Up from the Bottomless Pit includes 140,000 words (roughly 400 pages) of short stories, a novel beginning, non-fiction, and a complete novel. Up from the Bottomless Pit and Other Stories collects these works, along with other fantastical tales, all making their first appearance here in book form.

The collection includes a "lost" novel of an ecological nightmare. Set in an alternate past circa the 1970s, Up from the Bottomless Pit tells of a world so ravenous in its desire for oil that it has thrown caution to the wind. Using an experimental laser drill, humankind burns a hole through the ocean floor only to unleash a deadly torrent that threatens to wipe out all life on the planet.