William Hope Hodgson Horror Stories

by William Hope Hodgson, Jonathan Newell (Foreword)

Hodgson, in the company of Algernon Blackwood, Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft, M.R. James, Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Machen, Arthur Conan Doyle and many other fine and distinguished authors of the late Victorian era, created the foundations of the modern short story, the weird, the dark and the delightful, the supernatural and the fantastic and the imaginative. This new collection of Hodgson's tales highlights his sinuous storytelling prowess, and range and depth of his wonderful work.

Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, as well as Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections, bring together the entire range of myth, folklore, epic literature and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

Genres: Weird Fiction

432 pages, Hardcover

First published April 16, 2024

About the author

William Hope Hodgson was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction, and science fiction. Early in his writing career he dedicated effort to poetry, although few of his poems were published during his lifetime. He also attracted some notice as a photographer and achieved some renown as a bodybuilder. Hodgson served with the British Army durng World War One. He died, at age 40, at Ypres, killed by German artillery fire.

Reviews

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Carnacki stories are the best here for me. The "trapped on a boat on the ocean " stories are ok to start with but get a bit limited as you go on - nature of the beast I guess.
Overall good plus this hardback edition looks really nice.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I didn't enjoy this as much as I'd hoped. I get why he's anthologized, but I suspect it's also bc he's better in small doses.
The Carnacki tales are kinda hit or miss. Some of them are neat, some are essentially Scooby doo episodes. The pseudo scientific analysis is interesting from a historical perspective, but also makes these stories seem dated.
Section 2 was stories about the ocean. Shut up about the ocean already. Show me on the doll where the ocean hurt you.
Seriously, I get that the ocean is creepy and huge and giant creatures can hide in it, but I felt like this section did go on. Also, some of these stories weren't supernatural, just a bummer. Boo. Boooooooo.
The Boats of Glen Carrig was aight. The old-timey wording kinda grated on me nerves, but the story was decent. A far superior version of How I Met Your Mother.
And finally, the Weird Tales. I kinda hate when the weird tales have a non-supernatural resolution. Also, WHY ARE YOU STILL ON ABOUT THE OCEAN?!?!?!
I stand by my 3 star rating. You may enjoy it more if you are OBSESSED WITH THE OCEAN.