{"id":480,"date":"2015-10-28T12:51:27","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T12:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/?p=480"},"modified":"2015-10-28T12:51:27","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T12:51:27","slug":"william-hope-hodgson-10-hes-alive-jim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/william-hope-hodgson-10-hes-alive-jim\/","title":{"rendered":"William Hope Hodgson 10: He’s Alive, Jim"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s mid-week madness with the all-singing, all-dancing William Hope Hodgson<\/strong> tribute, officially the best single author blog-fest since \u201cThe Toenail in 19th Century Bavarian Literature: Wilhelm Klemper \u2013 a Retrospective.\u201d<\/em> Scroll and run, dear listeners, as we enjoy more WHH curios, hear Sam Gafford<\/strong> unravel Hodgson’s publishing history, and feel rather confused after another speculative essay by James Bojiacuk<\/strong>. Is what he says possible, or has he taken one cold remedy too many?<\/p>\n

Our critical comment for the day is taken from Clark Ashton Smith<\/strong> in 1944:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all literature, there are few works so sheerly remarkable, so purely creative, as The Night Land. Only a great poet could have conceived and written this story.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The covers gallery has been updated yet again, and as we do so love weird art here at greydogtales<\/em>, we have to include Philippe Druillet<\/strong>‘s work for Editions Opta in 1971. I loved Moebius and Druillet when I was a teenager, so these WHH illos are perfect:<\/p>\n

\"Hodgson1\"\"Hodgson3\"<\/a> \"Hodgson2\"<\/a>Our first essay for today is from writer, editor and Hodgson critic Sam Gafford<\/strong>, whose only failing seems to be that he prefers cats to longdogs. It’s a crazy world…<\/p>\n

The Strange Case of the Books in the Night<\/h4>\n

Really, it\u2019s a miracle that anyone can read William Hope Hodgson at all these days. Not because of his style or language (as in his masterpiece, THE NIGHT LAND) but because he came perilously close to being completely forgotten.<\/p>\n

As many know, Hodgson died during the final months of WWI back in 1918. By that time, he had written and published his four novels as well as a collection of his Carnacki stories and two other collections of his short stories (MEN OF THE DEEP WATERS and THE LUCK OF THE STRONG) as well as the collection of stories around his other popular character, Captain Gault. Despite many strong reviews, Hodgson\u2019s books did not sell very well and soon began to fade into obscurity.<\/p>\n

Indeed, with the exception of THE EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN GAULT, none of Hodgson\u2019s books were even published in America during his lifetime. After his death, his widow arranged for publication of two volumes of Hodgson\u2019s poetry. Then, in 1920, London publisher Holden & Hardingham reprinted ALL of Hodgson\u2019s books in what was then called \u2018cheap editions\u2019.\u00a0 After that, Hodgson faded away.
\nFor over twenty-five years, there were no new editions of Hodgson published.<\/p>\n

Anywhere.<\/p>\n

Zip. Nada. Zilch.<\/p>\n

It would have stayed that way except for the efforts of one man: H. C. Koenig.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written before of Koenig\u2019s importance in keeping Hodgson\u2019s name alive and it is a story that bears repeating. Koenig was a collector and fan of weird fiction who discovered Hodgson\u2019s short story \u201cThe Voice in the Night\u201d in the landmark collection, THEY WALK AGAIN, edited by Colin de la Mare in 1931. After that, Koenig made it his mission to learn more about Hodgson and collect everything he could that Hodgson had written.<\/p>\n

Even still, the story might have ended there as well if it weren\u2019t for the fact that Koenig was also a close friend of H. P. Lovecraft. In a gesture of largesse that is almost inconceivable these days, Koenig eagerly lent many of his books to his friends and he sent Hodgson\u2019s four novels to Lovecraft for his perusal. Lovecraft was not kindly deposed to Hodgson at this time, having read the collection of Carnacki stories and not being particularly impressed. As such, Lovecraft put off reading the novels until 1934 when he became stunned by Hodgson\u2019s imagination if not by his writing style. Eagerly, Lovecraft passed those four books along through his circle of literary friends which included Clark Ashton Smith and August Derleth.\"whh\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lovecraft had become so impressed with Hodgson that he actually revised his groundbreaking essay, \u201cSupernatural Horror in Literature\u201d, to include his new discovery. Unfortunately, the essay had been appearing in chapters in a fanzine which folded before it could print the part that included Hodgson but the essay remained and would later have a greater impact when reprinted by Arkham House. That single essay probably did more to create Hodgson readers than anything else, as now every Lovecraft fan would read it and want to read those books as well.<\/p>\n

After Lovecraft\u2019s death in 1938, his friends Donald Wandrei and August Derleth (remember him?) partnered together and founded Arkham House in an effort to keep Lovecraft\u2019s name and works alive. Beyond Lovecraft, they accomplished much of the same for writers like Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard and even Hodgson. Finally breaking the dry spell, Arkham House published an omnibus volume of Hodgson in 1946 which included all four novels! The publication of this volume owed much, once again, to H.C. Koenig who had been working behind the scenes to place Hodgson\u2019s stories in various pulps and to convince Derleth to be the first American publisher to release these novels.<\/p>\n

\"AugustDerleth\"<\/a>
August Derleth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arkham House published a volume of Carnacki stories under their imprint Mycroft & Moran in 1947 which included three previously unpublished stories. And where did those stories come from? H. C. Koenig. Koenig was, at that time, in contact with Hodgson\u2019s surviving sister who sent him many of Hodgson\u2019s papers and manuscripts to further his efforts to place the work in American publications.<\/p>\n

A third Arkham House volume of Hodgson stories, Deep Waters, would not appear until 1967. Much of the contents for this book had been arranged by Koenig as well but twenty years earlier. Arkham House had suffered through tight finances in the past two decades and it is possible that Derleth might have needed extra coaxing before finally releasing the third book.<\/p>\n

Although Ace Books had released a paperback version of THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND in 1962, it wouldn\u2019t be until the 1970s that Hodgson\u2019s publishing history really picks up steam. Slowly, Hodgson began to appear more and more in paperback editions as well as some select hardcovers.<\/p>\n

In 1975, Sam Moskowitz published OUT OF THE STORM: UNCOLLECTED FANTASIES (Donald M. Grant Publishers) which includes, for the first time, many forgotten Hodgson stories as well as Moskowitz\u2019s massive essay on Hodgson and his work. It was a landmark in Hodgson criticism and study.<\/p>\n

By the early 1980s, Hodgson is in full bloom with all of his novels, and the Carnacki collection, available from various publishers including Sphere in the UK, which spearheads the revival. Small publishers, like Ian Bell, begin to release important volumes which spread Hodgson\u2019s influence and popularity.<\/p>\n

Since then, Hodgson\u2019s major works have never been out of print. The novels and major short stories are also available online. Small and genre publishers have taken up the standard and reprinted original editions as well as finding \u2018forgotten\u2019 and unpublished material. Hodgson is virtually ignored by major critics so these books have provided much scholarly criticism and study of Hodgson and his work.<\/p>\n

If you want to read Hodgson today, you can do so very easily. You can go online or find POD volumes available through Amazon or second hand copies through places like eBay. This was not the case back in 1940 or 1960, or even as recently as 1980. That twenty four year period between the Holden & Hardingham editions and Arkham House\u2019s THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND AND OTHER NOVELS were critical. Hodgson could have been completely forgotten and fallen into the type of obscurity that is the fate of many writers whether they deserve it or not. But he didn\u2019t. So next time you read that Hodgson book or short story, give a minute of thanks to H. C. Koenig because, if not for him, you probably wouldn\u2019t be able to.<\/p>\n

####<\/p>\n

Time for an intermission. Coil<\/strong> were an English industrial music group formed in the 1980s by Balance and Christopherson. The group was described as cross-genre and experimental, and produced this unusual reading of Hodgson’s poem Grief<\/em>.<\/p>\n