Creatures of the Pool [Mass Market Paperback]

Ramsey Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2010

When his father disappears, Gavin Meadows's search uncovers a race of semihuman beings that have existed in, and under, the city for centuries.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Campbell began writing Lovecraft-style “weird fiction” in the mid-1950s and has since written dozens of novels and hundreds of short stories, earning him more praise than nearly anyone else in the industry. He has published more than 25 novels and 15 collections in his literary career. Campbell is the lifetime president of the British Fantasy Society

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books; Original edition (April 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843963840
• ISBN-13: 978-0843963847
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,080,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Personal in My Disagreement, April 22, 2010

By 

Fleurcat (Middletown, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creatures of the Pool (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a longtime appreciator of Ramsey Campbell, familiar with both his work and reputation. I read the previous, 5-star, review with great interest and I am NOT saying that that reader is wrong. I don't review most of the books I read. For one thing, I don't want to hurt the writers' feelings. The most famous ones, I figure, are least likely to be disturbed by any criticism. (At least from me.) I think objective standards for reviewing fiction books exist. I wanted to post my review with the one star I think the book deserves to make a point. Nothing happens in this book. Nothing. I read every word--and OK, the protag goes home, he goes to the library, he goes to his parents' house, etc. He buys umbrellas. But almost nothing actually does happen. Unlike the 5-star reviewer, I want things to happen. I'm not looking for 354 pages of atmosphere. But for someone who does appreciate that sort of thing, Campbell actually does do a masterful job. No sarcasm intended. (For those who read it, I'm referring to the repeated allusions to Liverpool and music, in particular.) Who's right, who's wrong? Neither of us two reviewers. Regardless of the existence of objective standards, whether you like a book depends on taste, on personal experience, personality, mood etc. When I finished reading the book, which I bothered to do mostly because it was Ramsey Campbell, I thought it would've been best represented as a short story. Even then I wouldn't have thought much of it. But I can now see that someone with a different mindset than mine could, and I thank the other reviewer for that. It's an important point, especially given the lack of civility in public discourse. The book was not to my liking. I wouldn't read it again. It was boring and repetitive. But I mean no offense to the writer or to anyone who reads it and reacts differently than I did. A respectful disagreement on matters of taste is not a personal criticism of anyone. I'd like to see a mature and jovial agreement to disagree civilly pervade our society. And let freedom reign with dignity.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An utterly enthralling, brooding tale, March 27, 2010

By 

Shroud Magazine's Book Reviews (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Creatures of the Pool (Mass Market Paperback)

There's a reason why Ramsey Campbell is considered by many as one of the finest horror writers ever, and those reasons are alive and well in Leisure's latest release, "Creatures of the Pool". Brimming with a surreality found only in waking fever dreams, "Creatures" is an utterly enthralling, brooding tale about ancient secrets buried in deep, dark, wet places that only exist in memory and dreams...but still ooze upwards from their burial places to shape and mold the reality of what we've become.

Gavin Meadows' relatively comfortable life is thrown askew when his eccentric father disappears without a trace shortly after sharing some strange research ideas with Gavin, ideas that smack more of obsession than research. Apparently, his father felt that watery secrets lurked in the subterranean tunnels beneath Liverpool; secrets steeped in mystery, ancient rites and beings, covered up by modern authorities. At first, Gavin is worried chiefly about his father's sanity and wellbeing, and that's all.

However, as hours and days pass and Gavin - however reluctantly - finds himself increasingly drawn into his father's studies, things fall apart. Distracted, he mishandles his tour guide duties. That, and the legendary history stored in his head to spice up his tours has mixed with his father's theories, turning the world around him into a hallucinatory haze of dreams, half-thought ideas and vague conspiracies. He encounters insubstantial beings more rubbery than human, experiences watery glimpses of amoeboid creatures haunting his steps, and suddenly has cause to distrust everyone he knows or meets: the policemen searching for his father, strangers on the street...even his girlfriend, Lucinda.

What is she hiding at the local library? Why do the police seem unconcerned over his father's disappearance, vaguely threatening, even? And why does water trickle everywhere, and not normal water either but a thicker, viscous liquid teeming with a strange life that leaves even Gavin feeling bloated, misshapen...floating inside his body and head.

Campbell's masterful use of the first-person, present tense narrative puts readers directly into Gavin's head, making them subject to his increasing disorientation as the lines separating fact, reality, history, legend and race-memory fade and everything mixes together. There's the temptation to call this story intensely Lovecraftian, but doing so does Campbell a grave disservice. However much "Creatures" smacks of Lovecraft, it is Campbell's own. Better to call it a "Campbellian" tale, because though it instills a familiar dread, it belongs in a category all its own.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Horror Master continues to deliver creepy thrills!, November 1, 2010

By 

Ray J. Palen Jr. "Ray" (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creatures of the Pool (Mass Market Paperback)

Ramsey Campbell may be the only living Horror Master that is still giving the same level of scares he started in the late 1960's. While Stephen King has gone soft, Dean Koontz has gone all new age/wimpy and Clive Barker has pretty much disappeared from the scene --- Ramsey Campbell continues to write top-notch horror that is always creppy and effective.

With "Creatures Of the Pool", he visits the British town of Liverpool in depth. The protagonist is Gavin Meadows, a tour guide who loves to take his groups on strolls through the darker side of his home town and often includes legends like Frog's Lane and the Whitechapel murders on his jaunts.

When Gavin's father and later his mother disappear, apparently into the numerous underground caverns that lurk beneath Liverpool --- he is forced to explore unchartered territories that may contain darker evil that is very much alive and not part of the Liverpool's infamous past. The last few chapters when Gavin is trapped in the underground passages will have the reader gasping for breath!