Creep, Shadow!

Dr. Lowell #2

by A. Merritt

This Two Thousand Year-Old Sorceress Had the Power to Turn People into Shadows! Here is A. Merritt's masterwork, our publisher's pick for the best of all his classic fantasies. Creep, Shadow! Is based on legends of Ys and an old Breton song. "Fisher, fisher, have you seen/White Dahut, the Shadow Queen/Riding on her stallion black/At her heels her shadow pack?" Had the last King and Princess of wicked Ys, returned after three thousand years? Why were they creating an exact replica of Stonehenge on their New Jersey estate? What was the Mael Bennique, the Breaker of Chests? And what was the dread Gatherer in the Cairn? And can men and women really be turned into shadows and made the helpless slaves of the one who transformed them? Ethnologist Alan Caranac (who may just be the reincarnation of the Alain de Carnac who brought about the destruction of sinful Ys and its evil rulers) has to find out the answer, for one of his best friends has been killed, and perhaps transformed into a shadow, while his fiancee Helen, her brother, Bill, and the famed Dr. Lowell have already been marked for death or worse! But first Alan will have to enter the tower of the Demoiselle Dahut de Ys in New York and journey through it thousands of years into the past to her tower in the legendary city from which she draws her name. And then return, if he can! In this stunning sequel to his classics Burn, Witch, Burn!, the great A. Merritt, an authority on ancient magic and civilizations, captured the feeling of sorcery and the supernatural as never before! Discover why the New York Times raved that Merritt's writings spin "a shimmering, glittering web of imagination" whose "fertility never seems to lessen"; andwhy Analog magazine called his stories "crammed with fascinating people and creatures." Here is a classic by the author the Science Fiction Encyclopedia crowned "the supreme fantasy genius."

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Witches, Mystery, Pulp, Classics

200 pages, Nook

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Abraham Grace Merritt, wrote under the name of A. Merritt, born in New Jersey moved as a child to Philadelphia, Pa. in 1894, began studying law and than switched to journalism. Later a very popular writer starting in 1919 of the teens, twenties and thirties, horror and fantasy genres. King of the purple prose, most famous The Moon Pool, a south seas lost island civilization, hidden underground and The Ship of Ishtar, an Arabian Nights type fable, and six other novels and short stories collections (he had written at first, just for fun). Nobody could do that variety better, sold millions of books in his career. The bright man, became editor of the most successful magazine during the Depression, The American Weekly , with a fabulous $100,000 in salary. A great traveler, in search of unusual items he collected. His private library of 5,000 volumes had many of the occult macabre kind. Yet this talented author is now largely been forgotten.

Reviews

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Alan Caranac, an eminent ethnological researcher ( human cultures, of primitive people), from an ancient Brittany family, coming back after three long difficult years, in the rain forests of Africa. He doesn't expect a welcoming committee in New York, but is very surprised and disappointed by the absence of his two best friends. Not seeing them at the pier on his arrival, or the Explorer's Club where Alan is staying. He had written both, something doesn't feel right ... Richard Ralston a wealthy man without any job, but just to live in happy comfort and Dr. Bill Bennett a prominent physician, renowned brain specialist and associate of the great Dr. Lowell's, from Burn, Witch, Burn are the two great friends. Glancing at a day old newspaper, Mr. Caranac is shocked, Mr. Ralston he reads has committed suicide, one of four well to do men in the last few months. Police speculate a suicide pact, is responsible. Dr. Bennett looking like a sick dog, enters his room a few minutes later after a telephone call. He tells a strange story, Mr. Ralston being treated by Bill for many weeks had seen formless shadows, following him in places where they could not exist...that in actuality their friend, was forced to kill (murder, in fact), himself by a beautiful witch. Nightmares of creepy scenes, inhuman things seen, demons , dreams soaked in evil Richard had described. His whole body deteriorating, unable to sleep taking $100,000 from his bank, where it went nobody knows. Dr. Bennett thinks it is mental not real the shadows , but he is dead wrong the doctor discoverers soon after. Reporters and police talk to Alan, but warned by Bill to keep quiet , he says he doesn't know anything. A short time passes and he is invited to a small dinner party at Dr. Lowell's house. There he meets Dr. Lowell and after fifteen years Helen, all grown up and very pretty, Dr. Bennett's sister who as a kid put snakes in his bed for fun, which Alan didn't think was amusing. And she claims to like him very much! Dr. Rene de Keradel a pompous , famous French psychiatrist, crazier than any of his patients, is also in attendance , finally yet far from least, the most beautiful woman the Demoiselle Dahut, Dr. Caranac has seen the daughter of Keradel. He Alan can't believe how much she is, even scared to speak to the heavenly creature. The Demoiselle, believes Alan is a reincarnation of her lost lover from a long ago age, in France. Still she is perfect except for one little thing, Dahut is a witch, that enjoys killing, too many victims have fallen because of her wrath, along with her sorcerer father. They live like royalty, servants with glazed eyes serving their every need, she has a penthouse overlooking the East River, the father a mansion on the coast of Rhode Island, where both practice a lot of human sacrifice to ancient gods. Blood stains their clothes, the poor devils die a horrible death, Dr. Keradel and Dahut can change their apparel, the victims can not. Later Dr. Caranac, will experience the shadowlands, where the angry witch ( a love triangle develops, between her and Helen, for the unlucky man), sending him not quite dead or alive, creeping along a road, a shadow himself but to where ? Seeing hideous spirits too, not real but neither unreal, ghoulish specters in the air in another dimension of the wide universe... Lowell, Alan, Bill and the jealous Helen have to stop these fiends or the world will not survive....they need help from the absent gangster Julian Ricori, who is in Italy, he is good at eliminating... disagreeable people ...Bizarre yet fascinating yarn into the strange regions of the occult...or the insane.

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rich people are apparently taking their own life. But are they really?

The protagonist quickly figures out the deaths have something to do with the lost city of Ys and the queen of shadows.


I like how fantasy and mythology are expertly woven into the story, with the memories of past lives. Though the overly-detailed prose and explanations sometimes slow down the pacing a bit. Not everything needs to be explained, sometimes less is more. The concept of the shadows is very cool though and a good evolution of the dolls in the first book of the series.


While Dr Lowell from the previous book returns in this sequel, he is no longer the protagonist. The reason seems clear: Dr Lowell is very skeptical and doesn't accept the explanation of the supernatural until he's crossed out all other explanations. The new protagonist is much more open to it and we know from the start he might even be connected to it himself.


Unlike the previous book, this sequel actually has a strong start. So strong in fact that I wondered why I did not rate this book higher after reading it the first time. But then the pacing starts to slow down and the focus of the narrative starts to shift. There’s some awkward romance where a woman pursues the man she loves, but the man is terrified and fears for his life. Though he’s also mesmerized by her and seems incapable of resisting her. It’s reminiscent of the romance from Henry Rider Haggard’s She.


This is a solid pulp fiction novel, with all its pros and cons. It’s a horror story with a mixture of the supernatural, historical mythology, fantasy, romance and mystery. It starts out strong and has some good moments, but the beginning was so strong that it was hard for the rest of the story to stay at that level for me personally.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Иван Атанасов – deadface, отговорен редактор в издателство Изток-Запад и към настоящия момент основен двигател на любимата Колекция MAGiCA, наистина сериозно се е заел с това да ме остави без пари за кръчми. Но аз, известно е, съм със слаб ангел, поради което трудно отказвам заинтригували ме книжлета (както и питиета, разбира се) :)

А и Мерит съвсем не ми е непознат. Вече съм чел неговите романи Живият метал, Седем стъпки до сатаната и Гори, вещице, гори! Пълзи, сянко! се явява продължение на последния споменат (серия Доктор Лоуел), но макар да има явни препратки към него, съвсем спокойно може да се чете самостоятелно. Прозата е динамична, с изобилни диалози (липсата на които много ме тормози при част от другите творци на ранен хорър), страниците летят. Разбира се, четивото носи всички кусури на времето (30-те години на миналия век), когато се е пръкнало – наивитет, някои крайно нелогични съдбовни съвпадения и претупан край.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of all the things in the book--and this includes extended travel and encounter in a nebulous 'shadowland', and the over-the-top cataclysmic battle set piece--what really stuck was the way that Helen was introduced, assigned the role of 'good girl love interest', started to suck face with Alan (this all within a few pages), and then assumed proprietary ownership over new-boyfriend in an Overly Attached Girlfriend sense.

(What did her father have to say about this? Alan, the narrator, did not mention. Admittedly Merritt was working under a budget, here: he needed to establish a love triangle without preexisting relationships.)

Like all Merritt, the story eventually descends into raw sense-impressions and descriptions attempting to convey cosmic realities and events. Once he gets going it is hard to stop, and it becomes difficult for the reader to keep track of what is actually happening.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Die Bewertung bezieht sich auf die Ausgabe, nicht auf den Inhalt

CREEP, SHADOW! erzählt von der Wiederbegegnung der Inkarnation der Hexe Dohut, Königin der Schatten aus der alten Stadt Ys, mit einem Nachkommen ihres einstigen Geliebten und Mörders Alan Carnac.
Schauerromantik goes Pulp, und unterhaltsam genug geht es um lebende Schatten, Hypnose, mörderische Puppen, magische Tränke und vieles mehr; natürlich nicht zu vergessen die vier "Selbstmorde", die zu Beginn als Katalysator fungieren und Alan Carnac in den Strudel der Geschehnisse zwingen.
"Haß und Liebe streiten sich", beschreibt Demoiselle Dahut ihre Gefühle zu Alan, und ihre Schönheit und ihre Magie scheinen ihn zu einer wehrlosen Puppe zu machen, als sich die beiden nach vielen Jahrhunderten im New York der 30er Jahre wieder treffen. Gekonnt läßt Merritt die Frage offen, ob es sich um Reinkarnationen der ursprünglichen Antagonisten handelt, oder ob uralte Erinnerungen, die im Körper festgeschrieben sind, wieder erwachen.

Diese Ausgabe ist die deutsche Erstausgabe von Merritts wohl bekanntestem Roman und ich war überrascht über die sprunghafte Erzählweise und die Dialoge, die teilweise kaum nachvollziehbar waren.
Und siehe da: bei einem Blick ins Original (Projekt Gutenberg sei Dank) stellt sich heraus, dass der deutsche Text schlecht übersetzt, vor allem aber hemmungslos gekürzt ist.
Die Stimmung des Originals wird nur zum kleinsten Bruchteil transportiert, man hat sich bei Pabel auf die Wiedergabe des Handlungsskeletts beschränkt, selbst hier aber großzügig einige Rückenwirbel für verzichtbar gehalten.
Ernüchtert frage ich mich: was habe ich denn erwartet in dieser Buchreihe "Vampir Horrorroman" aus dem Pabel-Verlag?
Man müsste den Verlag für diesen Bärendienst an Merritt verklagen (oder, ja nach Temperament, in den Allerwertesten treten), denn das Original dürfte das Zeug zu einem Klassiker haben. Davon merkt der Leser der deutschen Ausgabe allerdings so rein gar nichts. Und soweit ich es feststellen konnte, gibt es bis heute keine andere deutschsprachige Ausgabe, also keine Alternative.

Auf Seite 62 habe ich die Lektüre abgebrochen und mir das Original, CREEP SHADOW, zugelegt. Von der sprachlichen und erzählerischen Seite dieses Meisterwerks vermittelt die verstümmelte Pabel-Ausgabe nichts, so dass die Empfehlung nur lauten kann:
Lesen Sie das Original (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), in jedem Fall aber verzichten Sie auf dieses Beispiel eines für eine schnelle Mark zerstörten Meilensteins der Fantasy/Horror-Literatur (übrigens: Die in Pabels "Terra-Fantasy" erschienenen Merritt-Bände sind längst nicht so stiefmütterlich behandelt worden; sie sind nicht auffällig gekürzt, haben eine kurze Einleitung und teilweise die Original-Illustrationen von Finlay spendiert bekommen. CREEP SHADOW ist leider nicht in dieser Reihe erschienen).

Nachtrag: Nachdem ich vom letzten Satz des Originals ganz beeindruckt war, der als großer Knall noch einmal alles in Frage stellt, habe ich den Satz in der Übersetzung von Frau Groß-Hermanns doch noch angeschaut, und siehe: die Übersetzerin hat diesen Satz überhaupt nicht verstanden und vollkommen sinnentstellend "übersetzt", so dass dem deutschen Leser der große Paukenschlag am Ende "erspart" bleibt. Braucht man sich wenigstens keine eigenen Gedanken mehr zu machen...

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I was extremely glad to meet Merritt
in person, for I have admired his work for
15 years...he has a peculiar power of
working up an atmosphere and investing a
region with an aura of unholy dread"

H.P. Lovecraft's letter to R. H. Barlow
(January 13, 1934)


Abraham Merritt (1884 – 1943) gehörte ab 1917 in Amerika zu den beliebtesten Autoren, die im legendären Pulp-Magazin Argosy All-Story veröffentlichten, wo schon Edgar Rice Burroughs bekannt geworden war und Weltruhm erlangt hatte. Merritt war einer der erfolgreichsten und bestbezahlten Journalisten seiner Zeit, schien zugleich aber unter dem schmutzigen Tagesgeschäft, über das er schreiben musste, zu leiden. Ein mysteriöser Zwischenfall, über den nichts Näheres bekannt ist, sorgte dafür, dass der junge Journalist für ein Jahr aus der Schusslinie genommen werden musste. Es heißt, dass Merritt im Schreiben seiner Romane Abstand und Erholung vom Geschäft des Journalismus suchte. Auf seinen ausgedehnten Reisen nach Mexiko und Zentralamerika fand er die Themen, die später in seine schriftstellerische Arbeit einflossen: verlorene Zivilisationen, Hexerei und Magie. Rider Haggards SHE hat Merritts lost-civilization-storys stark beeinflusst, andererseits war Merritt selbst später ein Vorbild für Lovecraft und Shaver.



In Deutschland hat Merritt nie die Anerkennung gefunden, die er zur Hochzeit der Pulps in Amerika hatte. Seine Romane sind hier nur als Taschenbuchausgaben der Verlage Pabel (in teils skandalöser Bearbeitung und Übersetzung, siehe https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) und Fischer aus den 70er und 80er Jahren zugänglich.

CREEP, SHADOW! erzählt von der Wiederbegegnung der Inkarnation der Hexe Dohut, Königin der Schatten aus der alten Stadt Ys, mit einem Nachkommen ihres einstigen Geliebten und Mörders Alan Carnac.
Schauerromantik goes Pulp, und unterhaltsam genug geht es um lebende Schatten, Hypnose, mörderische Puppen, magische Tränke und vieles mehr; natürlich nicht zu vergessen die vier "Selbstmorde", die zu Beginn als Katalysator fungieren und Alan Carnac in den Strudel der Geschehnisse zwingen.
"Haß und Liebe streiten sich", beschreibt Demoiselle Dahut ihre Gefühle zu Alan, und ihre Schönheit und ihre Magie scheinen ihn zu einer wehrlosen Puppe zu machen, als sich die beiden nach vielen Jahrhunderten im New York der 30er Jahre wieder treffen. Gekonnt läßt Merritt die Frage offen, ob es sich um Reinkarnationen der ursprünglichen Antagonisten handelt, oder ob uralte Erinnerungen, die im Körper festgeschrieben sind, wieder erwachen.

CREEP, SHADOW! ist Merritts letzter Roman. In ihm greift er Ereignisse und Personen aus BURN, WITCH, BURN! auf, trotzdem lässt sich CREEP, SHADOW! auch problemlos lesen, ohne den Vorgänger zu kennen (der übrigens von Robert Bloch und anderen als einer der besten Supernatural Horror Novels gelistet wird).



CREEP, SHADOW! ist ein Roman der Gegensätze und Konkurrenzen. Alan, der Held, findet sich zwischen zwei Frauen, zwei Zeitaltern und zwei Welten wieder. Wer als Pessimist der vico´schen Kulturzyklustheorie anhängt, wird weise nicken.
Im Laufe der Handlung wird der Zustand des Helden Alan immer mehr zum Delirium, bis die Grenzen zwischen den in Urzeiten stattgefundenen Geschehnissen und den gegenwärtigen aufgehoben werden. Die Sinne werden immer unzuverlässiger und Hexensicht und Hexengehör sind neben Zaubertränken nur einige der Ursachen dafür, dass Alan seiner eigenen Wahrnehmung nicht mehr trauen kann. Wer sich als Leser die Frage stellt, was dann die unumstößlichen Tatsachen des Romans sind, wird reichlich spekulieren können, denn Merritt hat CREEP SHADOW! auch als ein Vexierspiel angelegt, in dem Psychologie und Magie konkurrieren und verschiedene Erklärungsansätze zulassen. Nichts scheint gewiss, und nach einem wahrhaft unglaublichen starken Kapitel, in dem Alan als (fast) körperloser Schatten durch ein Andersland irrt, gehört das furiose Finale zum Besten, was ich gelesen habe.



Anders als so oft bei Lovecraft, der den Schrecken zumeist adjektivisch und mit seinen Lieblingsbegriffen zu beschreiben versucht, begegnet bei CREEP, SHADOW! das Grauen dem Leser auf den Ebenen Handlung, Sprache und Wahrnehmung ("The clock struck the half hour. It roused me from the book. I smelled a curious fragrance, unfamiliar, evocative of strange images - it made me think of an unknown lily, opening in the night, under moon rays, in a secret pool, among age-old ruins encircled by a desert") der Hauptfigur gleichermaßen stark und überzeugend . Bei einigen der philosophisch unterlegten Passagen und den sich darauf beziehenden (Seelen)Landschafts-Beschreibungen darf man schon mal an den Großmeister Poe denken – auch wenn letztlich immer klar ist, dass Merritt den Pulps und ihren Spielregeln verhaftet ist.
Merritt hat die Story geschickt aufgebaut, so dass ab Seite 1 Druck im Kessel herrscht. Konsequent spinnt er die Fäden weiter und es tritt der rare Fall ein, dass der Leser keine öden Textwüsten zu durchschreiten hat, sondern von der Handlung durchgängig bis zur letzten Seite mitgerissen wird.
Das 3. Kapitel rollte vor meinem inneren Auge als Schwarzweißfilm ab mit Bela Lugosi in der Rolle des Dr.de Karadel, ein vielleicht Wissender, vielleicht Verrückter, auf jeden Fall besessen ("I say that man can imagine nothing that cannot be, and that he who speaks contemptuously of any belief is therefore an ignorant man...").
Der erotische Subtext im 9. Kapitel (In Dahut´s Towyer -- Ys) ist extrem stark ausgeprägt. Das Öffnen der Tore zur See im gewaltigen Sturm, das Überfluten der Stadt Ys, die getrost mit Dahut gleich gesetzt werden darf: Alain de Cranac zerstört Ys im Subtext, indem er Sex mit der Herrscherin der Stadt hat, der bösen Hexe Dahut.
Jedes Kapitel hat seinen Reiz und birgt Überraschungen.

Das allerwichtigste aber:
CREEP, SHADOW! funktioniert auch heute noch als äußerst spannender und gruseliger Fantasy/Horror-Roman, und das ist schon eine ganze Menge. Denn wer auf der Suche nach klassischem "Gruselstoff" ist, wird allzu oft enttäuscht.

Fazit: Unbedingt lesen!

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It may not be fair to categorize this as a complete novel, but it was presented as such when it appeared in A. Merritt’s Fantasy Magazine back in December of 1949. Creep, Shadow is a dark romp featuring a lust for ultimate power (no matter what the bloody cost) and foreboding helplessness as the protagonist gets dragged further and further into villainy and horror. In the tradition of the master of this genre, H. P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt spins a tale that links Old World paganism and “modern” supernatural horror.

Imagine the concatenation of Lovecraft’s archaic ramblings combined with the noir sensitivities of the era. Then, stir in ideas of immortal souls invading rare persons of arcane lineage in an unholy reincarnation. Layer that with an intangible threat that can permeate any environment and you have an engaging tale that attempts to pull you into a vicarious form of madness.

This week, I finished this novel and another, this one from 1949 and another from the current decade. Both of them took place within a stratum of society I’ll never know. Both involved inherited wealth and featured a leisure class that rarely had to work (Okay, the modern one has a lawyer who worked and a few people who did some moving and shaking in investments, but they seemed to have an inordinate amount of time off.). Of course, that was probably part of the aspirational appeal. Wouldn’t all of us love to have the freedom to travel anywhere in the world (usually by ship in Creep, Shadow as opposed to the jet-set of today) in order to assuage any curiosity or dream? It’s rather hard to deal with the suspension of disbelief when I’m not a member of the “Old Boys’ Adventurers Club,” but it does have a certain appeal.

One thing of which I was reminded in perusing this dark story was how much bloodier the pulp novels were than modern novels. On the other hand, the current novel I read was much more forward in the Department of Sexuality. Don’t get me wrong. Creep, Shadow has a dangerous triangle between the protagonist, the femme fatale, and the beautiful and intelligent romantic interest. There are some steamy, if not explicit, scenes and the entire plot hinges on the interplay between these two drop-dead (perhaps, literally) beauties and the narrator. In fact, the climax of the story was somewhat expected, but not in the exact way it was handled. You know that one or both of the ladies will sacrifice herself in the name of love, but you aren’t sure which, both, or exactly how. Let’s just leave it that I rather liked the approach.

Creep, Shadow is a fascinating exploration of the human mind, superstition, and the unknown. For those of you who have played the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, I think I have to perform a sanity check, now.

[Jim Dooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

CREEP, SHADOW! is the sequel to BURN, WITCH, BURN (not to be confused with the film title of “Conjure Wife”). It has a few of Merritt’s literary excursions into a “sword an sorcery” fantasy realm (including revealing or absent costumes for exotic women) juxtaposed with “modern day” scheming and supernatural appearances. The “fantasy realm” segments tended to wear a little thin for me.

In the more modern settings, CREEP, SHADOW! had a number of Dennis Wheatley elements that were fun. Part of what made the first novel so enjoyable was a crime boss taking on a witch when one of her murderous dolls attacked him. Three characters from that novel are back in this one. It was a pleasure to have them return, but they honestly had very little to do.

The premise is an investigation into the suicides of three young men who seemed to have no reason to take their lives. The last one, a friend of the main character, reports being haunted by a shadow image before killing himself. The trail leads to a self-styled sorcerer and his voluptuous daughter. (Revealing anything more will definitely be venturing into Spoiler territory. Suffice it to say that the clues will lead to a centuries old realm and an ancient betrayal.)

CREEP, SHADOW! firmly resides in the pulp magazine fantasy fiction genre. It is diverting enough while reading, but there isn’t anything for the Reader to take along afterward. And be forewarned: the ending arrives so quickly that it felt to me as if the writer was meeting a deadline.

[Nedyalka Ivanova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Затварям последната страница объркана. Изключителна книга с лош край. Оставям с нелепото чувство, че Мерит толкова му е писнало от нея, че е искал да я завърши възможно най-бързо.
Но е безспорен виртуоз в създаването на зловеща атмосфера, затова му прощавам.

[Bryham Fabian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luego de haber leído la primera aventura aterradora del doctor Lowell en Arde Bruja Arde, supe que Abraham Merritt era un autor con una gran talento para tratar el ocultismo y saberlo mezclar con ambientes urbanos para desarrollarla con personajes carismáticos mientras nuestro escepticismo era brillantemente representado por el doctor Lowell. Esta historia, que además involucraba otra vez a una bruja, era de lectura obligada para mi.

Entre sus puntos fuertes están las descripciones del mundo sobrenatural que conocemos mucho más a fondo ahora que con Arde Bruja Arde. La descripción hecha del Mundo de las sombras y el mecanismo evolutivo aplicado a conocimientos y vivencias acumuladas de vidas pasadas que se heredan como si fueran genes, son una delicia. También me hizo mucha ilusión ver de nuevo a personajes como Macán o el mítico doctor Lowell.

No obstante, me temo los puntos negativos son varios y muy importantes. Por un lado, esta lo poco atemorizante que se siente el desarrollo de la trama (con excepción del tercer acto) junto con la poca sensación de peligro que personalmente me generó a comparación del libro anterior. Creo que la razón de esto es lo rápido que intuimos las motivaciones de los antagonistas y aceptamos la hipótesis de la magia, lo que en la primera historia eran cosas que se hacían esperar y aún al final el aura de misterio alrededor de Madame Mandilip no se disipaba del todo. Los antagonistas aquí tienen ambiciones más globales, casi apocalípticas, junto con un poder mucho mayor pero en ningún momento me llegue a sentir en peligro e inquieto como con la primer historia planteada a una escala más humilde pero con “más sustancia”. Sencillamente Dahuc o su padre De Keradel no fueron antagonistas a la altura de Madame Mandilip.


Otro punto negativo sería el papel casi descartable que cumplen personajes ya conocidos como el capo Ricori o el mismo Lowell, estos funcionan como puente con la anterior historia pero que honestamente podrían omitirse sin afectar demasiado a la historia. Tampoco me gusto la forma en que pusieron al romance como excusa para justificar las malas decisiones (o la ausencia de estas) del personaje principal el cual tuvo numerosas oportunidades para acabar con toda la amenaza que llevaba el nudo del libro. Aún así fue una experiencia entretenida, me gusta el estilo de Merritt y espero volver a cruzarme con otro libro suyo algún día de estos.

[Holger Haase · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I see this correctly this is A. Merritt's last full length novel and a follow-up to BURN, WITCH, BURN, though can easily be read without prior knowledge of the first book. Some of the characters appear in both novels and the story of BWB is referenced in CREEP, SHADOW! but it is very much a standalone piece.

It's a wonderful mood piece and not so much action driven. As such there sure are echos of Lovecraft in this book that also contains quite a nice number of quotable lines. (My Kindle edition ended up with a good few highlights.)

Set both in the fast moving 1930s modern USA as well as in times ancient that our hero seems to be drawn to following the witchcraft of a fascinating Femme Fatale, who is both endlessly seductive as well as equally despicable in her utter disregard for normal human life and in a somewhat incestuous relationship with her equally mysterious companion.

Hints of a possessive and destructive love that lasted on for centuries (shades of H Rider Haggard's SHE) makes this perfectly readable (though not my favourite Merritt) and ultimately the book is just let down by its utterly rushed and anti-climactic finale.

[PostMortem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Четивна и интересна книга, съвсем в сти��а на Мерит (другите му две, които съм чел). Определено, в сравнение с някои от неговите съвременници, които са, на практика, нечетими в днешно време, Мерит пише с динамика и остросюжетност, които се вписват чудесно в изискванията на съвременния читател.

Дали самата история ме впечатли или грабна прекалено? По-скоро не, което не означава, че не я харесах.

Иначе, готино е, когато още на 15 страница откриеш препратка към добрите, стари български обичаи:

"...Засмях се и им обясних, че е по-лесно да се доведат неколцина добри, старомодни български зидари. Трябва просто да се намери работата на зидаря и да се примами редакторът на строежа, така че зидарят да може да измери сянката му с конец..."

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I randomly found this in a pulp magazine I got in the basement of a bookshop in Charring Cross road. Loved the cover text about science defeating a modern sorceress. I do really enjoy old pulp stories and this was no exception. For the first third the characters just sat around and discussed magic which was really great. Then it got really disturbing and interesting, with human sacrifice and the half life of shadows. It was very different and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found a copy of his first story and ordered that too.

[Paul Zink · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the finest tales of the fantasy ever written: stylish and moving.

[Boris Cesnik · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 200 pages book that is masquerading a simpler, thinner short story if we take it as it is. Despite a couple of interesting passages where it could have hovered a bit more ('the four suicides'), the novel is too much permeated by conventionality. Maybe it's a lie. It was written over 80 years ago. It might have been far ahead of its time or maybe not.
It's not pulp, nor a believable Lovecraft experience. It's not yet an occult mystery which will only start to plague the bookshelves in the 50s and 60s. It's a Dennis Wheatley contemporary and it might be a coincidence, again it may not.
It lacks a certain atmosphere, it lacks description and any character study and development.
It's quick and yet slow. No frills but no excitements either.
The actions are un-realistic, a bit too fairy tale in parts.
It just doesn't bite enough.

Only 13 years before this novel Leo Perutz wrote 'Master of the Day of Judgment'. That is something!

[Bill Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

First-rate pulp horror, even better than Burn, Witch, Burn! I think Merritt waffles a bit in the later chapters between what is "real" and what is fantasy, probably to save his hero from total damnation, but the whole book is powerful, well-written in the best tradition of by-the-word fiction, and compelling. Both Witch and Shadow could easily be adapted for modern audiences if Merritt's name still had currency. As fiction from his era goes, these books are relatively free from racism and sexism and are brimming with great characters, fantastic scenes, and lots of action.

[John Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A. Merritt does a good job of building suspense in this story. It's similar to many stories by H. P. Lovecraft, but with a tighter plot, better dialogue, and less reliance on narrative to carry the story along. Great use of the technique of a story within a story within another story. In one chapter, I believe there are 4 layers of story, and yet it is not confusing.

[Baron Greystone · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent pulp horror novel that I'm glad I finally got around to. It reads like a template for a Call of Cthulhu role-playing adventure. The shadows apparently inspired the Dungeons and Dragons monsters of the same name. The characters are fun, the descriptions are amazing, the story moves right along, and if you're into the genre or the history you should add this to your reading list.

[Андрій Гулкевич · Rating 4 out of 5]

Продовження, а радше навіть спіноф "Гори відьмо, гори!". У романі згадуються персонажі попереднього, однак сюжет власний і відокремлений від згаданої книжки. Мерріт взяв кельтські міфи з Бретані та адаптував їх у новому вимірі, що робить цей роман захопливим та пізнавальним.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eerie and chilling, the tension builds and builds up throughout the book. Though perhaps less phantasmagoric and imaginative than The Moon Pool, I found Creep, Shadow! to be the easier, more effective read.

[Steven Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 out of 10

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of good overcoming evil with some very interesting ideas about ancestral/collective memories.

[Abraham Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Las atmósferas de los tiempoa arcanos, maravillosas. El final, terriblemente anticlimático.

[eliz | multiversi.letterari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molto bello lo stile di scrittura ma mi aspettavo più creepy

[Selene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado bastante. El único fallo la brusquedad del final.

[Kremena Nacheva · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7/5 Като почнах да я чета нямах представа какво ще прочета.

[L J Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book by A Merritt that I have read, but it won’t be the last. This is an excellent novel, fast-paced and thrilling. I particularly noticed the fine writing style.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very creepy story and quite powerful, ending with a lot of self-sacrifice driven by love but not by the main character.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A combination of the Duc de Richelieu, Alan Quartermain and Lovecraft. Blissful stuff.

Of its time but none the less entertaining for that.