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Dead in the Water
The shipwrecked, vacationing passengers of the ill-fated freighter, Morris, are picked up by the H.M.S. Pandora and sail into a cruise of metaphysical terror, madness, and death.
413 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
24 people are currently reading
1196 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Holder
352 books2,408 followersNancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling author of the WICKED Series, has just published CRUSADE - the first book in a new vampire series cowritten with Debbie Viguie. The last book her her Possession series is set to release in March 2011.
Nancy was born in Los Altos, California, and her family settled for a time in Walnut Creek. Her father, who taught at Stanford, joined the navy and the family traveled throughout California and lived in Japan for three years. When she was sixteen, she dropped out of high school to become a ballet dancer in Cologne, Germany, and later relocated to Frankfurt Am Main.
Eventually she returned to California and graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at San Diego with a degree in Communications. Soon after, she began to write; her first sale was a young adult romance novel titled Teach Me to Love.
Nancy’s work has appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, amazon.com, LOCUS, and other bestseller lists. A four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, she has also received accolades from the American Library Association, the American Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and Romantic Times.
She and Debbie Viguié co-authored the New York Times bestselling series Wicked for Simon and Schuster. They have continued their collaboration with the Crusade series, also for Simon and Schuster, and the Wolf Springs Chronicles for Delacorte (2011.) She is also the author of the young adult horror series Possessions for Razorbill. She has sold many novels and book projects set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Saving Grace, Hellboy, and Smallville universes.
She has sold approximately two hundred short stories and essays on writing and popular culture. Her anthology, Outsiders, co-edited with Nancy Kilpatrick, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in 2005.
She teaches in the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing Program, offered through the University of Southern Maine. She has previously taught at UCSD and has served on the Clarion Board of Directors.
She lives in San Diego, California, with her daughter Belle, their two Corgis, Panda and Tater; and their cats, David and Kittnen Snow. She and Belle are active in Girl Scouts and dog obedience training.
Nancy was born in Los Altos, California, and her family settled for a time in Walnut Creek. Her father, who taught at Stanford, joined the navy and the family traveled throughout California and lived in Japan for three years. When she was sixteen, she dropped out of high school to become a ballet dancer in Cologne, Germany, and later relocated to Frankfurt Am Main.
Eventually she returned to California and graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at San Diego with a degree in Communications. Soon after, she began to write; her first sale was a young adult romance novel titled Teach Me to Love.
Nancy’s work has appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, amazon.com, LOCUS, and other bestseller lists. A four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, she has also received accolades from the American Library Association, the American Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and Romantic Times.
She and Debbie Viguié co-authored the New York Times bestselling series Wicked for Simon and Schuster. They have continued their collaboration with the Crusade series, also for Simon and Schuster, and the Wolf Springs Chronicles for Delacorte (2011.) She is also the author of the young adult horror series Possessions for Razorbill. She has sold many novels and book projects set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Saving Grace, Hellboy, and Smallville universes.
She has sold approximately two hundred short stories and essays on writing and popular culture. Her anthology, Outsiders, co-edited with Nancy Kilpatrick, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in 2005.
She teaches in the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing Program, offered through the University of Southern Maine. She has previously taught at UCSD and has served on the Clarion Board of Directors.
She lives in San Diego, California, with her daughter Belle, their two Corgis, Panda and Tater; and their cats, David and Kittnen Snow. She and Belle are active in Girl Scouts and dog obedience training.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
June 17, 2018
This is the second Abyss Paperback I’ve read, and I’m discovering this: these horror novels are grotesque, challenging, and often buck typical horror tradition. And while Nancy Holder’s Dead in the Water doesn’t quite reach the levels of The Cipher, it is still a very good, and involving, story.
Like Kathe Koja’s debut novel, Water is psychologically demanding and does not give up all its secrets at once . . . or even when the final page is turned. And unlike The Cipher, this novel is filled with likable characters the readers can root for — characters I was afraid for, too.
Despite a somewhat flabby middle section, this is a gripping and horrific nautical novel about ghosts and possession and cabin fever. And unlike many genre novels, this one definitely sticks the landing — thus rendering any flaws in the chapters leading up to the climax forgivable. The last two chapters are chilling, and I am happy to say the author thoroughly shocked me in the final passages. Highly recommended!
Like Kathe Koja’s debut novel, Water is psychologically demanding and does not give up all its secrets at once . . . or even when the final page is turned. And unlike The Cipher, this novel is filled with likable characters the readers can root for — characters I was afraid for, too.
Despite a somewhat flabby middle section, this is a gripping and horrific nautical novel about ghosts and possession and cabin fever. And unlike many genre novels, this one definitely sticks the landing — thus rendering any flaws in the chapters leading up to the climax forgivable. The last two chapters are chilling, and I am happy to say the author thoroughly shocked me in the final passages. Highly recommended!
September 6, 2017
Tras leer sus buenas críticas lo busque y encontré de segunda mano. Medio me alegre al acabarlo.
El libro comienza magníficamente, con un grupo de personas que viaja en barco. Tras una niebla que atraviesan y quedan en ella, comienzan a suceder fenómenos muy extraños. Y seguir contando no gustaría de saber a futuros lectores.
Cierto que me ha parecido y mucho a: “El Resplandor”, pero afectándole a varios pasajeros. En el sentido de que fuerzas paranormales vayan convenciendo a sus afectados de hacer cosas malas… Mezcla como bien dice varios tipos de géneros de terror: fantasmas, monstruos, psicológico… No recuerdo que otro libro lo hiciese, pues bravo a este.
El final también deja buen sabor.
El libro comienza magníficamente, con un grupo de personas que viaja en barco. Tras una niebla que atraviesan y quedan en ella, comienzan a suceder fenómenos muy extraños. Y seguir contando no gustaría de saber a futuros lectores.
Cierto que me ha parecido y mucho a: “El Resplandor”, pero afectándole a varios pasajeros. En el sentido de que fuerzas paranormales vayan convenciendo a sus afectados de hacer cosas malas… Mezcla como bien dice varios tipos de géneros de terror: fantasmas, monstruos, psicológico… No recuerdo que otro libro lo hiciese, pues bravo a este.
El final también deja buen sabor.
February 25, 2025
3.5 Dreamy ghost ship novel part waterlogged nightmare, part gothic romance. Some of the prose is quite exceptional and the themes and ideas are ambitious with references to mythology and nautical symbolism. But it’s also too slow with a daunting length that doesn’t even start to go anywhere until nearly the halfway mark. Picks up in the final third though and can be pretty trippy. Speaking of, the hippy character seems a bit nonsensical. Does anyone actually talk like that? Worthwhile, but I had to skim passages after a while because things were getting repetitive. Some of the imagery during the climax was cool.
January 10, 2016
This is the freakiest, and perhaps the most frightening book I have ever read. Passangers aboard the freighter Morris believe they are headed toward Hawaii for vacation. Will they ever get there? No. The Morris goes under and the shipwrecked passengers are rescued by the Pandora. Are the passengers saved? No. The Pandora is a ghost ship and the passengers - the young and wealthy married couple, Phil and Elise Van Buren; John Fielder and his cancer-stricken son Matt; Donna, a cop haunted by memories of a boy who drowned; and Ruth, an old lady who dreams of her dead husband - will drown one-by-one haunted by their fears, desires, and many others who have drowned before them in the fog. This book was excellent, gripping, original, deserving of the Bram Stoker Award! I highly recommend it, but beware of the message in the bottle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 5, 2010
Good god!!!What a scary book.The first part had me on the edge of my seat chewing on my nails!I can see why it won the Bram Stoker for 1994.
It starts out chilling in telling you how you are going to drown and doesn't let up from there.
This is a story about a bunch of people who are in a ship wreck and what happens to them once they are rescued from the sea.There are a lot of twists and turns so that the story keeps you off balance but you know something terrifying is just around the corner.And boy is is scary.
You have to read this book to get the full flavor of terror.I was not particulrly scared of water before I read this book.Now I am not so sure that I want to play in the waves anymore on shore.
It starts out chilling in telling you how you are going to drown and doesn't let up from there.
This is a story about a bunch of people who are in a ship wreck and what happens to them once they are rescued from the sea.There are a lot of twists and turns so that the story keeps you off balance but you know something terrifying is just around the corner.And boy is is scary.
You have to read this book to get the full flavor of terror.I was not particulrly scared of water before I read this book.Now I am not so sure that I want to play in the waves anymore on shore.
May 14, 2018
3.5 stars. Given I am the perfect target audience for this book, I feel like I should have liked it WAY more than I did.
November 16, 2017
The prologue to this book is a taut piece of suspenseful writing. I was so excited to read the rest, but unfortunately it's a hot mess: repetitive, full of offensive stereotypes and murky in narrative. The book is so overstuffed with stream-of-consciousness narration and baroque tableaus that at several points of the book I couldn't even tell what was supposed to be going on. That a female author would conjure female characters as shallow as Donna Almond and Elise Van Buren-Hadley is truly disappointing. Perhaps Ms. Holder is better off as a short-story author.
March 3, 2012
From the first sentence to the last, this story baits, hooks, and reels you in, taking you on a journey of physical, emotional, and psychological horror. With a cast of rich, well developed characters, which include a tough-as-nails female cop, a doctor and his cancer-stricken nine-year-old boy, an elderly woman in search of her husband, and a young couple trapped in a failing marriage, Holder makes you invest in the lives of these people right from the start. You care what happens to them and that's what makes this novel so terrifying. Interweaving references to poetry such as Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Sandburg's Fog, as well as pop culture like John Carpenter's The Fog, Dead in the Water is the perfect marriage of literary and popular fiction. At its core it is a character oriented novel, with every plot twist, every horrific image, every incident reinforcing the character's fears and emotional trauma. Holder doesn't pull her punches. When bad stuff happens, it really happens. The writing here is top-notch and Holder seamlessly floats between characters, shifting her voice to suit that of each individual while simultaneously maintaining a narrative flow that drags you through the book like a fishing line. Despite being third person, she manages to get so close to these characters it feels, at times, as if it is in first person. If you like creepy, atmospheric horror and great characters, do yourself a favor and check out Dead in the Water. You may lose a few nights' sleep, either from sheer engagement with the story or fear of what might be lurking in the shadows, but trust me, you won't regret it!
July 6, 2020
Damn this was terrible and confusing
August 16, 2019
I remember liking this book back when it came out, but lordy, that was twenty-two years ago! A lot's changed since then, both in writing trends and in my own experience (which, let's be honest, plays as much into a story's success as the writing itself), so it's interesting to revisit the story with that perspective in place. I was surprised to realize I remembered pretty much nothing about this story, save it was set on a cruise.
Holder starts the story off well, with an opening that conveys the proper dread, atmosphere, and unease, without a single drop of blood or ounce of viscera. I appreciate horror that can do this, and it raised my expectations for the rest of the story. Unfortunately, she doesn't maintain that style once the story proper gets going. But man, those first eight pages would make an excellent short story.
We're introduced to our main character and the secondaries in the first few chapters, and everything is progressing well, but once we get on the ship, the story loses a lot of steam. It gets repetitive, partly because of the impressionistic style Holder adopts to portray the more psychedelic aspects of the story, but also because we keep seeing the same struggles and the same events as the story unfolds. It doesn't feel like it develops so much as it flounders.
For all that repetition, the book ends suddenly, and we get our answers so quickly that it makes me wonder why it took so long to get there. It doesn't help that Holder drops plenty of hints along the way for us to know exactly what's happening, and the characters are left trying to figure things out. It could be a good way to develop dread -- we know the characters are helpless, and get in the mindset that we want to warn them, but can't -- but it doesn't work here. I think it could be due to the characterization; the characters are all cliches or caricatures, so it's hard to develop any meaningful connection with them.
There's a lot of promise to the story, and it avoids the misogyny I keep finding in horror from this era, so it's not a one-star book, but neither is it impressive enough to get above two stars. Unfortunately, she falls into that camp of authors where I wouldn't seek out more of their fiction, but I wouldn't flat-out refuse to read anything else, either. It's just mediocre.
Abyss #40
Holder starts the story off well, with an opening that conveys the proper dread, atmosphere, and unease, without a single drop of blood or ounce of viscera. I appreciate horror that can do this, and it raised my expectations for the rest of the story. Unfortunately, she doesn't maintain that style once the story proper gets going. But man, those first eight pages would make an excellent short story.
We're introduced to our main character and the secondaries in the first few chapters, and everything is progressing well, but once we get on the ship, the story loses a lot of steam. It gets repetitive, partly because of the impressionistic style Holder adopts to portray the more psychedelic aspects of the story, but also because we keep seeing the same struggles and the same events as the story unfolds. It doesn't feel like it develops so much as it flounders.
For all that repetition, the book ends suddenly, and we get our answers so quickly that it makes me wonder why it took so long to get there. It doesn't help that Holder drops plenty of hints along the way for us to know exactly what's happening, and the characters are left trying to figure things out. It could be a good way to develop dread -- we know the characters are helpless, and get in the mindset that we want to warn them, but can't -- but it doesn't work here. I think it could be due to the characterization; the characters are all cliches or caricatures, so it's hard to develop any meaningful connection with them.
There's a lot of promise to the story, and it avoids the misogyny I keep finding in horror from this era, so it's not a one-star book, but neither is it impressive enough to get above two stars. Unfortunately, she falls into that camp of authors where I wouldn't seek out more of their fiction, but I wouldn't flat-out refuse to read anything else, either. It's just mediocre.
Abyss #40
April 29, 2018
I'd like the five hours I spent reading this back please.
I have to agree with many other readers on a couple of points. The first chapter was brilliant, captivating, and utterly scary. It made me feel as though I'd picked well. (Spoiler alert - I hadn't.)
Unfortunately, as others noted, the story devolved quickly. The premise was good but, halfway though, I found myself wishing I was nearer the last page. I'll be honest, I skimmed some of the passages in which the level of detail was both confusing and painful. When I reached the end, I realized that I didn't really care about any characters or their fates so the inevitable twist we weren't supposed to see coming didn't really seem so much a twist as a last, dying gasp at relevance.
With a good editor, half the length and a little more cohesion, this could have been good.
I have to agree with many other readers on a couple of points. The first chapter was brilliant, captivating, and utterly scary. It made me feel as though I'd picked well. (Spoiler alert - I hadn't.)
Unfortunately, as others noted, the story devolved quickly. The premise was good but, halfway though, I found myself wishing I was nearer the last page. I'll be honest, I skimmed some of the passages in which the level of detail was both confusing and painful. When I reached the end, I realized that I didn't really care about any characters or their fates so the inevitable twist we weren't supposed to see coming didn't really seem so much a twist as a last, dying gasp at relevance.
With a good editor, half the length and a little more cohesion, this could have been good.
November 6, 2017
This is not a good book, but it was kind of fun to read for the super corny dialogue and a few well-written horror scenes. Overall, though, the plot was unnecessarily convoluted, and the way Holder wrote her main character seemed to be more influenced by hundreds of years of bad male writers writing women than anything she knew about women to be actually true. Kind of a bummer.
April 25, 2011
This 1994 Bram Stoker Award winner for Best Novel has a killer opening line: “This is how it will be when you drown.” It then proceeds to tell you, in frighteningly tactile, insinuating detail, just exactly what that might feel like. For me, the rest of the novel didn’t live up to the opening (it tends to meander midway), but it felt satisfyingly all of a piece by the end. Holder is one of those horror writers who does not dick around, mercilessly depicting scenes of truly ghastly goings on; however, she always retains a psychological bent, grounding her characters in reality despite the unreality they find themselves trapped in. This is definitely worth a read for sophisticated horror fans; I give it 3 ½ out of 5.
May 31, 2024
I've been slowly picking away at the Bram Stoker Award winners and, while Nancy Holder DOES have a highly energetic prose style, her storytelling skills can be charitably described as incoherent and all over the place. This had the makings of THE SEA WOLF meets BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, but Holder is just too hopped up on her own writing energy that she can't sustain focus. So this becomes an increasingly frustrating read, with thin characters, stilted boat situations, and bad dialogue.
February 7, 2020
After reading some of the reviews for this book, it's clear that either the reader loves it or hates it with very little in the way of luke warm feelings. I, for one, really enjoyed it. It's, by far, one of the better books published in the Dell Abyss line...and I've read several.
Yes...we all have seen movies and heard the stories of haunted ghost ships but how many of us can actually count more than say one or two books that we own that hit this trope head on? No? I didn't think so (lol). Seriously, Nancy did a remarkable job with the storyline. The characters were fun and interesting and easy to keep track of. They had real and effective personalities that made me want to know what happened next. AND...her descriptions of floating and drowning were remarkable! It was entirely believable and I could imagine the entire process of being submerged and growing panic. That is what I'm here for....effective writing skills, pulling me under *pun intended.
In short, this is about a haunted ship that prowls the open ocean for victims to murder and enslave. The captain is a disturbed and sadistic ghost that reigns supreme...or does he? Our characters are shipwrecked and invited aboard. Unbeknownst to them, they are in perilous danger of becoming the captain's newest victims because this particular ghost ship takes on many disguises and messes with the mind, all the while pushing it's passengers to an untimely end.
Recommended for Dell Abyss collectors, such as myself...and anyone looking for an invitation to come aboard.
Yes...we all have seen movies and heard the stories of haunted ghost ships but how many of us can actually count more than say one or two books that we own that hit this trope head on? No? I didn't think so (lol). Seriously, Nancy did a remarkable job with the storyline. The characters were fun and interesting and easy to keep track of. They had real and effective personalities that made me want to know what happened next. AND...her descriptions of floating and drowning were remarkable! It was entirely believable and I could imagine the entire process of being submerged and growing panic. That is what I'm here for....effective writing skills, pulling me under *pun intended.
In short, this is about a haunted ship that prowls the open ocean for victims to murder and enslave. The captain is a disturbed and sadistic ghost that reigns supreme...or does he? Our characters are shipwrecked and invited aboard. Unbeknownst to them, they are in perilous danger of becoming the captain's newest victims because this particular ghost ship takes on many disguises and messes with the mind, all the while pushing it's passengers to an untimely end.
Recommended for Dell Abyss collectors, such as myself...and anyone looking for an invitation to come aboard.
September 4, 2018
Either there's a sequel or I didn't get the ending
I did enjoy this book. It was somewhat confusing at times but never dull. I thought the characters were created with great care. I was cheering for some of them as the situation on the ship Pandora just continued to deteriorate. I just wish there had been a bit more finality with the ending. Donna was a terrific heroine. I like John and Matt, Ramon, Curry and Cha-Cha. Captain Reade was great and I loved the way Rime of the Ancient Mariner and The legend of the Flying Dutchman wound through the plot. One last shout out to the Lorelei. Nice usage there. Would be five stars for me if not for the obscurity of that blasted ending.
I did enjoy this book. It was somewhat confusing at times but never dull. I thought the characters were created with great care. I was cheering for some of them as the situation on the ship Pandora just continued to deteriorate. I just wish there had been a bit more finality with the ending. Donna was a terrific heroine. I like John and Matt, Ramon, Curry and Cha-Cha. Captain Reade was great and I loved the way Rime of the Ancient Mariner and The legend of the Flying Dutchman wound through the plot. One last shout out to the Lorelei. Nice usage there. Would be five stars for me if not for the obscurity of that blasted ending.
September 19, 2017
Never has a more promising open chapter led to such a disappointing shipwreck (haha) of a novel. It begins with a harrowing description of drowning, and sets up the premise: a group of people taking a cruise on a decrepit freighter and then some bad, bad stuff happens. It's a variation on my favorite theme of "idiots lost in the woods": Idiots lost at sea. But the promise peters out in a novel that throws so much at the wall that nothing sticks, just a mishmash of images and tiresome repetition.
Full Review @Respekt This Is How It Will Be When You Drown
Full Review @Respekt This Is How It Will Be When You Drown
February 5, 2017
A good concept and idea hindered by somewhat two- dimensional, poorly voiced characters, poor prose style, and head-hopping. The prose style makes it difficult to visualize what's going on, and the characters never quite made it for me - Donna was the closest. Also there are some minor sloppy details - for example a Swedish character who inexplicably communicates in perfect English even though it is highly implausible he'd do so, and no, lampshading doesn't help - that made it difficult to suspend my disbelief. 3 stars and I don't think I'll reread.
June 3, 2015
I found this book creepy as hell. Especially the ending where John and his son are concerned. "Welcome aboard Daddy" sheeee eesh!.. Loved it. Loved all the gory details, the build up, everything. Really wish there was a short sequel though..
December 5, 2015
Great plot--but I couldn't get into the style or characters and had to force myself to finish it.
September 22, 2016
I never get tired of this one. Faboo horror story about what happens after some tourists are rescued from their awful little cruise ship and board a luxury liner.
May 17, 2023
Bram Stoker Award winning story about a small group of people who take a 'cruise' to Hawaii on an old freighter. A mysterious fog surrounds the freighter and the holiday makers have to abandon ship. They are later rescued by what appears to be a luxurious cruise ship, but all is not what it seems.
When I finished this story I was a little unsure how I would rate it. It dragged a little in parts and I found myself eager to finish so that I could begin reading something better. There were doses of gore, ghosts and mystery, yet it didn't quite deliver.
When I finished this story I was a little unsure how I would rate it. It dragged a little in parts and I found myself eager to finish so that I could begin reading something better. There were doses of gore, ghosts and mystery, yet it didn't quite deliver.
December 2, 2018
Pretty great!
There aren't enough tales of ghost-ship out there. Not nearly as little as ghost-train stories, but haunted ships and boats are still a rare sight in the sea of stories.
This one is great though. Believable, likable characters with relatable personal story arcs.
Most of the action takes place at sea, with loads of gritty boating details.
The ending is awesome...for the most part. Not really a fan of the last few pages.
Still, pretty great stuff.
There aren't enough tales of ghost-ship out there. Not nearly as little as ghost-train stories, but haunted ships and boats are still a rare sight in the sea of stories.
This one is great though. Believable, likable characters with relatable personal story arcs.
Most of the action takes place at sea, with loads of gritty boating details.
The ending is awesome...for the most part. Not really a fan of the last few pages.
Still, pretty great stuff.
October 9, 2024
Bram Stoker award winner Nancy Holder's descriptions of drowning are really excellent and frightening. In Dead in the Water she weaves together mythology, history, and human relationships to tell a tale of shipwreck survivors picked up by the Pandora, where an evil presence continues to draw them down. Interesting concepts, but overall the book was too long once the passengers arrived on the Pandora, and the book's ultimate payoff is unsatisfactory.
October 26, 2024
Am I missing something here??? This was horrible. How do books like this win awards or make best of lists. This plot line made no sense, the stream of consciousness story telling was hard to follow. I am still not even sure of what I read. I just wanted it to end! I need to learn to quit books I am not enjoying
Want to read
May 26, 2024I am sorry to leave a comment here under reviews for a book that I have not read yet but I wanted to assign a date for this book and the date set functionality of the website currently seems to be broken. If they get this working I will use this and delete this review.
06-24-2014
06-24-2014
December 18, 2017
Bastante inquietante de principio a fin. Me gustó mucho.
November 28, 2017
It deals with subjects that give interest about this book
January 31, 2018
I wish I had the time back I lost on reading this book.
January 25, 2019
I wish i had read the reviews before i wasted my time with the book. The majority of bad reviews are spot on!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews