“The Moon Pool” (1918) by A. Merritt, in its original 17,000 word novelette version. The H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia states that Lovecraft…
considered the novelette “The Moon Pool” (Argosy [Argosy All-Story], 22nd June 1918) one of the ten best weird tales in literature; he disliked the later novel version
Basic .mobi (Kindle) and .epub conversions are here.
Sadly there appears to be no free audio-book reading, although Librivox has one for the later novel. The novel is apparently a rather poorly-structured combination of the original story with a six-part sequel, all of which was then abridged for book form. Merritt seems to have had the Elizabethan / folk tale approach to the ‘sanctity’ of his texts, freely hacking them about and adding to them in order to fit each subsequent appearance. Science-fiction: The Gernsback Years points out that few early SF fans ever got to read the original 1918 Argosy All-Story version, reading either the novel (1919) in book form or the Amazing Stories magazine reprint of the novel in May-July 1927. Science-fiction: The Gernsback Years claims the original story was not reprinted from 1918 through 1970, but I have found a record of what appears to be a reprint of it in Famous Fantastic Mysteries, Sept-Oct 1939.
Illustration: Virgil Finlay.
Lovecraft had the original magazine appearance, kept it, and included it on his list of weird texts that he was willing to lend to friends.
How delightful! It’s always a treat to find someone who has actually read the Moon Pool by Merritt! I read the novel version back in grade school when I was a kid, and I’ve loved it ever since. I have a paperback version of the novel that was put out a few years ago; the rather lurid cover exclaims “Before there was “Lost”, there was The Moon Pool!” I’ll be looking for the eBook version of the complete novel as soon as I get back to my computer! Thanks very much, David; it is greatly appreciated!
One can definitely see the influence of this story on “The Call of Cthulhu”. The native name for the central place containing the Moon Door, ‘Chau-te-leur’, which only occurs twice, is rather similar to ‘Cthulhu’…
“Within the courtyard is the second enclosure. Its terrace, of the same basalt as the outer walls, is about twenty feet high. Entrance is gained to it by many breaches which time has made in its stonework. This is the inner court, the heart of Nan-Tanach! There lies the great central vault with which is associated the one name of living being that has come to us out of the mists of the past. The natives say it was the treasure-house of Chau-te-leur, a mighty king who reigned long ‘before their fathers.'”