This was a fun, fast-paced monster story from Meikle with a substantial helping of a particular bit of Lovecraftian horror.

We start with David Noble in the North Atlantic. He’s assisting research on plastic waste in the ocean onboard the Earth Rescue. On the way back to the ship, the propellor of his Zodiac’s motor is fouled by a black, tarry substance. He is picked up by the ship where he goes for a beer in the lab of Suzie, a researcher

But, no sooner than he’s aboard, that substances attacks the ship from the water. Tentacles fly. People die. Lots of people. The sound “Teke Li” is heard in the air which reminds Suzie of something she read in a journal from one of the Pabodie Expedition members. (That expedition is, of course, the subject of H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness.)

Soon, Noble and Suzie are battling for their lives. But rescue comes, and they are taken to a military base in Weymouth, UK.

Meanwhile we get lots of one off scenes (because their viewpoint characters all die) of the shoggoths (because that’s what the monsters are) attacking London and Lyme Regis on the British coast.

Meikle doesn’t let anything slow the pace of his story. Descriptions, including those of the characters, are just basic enough to keep the plot moving.

It all ends up in a nice set piece – which could have used more description – back in the Atlantic.

Thrilling, short, and fast, this is another winner from Meikle. ( )

A fun, fast-paced read filled with an old lovecraftian favorite. A quick read but enjoyable. A first from this author and a first from Dark Regions Press. I'm looking forward to reading more. ( )

When it comes to fast moving, highly enjoyable monster fiction there are few writers who can match William Meikle. He has an extraordinary talent for storytelling and writes so well that his words don't get in the way (and I consider that to be something of a rare ability shared by the best writers). The Creeping Kelp is another tale that hits the ground running and never lets up. Someone should make a film of this, it has that vividness, that feel of a big, special effects laden, thrilling cinema experience. For lovers of Lovecraft there's more than a passing nod, but you don't need to know your Lovecraft to enjoy this creature feature novella. Great stuff. More please :) ( )

Ever since they were first invented by HPL in At the Mountains of Madness, shoggoths have a firm if slimy grip on the imagination of Cthulhu mythos writers. In terms of shoggoth lore, the very best stories include Fat Face, Michael Shea’s classic, and Shoggoths in Bloom by Elizabeth Bear (although it is about shoggoths, it is actually a meditation on the legacy of slavery in the US more than it is a Cthulhu mythos story). Shoggoths make a critical appearance in Resurgence in The Spiraling Worm by Conyers and Sunseri, and are responsible for a lot of mayhem in The Spawning by Curran. GW Thomas explored shoggoths in There Was an Old Lady… (available in The Book of the Black Sun), while Jeffrey Thomas took a different sort of approach in I Married a Shoggoth. I loved the action in Once More from the Top by Adam Scott Glancy and I loved the more clinical approach to analyzing the threat posed by a shoggoth in A Colder War by Stross. Just about every author who takes a shine to Lovecraft has to try their hand at shoggoths. The Creeping Kelp is Mr. Meikle’s contribution to this body of work.

Dark Regions Press is a wonderful company that has given us some great Lovecraftian titles in 2010 and 2011. Both their limited edition hardcovers and trade paperbacks are high quality. The attractive cover art by Wayne Miller is very illustrative of what happens in the book. I noted only one typographical error in my hardcover, where Pabodie was misspelled on inside leaf of the jacket. Text runs from page 6-155. Mr. Meikle is a well known member of the current Lovecraft circle; he has been penning horror stories for years. In the last decade I have noted a distinct improvement in quality as he has honed his gifts as a writer. My favorite of his works remains the series The Midnight Eye Files, a noir detective series set in gritty Glasgow, highly recommended to everyone.

The Creeping Kelp begins at 90 miles an hour in the North Atlantic where Dave Noble is working on the research vessel Earth Rescue. The ship finds itself caught in a caustic black mass of seaweed that rapidly proves to be more than seaweed. As the seething weeds engulf the ship, Noble and scientist Suzie Jukes barely make it off alive. The threat spreads rapidly all along the coast of the UK. Jukes managed to get a sample of the stuff and some old records of experiments done on similar material from WWII. We switch between records from the past from as far back as the days of the Inquisition to the present worsening crisis, as Jukes and Noble frantically try to come up with a solution. A small group of soldiers, and Jukes and Noble come up with a plan that requires great personal risk, but if they pull it off the Creeping Kelp may be stopped…

This is a very undemanding book that can be read in a few short hours. There is no character development or important dialogue; I ended up not caring much about the fate of the protagonists. The emphasis here is all of forward momentum of the plot and breathless action, and there is plenty of that! The escalating savagery of the kelp assaults was a highlight of the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed the notes of events in the past, both from WWII and the days of the Spanish conquests. One thing I appreciated was that Mr. Meikle made distinct references to the Pabodie Expedition and expected the reader to know what he was talking about. We did not get a big info dump rehashing At the Mountains of Madness. I was a bit vexed that the writing of the action in the finally felt a bit rushed, and the ending seemed a bit too pat. Anyway, I certainly enjoyed myself reading The Creeping Kelp. A reasonably priced paperback is available from the publisher so there’s no reason not to give it a try.

In the pantheon of Lovecraftian novels, The Creeping Kelp is definitely better than The Sand Dwellers by Niswander, The Spawning by Curran and Island Life by Mr. Meikle. It is about the same level as Ghouls of the Miskatonic by McNeil or Deeper by Moore. I would rate it below The Midnight Eye Files: The Amulet, also by Mr. Meikle, or Mall of Cthulhu by Cooper. ( )