William Hope Hodgson

This book has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Dystre herregårde, ensomme fiskerhytter, tunge trin i tomme haller, spøgelser der anes i skyggerne, en fløjten fra et aflukket tårnværelse, øjne der lyser rødt og hadefuldt i mørket – med livet som indsats opsøger den okkulte detektiv Carnacki hjemsøgtehuse og steder i begyndelsen af forrige århundrede.

A house seemingly disconnected in time and space becomes the setting for brutal conflict between the hapless homeowner and a collection of grotesque semi-human creatures in this landmark of fantasy and horror. The House on the Borderland is the account of a man, known only as the recluse, who moves into a remote and shunned house and unwittingly finds himself suspended between worlds, traveling through time, and fighting for his life against a siege of misshapen monstrosities. The author’s sweeping imagination evokes a wide variety of fantastical effects, from eerie intimations of the weird to vivid manifestations of supernatural horror, from fabulous glimpses of otherworldly landscapes to direct combat with non-human assailants of murderous intent. First published in 1908, the novel quickly acquired a reputation as a rare and visionary example of cosmic horror that would influence and draw praise from H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Olaf Stapleton and others. As gripping and surreal as a fever dream, The House on the Borderland remains one of the most transporting destinations in literature. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The House on the Borderland is both modern and readable.

Unlike the traditional detective, the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, curses, and other supernatural elements. Some occult detectives are portrayed as being themselves psychic or in possession of other paranormal powers. The critic August Nemo selected seven mystery stories with the great experts in supernatural phenomena: The Gateway of the Monster by William Hope Hodgson, The House Among the Laurels by William Hope Hodgson, The Story of Saddlers Croft by E. and H. Heron, The Story of Baelbrow by E. and H. Heron, Green Tea by Sheridan Le Fanu, The Familiar by Sheridan Le Fanu and Aylmer Vance and the Vampire by Alice and Claude Askew. For more books with interesting themes, be sure to check the other books in this collection.

The Night Land (1912) is a terrifying tale of romance and fantasy in which William Hope Hodgson imagines humanity at the end of the world. Noted for its creative exploration of concepts such as telepathy, futuristic technologies, and reincarnation, Hodgson’s novel is an indisputable classic of literary science fiction. When a widower dreams of Earth in a far-off future, what he sees is nearly unrecognizable. The sun has been extinguished, and all human life has been forced to gather within the Last Redoubt, a metal pyramid looming miles above the darkened planet. Outside, monstrous forces gather, waiting for the mysterious energy source powering humanity’s last refuge to die out. When the narrator unexpectedly connects with a young woman telepathically, he makes the horrifying choice to leave the safety of the pyramid in order to search for her at the rumored Lesser Redoubt, long thought lost to the dark. The Night Land journeys to the outer reaches of space and time to see how far humanity will go to keep love, and itself, alive. Complex and kaleidoscopic, William Hope Hodgson’s The Night Land is a classic story of romance and loss projected into a harsh, unpredictable future. It is often considered a seminal work in the Dying Earth or apocalyptic subgenre of science fiction and fantasy. For its strange blend of futuristic imagery and archaic narration, the book was initially deemed difficult to read. However, as time has passed, and with the help of positive reviews by such figures as H. P. Lovecraft, The Night Land is now appreciated for the depths of its vision and the experimental nature of its form. For modern readers, who face the daily reality of a deadly pandemic and a future threatened by global climate disaster, Hodgson’s work can only prove timely. For fans of classic science fiction, horror, and fantasy, The Night Land is a guaranteed hit. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this new edition of William Hope Hodgson’s The Night Land is a classic work of science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

A house seemingly disconnected in time and space becomes the setting for brutal conflict between the hapless homeowner and a collection of grotesque semi-human creatures in this landmark of fantasy and horror. The House on the Borderland is the account of a man, known only as the recluse, who moves into a remote and shunned house and unwittingly finds himself suspended between worlds, traveling through time, and fighting for his life against a siege of misshapen monstrosities. The author’s sweeping imagination evokes a wide variety of fantastical effects, from eerie intimations of the weird to vivid manifestations of supernatural horror, from fabulous glimpses of otherworldly landscapes to direct combat with non-human assailants of murderous intent. First published in 1908, the novel quickly acquired a reputation as a rare and visionary example of cosmic horror that would influence and draw praise from H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Olaf Stapleton and others. As gripping and surreal as a fever dream, The House on the Borderland remains one of the most transporting destinations in literature. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The House on the Borderland is both modern and readable.

The Night Land (1912) is a terrifying tale of romance and fantasy in which William Hope Hodgson imagines humanity at the end of the world. Noted for its creative exploration of concepts such as telepathy, futuristic technologies, and reincarnation, Hodgson’s novel is an indisputable classic of literary science fiction. When a widower dreams of Earth in a far-off future, what he sees is nearly unrecognizable. The sun has been extinguished, and all human life has been forced to gather within the Last Redoubt, a metal pyramid looming miles above the darkened planet. Outside, monstrous forces gather, waiting for the mysterious energy source powering humanity’s last refuge to die out. When the narrator unexpectedly connects with a young woman telepathically, he makes the horrifying choice to leave the safety of the pyramid in order to search for her at the rumored Lesser Redoubt, long thought lost to the dark. The Night Land journeys to the outer reaches of space and time to see how far humanity will go to keep love, and itself, alive. Complex and kaleidoscopic, William Hope Hodgson’s The Night Land is a classic story of romance and loss projected into a harsh, unpredictable future. It is often considered a seminal work in the Dying Earth or apocalyptic subgenre of science fiction and fantasy. For its strange blend of futuristic imagery and archaic narration, the book was initially deemed difficult to read. However, as time has passed, and with the help of positive reviews by such figures as H. P. Lovecraft, The Night Land is now appreciated for the depths of its vision and the experimental nature of its form. For modern readers, who face the daily reality of a deadly pandemic and a future threatened by global climate disaster, Hodgson’s work can only prove timely. For fans of classic science fiction, horror, and fantasy, The Night Land is a guaranteed hit. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this new edition of William Hope Hodgson’s The Night Land is a classic work of science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

A 17th-century gentleman, mourning the death of his beloved, Lady Mirdath, is given a vision of a far-distant future where their souls will be re-united, and sees the world of that time through the eyes of a future incarnation. The Sun has gone out and the Earth is lit only by the glow of residual vulcanism. The last few millions of the human race are gathered together in a gigantic metal pyramid, nearly eight miles high - the Last Redoubt, under siege from unknown forces and Powers outside in the dark. These are held back by a shield known as the "air clog", powered from a subterranean energy source called the "Earth Current". For millennia, vast living shapes-the Watchers-have waited in the darkness near the pyramid. It is thought they are waiting for the inevitable time when the Circle's power finally weakens and dies. Other living things have been seen in the darkness beyond, some of unknown origins, and others that may once have been human. The narrator sets off alone into the darkness to find the girl he has made contact with, hoping that she is the reincarnation of his past love.

William Hope Hodgson's "cosmic horror" classic continues the Haunted Library of Horror Classics series. In a ruined house at the edge of an abyss lies the diary of a madman…Two friends on a fishing trip make an unsettling discovery when the river they've been following abruptly ends and reappears some 100 feet below the edge of an abyss. If that wasn't unnerving enough, the river runs along the remains of an oddly shaped house, half-swallowed by the pit. Within the ruins, they discover the moldering journal of an unidentified man—the Recluse—who had lived in the house years ago. Its pages reveal the man's apparent descent into madness—why else would he chronicle haunted visions, trips to other dimensions, and attacks by swine-like creatures that have followed him home? After a horrific vision in which he witnesses the end of the earth and time itself, the Recluse awakens in his study to find nothing has changed—except that his dog has dissolved into a pile of dust. And then the "swine things" return... Introduced by modern horror master Ramsey Campbell as "an enduring classic of cosmic terror," The House on the Borderland has inspired dozens of other classic horror novels and indelibly changed the genre. Influencing writers from H. P. Lovecraft to Terry Pratchett, this 1908 masterpiece shucks the conventions of Gothic horror and presents an eerie mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and the supernatural.

Cited by H. P. Lovecraft as ‘perhaps the greatest of all Mr. Hodgson's works’, this tale of a deserted house in Ireland hints at a terrifying evil. When two men on an innocent fishing trip encounter the enigmatic ruins of a house, they slowly uncover its secrets through the diary of its previous tenant. At each turn of the page, horrors begin to unfold, monsters are revealed and new dimensions exposed. A gripping story right to the very end, Hodgson’s masterful writing leads the reader into a nightmarish world from which there may be no escape. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and fantasy to science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. Each book features a brand new biography and glossary of Literary, Gothic and Victorian terms.

William Hope Hodgson was born on 15th November 1877 in Blackmore End near Braintree in Essex, the son of an Anglican priest and the second of 12 children. By the time he was 13 Hodgson ran away from his boarding school to become a sailor. He was caught and returned to his family, but was eventually allowed to be apprenticed for 4 years as a cabin boy. Bullying at sea caused him to take up self-defence through body-building which he would eventually use to start an on-shore business. He was also a keen photographer. In 1899, at age 22, he opened a School of Physical Culture in Blackburn "the inventor and teacher of a system that will cure indigestion". Hodgson soon found that he could not earn a living running his business and shut it down. He began writing articles on health but it was a limited market and so he turned to fiction, first publishing a short story in 1904. Hodgson also began to give paid lectures, illustrated with his photography, about his experiences at sea. He wrote a number of poems, with only a handful published during his lifetime, but continued to sell short stories to American and British magazines throughout his career, carefully managing the rights to maximize his revenue. Hodgson still lived with his mother and despite the critical success of his novels, he remained relatively poor. To alleviate this he began working on the first of his recurring characters, Thomas Carnacki, an occult detective. In 1912, Hodgson married Betty Farnworth, who wrote the "agony" column for the magazine Home Notes. They moved to the south of France, with its cheaper cost of living and there he continued to publish across genres, although financial security still to eluded him. With the outbreak of war they returned to England. Hodgson joined the University of London's Officers' Training Corps. In 1916, he was thrown from a horse and received a mandatory discharge. He returned to writing but recovered sufficiently to re-enlist. William Hope Hodgson was killed at the age of 40 by the direct impact of a shell at the Fourth Battle of Ypres in April 1918.

Two hikers out for an angling holiday in a remote part of Ireland, stumble upon a ruined house and find a manuscript written by its final resident that reveals an unknown world of subterranean horror. The House on the Borderland is one of three novels and two short stories in this collection that represent the best work of an early 20th century master of horror fiction, William Hope Hodgson.