He witnessed what lies beneath the waves. Now, sanity is his final casualty. During the height of World War I, an American merchant marine officer escapes capture by a German sea raider, only to find himself stranded adrift in the vast, uncharted Pacific Ocean. After days of aimless drifting, he wakes to a terrifying sight: his small boat rests on a newly risen expanse of black, fetid earth--;a landscape thrust up from the ocean floor by a violent volcanic event. What follows is a nightmare journey across this bizarre, slimy terrain. The officer finds strange, crumbling cyclopean ruins and massive, moss-covered monoliths covered in hieroglyphs so ancient they predate human language. But the true horror awaits at a giant fissure, where he witnesses the emergence of an object of worship: A monstrous, colossal entity of unimaginable size, vaguely amphibious, rises from the abyss to pay homage to the ancient carvings. This creature is a manifestation of Dagon , a terrifying fish-god from forgotten Semitic mythology. H. P. Lovecraft's seminal short story is a cornerstone of the Cthulhu Mythos, born from the author's own intense fear of the ocean's depths. "Dagon" is a classic, frantic account of cosmic horror, paranoia, and the mind-shattering realization that humanity is not alone, and that the greatest gods are alien, wet, and sleeping beneath the sea. Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890 1937) was an American writer born in Providence, Rhode Island. Best known for his work in the science, fantasy and horror fiction genres, Lovecraft s writings are now studied worldwide. One of his most famous creations is the Cthulhu Mythos. Although he was unable to support himself through writing during his lifetime, Lovecraft s legacy has lived on. Many well-established horror authors have cited Lovecraft as a major influence, including Stephen King.