{"id":10656,"date":"2025-11-08T20:02:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T00:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=10656"},"modified":"2025-11-08T20:02:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T00:02:58","slug":"book-review-the-perilous-deep-a-supernatural-history-of-the-atlantic-by-karl-bell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-the-perilous-deep-a-supernatural-history-of-the-atlantic-by-karl-bell\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Perilous Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic by Karl Bell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Perilous_Deep_Bell.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-10659\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Perilous_Deep_Bell-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"cover art for The Perilous Deep by Karl Bell\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Perilous_Deep_Bell-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Perilous_Deep_Bell-655x1024.jpg 655w, https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Perilous_Deep_Bell-768x1200.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Perilous_Deep_Bell.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><i>The Perilous Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic <\/i><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">by Karl Bell<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Reaktion Books, 2025<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, serif;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">ISBN-13: 978-1836390909<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Buy:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/3144\/9781836390909\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bookshop.org<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4owuR6z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Mythology, poetry, and novels have long been our gateway to the dangerous and deadly creatures found in the mysteriously supernatural realm of the sea. In this new history, Karl Bell presents an exhaustively researched treasure trove of information that includes references to well-known mythological and traditional sea stories,<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: large;\"> a<\/span><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"> review of decades old newspaper articles about unusual events or sightings, and a collection of recorded folk knowledge of the coastal and seafaring people of the past. Several pieces of full color art illustrate the text.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Bell organizes the book by story type and the ways in which the story elements were passed on through generations. He emphasizes how, throughout history, mariners interpreted these sea stories as omens of danger, indications of divine intervention, and evidence of supernatural activity in the world. The stories in <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><i>The Perilous Deep <\/i><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">are not told at length, but Bell does analyze the patterns he finds and their significance.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">This book is an excellent way to create your own list in order to read more complete versions of the stories or to find out what creatures you can learn more about through literature or art. Bell\u2019s scholarly tone and list-like development of his subject are not as entertaining as a more narrative approach might be: nevertheless, Bell\u2019s references, cited by chapter at the end of the book, are a gold mine for those who would enjoy charting their own way through the perils of the Atlantic. Recommended.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Reviewed by Nova Hadley<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; The Perilous Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic by Karl Bell Reaktion Books, 2025 ISBN-13: 978-1836390909 Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition Buy:\u00a0 Bookshop.org | Amazon.com &nbsp; &nbsp; Mythology, poetry, and novels have long been our gateway to the dangerous and deadly creatures found in the mysteriously supernatural realm of the sea. In this new<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-the-perilous-deep-a-supernatural-history-of-the-atlantic-by-karl-bell\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5885,2219,645,749,5884,3187,1520,3752,5883],"class_list":["post-10656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-atlantic-ocean","tag-folklore","tag-horror-book-reviews","tag-horror-books","tag-karl-bell","tag-mythology","tag-nonfiction","tag-ocean-horror","tag-the-perilous-deep-a-supernatural-history-of-the-atlantic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10656"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10661,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10656\/revisions\/10661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}