There is particular method of introducing the setting that both authors have used in order to create a heightened sense of suspense. What I mean is that both authors mention the particular setting that story will take place in as early as the tittle of the work, the island and the mountains; yet the story never begins there. In The Island of Dr. Moreau we have Prendick starting on a life raft, then rescued and on a boat, and later he reaches the island. In At the Mountains of Madness Dyer takes even longer to reach the mountains than Prendick.  This is deliberate; by mentioning the setting early and keeping it mysterious until later on it creates a sense of suspense and tension until we finally get a chance to glimpse them.

We know nothing of the island until Prendick finally decides to explore it and, at least for me, that part of the story was one of the most gripping. We finally get to see this island and the mysteries that it hold, and maybe even find out why Prendick decided to keep his adventures there hidden.

The same applies to the mountains; we don’t really know why Dyer keeps what he saw there a secret and why he sees them as maddening, and that’s what keeps us going through his almost tedious description of the event preceding that.

In both cases, by mentioning the setting early, but waiting before we get a real glimpse of it, the author create a great sense of suspense that just keeps us turning those pages.