{"id":2490,"date":"2016-07-20T18:28:53","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T18:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/?p=2490"},"modified":"2016-10-07T13:13:51","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T13:13:51","slug":"the-carnacki-conundrum-of-hogs-and-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/the-carnacki-conundrum-of-hogs-and-men\/","title":{"rendered":"The Carnacki Conundrum: Of Hogs and Men"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome, dear listener. Today, being short of elephants, we’re going to address the Carnacki<\/strong><\/span> in the room. If you have no idea what we’re talking about, then let us speak plainly. A few years before his death in the First World War, a man called William Hope Hodgson<\/strong> wrote nine short stories about a British occult detective, though only six were published in his lifetime. Oh, and it turns out that not all of the stories were actually occult.<\/p>\n

They were moderately popular. And that’s it.<\/p>\n

\"Holding<\/a>
Holding & Hardingham (1914)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, onto our longdog Django<\/strong> and his peculiar obsession with that polystyrene box in the garden\u2026<\/p>\n

No, wait. Something else happened, and most of it happened in the last twenty five years. More than a dozen writers have produced, or are still producing, tales which draw on Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki the Ghostfinder. Which is slightly surprising, really. You can divide these fellows and fellowesses into two broad groups, though they occasionally blend and recombine, like peculiar literary sponges\u00a0 (Most links given are UK sources,\u00a0 because we’re lazy).<\/em><\/p>\n

1. The Canonical Explorers<\/h2>\n

The Canonical Explorers<\/strong> have two great virtues. The first is that their stories are tales of Carnacki himself \u2013 they add directly to the original nine tales. The second is that they tease out the techniques, equipment and mythologies mentioned in the originals and do new things, but in the spirit of the old. We can’t name everyone, but three Explorers who stand out by virtue of repeated expeditions into this territory are authors Willie Meikle, Chico Kidd<\/strong> and Brandon Barrows<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Willie Meikle<\/strong><\/span> is the most prolific Explorer so far, with two full collections of Carnacki stories, some individual tales and a novella reflecting back on a piece of Carnackian technology. Willie takes Hodgsonian themes and devices one step further, and brings his particular sense of adventure and excitement to the Carnacki game. His excellent collection Carnacki: Heaven and Hell<\/em> is readily available, as is the related but non-Carnacki novella Pentacle<\/em>. The collection Watcher at the Gate<\/em> is also available, though a tad more expensive.<\/p>\n

\"CarnackiH&H\"carnacki: heaven and hell<\/a><\/p>\n

\"26183761\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Chico Kidd<\/strong><\/span> is the earliest Explorer, having produced a whole set of Carnacki stories in 1992 (with Rick Kennett<\/strong>) \u2013 and with a hint of her returning to the fold even now. Her collection is No. 472 Cheyne Walk: Carnacki, the Untold Stories<\/em>, and is ideal for those who want more canonical tales.<\/p>\n

\"51lCEQl+asL._SY445_QL70_\"no. 472 cheyne walk<\/a><\/p>\n

To Brandon Barrows<\/strong><\/span> we give the accolade of being the most recent serial offender. His collection, The Castle-Town Tragedy<\/em>, three Carnacki novellas, was produced as a limited edition, but there are rumours that paperback and e-format may follow, and he too may have more Carnacki short stories to come.<\/p>\n

\"Castle_20Town_20Tragedy_20color_20with_20Sinatra_20font_20low_20res_20final_original\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2. The Post-Mortem Voyagers<\/h2>\n

The Post-Mortem Voyagers<\/strong> have a single common factor: Carnacki is dead, so someone has to roll up their sleeves and get on with it. Their tales are therefore set in the late Edwardian period and after. Perhaps the most notable of this group is Josh Reynolds<\/strong>, with the old greydog<\/em> himself, John Linwood Grant<\/strong>, wandering along behind.<\/p>\n

Josh Reynolds<\/strong><\/span> has taken the ‘After Carnacki’ bull by the horns and produced a whole series of dashing tales concerning the Royal Occultist<\/em>. Charles St Cyprian is the direct inheritor of Thomas Carnacki’s role as (you guessed) the Royal Occultist, and with his feisty ‘assistant’ Ebe Gallowglass, engages in uncanny investigations across the first half of the 20th<\/sup> century. The psychic defence of the Empire itself falls on their shoulders during the process. There are numerous tales, including three major books \u2013 The Whitechapel Demon, The Jade Suit of Death<\/em> and The infernal Express<\/em>, as well as the novella The Door of Eternal Night<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"51-1wOxhlcL._SX310_BO1,204,203,200_\"the whitechapel demon<\/a><\/p>\n

\"book-cover-the-door-of-eternal-night_Final\"the doors of eternal night<\/a><\/p>\n

John Linwood Grant<\/strong><\/span> became curious about those who patiently sat and listened to Carnacki reciting his adventures, and therefore took a different route. His Tales of the Last Edwardian<\/em> are about the human side of that audience, and what they do when Carnacki is no more. His stories focus mainly on Henry Dodgson, the narrator in the originals, and the psychic Abigail Jessop, niece of another of Carnacki’s ‘gang’, as they throw themselves into a world of hidden occult and psychic threats, gathering allies such as the alienist Dr Alice Urquhart, Captain Redvers Blake of Military Intelligence and others.<\/p>\n

Dodgson, Jessop and Blake can be seen in his novella A Study in Grey<\/em>, three free taster stories on Smashwords, and in other stories being anthologised over 2016. An ‘origins’ novel, The House of Clay<\/em>, is also in progress (so he says).<\/p>\n

\"12517126_10209039147156962_2048152109_o\"a study in grey<\/a><\/p>\n

tales of the last edwardian<\/a><\/p>\n

As we referred earlier to blending and recombining, both Josh Reynolds and John Linwood Grant have also written the odd Canonical Explorer tale of Carnacki himself (see anthologies below<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Sam Gafford<\/strong><\/span>, Hope Hodgson scholar, editor and writer, deserves credit for being one of the main people who has worked to keep Carnacki (and Hope Hodgson in general) in the limelight. In the process he has published two relevant anthologies \u2013 Carnacki: The New Adventures<\/em> and Carnacki: The Lost Cases<\/em>. Several of the above authors are included in these two volumes, with the additional note that writers Charles R Rutledge<\/strong> and Robert M Price<\/strong> have also appeared in both.<\/p>\n

\"LOSTCASESc\"<\/a>carnacki: the lost cases<\/a><\/p>\n

\"newadventures\"carnacki: the new adventures<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s even been a high quality audio adaptation of six of the Carnacki stories this year, by Big Finish Productions<\/em>, which we covered at the time. It is excellent, both evocative and faithful to the original tales.<\/p>\n

\"audio<\/a>
audio from big finish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

carnacki audio<\/a><\/p>\n

You can read our full piece on the audio production here: carnacki lives!<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Carnacki?<\/h2>\n

Is there a reason why Carnacki continues to be popular with writers and readers? Yes. Yes there is. Oh, you want to know? We covered some of this in our Hope Hodgson festival last October, but it does no harm to recap and extend the argument we made back then. We see three key reasons, actually.<\/p>\n