''Move Under Ground'' is a

horror novel Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...

mashup by American writer Nick Mamatas, which combines the Beat style of

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

with the cosmic horror of

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...

. It is available as a free download via a

Creative Commons license A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and bu ...

, CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 according to the License information in the CC version of the book.

Plot summary

Jack Kerouac witnesses the rising of R'lyeh off the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

coast. With Neal Cassady and William S. Burroughs, Kerouac takes to the road, crossing

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to save the world from a

Lovecraftian Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is na ...

cult.

Characters

* Azathoth * William S. Burroughs * Neal Cassady *

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

Kilaya

Source references

Beat connections

*The novel begins with Kerouac in

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

, the setting of his novel of the same name, and numerous mentions are made of his "heading out on the road again", a reference to his 1957 ''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagoni ...

''. *The slaves of Cthulhu are referred to as "mugwumps", from the predatory creatures of Burroughs' ''

Naked Lunch ''Naked Lunch'' (first published as ''The Naked Lunch'') is a 1959 novel by American author William S. Burroughs. The novel does not follow a clear linear plot, but is instead structured as a series of non-chronological "routines". Many of thes ...

''. *When Burroughs appears, he is wielding a pair of

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

s and is said to be playing

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

, a reference to his alleged killing of Joan Vollmer while playing William Tell. *Burroughs mentions that his book has been unbanned and thanks Kerouac for the title, which references ''

'', the title of which was suggested by Kerouac. *Kerouac mentions Dean Moriarty, the name of the protagonist of ''On the Road'' who was strongly inspired by Neal Cassady, and Jack Duluoz, the name Kerouac gives himself in many of his works.

Cthulhu Mythos connections

is the central enemy of the book, and the

squares In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

are turned into beings resembling his star-spawn. * R'lyeh is seen to rise when the stars are right; however, it is located "closer than Communist Cuba" off the

n coast, not in its usual location in the South Pacific, however, this may be due to the twisted geometry mentioned below. *Cassidy mentions the Three-Lobed Burning Eye and the " Al-Azif" to Kerouac in predicting the coming apocalypse. Kerouac later states that he sent Cthulhu back to "strange aeons," another reference to the Necronomicon. *The Elder Gods and Great Old Ones are also mentioned. *Kerouac enters the Dreamlands at one point. *Numerous references are made to "

the Call of Cthulhu "The Call of Cthulhu" is a cosmic horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in February 1928. The story is a founding document of the Cthul ...

." * Shoggoths appear several times; however, instead of how they are usually depicted in the Mythos, they appear as agents of Cthulhu that assume the shapes, forms, or personal appearances most likely to drive their target mad. *Kerouac talks about trying to get the government to send the "'' Sea Hunt'' and gut the Elder God," a possible reference to the submarine torpedoing of Y'ha-nthlei at the beginning/end of "

The Shadow Over Innsmouth ''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' is a Horror fiction, horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in November – December 1931 in literature, 1931. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using its motif of a malign undersea civilizatio ...

." *As Cthulhu's power rises, America becomes distorted by

non-Euclidean geometry In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry consists of two geometries based on axioms closely related to those that specify Euclidean geometry. As Euclidean geometry lies at the intersection of metric geometry and affine geometry, non-Euclidean ge ...

. *A reference is made to Lovecraft himself; a worker mentions how a serious "gentleman from Providence" named Mr. Love passed through several weeks earlier, predicting the onslaught and building a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

in the desert. He is described as having "eyes so round like a frog's ith alipless mouth," characteristics matching the " Innsmouth Look" of the Deep Ones. *Kerouac observes Azathoth in the twisted constellations. Cassady later becomes an avatar for Azathoth. *After Cthulhu comes to power, all money must be stamped with the Elder Sign; both Lovecraft's branching symbol and

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. He was the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. He made contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Lovecraftian horror, cosmi ...

's five-pointed flaming star variants are mentioned. This could be a reference to the Mark of the Beast being needed for commerce. *

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

is described as being formed of "

Cyclopean Cyclopean masonry is a type of masonry, stonework found in Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal Engineering tolerance, clearance between adjacent stones and with clay ...

modern towers and pinnacles rising flowerlike and delicate like spun crystal"; this is similar to Lovecraft's description of R'lyeh, Pnakotus, and the City of the Old Ones. *The established religions all begin preaching to Cthulhu rather than the Christian god; they are referred to as "

cargo cult Cargo cults were diverse spiritual and political movements that arose among indigenous Melanesians following Western colonisation of the region in the late 19th century. Typically (but not universally) cargo cults included: charismatic prophet ...

s" and Kerouac uses the term "starry wisdom" to describe them. These are references to several Cthulhu Mythos cults, specifically the Church of Starry Wisdom and the Esoteric Order of Dagon.

Awards and nominations

* 2004, '' Locus Magazine'' Recommended Reading List for books published in 2004 * 2005, nominated, Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel * 2005, nominated, International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel in 2005

Limited edition

The limited edition

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bookbinding, bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other clo ...

includes the short story "Jitterbuggin'", an afterword, a bound-in ribbon bookmark, and a unique Lovecraftian senryū written by Mamatas. 100 copies of the limited edition were produced, and the senryū were collected as '' Cthulhu Senryū'' ( Prime Books, 2006)

Reception

''Move Under Ground'' was widely and positively reviewed, by trade, genre, and non-genre publications. In addition to reviews in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' and ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'', the book received positive notices from ''

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

'', '' Locus'', '' Green Man Review'', '' Bookslut'', and other genre-themed publications and columns. More unusually for a first horror novel from an independent press, ''Move Under Ground'' was reviewed by publications more widely known for reviewing avant-garde and literary fiction, including '' The Believer'', '' Village Voice'', and the '' American Book Review''. Positive word of mouth continued long after the releases of the hardcover and paperback releases. As recently as 2009, major genre publications such as Tor.com published an article on the book by novelist Jon Evans. In September 2010, Kenneth Hite declared the book one of the best

stories not written by Lovecraft, in his book Cthulhu 101. Hite also declared the book one of the top five Mythos novels of all time via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. In an October 2010 podcast and interview, author Nick Mamatas explained that his goal in writing Move Under Ground was to write a novel that would still be discussed ten years after its initial publication, referencing The Enemies of Promise by

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...

References

{{Reflist 2004 American novels 2000s horror novels Novels set in California American horror novels Beat novels Cthulhu Mythos novels Creative Commons-licensed novels Novels based on works by H. P. Lovecraft Works based on The Call of Cthulhu Night Shade Books books