100 Years Ago Today

A nice profile shot of WHH in uniform. Likely around 1916 or so.

Today, April 19^th, marks 100 years since the death of William Hope Hodgson.

By 1918, World War I (“The Great War”) had been raging for nearly four years since its beginning in July, 1914. When the war finally ended in November, 1918, the world had been changed. The European map had to be redrawn with the destruction of four Empires. An estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilians (including victims of several genocides not the least of which was the attempted extermination of the entire Armenian population by the Ottoman Empire) died as a result of the conflict. Many of the casualties were results of the increased technological and industrial advances which made new methods of war such as chemical warfare possible.

The Great War effectively eliminated almost an entire generation of young men and also had a powerful impact on the world of art and literature. The war claimed the lives of Wilfred Owen (poet), Alain-Fournier (novelist), August Macke (painter), H. H. Munro (writer) and many others.

In the 1989 collection, The Lost Voices of World War I: An International Anthology of Writers, Poets and Playwrights, Tim Cross presents a list of approximately 750 names while commenting that “a complete list of all poets, playwrights, writers, artists, architects and composers who died as a result of the First World War is an impossible task”.

William Hope Hodgson is a part of that long, sad list.

When war broke out in 1914, Hodgson was still living in France with his wife, Bessie.  They had been married for only a few months more than a year. Hodgson, with typical patriotic fever, rushes back to England to enlist while sending his wife back to live with his mother and sister in Borth.

In July of 1915, Hodgson is commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 171^st Battery of the Royal Field Artillery. He adamantly refuses to join the Royal Navy despite his more than ample qualifications for sea duty. (It has been noted by many that this is indeed ironic because, had Hodgson joined the Royal Navy, he would have had a far greater chance of surviving the war.)

Shortly under a year later, in June of 1916, Hodgson is thrown from a horse and suffers a broken jaw and major concussion and is sent home to recover. R. Alain Everts makes the contention that this injury will follow Hodgson for the rest of his brief life.

No doubt his Commanding Officer and division had thought that the injury would have been enough to end Hodgson’s participation in the war but, true to form, Hodgson refused to accept the limitations of his body. Relying on his knowledge of physical culture, Hodgson pushes himself back to health and re-enlists. This time he is assigned to the 84^th Battery and sent to France in October of 1917.

At this point, he has less than six months to live.

During the spring of 1918, the 84^th Battery participates in a series of battles and is part of the efforts to turn back the German army’s push.

Everts recounts Hodgson’s final days:

On 12 March, 1918 the Brigade took over positions at Brombeck, and on 20 March, sustained heavy gas shelling and high velocity shelling at the Tourelle Crossroads nearby.  On 30 March, they were relieved by Belgian Artillery, and on 2 April the Battery marched to the Ploegsteert area to relieve Australian Artillery.  This was to be the scene of the final act of Hodgson’s valiant life.

The Battery took a position at Le Touquet Berthe.  The Front was quite silent for a time—and for the first time there were no casualties in action.  On 9 March the Germans attacked south of the Armentieres and penetrated allied lines for some distance and forced the British to move further north from Steenbeke.  On the dawn of the following day, the Battery had undergone heavy night shelling and all communications were cut.  The Germans advanced and the front section of the Battery had to retreat, leaving behind their guns, which they blew up.  The Germans circled behind Hope’s Battery and approached to within 200 yards forcing the whole detachment to fall back.

On the day of 10 April 1918, the Germans launched a big attack, and apparently this put Hodgson in hospital briefly.  On the night of 16 April the Battery withdrew, and a Forward Observation Post was set up.  The man who volunteered for the Forward Observing Office the next day—17 April—on Mont Kemmel, was none other than W. Hope Hodgson.  The details surrounding the tragic death of Hope can now be clarified after nearly 55 years—and in clarifying them some errors regarding his death have been corrected.  His Commanding Officer filled in the details—on Thursday, 18 April, he sent Hodgson with another N.C.O. on Forward Observation.  On 19 April, Hope was heard from once and then there was silence from him for the remainder of the day.  That day, 19 April, William Hope Hodgson was reported missing in action to his C.O.  The following day, under continuous fire, the C.O. went to check himself to determine the fate of his F.O.O.’s.  He eventually found a French officer who showed him a helmet with the name Lt. W. Hope Hodgson on it—and reported that a British Artillery Officer and a Signaler had suffered a direct hit by a German artillery shell on 19 April and had both been blown nearly completely apart.  What little remained was buried on the spot—at the foot of the eastern slope of Mont Kemmel in Belgium.  During this period, the C.O. was under continuous fire, and upon his return to base, he confirmed the death of Lt. W. Hope Hodgson, and it was entered on 23 April.¹ 

Photo of German artillery barrage at Ypres.

Hodgson’s Commanding Officer wired the heart-breaking news to Hodgson’s mother and wrote:

“I cannot express my deep sympathy for you in your great bereavement.  I feel it most terribly myself, and so do all the other officers and men of the battery.  He was the life and soul of the mess—always so willing and cherry.  Of his courage I can give no praise that is high enough.  He was always volunteering for any dangerous duty, and it was owing to his entire lack of fear that he probably met his death on April 17.  He had performed wonders of gallantry only a few days before, and it is a miracle that he survived that day.  I myself am deeply grieved, having lost a real, true friend and a splendid officer.”²

Hodgson’s obituary appeared in newspapers around the world, signifying his stature in the writing world. Of these many notices, The Times is perhaps the most poignant:

Second Lieutenant W. Hope Hodgson, RFA, killed in action on April 17, was the second son of the late Rev. Samuel Hodgson, and the author of “The Boats of the ‘Glen Carrig’”, “The Night Land”, “Men of the Deep Waters” and other books.  His early days were spent in the merchant service, where he gathered his material for many of his thrilling sea stories.  He was a notable athlete, a fine boxer, a strong swimmer, and an all-round good sportsman.  He was awarded the Royal Humane Society’s medal for saving life at sea.  At the outbreak of the war Lieutenant Hodgson was living in Sanary, on the south coast of France.  He returned to England, joined the University of London Officer Training Corps. and got his commission in the RFA in 1915.  As the result of a serious accident in camp, he was gazetted out of the Army in 1916; but he never rested until he passed the medical board as fit, and obtained another commission in March 1917, in the RFA.  He saw much active service round Ypres during last October.³

There was nothing left of Hodgson’s body to send home. This was not an uncommon experience in war. Many soldiers died in foreign lands with nothing left to send back home to their grieving families. What often takes their place are memorial cemeteries that honor those who had fallen. There is one such cemetery in Belgium. At Tyne Cot Cemetery, William Hope Hodgson’s name is engraved.

Like many casualties of war, we are left to wonder what Hodgson could have accomplished if he had not died so tragically young. It seems almost certain that Hodgson would have returned to writing as a source of income. At the time of his death, Hodgson had been concentrating more on adventure stories and serial characters. It had been years since he had written a novel but there is a chance that his experiences could have inspired him back to that form.

Although we have very little in terms of letters from Hodgson, we do have this excerpt courtesy of Sam Moskowitz where Hodgson writes to his mother:

“The sun was pretty low as I came back, and far off across that desolation, here and there they showed–just formless, squarish, cornerless masses erected by man against the infernal Storm that sweeps for ever, night and day, day and night, across that most atrocious Plain of Destruction.  My God!  talk about a Lost World–talk about the end of the World; talk about the ‘Night Land’–it is all here, not more than two hundred odd miles from where you sit infinitely remote.  And the infinite, monstrous, dreadful pathos of the things one sees–the great shell-hole with over thirty crosses sticking in it; some just up out of the water–and the dead below them, submerged….If I live and come somehow out of this (and certainly, please God, I shall and hope to), what a book I shall write if my old ‘ability’ with the pen has not forsaken me.”4

One hundred years ago today, William Hope Hodgson walked his own path to that ‘Plain of Destruction’, never to come out again.

 

William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918)

 

Notes:
1.  Everts, R. Alain. Some Facts in the Case of William Hope Hodgson: Master of Fantasy. Soft Books, 1987.

2.   Ibid.

3.   Ibid.

4.  Moskowitz, Sam. Out of the Storm: Uncollected Fantasies by William Hope Hodgson. Donald M. Grant, 1973.

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On What Day Did Hodgson Die?

Determining the exact day when William Hope Hodgson was killed is not as easy as one would think.

In most cases, especially those during wartime, the day and time of death is usually carefully noted. This is because, generally, there are either witnesses or evidence that can be used to make such determinations.

Unfortunately, in Hodgson’s case, there are conflicting reports. Some give the day of Hodgson’s death as April 17^th, some as April 18^th and still others as April 19^th.

R. Alain Everts gives this account of Hodgson’s final days:

On the day of 10 April 1918, the Germans launched a big attack, and apparently this put Hodgson in hospital briefly.  On the night of 16 April the Battery withdrew, and a Forward Observation Post was set up.  The man who volunteered for the Forward Observing Office the next day—17 April—on Mont Kemmel, was none other than W. Hope Hodgson.  The details surrounding the tragic death of Hope can now be clarified after nearly 55 years—and in clarifying them some errors regarding his death have been corrected.  His Commanding Officer filled in the details—on Thursday, 18 April, he sent Hodgson with another N.C.O. on Forward Observation.  On 19 April, Hope was heard from once and then there was silence from him for the remainder of the day.  That day, 19 April, William Hope Hodgson was reported missing in action to his C.O.  The following day, under continuous fire, the C.O. went to check himself to determine the fate of his F.O.O.’s.  He eventually found a French officer who showed him a helmet with the name Lt. W. Hope Hodgson on it—and reported that a British Artillery Officer and a Signaler had suffered a direct hit by a German artillery shell on 19 April and had both been blown nearly completely apart.  What little remained was buried on the spot—at the foot of the eastern slop of Mont Kemmel in Belgium.  During this period, the C.O. was under continuous fire, and upon his return to base, he confirmed the death of Lt. W. Hope Hodgson, and it was entered on 23 April.  The official report was forwarded to England, and most likely it specified that Hodgson was killed the previous week, since it was recorded on the official register in London, and the death certificate rolls, as 17 April.  On 24 April the Germans attacked the right flank of the 84^th Battery and the following day they launched another large attack.  During all this confusion, it is not difficult to see how an error came to be made.  In fact the C.O.’s memory for details after 55 years proves to be quite accurate, for on 17 April, no F.O.O.’s were sent out according to the official diary of the Brigade.¹

This would seem to be a very straight forward account of the event.  On the 18^th, Hodgson and another man set up the Forward Observation post. On the 19^th, a report is sent in and received. When no other word arrives from the post, the Commanding Officer himself goes in search of his men on April 20^th and is told that the two men were literally blown to pieces by a mortar shell on the 19^th.

The primary confusion regarding this date comes from two sources: the entry on the death certificate rolls and from Sam Moskowitz’s biographical essay about Hodgson. This would appear to be a case of the former creating the latter.

Pictured below is a photo Hodgson’s military service card which lists his enlistment and death dates:

This notes the date of death as the 17^th and is supportive of the claims in the Everts article.

In his introduction to Out of the Storm, Sam Moskowitz quotes Hodgson’s good friend, A. St. John Adcock, describing the events as:  “A week or two later, on the 17^th of April, 1918, he was killed in action, whilst serving as an observation officer.”²

Moskowitz, although quoting St. John Adcock, himself writes: “Evidence points to the fact Hodgson actually was killed April 19, 1918”.³

It is confusing why, if Moskowitz had such evidence, he would repeat the erroneous date of April 17^th that St. John Adcock likely took from the official record. Why present the one date if you believe, and have supporting evidence, that it was a different date?

Unfortunately, misinformation abounds and even more so in our electronic age. Those who are simply looking for a quick answer to a date may take the first they see or what is presented on an official report.

So, let me state for the record that, based on the information quoted by Everts (and which I believe Moskowitz was also privy to), William Hope Hodgson was killed on April 19, 1918.

Please join us in two days for a memorial to Hodgson on what will be the Centennial of his unfortunate death.

 

Notes:
1.  Everts, R. Alain. Some Facts in the Case of William Hope Hodgson: Master of Fantasy. Soft Books, 1987.

2.  Moskowitz, Sam. Out of the Storm: Uncollected Fantasies by William Hope Hodgson. Donald M. Grant, 1973.

 

For more of Everts’ excellent biographical article, I refer you to this blog entry:
https://williamhopehodgson.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/the-life-of-william-hope-hodgson-part-1/

Portrait of Hodgson by Dave Felton, an excellent artist and gentleman!

Guillermo del Toro on Hodgson

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (or live in Puerto Rico where many people STILL don’t have electricity months after a devastating hurricane), then you know that Guillermo del Toro won big at the 2018 Oscars. His groundbreaking film, THE SHAPE OF WATER, won FOUR awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Original Score and Production Design. This is not surprising to genre fans who have long known of del Toro’s talents but it was surprising to see the normally staid Academy Awards also recognize his film with such awards especially as two of them are the most highly prized Oscars of the night (Best Director and Best Picture).

But what does all of this have to do with the price of fish or Hodgson for that matter?

Well, it turns out that del Toro is also a big fan of William Hope Hodgson!

My first clue about this came with the news story that surfaced this morning detailing a Twitter storm that del Toro had unleashed in praise of the work of director John Carpenter (HALLOWEEN, THE THING, really, do I have to list all the great films he’s made?). While Twittering about Carpenter’s film, THE FOG, del Toro had this to say:

“Beyond him quoting Machen verbally, the film feels like Hope Hodgson, Machen, Hawthorne, Washington Irving, etc via B movie verve.”

(You can read the whole article here: https://storify.com/tvaziri/guillermo-del-toro-s-tweetstorm-about-john-carpent)

This set me to looking for other instances of del Toro referencing Hodgson. Turns out that there are a few out there.

In a March, 2002, interview with THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE (which was in support of BLADE 2 which del Toro directed), he drops this tantalizing hint:

“So my favorite authors would be Bradbury, Clarke Ashton Smith, William Hope Hodgson … “

(The rest of the article is here: https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2002-03-08/84931/)

This is an important distinction in that del Toro is calling Hodgson one of “my favorite authors”.

In July, 2013, interview with del Toro and actress Rinko Kikucki in support of PACIFIC RIM, there was this interesting exchange:

The movie comes from the Japanese Kaiju tradition. What can fans of the genre expect from “Pacific Rim”?

GD: They’re going to see some stuff that is honoring tradition, and a lot of stuff that is my own take on the tradition. What I think was unique about Ishiro Honda is that he was very well versed in the fantastic. One of my favorite movies of his is “Matango,” and “Matango” is based on a very obscure short story called “A Voice in the Night” by William Hope Hodgson, who is a great author of strange fiction that influenced Lovecraft, and a guy I was fascinated by as a kid. And when I saw he did “Matango,” I felt a kinship that I felt with somebody like [Ray] Harryhausen, somebody that is really a lover and a connoisseur of the genre. It would have been an honor to meet him and to geek out with him.

I would debate the statement that “A Voice in the Night” is “very obscure” but the important point that del Toro raises is that he was “fascinated by [Hodgson] as a kid.” Clearly, he has been a fan of Hodgson for some time.

(The rest of the interview is here: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/928966/guillermo-del-toro-and-actress-rinko-kikuchi-talk-pacific-rim)

Del Toro has even used his Twitter account to promote Hodgson!

On November 17, 2015, del Toro posted this Tweet:

Book: The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. Adored by HPL. A summit of Cosmic horror. Scary, disturbing and magical

 

Later, on January 22, 2016, del Toro posted this:

Book: The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson. Uneven collection of stories but peppered w mind-blowing images.

 

These are just the mentions I could find online during a routine search. It’s very likely that there are more. If you know of any (either in print, online or in dvd commentaries), please message me with the information and I will include it in a later update along with crediting you with the find.

Now, if we could only convince del Toro to give up that silly AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS project and instead do a film version of THE NIGHT LAND!

New HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND edition!

I was previously sworn to secrecy over this but, with the recent announcement this past weekend, I can now inform everyone that a new edition of THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND is now available for pre-order!

This new edition is being published by Swan River Press as a hardcover with an introduction by legendary writer Alan Moore, an afterword from Iain Sinclair with art by John Coulthart. A cd of music inspired by the book is also included. Moore is a longtime fan of Hodgson having written the introduction to Richard Corben’s graphic novel adaptation of this same book (Vertigo, 2003) and included Hodgson’s immortal ghost-hunter, Carnacki, as a member of his LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. Iain Sinclair wrote several afterwords to Hodgson’s work years ago and this was one of the most controversial of those essays.

This promises to not only be a landmark edition but to sell out very quickly! I would recommend pre-ordering as soon as possible!

You can find ordering information here:
http://swanriverpress.ie/title_borderland.html

 

Happy 140th Birthday, William Hope Hodgson!

Today would have been Hodgson’s 140th birthday. Clearly, even if he had survived WWI, he still wouldn’t be with us today but, who knows? With his devotion to physical culture, he could have achieved Immortality by now!

It’s tough to adequately express what Hodgson has meant to me personally over the years. I certainly never expected to become so involved in the study of his life and work when I first that first book. Perhaps that is a result of the fact that, back then, it was a lot harder to find any of his books much less read about him.

I first read Hodgson back around 1981 or so. On one of my first visits to Providence, RI, from Darien, CT, I was prowling one of the many used book stores that were on the East Side back then. (Sadly, all of those, including bookstores selling new books, have all vanished by now.) I chanced upon a copy of the Donald M. Grant edition of OUT OF THE STORM and was intrigued. By then, I had already read Lovecraft’s essay, “Supernatural Horror in Literature”, and was aware of Hodgson but hadn’t been able to find any of his books. This was actually a very dry period for Hodgson when he was coming close to falling out of the public’s eye again due to lack of reprints. My good friend, S.T. Joshi, who was with me in the store at the time, saw me looking at the book and recommended it to me highly.

From the very first story, I was (forgive the pun) hooked.

I’d long had a fascination with the literature of the sea (despite an almost pathological terror of it) and Hodgson’s inclusion of horror and giant monsters was just the sort of thing I was looking for. I loved the stories and wanted more! But, in those pre-internet days, I had to wait.

Shortly after, in 1982, I was attending the World Fantasy Convention in New Haven, CT, with ‘the Providence Pals’ when I chanced upon a dealer selling the complete run of Sphere paperback reprints of Hodgson’s works. All four novels and CARNACKI. I snapped them up immediately, not caring how much they cost. By the end of that weekend, I was a devoted ‘Hodgsonian’.

I found in Hodgson’s work a unique imagination that was boundless and peppered with instance of absolute terror. That first time reading THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND and THE NIGHT LAND will always be with me. But, damn it all! What about the man?

It wasn’t easy finding good material about Hodgson. Beyond the Moskowitz introduction in OUT OF THE STORM, and the few pieces by R. Alain Everts I’d been able to track down, there wasn’t much.

This bothered me.

Why wasn’t Hodgson being studied? Why weren’t his short stories in collections? Where were the scholarly and critical articles about his work? Slowly, with the help of others like S.T. Joshi, I was starting to put together more information and soon found myself in the unexpected but welcomed role of Hodgson spokesman.

Since those lean years of the 1980s, Hodgson has become more well known and there are now more articles written about him (along with doctoral thesis) then ever before. NIGHT SHADE books are beginning to reprint their fine five volume set of the Complete Fiction (more on that in an upcoming post) and several other publishers are planning memorial publications for next year which will be the 100th anniversary of Hodgson’s death atop that hill in Ypres.

I feel safe in the knowledge that Hodgson will endure and continue to attract new readers in the years and decades ahead. His work is far more available today than it has been at any time in his life and, above all else, I think that would make him very happy indeed.

Happy birthday, my old friend.

(Hodgson art by the extraordinarily talented Dave Felton.)

Hodgson panel at NecronomiCon 2017!

Now that I’ve had some time to recover from NecronomiCon 2017 where I was on two panels and set up in the dealer’s room for three days, I can finally sit down and proclaim the inaugural Hodgson panel a resounding success!

I’m not as comfortable with public speaking as I used to be when I was younger so was a bit nervous but we had a large, enthusiastic crowd and great panelists! Unfortunately, the panel was not recorded as I think many who couldn’t attend would have enjoyed hearing it. Perhaps we’ll film the next one!

The panel consisted of The Joey Zone (as moderator), Michael Cisco, Nick Gucker, Adam Golaski and myself. Joey Z got us started with some excellent questions and Michael and Adam contributed a great deal of welcome literary analysis. I was asked to explain the Hodgson/Houdini connection which I was happy to do and maintain that it was a pivotal experience in the lives of both men. Adam Golaski spoke specifically about his appreciation for Hodgson’s characters which was good to hear as WHH often takes quite a few knocks regarding this. Nick Gucker spoke about his fondness for Hodgson’s stories and how they influenced his art as well as providing a resounding defense of MATANGO, the only feature length film to be based on a Hodgson tale. Michael Cisco discussed placing Hodgson into the context of the literary scene of his day as well as reviewing some of Hodgson’s themes and plots.

During a question and answer period, a guest asked what we thought had inspired Hodgson to write THE NIGHT LAND and THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND. I rather impishly responded, “Poverty”. Although that question might have technically been correct, the questioner was looking for more discussion about what influenced WHH. Adam very ably took up the question and provided some very probing insights. The sad fact remains that, without finding more primary sources like his letters and such, much of what we say is speculation. We can make guesses, surmises, deductions but we can never know for sure. After all these years, that remains my most frustrating aspect of Hodgson studies. The man himself still eludes us.

At the end of the panel, Joey Z announced that Swan River Press will be publishing a new edition of THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND with an introduction by Alan Moore and an afterword by Iain Sinclair. As if that is not enough to make one excited, acclaimed artist John Coulthart is providing the illustrations! Joey Z was supremely kind in getting a file of one of the pieces and presenting it to me on a foamboard! I will have to get a picture of it once I get it framed.

Lastly, courtesy of Todd Chicoine (the official photographer of NecronomiCon and all around swell guy), here are two photos of the panel:

(L-R: Nick Gucker, myself, The Joey Zone, Michael Cisco)

(L-R: Adam Golaski, Nick Gucker, myself, The Joey Zone)

Nick has a MATANGO figure on the table before him (I was and still am very envious of this!), there’s a copy of VOICES FROM THE BORDERLAND (still available from Hippocampus Press) and my copy of the 1946 Arkham House edition of THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND AND OTHER NOVELS in front of me, and Joey Z has a copy of the chapbook THE OUTER MONSTROSITIES which featured some spectacular Hodgsonian artwork from Nick Gucker!

I’d like to thank everyone who came to the panel! We probably could’ve talked for another hour as there were so many things we didn’t get to cover such as WHH’s relationship with his father, his time at sea and his war years. Maybe next time, right, Joey Z?

 

HODGSON PANEL!

Sorry for the silence but I’ve been working on a number of different projects including preparing to take part in a panel about the life and work of William Hope Hodgson which will be taking place at Necronomicon Providence next weekend!

This is the first Hodgson panel at Necronomicon and it promises to be a great one. Here’s the description from their website:

WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON: AN APPRECIATION – Omni 2
Now considered to be one of the founding fathers of both science fiction and weird literature, Hodgson died relatively unknown during the close of WWI. His work would go on to be hailed by such writers as Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Lovecraft, Ellery Queen, and others. During his life, Hodgson sailed around the world seven times, rescued a crewmate from shark infested waters, chained Houdini, and was one of the first to photograph storms at sea. Today, he is widely known as the author of four groundbreaking novels and often anthologized short stories. Learn more about this fascinating man, his life and his work at this panel featuring some of the foremost Hodgsonian experts.
Panelists: Michael Cisco, Sam Gafford, Nick Gucker, The joey Zone (Moderator)

The panel takes place on Sunday, August 20th, at 1:30pm. It’s going to be a great time so if you’re going to be at the convention, please come and listen to me ramble on and on until someone has the good sense to shut me up!

I make very few public appearances these days and will likely make less in the future so if you do have any interest in hearing me talk about Hodgson, this will be your best chance!

Hope to see you there!

(Btw, here is the link to the website for Necronomicon Providence so you can check out all their other great programming:

http://necronomicon-providence.com/welcome/ )

 

 

An Apology

About three years ago, I reprinted (in multiple parts) R. Alain Everts essay, “The Life of William Hope Hodgson”. My reason for doing this was not for any personal gain but to share the knowledge within what I believed (and still believe) to be one of the most important biographical essays on Hodgson. Due to the limited appearance of the original essay, it had not been seen by many readers and I hoped that my reprinting it would not only spread the information contained in Everts’ article but would hopefully encourage others to take that work further.

However, what I did NOT do was contact Mr. Everts before reprinting that essay and gain his permission. This was an egregious error on my part which I can only chalk up to my enthusiasm over the article and desire to share it. Regardless of my motives, I did not perform my due diligence in this matter given that the copyright for the article is now, and always has been, owned by Mr. Everts.

I have removed the posts reprinting the article. I apologize profusely to Mr. Everts and to all of the readers of this blog for my error in judgment. I encourage other Hodgson scholars to seek out Mr. Everts original publication of the article as it is extremely helpful in getting a biographical understanding of WHH’s life.

In the future, I vow that any copyrighted material that appears on this blog is approved by the copyright holders.

I have always tried to comport myself honestly and professionally in all of my public and private matters. Sadly, no one is perfect and mistakes are often made. When I have made mistakes, I freely admit them as I am doing here.

Again, my deepest apologies to Mr. Everts and all of those who read this blog regularly.

Sam Gafford

 UPDATE!

I am pleased to announce that I have received permission from R. Alain Everts to keep his excellent article, “The Life of William Hope Hodgson”, up on this blog! I am very appreciative to Mr. Everts for extending this permission and glad that it can remain available for all readers and future WHH scholars.

The article is broken up into 8 parts. The first of which is here:https://williamhopehodgson.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/the-life-of-william-hope-hodgson-part-1/You can read the other parts by following the “Next Post” links at the bottom.It is my sincere hope that this will lead to new works by Mr. Everts on WHH in the future either on this blog or in other publications.

 

 

Hodgson Comic!

Blog reader Tim Tylor sent in a link to a blog that reproduces a 10 page adaptation of Hodgson’s “The Derelict”! I’ve often been mystified that WHH has not been adapted more in comics and other media so am very happy to see this. Unfortunately, near as I can tell, the blog does not credit where this was printed or who did the writing/artwork! I am further hampered at my inability to read Spanish so can anyone provide any more information about this excellent adaptation?

Because I do not own these images, I am reproducing only two select pages from this tale. You can see the story in full by clicking over to the blog link later in this post.

I really love the artwork here and feel it captures the mood and horror of Hodgson’s story perfectly. Anyone know who the artist might be?

To read the rest of this great story, go to Jose Aviles’ blog at:

http://joseavilesblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/derelict-de-w-h-hodgson.html

His entry is dated 2009 so clearly the adaptation precedes it. I’m very curious to learn more about this and wonder if there might be more Hodgson comic stories out there waiting to be found?

 

 

 

 

 

SARGASSO #3 Now Available

The third, and final, issue of SARGASSO is now available to order through Amazon!

At 150 pages, this may be the best issue yet!  The contents include:

 

Essays

 

“A Particular Phase of Constructive Thought: Hodgson’s Trilogy of Novels”

by Joseph Hinton

 

“Utter Quiet in All the Land: A Recurring Motif”

by Ryan Jefferson

 

“The House on the Borderland: The Ultimate Horror Novel”

by Liam Garriock

 

“Ye Hogge”: Liminality and the Motif of the Monstrous Pig in Hodgson’s “The Hog” and The House on the Borderland”

By Leigh Blackmore

 

“The House on the Burren: The Physical and Psychological Foundations of The House on the Borderland”

by Joseph Hinton

 

“Terminal Eden: The Last Redoubt and the Closure of History”

by Brett Davidson

 

Poetry

 

“The Beautiful Mirdath”

By Charles Danny Lovecraft

 

 

“From a Mariner on the Glen Carrig”

By Charles Danny Lovecraft

 

 

“Night Land—And What I Saw”

by Charles Danny Lovecraft

 

 

Fiction

 

“Corpse-Light”

by Josh Reynolds

 

“A Hideous Communion”

by James Gracey

 

Front and back cover art are once again by the incomparable Robert Knox!

Copies can be ordered via this link or, if you are outside the US, try your international Amazon website.

And, of course, the first two issues of SARGASSO are also still available on Amazon.

Putting together these three issues was a great deal of work and frustration. I hope that, in its small way, they have helped increase interest about Hodgson and his work.

Thanks for all your support!