by Ethan Nahté
First published 2020
This anthology gathers thirty-six tales and poems that plunge readers into oceanic nightmares. Edgar Allan Poe's tortured narrators face the abyss while H.P. Lovecraft's protagonists confront cosmic horrors beneath the waves. Washington Irving spins tales of spectral vessels, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Ancient Mariner endures his legendary curse. Robert Louis Stevenson charts courses through pirate-infested waters while H.G. Wells explores the boundaries between science and terror. The collection spans from ancient myths told by Archilochus to contemporary stories by Larry Atchley Jr. and editor Ethan Nahté. Dragons rise from ocean depths, mermaids lure sailors to their doom, and ghost ships emerge from fog banks. Each story pulls readers deeper into maritime mythology, where storms become supernatural forces and desolate islands hide unspeakable secrets. The anthology transforms the ocean from a place of adventure into a realm where survival depends on confronting both natural dangers and otherworldly entities that dwell in the deep.
Genres: 20th-century, adventure, fantasy, horror, 21st-century, dark-fantasy, 19th-century, gothic
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: confronting-the-abyss, facing-cosmic-horrors, supernatural-entities
Setting: Desolate Islands, Ocean Depths
Period: Ancient, Contemporary, Legendary
303 pages · Paperback · Independently published
Content warnings: body-horror, death, graphic-violence