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Bezig met laden... The Ghost Pirates and Others: The Best of William Hope Hodgsondoor William Hope Hodgson
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  JosephCamilleri | Feb 21, 2023 |   One of Hodgson's best works is his novella "The Ghost Pirates", the title piece in this wide-ranging anthology of the author's short fiction published by Night Shade Books. A tale of a vessel haunted by strange shadows and phantom ships, its horrors are initially understated, rarely straying beyond an odd light here and there and strange mists which might or might not be otherworldly. When, however, the body count starts to rise, it becomes increasingly apparent that there is more than the crew's imagination at work. "The Ghost Pirates" neatly combines the nautical fiction and fantasy genres and is a gripping yarn with an authentic feel to it, although at times I found the overly technical descriptions offputting. Hodgson's array of nautical terrors is surprisingly varied and is well-represented in this collection. We get to meet sea monsters (A Tropical Horror), islands taken over by deadly tropical plants (The Voice in the Night) and demon pirates (Out of the Storm). There are also some very human horrors (the bullying of the "revenge tale" We Two and Billy Dunkan). But Hodgson is at his most effective when seemingly natural events are described in a quasi-mystical fashion, redolent of the ending of Poe's [b:The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket|766869|The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket |Edgar Allan Poe|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1341387331s/766869.jpg|44915222] (Out of the Storm, The Shamraken). Not all of Hodgson's weird tales are set on ships. This volume includes a story featuring one of his regular characters, the "paranormal investigator" Thomas Carnacki (The Searcher of the End House) who recounts a "haunted house" episode of his youth. It is not one of the best Carnacki tales - the "rational" explanation at the end undermining its effectiveness. Then there is Machen-esque "Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachtani", which I found the most disturbing of all the stories. A pious chemist tries to recreate the darkness of the Golgotha with unintended and unexpected consequences - this is a terrifying cautionary tale for all dabblers in the occult, however well-intended. 3.5* (  ) JosephCamilleri | Jan 1, 2022 | geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
William Hope Hodgson was, like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, one of the most important, prolific, and influential fantasists of the early twentieth century. His dark and unsettling short stories and novels were shaped in large part by personal experience (a professional merchant mariner for much of his life, many of Hodgson's tales are set at sea), and his work evokes a disturbing sense of the amorphous and horrific unknown. While his nautical adventure fiction was very popular during his lifetime, the supernatural and cosmic horror he is most remembered for only became well known after his death, mainly due to the efforts of writers like H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, who often praised his work and cited it as an influence on their own. By the latter half of the twentieth century, it was only his weird fiction that remained in print, and his vast catalog of non-supernatural stories was extremely hard to find. His novel The Ghost Pirates is a take-no-prisoners supernatural adventure story that is just as powerful today as it was 100 years ago. In addition to his landmark novel, this volume contains some of his most influential short fiction; from his supernatural detective Thomas Carnacki to tales of the mysterious Sargasso Sea. The Ghost Pirates and Others is the perfect introduction to the magic, mystery and adventure of William Hope Hodgson. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)823.912Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.83)
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One of Hodgson's best works is his novella "The Ghost Pirates", the title piece in this wide-ranging anthology of the author's short fiction published by Night Shade Books. A tale of a vessel haunted by strange shadows and phantom ships, its horrors are initially understated, rarely straying beyond an odd light here and there and strange mists which might or might not be otherworldly. When, however, the body count starts to rise, it becomes increasingly apparent that there is more than the crew's imagination at work. "The Ghost Pirates" neatly combines the nautical fiction and fantasy genres and is a gripping yarn with an authentic feel to it, although at times I found the overly technical descriptions offputting.
Hodgson's array of nautical terrors is surprisingly varied and is well-represented in this collection. We get to meet sea monsters (A Tropical Horror), islands taken over by deadly tropical plants (The Voice in the Night) and demon pirates (Out of the Storm). There are also some very human horrors (the bullying of the "revenge tale" We Two and Billy Dunkan). But Hodgson is at his most effective when seemingly natural events are described in a quasi-mystical fashion, redolent of the ending of Poe's [b:The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket|766869|The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket |Edgar Allan Poe|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1341387331s/766869.jpg|44915222] (Out of the Storm, The Shamraken).
Not all of Hodgson's weird tales are set on ships. This volume includes a story featuring one of his regular characters, the "paranormal investigator" Thomas Carnacki (The Searcher of the End House) who recounts a "haunted house" episode of his youth. It is not one of the best Carnacki tales - the "rational" explanation at the end undermining its effectiveness.
Then there is Machen-esque "Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachtani", which I found the most disturbing of all the stories. A pious chemist tries to recreate the darkness of the Golgotha with unintended and unexpected consequences - this is a terrifying cautionary tale for all dabblers in the occult, however well-intended.
3.5* (