail but for the wash of eyes and tentacles and goo (it is firmly black and which until the supernatural comes in when a sort of colour out of space intrudes).

Mr Providence is the caretaker of a park, who lives with his cat and sees the supernatural in many turns. old, cantankerous and somewhat erratic in his work, he has drawn the wrath of his new business buzzword spouting manager, and doesn't seem all that popular with park users or co-workers. During the course of this day he takes a dip in the pond, finds a magical book and encounters a lot of - well tentacles and eyes. The strangeness continues until the book reaches its odd end - with the Lovecraft tale.

Its an interesting piece of work, particularly if you like this kind of art style (I can't say I am a huge fan of the plain B&W renderings, though once it starts getting trippy I am more interesting). But the story itself does end up just being prologue, and Mr Providence is a pretty passive observer of the weirdness around him. The manager character is a very one dimensional joke on management culture, and whilst by the end there is a little more nuance to her, it all feels to nothing. What's more the actual connective tissue between this and the Lovecraft tale is slim. Its probably worth it most for the illustration, and certainly just excerpting the illustrated Lovecraft really gets to the heart of his obsessions. But as a piece on its own it wasn't really my thing.

I am not someone who has read many graphic novels and this was a perfect start for me to get more into the genre. This book was wonderfully magical and cryptic, the artstyle really matched the storytelling and gave an out of this world vibe and as someone who enjoyed Lovecraft's stories this was a pleasant read as well as a perfect ode to his works. It was super cool to see the eldridge entities that I'd imagined from his books drawn out like that. I'd definitely read more of Daria Schmitt's works in the future.

Couldn't give 5 stars as there were some aspects that were way too confusing but I do wonder if that was intentional as it did add more into the mystery of the storytelling in some ways.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review,

Thank you Netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an interesting, intriguing and confusing work. The Monstrous Dreams of Mr. Providence takes inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft and it even has a Lovecraft story at the end (it is masterfully embedded in the whole plot of the graphic novel). The story follows a park caretaker that has a talking cat. The park is something completely different for Mr Providence - he see the true aspects of it. Such a wonderful experience.

The art of this graphic novel is really unique: very detailed mostly black and white with some exceptions that make everything so beautiful.

I didn't give this 5 stars because I am still confused by some of the aspects of the story, but I feel like this is entirely up to myself because I am not familiar with H. P. Lovecraft's stories. With this in mind I still highly recommend this book!

Thank you Net Galley and Europe Comics for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mr Providence one day while doing his daily rounds as a caretaker finds a book. He soon finds out that within it contains all sorts of obscure and bizarre creatures that brighten a once dull world. In this graphic novel, there are the most intricate and detailed illustrations which are just breath-taking and incredible. Beautiful drawings tell the story very well and I was in awe the whole time I was reading this.

I'll talk about the things I can do first. The illustrations of this graphic novel are equally gorgeous and strangely awful. All the scenery and backgrounds are incredibly detailed and complex, and the fish and octopus imagery is gorgeous. The use of color to bring a feeling of dread is masterful. However, the people (their facial expressions and their body movements) are more than just a little odd. I'll also say that there is a very disquieting feeling to this narrative that is totally intentional and that it works.

Having said all that, I have no idea what I read, or why it was written. I have a notion that I'm missing something important, that I'm either too dumb or not culturally aware enough to get something intrinsic to this narrative, but I just don't know what I don't know. I don't understand how the whole short story that's inserted into this story connects with this and honestly... I don't care enough to find out. If you like creepy vibes you can give this a go, but be prepared to do some sleuthing to get a proper narrative.

The Monstrous Dreams of Mr. Providence is a unique and odd story from Daria Schmitt.
Mr. Providence truly cares for his park and the creators within but he also has an inquisitive mind.
Readers follow Mr. Providence on journey for answers when a book with no pages is discovered.
The art style of this graphic novel is really cool and would be pretty rad to see animated.
Thank you to Europe Comics & NetGalley for access to this work.

I am normally a fan of graphic novels, sci-fi/fantasy & horror. However I really struggled to get into this book, and unfortunately was unable to finish it.
The illustration was extremely detailed and incredibly beautiful, truely a work of art. There is definitely people who would love this book, I couldn’t however get into it.

Let me start off this review by saying: I am by no means a “graphic-novel-connoisseur”. I’ve always wanted to enjoy this genre, as I love illustrated art, but as a way of story-telling I’ve never been able to get into it. I can count on one hand the amount of graphic novels I’ve finished and enjoyed, which makes it even more of a compliment to Daria Schmitt’s debut that it is one of them.

The Monstrous Dreams of Mr. Providence is a Lovecraftian inspired story, following the titular caretaker of a seemingly ordinary city park. However, at night, the Eldridge entities that make the park its home immerge; entities that only Mr. Providence seems to be able to see. It’s up to him, with the help of his companion-cats, to protect the unsuspecting parks visitors from what lurks beneath.
The characters and story didn’t quite do it for me, but the stunning artwork and dreamlike surreal quality of the setting were enough to give this book at least 4 stars. Schmitts art style and her use of contrast and colour is completely up my alley, and many individual panels were beautiful enough that I’d hang a framed print of it on my wall.

I will probably never become an actual graphic-novel reader and that’s okay. Not every genre is going to be for everybody, and this one isn’t for me. That being said, I really enjoyed this little side-step outside my comfort zone and will for sure be checking out Daria Schmitts (other) art in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was beautiful in parts, if a little confusing. I honestly hate it when graphic novels have lines and lines of unbroken text even if it's a reference to something else. I find it lazy and unimaginative. That being said I didn't hate the story. If did drag in parts, but I didn't hate it.

The artistry in this graphic novel is AMAZING!!

i really enjoyed the colours and the art style while reading this, it felt so whimsical!
i was really interested in the story and i definitely think that the art style contributed to that interest.

absolutely loved Mr. Providence and the three old ladies (*senior staff*) as well as all the fantasy creatures that come to life!

The Monstrous Dreams of Mr. Providence takes inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft, telling the story of a park's caretaker who sees things beyond others' comprehension. Amidst his struggle with a new manager and parkgoers, he is on the hunt for a mysterious threat that stems from a strange book. This is an incredibly bizarre story full of beautifully strange illustrations and mysterious Lovecraftian hauntings. At times it feels rather confusing, but it is all-in-all a cohesive narrative. This is a beautiful, yet grim graphic novel that is sure to delight Lovecraft fans by adding to the authors' mysterious tales in a new way.

Whimsical, atmospheric, Lovecraftian. Detailed, stylistic art that did not dissapoint.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

I am reviewing a free copy of this book given through NetGalley.

This was a whimsical story. It gives an atmosphere that is akin to Lemony Snicket and Fantasia. I enjoyed the read and the artwork was spectacular with its specially chosen pops of color that gave significance to the fancy that took place as our caretaker worked to solve the riddle of the madness happening in the park.

Easily one the most beautiful graphic novels I have read till date. The intricate art and the bold use of colour is at par. It was also lovely to see how it complements to the story. An homage to H.P Lovecraft which wont disappoint.

Thank you NetGalley and Europe comics for providing the eARC.

This was a very cool graphic novel. However, I do think that the introduction and all black and white dragged on a little too long. I did love the various creatures featured in the book, as well as Mr. Providence's cat sidekick. It gave mysterious, other-worldly vibes.

This book was unlike any graphic novel I’ve read before. For one thing, the art is incredibly detailed. However, it was unfortunately not my cup of tea.