William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918) was one of the pioneering authors of weird fiction in his time. Focusing, as few of his colleagues did, on the horror novel, Hodgson wrote such immortal works as "The House on the Borderland" (1908) and "The Night Land (1912)," while also writing many significant short stories such as "The Voice in the Night" and "The Mystery of the Derelict." And yet, Hodgson has so far failed to gain the recognition that is his due.
This volume, the first full-length book devoted to Hodgson's life and work, features a wealth of previously unavailable information on the British master of sea horror. Early reviews and essays by such critics as H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and Ellery Queen set the stage for wide-ranging pieces by leading Hodgson scholars on various aspects of his work. S. T. Joshi studies the supernatural in Hodgson's short stories; Mark Valentine and Leigh Blackmore analyze his very popular stories about Carnacki, the ghost-finder; Sam Gafford, in a series of papers, studies such topics as Hodgson's views on women and his early encounter with Harry Houdini; Emily Alder studies the use of maritime legends in Hodgson's work.
Other essays by Phillip A. Ellis, Henrik Harksen, Andy Sawyer, Brett Davidson, and others round out the volume. The book concludes with the first comprehensive bibliography of works by and about Hodgson, compiled by S. T. Joshi, Sam Gafford, and Mike Ashley. All told, this book is an exhaustive guide to the work of the weird writer whose life was tragically cut short on the battlefields of World War I.