Blackwater, Vol. 1: The Flood / The Levee / The House

Blackwater #1-3

by Michael McDowell

An omnibus of the first three books in the series: The Flood, The Levee, and The House.

Book club edition.

Genres: Horror, Audiobook, Southern Gothic

386 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Michael McDowell is a prolific horror writer who has distinguished himself with a varied body of work within the genre. He was born in Enterprise, Alabama, in 1950 and died of AIDS-related illness in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1999.

His first horror novel, The Amulet, relates the tragedies that befall various individuals who come in possession of a supernatural pendant in a small town.

In McDowell's second novel, Cold Moon Over Babylon, a murdered woman's corpse is dispatched into a river, but her spirit roams the land, and in the evening hours it seeks revenge on her killer even as he plots the demise of her surviving relatives.

Don D'Ammassa, writing in the St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, noted that McDowell's ability to maintain a sense of mundane normalcy against supernatural activity provides the novel with "a fine balance between reality and unreality," and he called Cold Moon Over Babylon "one of the best ghost stories ever written at novel length."

A similarly disturbing tension between dull reality and the supernatural is produced in The Elementals, wherein a host of visitors come to stay at a secluded house occupied by embodiments of elemental forces.

McDowell's Katie, meanwhile, concerns a clairvoyant serial killer whose powers of perception enable her to evade her trackers. The attractive but deranged heroine of this novel manages to conduct her murderous activities despite the awareness of her parents, who are content to derive financial gain from their daughter's crimes.

Madness is central to McDowell's Toplin, which details the vile imaginings of a man who suffers from mental illness but nonetheless determines to conduct himself within society. D'Ammassa praised Toplin as "perhaps the best novel ever written from the point of view of a schizophrenic."

Among McDowell's other writings is the six-part serial novel Blackwater, a chronicle of a southern family drawn to the supernatural. In addition, McDowell has also supplied the screenplays for various films, including director Tim Burton's horror comedy Beetlejuice and his animated production The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Stephen King called McDowell one of the "finest writers of paperback originals in America today." Tabitha King was asked to complete McDowell's unfinished novel Candles Burning, which was published in 2006 to good reviews. Concerning his career, McDowell never tried to be something he wasn't. "I am a commercial writer and I'm proud of that", he said in the book Faces of Fear in 1985. "I am writing things to be put in the bookstore next month. I think it is a mistake to try to write for the ages."

Reviews

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What are you thinking about doing?" Oscar asked uneasily.
"I don't know yet. But Oscar, let me tell you something. There is no sacrifice I would not make to put you where you are supposed to be."
- Elinore Caskey (lake monster... sometimes)

Ooh child, I am a Southern Gothic Convert. What is Southern Gothic you ask? Well, I suppose you could reductively say it's a paranormal soap opera set in the south. But that doesn't give you a taste of the sleeping porches, venomous smiles, massive oaks, sleeping hungry rivers, grand family meals, infighting, lovely manners, dismemberment, drownings, and oh that sweet sweet tea.


I have been completely sucked into the story of a lake monster who takes human form in order to slowly take over a small southern town. I know that sounds ridiculous but it's good. I'm halfway through the six book series in this lovely book club binding I received for Christmas. Thank you again Squire Santa!

As this is my first Southern Gothic, and I am well entertained, I'm giving it 4.5 stars and rounding up as best of genre. Diving into the next three stories immediately!

[Ken B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read each title of the Michael McDowell's Southern Gothic Blackwater series individually.

There was not a weak point in the entire series. From the opening scene of Elinor's rescue in "The Flood" to the final dark scene in "Rain", McDowell stayed true to his theme.

I think it says a lot of a series when, finishing six books, you wish there was more. That is where I am with the Blackwater series.


5 STARS

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s difficult to rate the first half of a serialized novel. This is a southern gothic soap opera with a monster or two peeking around the corners. Come for the batrachian horrors, stay for the lush setting and family drama.

[Kilin Elizondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a weird little book… Seriously, it had me like 🤨 one minute and then 🤯 the next. Some parts were so bizarre I just sat there like 🤡 wondering what I had just read. But you know what? I kinda loved it. Weird in the best way possible! 😂📖

[Shaxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blackwater plyne jako řeka… líně, svým vlastním tempem a pomalu, ale jistě uchopí čtenáře do svých spárů a pohltí ho. A v nestřežené chvíli ho vhodí do jezu, kde je voda dravá a nemilosrdná, kde ho trochu podusí a pak vyplivne zpět do mírných vlnek, které se hrnou vpřed, jako by se nic nestalo. Počká, až se čtenář nechá ukolébat ustáleným rytmem a šup, opět udeří. Tak na mě působí Blackwater. Přináší příběh vlivné rodiny, děj se víceméně odehrává jen v úzkém rodinném kruhu, zkoumá dynamiku a vztahy mezi členy rodiny. Všemu kraluje panovačná Mary-Love, jejíž syn Oscar se zamiluje do cizinky, která se za nečekaných událostí objeví ve městě. A tím začíná dlouhodobý souboj o moc, neoficiálně vyhlášená válka mezi čerstvou a starou krví. Atmosféra je stejně dusná jako všudypřítomné jižanské parné léto, napětí mezi Elinor a Mary-Love je téměř hmatatelné. A přesně v tom okamžiku, kdy je děj relativně poklidný a čtenář jen sleduje roztržky v rodině, autor do děje vrhne krátký, brutální prvek, překvapivou událost, která naruší dosavadní ospalé dění. A pak, bez přílišného pitvání, pokračuje dál v zajetých kolejí. O to víc jsou tyhle části intenzivnější a dávají na srozuměnou, že kniha není zařazená v kategorii horor omylem, jak by se mohlo zdát. A že někdy nadpřirozeným příšerám a zlu může konkurovat lidská bytost, která neváhá svou dusivou láskou pohřbít sny a naději svých milovaných, jen pro vítězný pocit zadostiučinění. Český překlad zahrnuje první tři svazky série, ale i bez pokračování funguje jako samostatný román.

[Tony Vacation · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a Southern Gothic epic, replete with generations of likable characters, vengeful ghosts and an amphibian femme fatale. This wonderful novel, first published in serial format, has received new interest thanks to Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction. And now Valancourt rewards us all with a lovely new collected edition! My reviews for each of the first three installments can be found below:

The Flood
The Levee
The House

[Ramona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael McDowell’s Blackwater trilogy is billed as a southern gothic— I’m saying it’s a sci-fi historical fiction. I’ve never read either genre until now. Since Goodreads won’t let us give half points, I’d actually give the trilogy 3.5. Although sci-fi or Gothic is not my favorite genre, I found the characters intriguing. And family is family — love them or hate them.

From the historical fiction perspective, I liked how the 1920s and Great Depression functioned to enrich the story. And while this saga takes us through the 1970 with mentions of the Civil Rights Movement, the fascination lays with the strong and resilient Caskey women.

I’ll be honest, was Elinor Caskey evil or good? I’m not sure. I didn’t want to picture her and her daughter as anything other than mermaids ( please, I can’t do ugly fish).

[cripademia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who are the baddies in this one isn't always obvious - one is waiting for a reveal but...

It took me a little while to get into this but when I did I loved it.

It's marketed as horror, which put me off, as it's not usually my thing. Yet it's more fairytale than horror.

The effect of the landscape and the river is immersive and brilliant. It leans into myth & animism and superstition and has classic fairytale tropes.

Denial and it's power is shown at its best.

Where it really shines is it's depiction of relationships & the close village family life of rural historical America. And just how toxic they could be.

[Nick Chianese · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, based on this first half of Blackwater, I much prefer McDowell's similar but succinct, blissfully shorter and excellent work Elementals. All around better characters and a more sustained sense of dread in that earlier work.

[Candice Ryder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gloriously moody, eerie and a little spooky. This is not my normal genre but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I only marked it at four stars because there were points the story didn’t hold my attention.

[Carol Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because I thought it was a horror novel. There are a few scenes, but it's mainly about a family living in Perdido, Alabama in the years after World War I.

[Tommyhawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird and Good! Hadn't read these in thirty years or so. Pulled it out of the stacks and had a go. Great fun and ....... Weird

[Nicholas Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible.

[Linda Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it - it is Southern Goth with a strange horror twist

[Bruce Hammond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very little horror content but it's there. Old south well portrayed.