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Dead Sea
THE SEA NEVER GIVES UP HER DEAD
Take a journey into a place unknown to humanity. A space between spaces. When the Mara Corday, an aged freighter, enters the Graveyard of the Atlantic, nightmares become real. The crew finds themselves trapped in a realm where time doesn't exist and unimaginable horrors dwell. Lost in a becalmed sea, in a netherworld where evil manifests itself in hideous forms, the survivors of the Mara Corday have an eternity to find a way out - if they aren't killed first by the creatures stalking them.
(Description from back cover of trade paperback)
Take a journey into a place unknown to humanity. A space between spaces. When the Mara Corday, an aged freighter, enters the Graveyard of the Atlantic, nightmares become real. The crew finds themselves trapped in a realm where time doesn't exist and unimaginable horrors dwell. Lost in a becalmed sea, in a netherworld where evil manifests itself in hideous forms, the survivors of the Mara Corday have an eternity to find a way out - if they aren't killed first by the creatures stalking them.
(Description from back cover of trade paperback)
328 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Tim Curran
156 books576 followersTim Curran lives in Michigan and is the author of the novels Skin Medicine, Hive, Dead Sea, Resurrection, The Devil Next Door, and Biohazard, as well as the novella The Corpse King. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as City Slab, Flesh&Blood, Book of Dark Wisdom, and Inhuman, and anthologies such as Shivers IV, High Seas Cthulhu, and Vile Things.
For DarkFuse and its imprints, he has written the bestselling The Underdwelling, the Readers Choice-Nominated novella Fear Me, Puppet Graveyard as well as Long Black Coffin.
Find him on the web at: www.corpseking.com.
For DarkFuse and its imprints, he has written the bestselling The Underdwelling, the Readers Choice-Nominated novella Fear Me, Puppet Graveyard as well as Long Black Coffin.
Find him on the web at: www.corpseking.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 231 reviews
May 30, 2018
This is the first novel I read by the author, and my favourite - to date. This book is terrifyingly, atmospheric, and truly is the stuff that nightmares are made of. At least, the yellow-white glowing, dense, sentient fog is, that the cargo freighter (Mara Corday) gets enveloped in - whilst heading towards Cayenne, French Guiana.
The crew of the freighter (a 720 tonne ship) are on their way to build an airstrip for Fisk Technologies - a diamond mining company in the Guiana Shield - which will save the company millions of dollars. The crew (most of them haven't been at sea before) are paid $15,000 for a months work, which Saks (Foreman) says will be completed within three weeks. But, en-route to their destination, they find themselves in an alternative dimension, full of horror.
The ships, First Mate (Gosling), realises something is wrong, when the radio, satnav, satcom and gyrocompass, appears to be screwed up; goes offline - but the sea is calm. Dead Calm.
Will they find a way out, or are they stuck in another dimension - indefinitely? Who, if anyone, will be able to save them?
When I first read it - a few years back - I would've rated it four stars. It would've been five - if it wasn't for Al Saks' who got overly annoying, towards the midway mark, though some of his banter was amusing, I guess.
The crew of the freighter (a 720 tonne ship) are on their way to build an airstrip for Fisk Technologies - a diamond mining company in the Guiana Shield - which will save the company millions of dollars. The crew (most of them haven't been at sea before) are paid $15,000 for a months work, which Saks (Foreman) says will be completed within three weeks. But, en-route to their destination, they find themselves in an alternative dimension, full of horror.
The ships, First Mate (Gosling), realises something is wrong, when the radio, satnav, satcom and gyrocompass, appears to be screwed up; goes offline - but the sea is calm. Dead Calm.
Will they find a way out, or are they stuck in another dimension - indefinitely? Who, if anyone, will be able to save them?
When I first read it - a few years back - I would've rated it four stars. It would've been five - if it wasn't for Al Saks' who got overly annoying, towards the midway mark, though some of his banter was amusing, I guess.
January 1, 2018
Shiver me timbers, and batten down the hatches as the seas are about to envelop us with the putrid smell of rotting sea weed, an eerie fog and constant terror, surely lives will be horribly lost. Tim Curran does what I think he does best, with this tenth anniversary Thunderstorm Book’s edition of what may be one of his best tales of the seas.
“The Dead Sea” first appeared in 2007 from a small publisher and has since been produced by a number of other publishers. Tim said of the book “I wrote it because I've always been fascinated by sea folklore and superstition and the tales of William Hope Hodgson. The whole Sargasso Sea thing which, you probably know, predates the Bermuda Triangle as the sea of lost ships. I thought if the Sargasso--the sailor's legend of it as opposed to the real Sargasso--was in another dimension then it would explain all those stories of ships claiming they had passed into some misty netherworld where vessels from all ages were trapped in the seaweed. That whole business ties in with the Devil's Triangle thing. People always claimed some patch of glowing mist swallowed their ship or plane. Anyway, I used all that stuff as the springboard. I mean what could be more claustrophobic than a fog-enshrouded dead sea of rotting ships? I saw it in my mind and it was pretty atmospheric. And I liked being able to work in real lost ships like the Cyclops.”
Not only is this a beautifully produced book, the cover painting is one of the best done for this particular book. As an added bonus, included in this edition is another Sargasso Sea story, a new 2017 novella, titled “Weed World” (catchy title) that takes us back to the scene of horrors, but this time on board a crashed airplane.
The book has been available for the last ten years, and if you have not read this and enjoy great writing and unforgettable characters I encourage everyone to fix that problem.
This Hardcover is copy number 14 of 52 printed and is signed by Tim Curran.
The book contains the novel "The Dead Sea" (2007)
and the novella "Weed World" (2017)
Cover art by Vincent Chong
“The Dead Sea” first appeared in 2007 from a small publisher and has since been produced by a number of other publishers. Tim said of the book “I wrote it because I've always been fascinated by sea folklore and superstition and the tales of William Hope Hodgson. The whole Sargasso Sea thing which, you probably know, predates the Bermuda Triangle as the sea of lost ships. I thought if the Sargasso--the sailor's legend of it as opposed to the real Sargasso--was in another dimension then it would explain all those stories of ships claiming they had passed into some misty netherworld where vessels from all ages were trapped in the seaweed. That whole business ties in with the Devil's Triangle thing. People always claimed some patch of glowing mist swallowed their ship or plane. Anyway, I used all that stuff as the springboard. I mean what could be more claustrophobic than a fog-enshrouded dead sea of rotting ships? I saw it in my mind and it was pretty atmospheric. And I liked being able to work in real lost ships like the Cyclops.”
Not only is this a beautifully produced book, the cover painting is one of the best done for this particular book. As an added bonus, included in this edition is another Sargasso Sea story, a new 2017 novella, titled “Weed World” (catchy title) that takes us back to the scene of horrors, but this time on board a crashed airplane.
The book has been available for the last ten years, and if you have not read this and enjoy great writing and unforgettable characters I encourage everyone to fix that problem.
This Hardcover is copy number 14 of 52 printed and is signed by Tim Curran.
The book contains the novel "The Dead Sea" (2007)
and the novella "Weed World" (2017)
Cover art by Vincent Chong
August 31, 2014
this is a big, meaty slice of steaming cthulhu-horror goodness. somewhere near the sargasso sea, a sinister fog envelopes a ship, its crew, and an often ostentatiously manly group of contractors... and deposits them in some horrible other-dimension. this new world is just that: "new" in the sense of a world that is pretty much a primal soup of creeping crawling flapping flying swimming life, almost completely fog-shroud, land nowhere in sight.
the novel is all of a piece. it is all wall-to-wall horror, men stuck with each other on a foreign and hostile world, being picked off one by one, basically trapped in a dimension of terror that feels like the biggest, swampiest haunted house of them all. Dead Sea does not let up. although there are moments of more gentle emotions as various men briefly flash back to their normal lives, and occasionally bond with each other, there is a distinct lack of sentimentality and corniness. there are many lengthy sequences where the men are just sitting in their various boats and are basically shell-shocked by their situation... these frequent bits skirted monotony, but were also essential to the plot and atmosphere. when the horrors do arrive - which is fairly regularly - they come fast and furious, grisly and literally gut-wrenching. the creativity in differentiating the horrors from each other is impressive... Curran's imagination is as bizarre, monstrous, and full of disgustingly primal life as the "dead" sea itself.
also, i was scared. i'm not usually scared by too many horror novels. maybe i'm jaded or maybe i'm just unimaginative or maybe the horrors of real life are enough to scare me. who knows. but Dead Sea was unusual for me in that it was a genuinely scary experience. kudos!
the main flaw of the novel is a certain tendency towards overwriting. nowhere near enough for me to sneer at, and a lot of it is clearly in homage to Lovecraft's signature purple prose. the main offense, and boy does it happen often, is Curran's annoying tendency to try to create some kind of effect by isolating a trying-to-be-impactful sentence.
you know, like this.
see, i'm making a point here.
it gets a little obvious at times.
anyway, that caveat aside, this is great stuff if you love horror. it may lack the resonance of classier and/or more transcendent pieces of horror fiction... but it really delivers when it comes to setting up an atmosphere filled with dread and fear, and then following through with shuddery, visceral, no-brakes horror.
_________________________
musical accompaniment
PGR: The Chemical Bride
Chrome: Into the Eyes of the Zombie King
Thessalonians: Soulcraft
"He likened that sea to a petri dish, warm and wet and clogged with organic profusion, a metabolic medium, a fluidic slush of life and death and potential."potential, indeed! the survivors of the soon-to-be-sinking ship are confronted with a host of typical denizens of a fetid Cambrian (and i suppose pre-Cambrian) world. that equals danger. the survivors also have to deal with each other, which is basically no problem, except for one seriously demented, paranoid, knife-happy asshole who suffers from an increasingly grotesque infection. that equals more danger. then there are the assorted horrid and often soul-sucking supernatural and alien presences, perhaps likewise trapped in this dimension, often making their homes in the various stranded wrecks littering this evil-soup planet. that equals danger times 1,000. and then of course there is the cthulhic deity that also calls this place home, comfortable with manipulating minds from afar but also happy to breathe nuclear chaos on any unfortunates in its path. that equals danger times infinity!
the novel is all of a piece. it is all wall-to-wall horror, men stuck with each other on a foreign and hostile world, being picked off one by one, basically trapped in a dimension of terror that feels like the biggest, swampiest haunted house of them all. Dead Sea does not let up. although there are moments of more gentle emotions as various men briefly flash back to their normal lives, and occasionally bond with each other, there is a distinct lack of sentimentality and corniness. there are many lengthy sequences where the men are just sitting in their various boats and are basically shell-shocked by their situation... these frequent bits skirted monotony, but were also essential to the plot and atmosphere. when the horrors do arrive - which is fairly regularly - they come fast and furious, grisly and literally gut-wrenching. the creativity in differentiating the horrors from each other is impressive... Curran's imagination is as bizarre, monstrous, and full of disgustingly primal life as the "dead" sea itself.
also, i was scared. i'm not usually scared by too many horror novels. maybe i'm jaded or maybe i'm just unimaginative or maybe the horrors of real life are enough to scare me. who knows. but Dead Sea was unusual for me in that it was a genuinely scary experience. kudos!
the main flaw of the novel is a certain tendency towards overwriting. nowhere near enough for me to sneer at, and a lot of it is clearly in homage to Lovecraft's signature purple prose. the main offense, and boy does it happen often, is Curran's annoying tendency to try to create some kind of effect by isolating a trying-to-be-impactful sentence.
you know, like this.
see, i'm making a point here.
it gets a little obvious at times.
anyway, that caveat aside, this is great stuff if you love horror. it may lack the resonance of classier and/or more transcendent pieces of horror fiction... but it really delivers when it comes to setting up an atmosphere filled with dread and fear, and then following through with shuddery, visceral, no-brakes horror.
_________________________
musical accompaniment
PGR: The Chemical Bride
Chrome: Into the Eyes of the Zombie King
Thessalonians: Soulcraft
June 19, 2014
A freighter bound for South America gets enshrouded in a fog bank and emerges in another dimension, a graveyard of ships choked with carnivorous weeds, tentacled nasties of all shape and size, and a mysterious entity that wants them all dead. But will the survivors of the initial shipwreck manage to avoid killing one another long enough to escape horrors beyond human understanding?
Geek Alert: When I was a kid, I was way into cryptids, UFOs, and, of course, the mysteries of the sea. Since this book references both Bermuda Triangle and the Sargasso Sea, I was all over it.
Dead Sea is a paranoid survival horror story, very much a forerunner of Tim Curran's upcoming novella, Blackout. Two groups of survivors fight for their lives against horrible crustacean-fish things, squid- and jellyfish-like horrors, spidery things, and all sorts of other things that man was never meant to lay eyes upon.
Curran mines centuries of sea lore and spins something approaching gold with it. I'm not in a hurry to return to the ocean after reading this or even put my toe in any body of water that I can't see the bottom of. The characters gradually slide closer to the edge of sanity as they encounter centuries old ships and the squamous horrors of a world with two moons and time that flows differently than ours.
The characters do a lot to keep the story going forward. When the horror doesn't come from the environment, it comes from the disintegrating sanity of the shipmates and from Saks, the biggest asshole this side of Galactus's. Seriously, I could not wait for the rest of the survivors punch his ticket.
The ending was pretty satisfying. In a tale like this, you don't expect happily ever after, just a handful of characters better off than the rest. That's pretty much what we got.
In many ways, this book feels like a trial run for Blackout. For me, Blackout is Dead Sea 2.0, a condensed and refined version of the original. If Dead Sea is beer, Blackout is fine bourbon. Since I can't really fault Curran's earlier work being as spectacular as his most recent stuff, I'm still giving this a four, even though it had to work for it.
Geek Alert: When I was a kid, I was way into cryptids, UFOs, and, of course, the mysteries of the sea. Since this book references both Bermuda Triangle and the Sargasso Sea, I was all over it.
Dead Sea is a paranoid survival horror story, very much a forerunner of Tim Curran's upcoming novella, Blackout. Two groups of survivors fight for their lives against horrible crustacean-fish things, squid- and jellyfish-like horrors, spidery things, and all sorts of other things that man was never meant to lay eyes upon.
Curran mines centuries of sea lore and spins something approaching gold with it. I'm not in a hurry to return to the ocean after reading this or even put my toe in any body of water that I can't see the bottom of. The characters gradually slide closer to the edge of sanity as they encounter centuries old ships and the squamous horrors of a world with two moons and time that flows differently than ours.
The characters do a lot to keep the story going forward. When the horror doesn't come from the environment, it comes from the disintegrating sanity of the shipmates and from Saks, the biggest asshole this side of Galactus's. Seriously, I could not wait for the rest of the survivors punch his ticket.
The ending was pretty satisfying. In a tale like this, you don't expect happily ever after, just a handful of characters better off than the rest. That's pretty much what we got.
In many ways, this book feels like a trial run for Blackout. For me, Blackout is Dead Sea 2.0, a condensed and refined version of the original. If Dead Sea is beer, Blackout is fine bourbon. Since I can't really fault Curran's earlier work being as spectacular as his most recent stuff, I'm still giving this a four, even though it had to work for it.
September 6, 2013
4.5* rounded up to 5.
This was another hit from Tim Curran!
A ship and her crew encounters a dense, endless fog. From there it's all downhill for them.
There is no way for me to impart to you the descriptive skills of Mr. Curran. They are simply outstanding. He made me see creatures that I could never have dreamed up in a million years. After reading this book for a while, it took me a moment to adjust myself to real life when I looked up. He made me feel as I were in the fog myself.
The atmosphere and tension in this story are both excellent. It has been a long time since I've soaked in a truly creepy read like this. I wholeheartedly enjoyed it!
The only thing that bothered me (resulting in the subtraction of half a star), was a few repetitious chapters around the 25% mark. I felt like the point had been made about where each character was and what they were facing and I wanted to get on with the story.
Other than that this book was pretty awesome. Imaginative, descriptive, atmospheric, creepy and crawly. This story had it all. Highly recommended!
*A note regarding the Kindle edition of this book. On Goodreads the description says it has 300 some odd pages, but the Kindle version was over 500 pages. It's a relatively long book.*
This was another hit from Tim Curran!
A ship and her crew encounters a dense, endless fog. From there it's all downhill for them.
There is no way for me to impart to you the descriptive skills of Mr. Curran. They are simply outstanding. He made me see creatures that I could never have dreamed up in a million years. After reading this book for a while, it took me a moment to adjust myself to real life when I looked up. He made me feel as I were in the fog myself.
The atmosphere and tension in this story are both excellent. It has been a long time since I've soaked in a truly creepy read like this. I wholeheartedly enjoyed it!
The only thing that bothered me (resulting in the subtraction of half a star), was a few repetitious chapters around the 25% mark. I felt like the point had been made about where each character was and what they were facing and I wanted to get on with the story.
Other than that this book was pretty awesome. Imaginative, descriptive, atmospheric, creepy and crawly. This story had it all. Highly recommended!
*A note regarding the Kindle edition of this book. On Goodreads the description says it has 300 some odd pages, but the Kindle version was over 500 pages. It's a relatively long book.*
December 7, 2017
This is the Thunderstorm S/L edition.
Loved it as much as a re-read as I did the first time I read it! Curran's originality on a theme that has baffled people for generations is nothing short of genius. His research combined with his creativity made this novel stand out in many ways. To date, this is my absolute favorite of his novel-lengthed fiction. Solid 5 stars.
Highly recommended!!!
***This 2017 Thunderstorm edition has the bonus novella, WEEDWORLD***. No matter how often I read DEAD SEA, there's always something sinister there waiting to "surprise" me. One of my all-time favorites! ***
Loved it as much as a re-read as I did the first time I read it! Curran's originality on a theme that has baffled people for generations is nothing short of genius. His research combined with his creativity made this novel stand out in many ways. To date, this is my absolute favorite of his novel-lengthed fiction. Solid 5 stars.
Highly recommended!!!
***This 2017 Thunderstorm edition has the bonus novella, WEEDWORLD***. No matter how often I read DEAD SEA, there's always something sinister there waiting to "surprise" me. One of my all-time favorites! ***
September 30, 2011
For someone who has been reading horror for decades, it takes a lot to scare me. Dead Sea is a claustrophobic story that has some of the most frightening scenes I've ever read; scenes that describe creatures from another dimension. And the great thing is that Tim Curran writes about them in a poetical way. I was reaching for this book at 2:00 a.m. several times because I couldn't wait to get back to the story and see where it could possibly take me.
Dead Sea is about what happened to all those ships and planes that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. And it's worse than you ever imagined.
This is not a perfect book, but because of the atmosphere it evokes and some original writing that scared the bejesus out of me, I'm giving it a deserving five stars. I haven't read anything like this in a long time, and it's just what I needed. True scares are contained within this book but also some things that make you think of possibilities beyond the third dimension.
Dead Sea is about what happened to all those ships and planes that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. And it's worse than you ever imagined.
This is not a perfect book, but because of the atmosphere it evokes and some original writing that scared the bejesus out of me, I'm giving it a deserving five stars. I haven't read anything like this in a long time, and it's just what I needed. True scares are contained within this book but also some things that make you think of possibilities beyond the third dimension.
October 17, 2023
Super spooky atmospheric read with definite lovecraftian overtones. Dead Sea is like 10 miles of bad road right from the start. The aged frieghter Mara Corday is hired to transport heavy equipment from Virginia to French Guiana to construct a air strip in the jungle near a diamond mine. Of course, that means there must be a crew to run such equipment and we are introduced to Saks, the amazingly abrasive, obnoxious foreman of the crew, the crew itself, and many of the 20 or so sailors on the ship. Curran uses this space to introduce the characters and set up the social dynamics that feature in what comes next.
And what comes next? Well not much of a spoiler here as the ship enters some strange, dense fog and is transported to somewhere else, someplace not very friendly to humanity. Where do all of those ships and plane go that are lost in the Sargasso Sea? It seems into another dimension, or perhaps another world, where the sea is blood warm, tacky, and full of all kinds of strange life forms, while the noxious fog ebbs and wanes, but never really goes away. The strange life forms are not just in the water, however, for they also populate the immense graveyard of ships; 100s of ships, 1000s of ships, from ancient sailing ships to modern freighters.
Curran does more here than just give us a terrifying world, however, for the story is propelled by the dynamics among the crew. Shortly after the ship 'arrives', it is hit by a barge and catches fire. The ship's crew and the construction guys bail, but are scattered in the explosions and chaos. So Curran then oscillates between two groups of survivors and lets say one group is united by little more than hate and bile.
This is really a gripping read, and I loved the atmospheric ambiance. The hateful banter among the crew got a little annoying, but par for the course I suppose. Looking for some sea horror? Hard to go wrong with this one. 4.5 spooky stars!
And what comes next? Well not much of a spoiler here as the ship enters some strange, dense fog and is transported to somewhere else, someplace not very friendly to humanity. Where do all of those ships and plane go that are lost in the Sargasso Sea? It seems into another dimension, or perhaps another world, where the sea is blood warm, tacky, and full of all kinds of strange life forms, while the noxious fog ebbs and wanes, but never really goes away. The strange life forms are not just in the water, however, for they also populate the immense graveyard of ships; 100s of ships, 1000s of ships, from ancient sailing ships to modern freighters.
Curran does more here than just give us a terrifying world, however, for the story is propelled by the dynamics among the crew. Shortly after the ship 'arrives', it is hit by a barge and catches fire. The ship's crew and the construction guys bail, but are scattered in the explosions and chaos. So Curran then oscillates between two groups of survivors and lets say one group is united by little more than hate and bile.
This is really a gripping read, and I loved the atmospheric ambiance. The hateful banter among the crew got a little annoying, but par for the course I suppose. Looking for some sea horror? Hard to go wrong with this one. 4.5 spooky stars!
July 8, 2014
If you love monsters, don't even bother reading the rest of this review, just pick up this book. If you love survival at sea stories, don't read further, just pick up this book.
Yes, I, too, like monsters and stories of survival at sea, but I don't like these tropes quite enough to overlook some of this book's shortcomings. I felt this had some pacing problems; the middle was particularly saggy, and the ending felt quite rushed. Key plot elements weren't introduced early enough not seem tacked on at the last minute. The overall effect was like watching one of Zack Snyder's trademark action sequences in the movie 300 when we see the Spartan soldier leap in glorious slow motion toward the enemy and then suddenly snap back into real time to deliver the fatal blow. Except here we'd be watching the Spartan hovering in the air over his enemy for a few minutes of screen time rather than a few drawn out seconds.
Don't get me wrong. I didn't dislike this book. There was a lot I really liked about it. It had a lot of great monsters, harrowing scenes, cool set pieces, and solid characters. (Saks was my favorite.) I just felt it was a bit bogged down with repetitious descriptions of fog and mist. I think some scenes and some characters could have been cut to give the work more focus.
If this book were 70 pages shorter, I'd say that instead of liking it quite a bit, I'd be loving it quite a lot.
January 20, 2018
4,25 stars - English hardcopy - Benjamin Thanks for the read - 🌷🌷🌷
September 9, 2015
2.5*
Oh man. I loved Hive and I really, really, REALLY wanted to love this book too. There were good things, but they were completely overshadowed by the bad.
The biggest problem with this book is that there are 200 pages in the middle that should have been deleted. It was repetitive exposition that any decent editor should have caught and demanded be cut. I get that Curran probably had an entire catalogue of awesome monster sea creatures to throw at his characters and wanted to get in as much as possible. But the action has to move the plot forward and between 30% and 70%, the plot did not move forward. I get that characterization is important to build tension. But when conflict becomes repetitive and leads nowhere in an at least a 200 page span, there is no point and then tension breaks. I GOT that Saks was the bad guy. I GOT that Fabrini was the cocky musclehead. I GOT that Menhaus was the nice guy. WE GET IT ALREADY. MOVE ON.
The second biggest problem with this book was the head hopping. There should not be reflection within the mind of more than one character within a chapter (as in multiple POVs). From one paragraph to another, I was jarred out of the story in realizing that I could now hear someone else's thoughts since the last paragraph. It just switched randomly. Any writer should know that this is a HUGE no-no. This is basic and the worst part is that there was no reason for it.
The idea was awesome and I wanted to love the book but ended up putting it down 30% through. The last 30% was pretty good and I wish there had been more there rather than in the redundancy of the previous pages. The only reason I picked it back up and made myself finish it is because (1) it is Curran and (2) I hate not finishing a book. I could have literally skipped from 35% or so to 70% or so and been totally fine.
So the first and the last quarters were fantastic. Regardless, I'm a Curran fan and probably will always be.
August 11, 2024
This isn’t just a story about things that go bump in the mist; it's about the monsters we carry within ourselves, the ones that whisper when the world starts to crack.
The book kicks off like a steel-toed boot to the chest, with a group of shipwreck survivors stranded on lifeboats in a dead sea, surrounded by a fog that breathes nightmares and slithers with unseen horrors. I could almost feel the brine in the air, taste the salt on my lips, and hear the creak of old wood underfoot. But it's the human element that keept me hooked. Curran understands that the real terror isn’t always the beasts lurking in the dark, but the slow unraveling of the human mind when faced with the unknown.
The cast of characters was jagged like broken glass, with each shard reflecting the ugly truths of survival. Gosling, Fabrini, and Saks stood out like beacons in the fog, each one representing a different kind of struggle against the creeping dread. The tension between them was more electric than the fog that drives them to their fate, and it’s this social dynamic that keeps the pages turning. Curran writes with the kind of raw, unvarnished honesty that leaves a mark, and the relationships in "Dead Sea" are as twisted and complicated as the horrors they face.
But if I have to wield the knife, it’s here: the book could have been a bit...er...leaner. There are moments where the tension slips, where the words circle back on themselves, repeating themes already explored. Still, the prose is rich, almost suffocating in its intensity, so it’s hard to fault Curran too much for wanting to linger in the dread a little longer.
Right, for those who live for the chill of Dan Simmons' "The Terror," the creeping doom of Stephen King's "The Mist," or the relentless paranoia of John Carpenter's "The Thing" (and "The Fog", of course), "Dead Sea" will feel like coming home to the dark. It’s not a book that whispers sweet nothings; it’s a book that howls into the void, daring you to look away.
4.5 stars, rounded up.
Next!
The book kicks off like a steel-toed boot to the chest, with a group of shipwreck survivors stranded on lifeboats in a dead sea, surrounded by a fog that breathes nightmares and slithers with unseen horrors. I could almost feel the brine in the air, taste the salt on my lips, and hear the creak of old wood underfoot. But it's the human element that keept me hooked. Curran understands that the real terror isn’t always the beasts lurking in the dark, but the slow unraveling of the human mind when faced with the unknown.
The cast of characters was jagged like broken glass, with each shard reflecting the ugly truths of survival. Gosling, Fabrini, and Saks stood out like beacons in the fog, each one representing a different kind of struggle against the creeping dread. The tension between them was more electric than the fog that drives them to their fate, and it’s this social dynamic that keeps the pages turning. Curran writes with the kind of raw, unvarnished honesty that leaves a mark, and the relationships in "Dead Sea" are as twisted and complicated as the horrors they face.
But if I have to wield the knife, it’s here: the book could have been a bit...er...leaner. There are moments where the tension slips, where the words circle back on themselves, repeating themes already explored. Still, the prose is rich, almost suffocating in its intensity, so it’s hard to fault Curran too much for wanting to linger in the dread a little longer.
Right, for those who live for the chill of Dan Simmons' "The Terror," the creeping doom of Stephen King's "The Mist," or the relentless paranoia of John Carpenter's "The Thing" (and "The Fog", of course), "Dead Sea" will feel like coming home to the dark. It’s not a book that whispers sweet nothings; it’s a book that howls into the void, daring you to look away.
4.5 stars, rounded up.
Next!
January 3, 2014
This book was difficult to review. Many of Curran's skills are beyond masterful, with his descriptive talents and his ability to create and atmosphere of horror so overwhelming that it leaves his readers choking in tension and desolation topping the list. This guy knows horror - no doubt about it.
Plus, he has written a book that takes place at sea, generally not a favorite setting for me (and a somewhat limited setting at that - despite the wide expanse of ocean, humans are generally confined to a boat). Yet he keeps it interesting and fresh, except in the instances of repetition (discussed below).
Dead Sea reads like The Mist meets Event Horizon on the ocean. I would not be surprised if either of those films influenced the work. This book would make a fantastic movie in its own right, with some fantastic visuals if true to Curran's description. Curran really builds up the tension to you feel like your out on that water with the characters, maybe even going a little insane. Expertly done. And man, I never ever EVER want to go near the Bermuda Triangle again.
Now for the specifics:
But that makes it sound like I didn't enjoy it. I did. A lot. That's merely why for me, it wasn't perfect. But Curran's description was top-notch and to use two words I've seen in the reviews of others that I think are absolutely perfect, his work is both "atmospheric" and "claustrophobic," creating a sense of dread in me that very few books can manage these days.
This book is 4.5 stars, so I will give it 4 stars here and five stars on Amazon, given the different ranking systems.
Plus, he has written a book that takes place at sea, generally not a favorite setting for me (and a somewhat limited setting at that - despite the wide expanse of ocean, humans are generally confined to a boat). Yet he keeps it interesting and fresh, except in the instances of repetition (discussed below).
Dead Sea reads like The Mist meets Event Horizon on the ocean. I would not be surprised if either of those films influenced the work. This book would make a fantastic movie in its own right, with some fantastic visuals if true to Curran's description. Curran really builds up the tension to you feel like your out on that water with the characters, maybe even going a little insane. Expertly done. And man, I never ever EVER want to go near the Bermuda Triangle again.
Now for the specifics:
But that makes it sound like I didn't enjoy it. I did. A lot. That's merely why for me, it wasn't perfect. But Curran's description was top-notch and to use two words I've seen in the reviews of others that I think are absolutely perfect, his work is both "atmospheric" and "claustrophobic," creating a sense of dread in me that very few books can manage these days.
This book is 4.5 stars, so I will give it 4 stars here and five stars on Amazon, given the different ranking systems.
December 29, 2012
I've read a ton of horror novels and I've seen it all: I've seen ideas hashed and rehashed by masters and hacks.
Dead Sea did something that only a few have succeeded in doing.
It scared the crap out of me.
I love the sea. Every year we vacation to someplace warm where I can be close to it, where I can simply gaze at it, swim in it, or take a diving excursion. This year may be different, because each time I venture into its warm embrace, I don't think a second will pass that I don't think of the terror I experienced reading Dead Sea.
This is a novel of the Bermuda Triangle, or Devil's Triangle, if you will.
Curran comes up with a spectacular tour-de-force here. Not only can he horrify the reader, but the story and his ideas make this a very satisfying novel. Much has been said of this book needing an editor, and I can certainly get that. But even though there is a definite over-descriptiveness happening here, I can't get many of his descriptions out of my head.
They say that the Inuit have forty words for snow. I think Curran could easily top that. He digs into his extensive vocabulary to describe the fog, derelict ships, horrors, in so many creative ways, that on one hand, it gets to the point of, “Okay, I get it already.” But on the other hand, many of these descriptions approach brilliance, and having finished the novel, I can't imagine cutting any of them.
I do have a bone to pick, though.When I looked this book up on Goodreads, it said the page count was around 330 pages. I feel duped, because I was expecting a short read (which I wanted), and what I got was a 570 page (I just switched editions for this review so I'm not ripped off of my yearly pages read total...like that matters, but hey.) marathon though the dead sea. And these are dense pages! It got to the point where I was fixated on my Kindle's progress bar as I'd be clicking page after page (I counted: 27 times Yes, this means poor Bill is fixated) to move one percent.
Eventually I got wise and placed a thin strip of duct tape across the bottom so I wouldn't know. Huge difference!
This allowed me to fully absorb myself in this, and boy, did I.
The duct tape is there to stay, by the way.
Okay, rambling aside, I highly recommend this novel to everyone who fancies themselves horror or even sci-fi aficionados. This is easily a five star read, and holy crap, would this make a kick-ass movie. Scariest read in years. Well done, Mr Curran.
Dead Sea did something that only a few have succeeded in doing.
It scared the crap out of me.
I love the sea. Every year we vacation to someplace warm where I can be close to it, where I can simply gaze at it, swim in it, or take a diving excursion. This year may be different, because each time I venture into its warm embrace, I don't think a second will pass that I don't think of the terror I experienced reading Dead Sea.
This is a novel of the Bermuda Triangle, or Devil's Triangle, if you will.
Curran comes up with a spectacular tour-de-force here. Not only can he horrify the reader, but the story and his ideas make this a very satisfying novel. Much has been said of this book needing an editor, and I can certainly get that. But even though there is a definite over-descriptiveness happening here, I can't get many of his descriptions out of my head.
They say that the Inuit have forty words for snow. I think Curran could easily top that. He digs into his extensive vocabulary to describe the fog, derelict ships, horrors, in so many creative ways, that on one hand, it gets to the point of, “Okay, I get it already.” But on the other hand, many of these descriptions approach brilliance, and having finished the novel, I can't imagine cutting any of them.
I do have a bone to pick, though.When I looked this book up on Goodreads, it said the page count was around 330 pages. I feel duped, because I was expecting a short read (which I wanted), and what I got was a 570 page (I just switched editions for this review so I'm not ripped off of my yearly pages read total...like that matters, but hey.) marathon though the dead sea. And these are dense pages! It got to the point where I was fixated on my Kindle's progress bar as I'd be clicking page after page (I counted: 27 times Yes, this means poor Bill is fixated) to move one percent.
Eventually I got wise and placed a thin strip of duct tape across the bottom so I wouldn't know. Huge difference!
This allowed me to fully absorb myself in this, and boy, did I.
The duct tape is there to stay, by the way.
Okay, rambling aside, I highly recommend this novel to everyone who fancies themselves horror or even sci-fi aficionados. This is easily a five star read, and holy crap, would this make a kick-ass movie. Scariest read in years. Well done, Mr Curran.
December 10, 2014
I want to thank my friend James for giving me a copy of this book. This book deserves much more exposure than it has, its author deserves a following of millions of rabid fans. This was my first Curran read and it has made him an instant superstar in my eyes. I have already grabbed a couple more of his books. I am going to write a longer review once my group is finished reading so I don't spoil anything for them, but I will say I freaking loved this!
February 24, 2014
A truly creepy tale that evolves like your worst nightmares, slowly and inexorably, shredding your sanity along the way. If Jaws didn't keep you out of the water, Dead Sea will.
April 15, 2012
If you asked me when I was a young boy what my favorite book was, I would without a doubt say Treasure Island. I've read it countless times, over and over again. I was at a perfect age to read that book, too; The most impressionable period, with the mind most bend to accepting the fantastic, allowing me to sail over the seas and far away while never leaving the comforts of my small bed. I still hear the tap tap tap of the blind man's cane, the Black Spot, Long John Silver and his parrot, the grand Hispaniola,/i>, and of course the mysterious island. I haven't read Treasure Island in years, mostly because I am afraid that my wonderful impression of it would be marred by the perception that I would have now.
Dead Sea as you might guess takes place at sea. The plot is very simple: A ship carrying a group of men heading to a job is enveloped with weird looking yellowish fog, and not unexpectedly bad things start happening soon afterwards. A man is swept overboard while running away from something terrifying the ship hits something, and sinks. The survivors get divided into two groups; each group manages to get a lifeboat, and they set on to explore the area that they found themselves in.
Curran does a terrific job at creating a sense of place, and as someone who devoured all the Bermuda Triangle stories as a kid experiencing the area he created was terrific. The narrative switches between the two surviving groups as they try to make progress and understand the situation; the surrounding is unknown and it soon becomes obvious that it is populated with hostility. Curran's sense of imagery is terrific, and the novel serves as a worthy homage to the works of William Hope Hodgson, an English novelist who published many weird sea tales, and of course H.P. Lovecraft, with his sense of the uncanny and the unknown lurking just behind the frail seams of reality.
The exploration is the best part, but as the novel goes along and the characters begin to understand their situation it slowly starts to lose the mood it has succesfully established before. It becomes a bit too much Power Rangers near the end, though thankfully it is not overdone; and although I really enjoyed the time spent with it I'm not sure if I would read it again. It's not a bad book, but it's not a spectacular book; it's a fine book to spend several evenings with and have a lot of fun. It does its job just right, and for that I give it 4 stars.
Dead Sea as you might guess takes place at sea. The plot is very simple: A ship carrying a group of men heading to a job is enveloped with weird looking yellowish fog, and not unexpectedly bad things start happening soon afterwards. A man is swept overboard while running away from something terrifying the ship hits something, and sinks. The survivors get divided into two groups; each group manages to get a lifeboat, and they set on to explore the area that they found themselves in.
Curran does a terrific job at creating a sense of place, and as someone who devoured all the Bermuda Triangle stories as a kid experiencing the area he created was terrific. The narrative switches between the two surviving groups as they try to make progress and understand the situation; the surrounding is unknown and it soon becomes obvious that it is populated with hostility. Curran's sense of imagery is terrific, and the novel serves as a worthy homage to the works of William Hope Hodgson, an English novelist who published many weird sea tales, and of course H.P. Lovecraft, with his sense of the uncanny and the unknown lurking just behind the frail seams of reality.
The exploration is the best part, but as the novel goes along and the characters begin to understand their situation it slowly starts to lose the mood it has succesfully established before. It becomes a bit too much Power Rangers near the end, though thankfully it is not overdone; and although I really enjoyed the time spent with it I'm not sure if I would read it again. It's not a bad book, but it's not a spectacular book; it's a fine book to spend several evenings with and have a lot of fun. It does its job just right, and for that I give it 4 stars.
August 14, 2015
www.melissa413readsalot.blogspot.com
Wow. This was one big creepy book at sea! The ship Mara Corday is on it's way to French Guiana bringing heavy equipment and other things for a crew to make an airstrip. Little do the poor men know they are going to get sucked into the Bermuda Triangle and other such horrors.
The book has a really good scare factor going on, I mean your stuck in this glowing fog (sounds like the movie right?) and nothing on your ship works. You have no idea where you are or what is in front of you.
They lose their boat, several of them are killed, you have all kinds of ghosts, things talking to you in your head, alien technology, sea monsters of all kinds, and I'm sure I'm leaving more out.
There is so much going on and oh the ooze and things I want to say, but don't want to give it away! Why shouldn't you read a 536 page creepy book and find out.
I was surprised and not surprised at what they found closer to the end, because I mean "hey" you are in another dimension!!!!
The ending turns out good for those that made it, but I can bet you a million dollars they won't get on a boat again as long as they live!
I recommend to all horror fans.
Wow. This was one big creepy book at sea! The ship Mara Corday is on it's way to French Guiana bringing heavy equipment and other things for a crew to make an airstrip. Little do the poor men know they are going to get sucked into the Bermuda Triangle and other such horrors.
The book has a really good scare factor going on, I mean your stuck in this glowing fog (sounds like the movie right?) and nothing on your ship works. You have no idea where you are or what is in front of you.
They lose their boat, several of them are killed, you have all kinds of ghosts, things talking to you in your head, alien technology, sea monsters of all kinds, and I'm sure I'm leaving more out.
There is so much going on and oh the ooze and things I want to say, but don't want to give it away! Why shouldn't you read a 536 page creepy book and find out.
I was surprised and not surprised at what they found closer to the end, because I mean "hey" you are in another dimension!!!!
The ending turns out good for those that made it, but I can bet you a million dollars they won't get on a boat again as long as they live!
I recommend to all horror fans.
November 8, 2022
Dead Sea slowly pulled me away from mundane life, into the mythical apocalyptic ocean where monstrosities lurk... This is some epic aquatic cosmic horror, honestly the best I've read in this specific vein of the horror genre. I was hooked the entire book and completely blown away by the end. Tim Curran's writing style is beautiful and evocative.
There is one rotten character who is extremely homophobic though, so maybe avoid if this kind of people is intolerable to you.
I would strongly recommend this one to people who enjoy atmospheric/slow-built horror. It's absolutely perfect if you're a masochist like me who binge-read this on a cruise trip. 🤡 I was positively terrified and had blast with this book.
There is one rotten character who is extremely homophobic though, so maybe avoid if this kind of people is intolerable to you.
I would strongly recommend this one to people who enjoy atmospheric/slow-built horror. It's absolutely perfect if you're a masochist like me who binge-read this on a cruise trip. 🤡 I was positively terrified and had blast with this book.
February 14, 2024
"He stood there, watching that awful fog billow and surge. It was bad. By God, it was real bad. But Gosling was almost glad it was there, hiding things, masking others. For if it cleared, he was almost afraid of what they might see out there.
And what might see them."
This is my first book by Tim Curran - after this terrifying voyage on the sea, I'll definitely give more of his stuff a try and hope those books are as potent. He writes beautifully, drawing out the pacing when the tension is thick by shortening his lines and dishing out almost poetic prose while his dialogue is convincing and genuine.
Besides the storyline holding genuine thrills and chills, it's amped up with intelligence. Not only horror, but the confusing melds of physics and wormholes and other dimensions. The ending especially injects healthy doses of science fiction to sail it though.
What caught me in for a bigger hook was the exploration of sea lore. There's so many stories about voyages on the water gone bad - from sea monsters and sea legends, to disappearing vessels and ghost ships. You have sirens and weeds and mutinies, monsters and squids and all the hidden horrors of the sea exposed. Plenty of frightening source material to draw upon, and Curran went all out on delivering here, to the point to where it was almost overload.
It's rare for me to feel a chill reading a book or watching a movie - but in this case, I definitely felt it. My list of genuinely creepy novels is short, and usually those only make the list because of one or two short scenes. Not the case here. The book is rich in tension, that fog is outright creepy because - like playing on the effect of something creepy happening in the dark - it's creepy because the fog keeps the mystery high. You can't see what's more than a few feet in front of you, you can only hear it, imagine it, and fight it when it's suddenly there.
The monsters are mean and the monsters are many. They're well-conceived, nasty creations; brutal and merciless and gory. There's even a weird scene with an extraterrestrial and at first I thought it would be an ironic commentary that this creature is encountering man as another new, hostile monster to overcome in the sickening sea world...but the author turned it instead to where it is another hostile force our group of men must reckon with if they want to survive.
A worthy grouping of characters who complement and contrast. When they're not battling the sea and all the monsters within, they're battling each other. The survivors are divided into two groups for most of the book, and each of those groups must survive sanity over the odds....it's not helped that some of them don't get along. Testosterone taints the air as thickly as the fog at times. This brings a realistic twist we all would recognize in people in a world we wouldn't.
Dead Sea is an epic horror novel, although it's not 100% perfect because sometimes it's a little drawn out and redundant. Despite the length being a little too drawn out, pacing is kept up well for the slowly dawning horror that affects the group.
It's delightfully claustrophobic and reminiscent of Lovecraftian lore, a lengthy voyage into a genuinely chilly, fog-drenched horror novel that all fans should experience.
And what might see them."
This is my first book by Tim Curran - after this terrifying voyage on the sea, I'll definitely give more of his stuff a try and hope those books are as potent. He writes beautifully, drawing out the pacing when the tension is thick by shortening his lines and dishing out almost poetic prose while his dialogue is convincing and genuine.
Besides the storyline holding genuine thrills and chills, it's amped up with intelligence. Not only horror, but the confusing melds of physics and wormholes and other dimensions. The ending especially injects healthy doses of science fiction to sail it though.
What caught me in for a bigger hook was the exploration of sea lore. There's so many stories about voyages on the water gone bad - from sea monsters and sea legends, to disappearing vessels and ghost ships. You have sirens and weeds and mutinies, monsters and squids and all the hidden horrors of the sea exposed. Plenty of frightening source material to draw upon, and Curran went all out on delivering here, to the point to where it was almost overload.
It's rare for me to feel a chill reading a book or watching a movie - but in this case, I definitely felt it. My list of genuinely creepy novels is short, and usually those only make the list because of one or two short scenes. Not the case here. The book is rich in tension, that fog is outright creepy because - like playing on the effect of something creepy happening in the dark - it's creepy because the fog keeps the mystery high. You can't see what's more than a few feet in front of you, you can only hear it, imagine it, and fight it when it's suddenly there.
The monsters are mean and the monsters are many. They're well-conceived, nasty creations; brutal and merciless and gory. There's even a weird scene with an extraterrestrial and at first I thought it would be an ironic commentary that this creature is encountering man as another new, hostile monster to overcome in the sickening sea world...but the author turned it instead to where it is another hostile force our group of men must reckon with if they want to survive.
A worthy grouping of characters who complement and contrast. When they're not battling the sea and all the monsters within, they're battling each other. The survivors are divided into two groups for most of the book, and each of those groups must survive sanity over the odds....it's not helped that some of them don't get along. Testosterone taints the air as thickly as the fog at times. This brings a realistic twist we all would recognize in people in a world we wouldn't.
Dead Sea is an epic horror novel, although it's not 100% perfect because sometimes it's a little drawn out and redundant. Despite the length being a little too drawn out, pacing is kept up well for the slowly dawning horror that affects the group.
It's delightfully claustrophobic and reminiscent of Lovecraftian lore, a lengthy voyage into a genuinely chilly, fog-drenched horror novel that all fans should experience.
September 13, 2019
Voto: 4 e mezzo su 5.
Recensione per Romance & fantasy for Cosmopolitan Girls!
https://fidibooksblog.blogspot.com/20...
Recensione per Romance & fantasy for Cosmopolitan Girls!
https://fidibooksblog.blogspot.com/20...
February 6, 2020
Dead Sea was one of those books that was a perfect read for me. I have no complaints about it at all. I will say that the plot is a bit like The Mist by Stephen King,
except with the cast of characters being caught in it on the ocean instead of in a supermarket, but this surpasses The Mist by 81 Miles, and I gave The Mist five stars!
Anyway, this is one of the most atmospheric novels I have ever read and the author relies a lot on sound and smell to paint a picture of fear. Being nearly blind, I can
really appreciate when authors do this. Yes, Curran definitely describes the violence and the creatures to perfection, but a lot of the creeping, claustrophobic horror
of this read comes from the build-up, and Curran's ability to describe things that are so alien to us that they should make any reader shudder, especially when the
creature's hunting abilities are put to the test by one poor bastard or another from the ever dwindling cast. To give you an idea, I want you to imagine the dialog from
some of Brian Keene's better novels (Terminal, Ghoul, The Conqueror Worms...), take Graham Masterton's unflinching descriptions of horrific deaths, the flawless
explanations of Dean Koontz, the gift of making seemingly stupid or unbelievable situations become engaging for the reader of Bentley Little, and the true talent of
scaring the reader deep down of Stephen King, and you might have a few percents of Tim Curran in this novel. I will definitely read this one again over and over and
there are tons of scenes I will long to re-visit such as the description of the Fogdevil, the giant jellyfish and its meal, the accident with a device out of this world
and demention...
I recommend this one to all and, just to show the effect it had on me, I will say that this book shoved Survivor by J. F. Gonzalez out of my top five horror novels to
end up at 5, took the number three spot in my top five scariest novels, and is number 5 in my top 5 reads ever. Read this. I feel that I need to spread this book around
in the hopes that at least one other person will get the same amount of enjoyment out of it that I did.
I will rap this up with a quote from the Mortal Kombat videogame series or movies. "FLAWLESS VICTORY!" And, just for the hell of it... "FATALITY!"
except with the cast of characters being caught in it on the ocean instead of in a supermarket, but this surpasses The Mist by 81 Miles, and I gave The Mist five stars!
Anyway, this is one of the most atmospheric novels I have ever read and the author relies a lot on sound and smell to paint a picture of fear. Being nearly blind, I can
really appreciate when authors do this. Yes, Curran definitely describes the violence and the creatures to perfection, but a lot of the creeping, claustrophobic horror
of this read comes from the build-up, and Curran's ability to describe things that are so alien to us that they should make any reader shudder, especially when the
creature's hunting abilities are put to the test by one poor bastard or another from the ever dwindling cast. To give you an idea, I want you to imagine the dialog from
some of Brian Keene's better novels (Terminal, Ghoul, The Conqueror Worms...), take Graham Masterton's unflinching descriptions of horrific deaths, the flawless
explanations of Dean Koontz, the gift of making seemingly stupid or unbelievable situations become engaging for the reader of Bentley Little, and the true talent of
scaring the reader deep down of Stephen King, and you might have a few percents of Tim Curran in this novel. I will definitely read this one again over and over and
there are tons of scenes I will long to re-visit such as the description of the Fogdevil, the giant jellyfish and its meal, the accident with a device out of this world
and demention...
I recommend this one to all and, just to show the effect it had on me, I will say that this book shoved Survivor by J. F. Gonzalez out of my top five horror novels to
end up at 5, took the number three spot in my top five scariest novels, and is number 5 in my top 5 reads ever. Read this. I feel that I need to spread this book around
in the hopes that at least one other person will get the same amount of enjoyment out of it that I did.
I will rap this up with a quote from the Mortal Kombat videogame series or movies. "FLAWLESS VICTORY!" And, just for the hell of it... "FATALITY!"
December 5, 2013
It's official, Tim Curran is one of the best horror writers working currently. The man takes no shortcuts. Uses no formulas. Just sheer creativity, wild originality and incredible writing. Dead Sea is an epic, it's sort of like War and Peace of horror at sea. Don't let the page count fool you, the tiny print makes this quite a lengthy read. Even laborious at times, though totally worth it. There is so much that's right with this book, but the best part has got to be the descriptions, there is such startling vividness to the world of Curran's creation here, the creatures, the sea, the water and the sky and the boats and every setting and every part of the store are cinematically rendered in 3D spectacular glory with uber realistic, phenomenal really, detail. The atmosphere is fleshed out just as well, Curran really does wonders with claustrophobia inducing scenarios. Not a great deal of overtly likable characters here (very testosterone driven story), but all were very realistic and well realized. The story ended well too, after nearly overwhelming amount of science...a massive boom. Nicely balanced. One of the best Curran's endings ever, very complete, not at all abrupt, the story feels finished not at all cut short. Really amazing genuinely terrifying read that any horror fan is sure to enjoy. Highly recommended.
March 31, 2014
A big thank you to Bill for borrowing me this great ride!
And to Brenda for giving me another book as well and Kate for wanting to.
GR has no idea what great people it has roaming its pages :)
If only I wasn't so greedy maybe I would have made it to something else than just Dead Sea.
Don't read my reading progress, there are probably spoilers...I was updating from my phone and I couldn't not comment some of the stuff...and the app is very limited.
This was a truly horrific read; it's a must for all horror fans. As I mentioned I don't mind the science fiction twist at the end.
It was really easy to love some of the characters and some to hate because how annoying they were (hello Saks! - even I'm happy he's dead lol). What really unified them all, was this constant terror they have had to go through and I was amazed by Curran's ability to create these scenes where you could feel your imagination going wild, waiting for something bad to happen...at some points this was a real adrenaline ride.
That said, I find the end a bit rushed...there suddenly appeared a lot of typos; not that I mind them just that I think it's end had to be done or some deadline was approaching. Now that I checked the number of pages I was surprised it had only over 300 pages....it seemed a lot longer, maybe because of all the time in the boat...that could have been a bit shorter and maybe the ending a bit more wrapped up. But who am I to complaint? I loved this book and as first TC book it deserves all 5*, I need no more impressing for now.
I am a bit disappointed at how many of the group has survived but I guess it had to be that way...it was from the beginning, that was truly an unforgiving place and no room for errors. Not even the strongest had a chance against some of the monsters there.
It's a shame we didn't see Menhauses's bitchy fat wife in the end...after all he missed her so much and her cooking :)
And to Brenda for giving me another book as well and Kate for wanting to.
GR has no idea what great people it has roaming its pages :)
If only I wasn't so greedy maybe I would have made it to something else than just Dead Sea.
Don't read my reading progress, there are probably spoilers...I was updating from my phone and I couldn't not comment some of the stuff...and the app is very limited.
This was a truly horrific read; it's a must for all horror fans. As I mentioned I don't mind the science fiction twist at the end.
It was really easy to love some of the characters and some to hate because how annoying they were (hello Saks! - even I'm happy he's dead lol). What really unified them all, was this constant terror they have had to go through and I was amazed by Curran's ability to create these scenes where you could feel your imagination going wild, waiting for something bad to happen...at some points this was a real adrenaline ride.
That said, I find the end a bit rushed...there suddenly appeared a lot of typos; not that I mind them just that I think it's end had to be done or some deadline was approaching. Now that I checked the number of pages I was surprised it had only over 300 pages....it seemed a lot longer, maybe because of all the time in the boat...that could have been a bit shorter and maybe the ending a bit more wrapped up. But who am I to complaint? I loved this book and as first TC book it deserves all 5*, I need no more impressing for now.
I am a bit disappointed at how many of the group has survived but I guess it had to be that way...it was from the beginning, that was truly an unforgiving place and no room for errors. Not even the strongest had a chance against some of the monsters there.
It's a shame we didn't see Menhauses's bitchy fat wife in the end...after all he missed her so much and her cooking :)
August 13, 2015
I really, really liked this book. I wanted to give it five stars, but I just didn't think that would be fair, for reasons I'll explain.
The easiest way to describe this book is to think of THE MIST by Stephen King, except on water. That being said, it's not like this is a rip-off or derivative of that work. The basic plot is a ship sails into a thick mist in the Bermuda Triangle, and ends up in a monster infested alternate dimension. This new dimension is FILLED with dangerous creatures. I'm a huge fan of monster novels and movies, so as I said, this one was right up my alley.
Now, the reasons this one didn't get five stars. First off, it was a bit repetitive, especially the dialogue. One character basically made gay jokes and silly insults the entire book, which got old quick. Also, as much as I love the monsters, even the monster attacks seemed overdone at times. With some editing this book would have easily been five stars.
Overall, I highly recommend this one as I feel the positives far outweigh the negatives. If you are into monster novels, especially on the high seas, read this one immediately!
The easiest way to describe this book is to think of THE MIST by Stephen King, except on water. That being said, it's not like this is a rip-off or derivative of that work. The basic plot is a ship sails into a thick mist in the Bermuda Triangle, and ends up in a monster infested alternate dimension. This new dimension is FILLED with dangerous creatures. I'm a huge fan of monster novels and movies, so as I said, this one was right up my alley.
Now, the reasons this one didn't get five stars. First off, it was a bit repetitive, especially the dialogue. One character basically made gay jokes and silly insults the entire book, which got old quick. Also, as much as I love the monsters, even the monster attacks seemed overdone at times. With some editing this book would have easily been five stars.
Overall, I highly recommend this one as I feel the positives far outweigh the negatives. If you are into monster novels, especially on the high seas, read this one immediately!
April 23, 2015
Arguably, one of the most talented newer authors of cosmic horror, DEAD SEA is an epic, 534 pages of sheer mind bending horror that would surely satisfy the most ardent Lovecraftian.
When a freighter bound for southeast Asia becomes lost in a nearly impenetrable and seemingly endless fog, the crew at first believes it's a navigational error, but the men soon believe it may be something more. Then one of the crew goes mad and vanishes overboard...
Combining the mythology of the Devil's Triangle and Sargasso Sea, and weaving in all manner of nightmarish horrors lurking in the mist and in the soupy sea, Curran spins a dense and layered tome worthy of being his magnum opus to date, and certainly one of the finest novels of modern cosmic horror.
Highly recommended!
When a freighter bound for southeast Asia becomes lost in a nearly impenetrable and seemingly endless fog, the crew at first believes it's a navigational error, but the men soon believe it may be something more. Then one of the crew goes mad and vanishes overboard...
Combining the mythology of the Devil's Triangle and Sargasso Sea, and weaving in all manner of nightmarish horrors lurking in the mist and in the soupy sea, Curran spins a dense and layered tome worthy of being his magnum opus to date, and certainly one of the finest novels of modern cosmic horror.
Highly recommended!
August 7, 2014
I am terrified of deep water. I panic when I realize I can't touch the bottom. For me this only adds to the horror of this story. To call it scary is to mock it. Scary doesn't even come close to it.
Every time I think it cannot get worse than what is happening, Curran throws in something new and even more terrifying. All that with a pockets of peace and conversation in between. When it hits, it hits harder than you expect. I could write all the things that appear in this book, and it still wouldn't come close to describe it. Then, of course, you have a human factor to consider. Each of them fights fear in their own way. The dense fog, what is beneath and around them, and what they can hear only increases the terror.
Considering that they all get separated and end up in small groups, the story alternates between them. It is a good thing; I don't think I could read a story where one of them is always present (you'll know who the moment he appears). There is always a bad one. The groups are so different that not one is more interesting than another. They are so different that you always get something new. I wanted to know what is happening to each.
Since this is a horror story, I don't think it is a spoiler that people you get to know die. The how and who is. Now, that is done masterfully. I felt as if the author slapped me.
There is a part in the book that slows down a bit, but it is not long. It is just slower than the rest of it. I won't even allow it to influence my rating. The book is just that good.
Every time I think it cannot get worse than what is happening, Curran throws in something new and even more terrifying. All that with a pockets of peace and conversation in between. When it hits, it hits harder than you expect. I could write all the things that appear in this book, and it still wouldn't come close to describe it. Then, of course, you have a human factor to consider. Each of them fights fear in their own way. The dense fog, what is beneath and around them, and what they can hear only increases the terror.
Considering that they all get separated and end up in small groups, the story alternates between them. It is a good thing; I don't think I could read a story where one of them is always present (you'll know who the moment he appears). There is always a bad one. The groups are so different that not one is more interesting than another. They are so different that you always get something new. I wanted to know what is happening to each.
Since this is a horror story, I don't think it is a spoiler that people you get to know die. The how and who is. Now, that is done masterfully. I felt as if the author slapped me.
There is a part in the book that slows down a bit, but it is not long. It is just slower than the rest of it. I won't even allow it to influence my rating. The book is just that good.
May 9, 2012
Wow, it's tough to review and rate this book. Generally I liked it but it is WAY too long and in desperate need of an editor. Curran spends too much time describing the eerie fog and sense of doom over and over and over again to the point that it's no longer effective. I get it, I get it! The first half of the book dragged on endlessly but the second half, although still plagued with overdescription, picked up nicely and had some truly scary and creepy moments. Had this book been streamlined better it could have been really good. It helped that it was well-written with interesting characters.
August 18, 2015
Dead Sea was an incredible blend of science fiction and horror with a sprinkling of mystery, action and humor to even things out. This book did have its faults, but the overwhelming fun factor easily vaulted me over those issues. Curran tackles quite a few types of horror, which I don't want to get into to avoid spoilers. Suffice it to say that if you're in the mood for a sci-fi-infused Lovecraftian creature fest, step right this way.
November 9, 2011
3.5 Stars
Great characterization. A truly meaty read that I found to be like a Porterhouse steak. So juicy and thick, but halfway through I was tired of chewing. Saks and some dialogue were just too much. I was seriously wishing someone would knock off Saks early on. His jokes became overly irritating and his bully persona made all the other good character lines not stand out.
Great characterization. A truly meaty read that I found to be like a Porterhouse steak. So juicy and thick, but halfway through I was tired of chewing. Saks and some dialogue were just too much. I was seriously wishing someone would knock off Saks early on. His jokes became overly irritating and his bully persona made all the other good character lines not stand out.
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