by H. Koenig
A few years ago Faber and Faber published an anthology of ghost
stories chosen by Colin de la Mare under the title "They Walk Again."
Most of the stories included in this splendid anthology were by
well-known writers such as Blackwood, Dunsany, and Bierce and many of
the stories were familiar ones--"The Monkey's Paw," "Green Tea" and
"The Ghost Ship." However, one new story was included in the book; one
comparatively new face appeared among all the old familiar ones. The
story was "The Voice in the Night" a horrifying and yet pathetic tale
of human beings turned into a fungoid growth; the author is William
Hope Hodgson.
Except perhaps for a few of the older readers of weird stories, the
name of Hodgson will mean nothing, and yet twenty-five years ago
Hodgson wrote a number of books which compare very favorably with any
of our modern weird stories, books which rank high in the fantasy
field and which deserve more popularity and publicity than they ever
received. Five of his books should be read by all weird story lovers:
"The Boats of the Glen Carrig" 1907, "The House on the Borderland"
1908, "The Night Land" 1912, and "Carnacki, The Ghost Finder" 1913.
The first three books form (in Hodgson's words) "what perhaps may be
termed a trilogy; for though very different in scope, each of the
three books deals with certain conceptions that have an elemental
kinship." A few chapter headings will give some idea of the treat in
store for fantasy fans fortunate enough to locate these books--"The
Thing that Made Search," "The Island in the Weed," "The Noise in the
Valley," "The Weed Men," "The Thing in the Pit," "The Swing Things,"
etc.
"The Night Land" is one of the longest fantastic romances ever written,
running close to six hundred pages. It is a story of the world in the
future when the sun has died and the "Last Millions" are living in a
large redoubt, a huge pyramid of gray metal nearly eight miles high
and five miles around the base. Beyond the pyramid were mighty races
of terrible creatures, half-beast and half-man, night hounds monstrous
slugs, and other horrible monsters. As a protection against all these
evils a great electric circle was put about the pyramid and lit from
the Earth Current. It bounded the pyramid for a mile on each side and
none of the monsters were able to cross it due to a subtle vibration
which affected their brains.
"Carnacki, The Ghost Finder" is a series of six short ghost stories in
which Carnacki investigates ghostly phenomena in various homes. One or
two of the tales are somewhat weakened by a natural explanation of the
ghosts, but each of the stories is well worth reading.
Hodgson's tales may well have served as source books for many of the
stories now being read in our present day pulp magazines. The whole
range of weird and fantastic plots appears to have been covered in the
five books listed previously--pig-men, elementals, human trees, ghosts,
sea of weeds, thought-transference, intelligent slugs, and in "The
Night Land" the men are equipped with a hand weapon called a Diskos.
This consists of a disk of gray metal which spins in the end of a metal
rod, is charged from earth currents and capable of cutting people in
two.
Unfortunately, there is practically no bibliographical data concerning
Hodgson available. Even his old publishers are unable to supply
any information except a meager list of some of his books and the
regrettable fact that he was killed during the war.
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