W elektrycznym pentagramie by William Hope Hodgson

He joined up in the opening months of the war in 1914 but was then wounded in 1916 while he was training others in the movement and handling of big guns at Salisbury Plain.

Sam: Hodgson wrote a couple of ‘articles’ regarding some WWI topics such as “How the French Fought the War” and these were widely circulated during his time. Given the number of war poets and correspondents, is he himself known to have written anything during his military service years? Greydog: Hope Hodgson died late in the Great War, of course, as a result of a mortar bombardment. Hodgson gets great acclaim for his novels and deservedly so, but I feel that it’s in many of his short stories that his talent as a writer really shines. “A Tropical Horror” is a classic example of this as the action begins practically immediately as a giant sea monster attacks a lone ship and its crew. His short stories, in particular, are very powerful and sparsely written similar, in some ways, to a Hemingway.

Some may come to Hodgson out of historical interest now that he is considered an early pioneer of science fiction and horror but stay because of his stories.Īnother thing that might be helping is the fact that, except for THE NIGHT LAND, most of his fiction is written in a vibrant style that is more modern than some of his contemporaries like Wells, Blackwood or Lovecraft. I think that a lot of the reason for this popularity is due to the vivid imagination evident in his writing. His works are constantly being reprinted, much of his fiction is available free online and scholarly interest is at an all-time high. Sam: I’d venture to say that Hodgson is more popular today than he has ever been.

Basically, why are we still talking about him? What was so different about his work that he stands out even now? You’re one of the foremost WHH scholars around, so we’ll risk a very broad starter question. It’s an odd celebration, because we feel a mixture of sadness – after all, Hope Hodgson was twenty years younger than greydog when he was killed – and wonder, in that we are still discussing him and his work.

W elektrycznym pentagramie by William Hope Hodgson