Poolrooms Lost

When 20-year-old liminal photographer Jack Mercer hears an online rumor about a hidden "pool level" beneath an abandoned civic center, he thinks he's chasing the perfect viral photo. What he finds instead is a place that should not exist.

The Poolrooms stretch far beyond any basement-an endless labyrinth of white tile corridors, silent pool decks, glowing windows with no sky beyond them, and warm water that deepens the farther he goes. By day, the water is drinkable. By night, it turns toxic, burning his skin and blistering his flesh if he stays in it too long. To survive, Jack must learn the rules of a place that was never meant for him: drink before dark, always find higher ground, and never trust the calm.

As the days blur into weeks, the Poolrooms become more than a maze. Strange figures appear behind glowing observation windows. Shallow kiddie pools feel more disturbing than deep water. Rooms shift from eerie to predatory. Hunger, sleep deprivation, and pain begin splitting Jack's mind in two, until the voice in his head starts sounding less like fear-and more like someone else.

To escape, Jack must descend deeper than anyone should, through flooded chambers where the ceiling leaves no room to breathe and the next pocket of air may not exist. But the deeper he goes, the more he realizes the Poolrooms may not have trapped him by accident.

They may have been leading him somewhere.

Poolrooms Lost is a dark liminal horror novel filled with psychological dread, surreal architecture, and relentless tension-perfect for readers who love the eerie nightmare logic of the Backrooms, submerged maze horror, and survival stories where the setting is as dangerous as the creatures inside it.