One of the most gripping fantasies ever written, The Moon Pool embodies all the romanticism and poetic nostalgia characteristic of A. Merritt's writings. Set on the island of Ponape, full of ruins from ancient civilizations, the novel chronicles the adventures of a party of explorers who discover a previously unknown underground world full of strange peoples and super-scientific wonders. From the depths of this world, the party unwittingly unleashes the Dweller, a monstrous terror that threatens the islands of the South Pacific. Although Merritt did not invent the lost world novel, following in the footsteps of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Burroughs and others, he greatly elaborated upon that tradition. This new edition includes a biography of the author, and an introduction detailing Merritt's many sources and influences, including the occult, mythological, and scientific discourses of his day. Author of 15 science fiction and fantasy novels, ABRAHAM MERRITT (1884-1943) was the most popular genre writer of his time. His talent for fantasy and science fiction writing was first recognized when the novelette version of this story appeared in a 1918 issue of All-Story Weekly. Editor MICHAEL LEVY currently serves as Chair of the Department of English and Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. "The Moon Pool is a lost-world novel in the tradition of Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, and James Hilton that manages to be spooky, spiritual, and silly all at once."-Belles Lettres "This edition of The Moon Pool is a rare accomplishment: a scholarly edition of a piece of pulp fiction. Levy's edition does a service to the whole genre." -John Huntington, author of Rationalizing Genius "As one of the most popular early works at the very birth of pulp magazines, The Moon Pool represents the tastes of this period. The introduction constitutes the major piece of Merritt scholarship to appear in recent decades."-Gary K. Wolfe, author of The Known and the Unknown