Ghouls of the Miskatonic: Book One of The Dark Waters Trilogy [Paperback]

Graham McNeill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2011 | Series: Dark Waters

It is the roaring twenties - a time of jazz, gin, and g-men. But a shocking murder has upset the tranquility of Arkham, Massachusetts. When the mutilated body of a student is found on the grounds of Miskatonic University, the baffled authorities struggle to determine who - or what - is responsible. When two more students go missing, is it the work of the same killer, or something much darker? While a Miskatonic professor seeks answers in the ramblings of an insane former colleague, nightmares of a terrifying sunken city plague his most gifted student. Meanwhile, a down-on-his-luck reporter trawls the dark underbelly of the town for clues, while a bootlegger escapes a deal gone horribly wrong in possession of a strange, otherworldly device. Now, these unlikely investigators must come together to face horrors beyond comprehension, as they seek answers to a mystery that threatens to destroy all they hold dear! Ghouls of the Miskatonic is the first novel in The Dark Waters Trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Graham McNeill.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games (August 30, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158994965X
• ISBN-13: 978-1589949652
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 1.1 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #523,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in Surveyinh to join Games Workshop, where he worked for six years as a games developer. In addition to many novels, including False Gods, Fulgrim and Mechanicum for the prestigious Hoeus Hersey series, Graham has written a host of sf and fantasy short stories. He lives in Nottingham, UK.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't expect Lovecraft. September 23, 2011

By Patrick W.

Format:Paperback

This is a good book as far as it goes, and I believe was intended to go. This is a fiction on the level of Jim Butcher or any of the modern urban fantasy novels. It lacks the creepiness and deep gut-level unease you get from Lovecraft. McNeill tries and does a good job within the confines of what he's doing. The FFG game is great, and the novel follows along with that brilliantly, but it does come across as more of a game than a serious horror story. Given the mass-produced swill that is currently on the bookshelves I probably could have given it more than the three stars but it's complete lack of ability to evoke any emotional response lowers it in my mind, especially when based even loosely on the great horror that is H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy Flight's first novel is a real page turner! Great job! September 13, 2011

By David Bresson

Format:Paperback

Ok, so I admit, this book may as well have been written just for me. I'm a big Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) fan - I've played Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness many a time and am a big fan of both. I'm a big proponent of what FFG has done with the Cthulhu mythos and Arkham itself. Furthermore, I am also a Warhammer Fantasy/40K guy, and am already quite familiar with Mr. McNeill's work. He is a real talent and I knew going in that he knows how to write a great page turner (see False Gods: The Heresy Takes Root (The Horus Heresy)). I could not wait for FFG to start up their book line, knowing the great reputation they have for turning out quality product. As such, I bought this book at the earliest possible moment I could from FFG's booth at Gen Con 2011. Almost a month or so later I've finally gotten to read this novel, and I have not been disappointed. The story is great - it's action packed and kept me guessing. I had a hard time setting this one down. It has all the creepiness you'd expect, and is firmly rooted in the setting of Arkham just like the games. I loved that McNeill worked in some of the familiar Arkham Horror characters into the plot along with his other new creations written just for this book. I also liked the setting not just for it's mythos elements, but also just for the fact that it is based in the year 1926 with everything that entails, such as a certain manner of speech, Prohibition, speakeasy's, Pinkertons, etc. McNeill wraps the plot up nicely, but also leaves a few loose threads, leaving the reader with just enough to want for more. I can't wait until Book 2 of The Dark Waters Trilogy comes out! This was a wonderful read and I heartily recommend to all those Cthulhu fans out there, be it of other books, the Call of Cthulhu RPG, the living card game, or the board games! Enjoy!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good novel based on Arkham Horror September 9, 2011

By Matthew T. Carpenter

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The RPG-to-fiction machine is now running full throttle for games based on the Cthulhu mythos. For years there was fan fiction based on Delta Green. This was followed by published novels and anthologies set in the DG universe; many of these books are quite good (Dark Theaters, Alien Intelligence) and The Rules of Engagement by John Tynes is superb. The next book in this direction was Arkham Tales, which is a pretty enjoyable anthology of stories set in the particular Arkham from the gaming world of Call of Cthulhu. Then Chaosium published Cthulhu's Dark Cults which is a collection of stories based on actual Call of Cthulhu gaming scenarios. While I found it to be a largely worthwhile read, the constraints of sticking to parameters set by a gaming scenario placed some significant limitations on the authors. No one would think it was as fine as a collection as one where authors are given complete creative control, like Cthulhu Unbound for example.

Fantasy Flight Games now enters the fray. Most Cthulhu geeks and fans of Call of Cthulhu from Chaosium are familiar with Fantasy Flight Games. Originally published by Chaosium, Fantasy Flight Games took over the Call of Cthulhu Collectible Card Game circa 2004. I don't play but I know the cards are absolutely gorgeous (mind you, I would get the cards but you should see the looks I already get from my wife about all the books). There must be some market for them as FFG next published The Art of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which is a catalogue of sorts of art from the card game. Next FFG took over the old Chasoium Property, Arkham Horror in 2007. Arkham Horror is a combination board game/RPG where players investigate goings on in Arkham and its surroundings, trying to preserve their sanity while banishing mythos entities. There have been numerous supplements and expansion, attesting to the game's (and Cthulhu's) growing popularity. I have some of these and I again have to say they are top notch gorgeous products. I can spend hours just flipping through the sets without ever playing. FFG's latest venture is Mansions of Madness, more board game than RPG, but with heavy role playing elements. No doubt the head honchos at FFG looked enviously at sales of Dragonlance novels and decided that the time could not be riper for fiction based on their RPG materials.

All of which finally brings me to Ghouls of the Miskatonic. FFG has produced a mmpb with an attractive cover by Anders Finer, 329 very manageable pages and very affordable at $8.99 list. In fact, trade paperbacks and hardcovers from small presses tend to be pricey so GOTM seems like a bargain. Anders Finer has produced wonderful art for FFG over the years, including covers for the Arkham Horror games. I am not familiar with the work of Graham McNeil; he has written novels set in the Warhammer worlds and helped develop some RPG material but as far as I know this is his first foray into Lovecraftiana.

Basically you can think of GOTM as a novelization of a gaming session of Arkham Horror. Quiet a few of the characters are known to Arkham Horror fans as characters/investigators in various scenarios. In the game, each investigator has a 2-3 paragraph biography to add some spice to the game play. These sketches have been used by Mr. McNeil as a starting point for his novel. The setting is in and around Miskatonic University in 1926 (about six months after the events in HPL's story, The Call of Cthulhu). Amanda Sharpe and Rita Young are students at MU. Amanda is having unsettling underwater dreams. Rita discovers a mutilated body during a training run. Something was eating it. Meanwhile Professor Oliver Grayson, an anthropologist at MU, is finding out the world is a dark and unsettling place. His old friend is a patient at the Arkham Sanitarium and mutters about Cthugha. Gabriel Stone is a PI looking into his daughter's murder and finding out it may be connected to a web of disappearances. Rex Murphy and Minnie Kline work for the Arkham Advertiser and poke into strange places. The lives of these and other characters begin to intersect as Arkham begins to unravel in a plague of fear and mayhem. More bodies are uncovered, mysterious artifacts are found and ancient texts are consulted, sanity is threatened. Hmm...just like would happen in a well run game of Arkham Horror, imagine that. The mythos elements do not rise above Derleth.

For the most part I was entertained. GOTM is a breezy, undemanding read and kept me turning the pages. It is not particularly original but I think the author was just aiming at spinning a decent yarn within the RPG constraints. Of course, the characters never develop above their stereotypic role in a gaming scenario, but that's OK. The prose was good enough and the action fast paced. If you like Arkham Horror you will be very happy with this book. If you like novels based on TV shows and movies, or fiction based on D&D, you will know what sort of quality to expect. Comparing it to other Cthulhu mythos novels is a bit more problematic. I guess I liked this about as much as Hive, better than The Dark Destroyer, and perhaps not as well as Denied to the Enemy. GOTM reads like Nobel candidate literature compared to Cthulhu's Chosen but comes nowhere near to the Laundry novels of Stross. Ghouls of the Miskatonic is the first book in a trilogy, and FFG has a second trilogy of Arkham Horror based fiction coming out as well. I will be happy to add them to my library.