A fantasy book by American author Abraham Merritt is titled The Moon Pool. The original versions of "The Moon Pool" and its sequel, "Conquest of the Moon Pool," both published in All-Story Weekly in 1918, were both short stories (1919). These were later revised and published as a novel in 1919. Dr. Goodwin, the main character, will subsequently show again in Merritt's second book, The Metal Monster (1920). Merritt continued the tradition of the "lost world" novel even if he wasn't the first to write one (he followed in the footsteps of Bulwer-Lytton, Burroughs, Conan Doyle, and others). The story revolves around an advanced race that has evolved deep inside the Earth. Their most intellectual individuals eventually have children. It incorporates both immense virtue and great evil, yet it gradually drifts away from its creators and toward evil. The Dweller and the Shining One are two names for the entity. Only three members of the original race—known as the Silent Ones—remain. They have been "purged of dross" and are regarded as being higher, nobler, and more angelic than humans.
Abraham Grace Merritt, well known by his byline A. Merritt, was an American Sunday magazine editor and weird fiction author who lived from January 20, 1884, to August 21, 1943. In its fourth class, which included two writers who had passed away and two who were still alive, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame admitted him in 1999. Merritt was one of the highest-paid journalists of his time, earning over $25,000 a year by 1919. A hypochondriac, he talked endlessly about his medical symptoms. Lived in Queens, New York City, and owned thousands of volumes of occult literature. Richard Shaver and H. P. Lovecraft both owed a lot to Merritt. The Ship of Ishtar and Dwellers in the Mirage are listed as two of the 100 Best Books by Michael Moorcock and James Cawthorn. Robert Bloch included Burn Witch Burn on his list of favorite horror novels. "Three Lines of Old French," Merritt's first published fantasy tale, was released in 1917. The Munsey publications thereafter published more short tales and novels in serial form. A few of his stories appeared elsewhere: The Pool of the Stone God (American Weekly, 1923), The Metal Emperor (Science and Invention, 1927), and The Drone Man (Fantasy Magazine, 1934).
