Surrounded by crumbling Cyclopean ruins, the Moon Pool was a place of both horror and wonder. No Polynesian race had constructed it. Sacred yet accursed too, the spot was far older then recorded history. As was the luminous thing that dwelt within its unfathomable depths, a transcendent being summoned from its ancient slumber by the cold rays of the full moon.Against this vampiric force beyond human comprehension, a group of brave scientists and adventurers takes up the challenge and confronts the unholy power known only as the Shining One. But even they do not suspect that behind this awesome apparition lurks ever more stupendous wonders left over from a prehuman age when superscience and elder sorcery were indistinguishable from one another.A. Merritt was one of the pioneers in the field of science-fantasy fiction. A Munsey magazine mainstay, he electrified readers of All-Story Weekly when it published "The Moon Pool" in 1918. The hunting tale of supernatural wonder created a sensation that led to a novel-length sequel, The Conquest of the Moon Pool. This Altus Press volume collects for the first time the original unrevised versions of these now-classic tales, illustrated by the incomparable Virgil Finlay.