The House on the Borderland - Softcover

Hodgson, William Hope

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786702826 ISBN 13: 9780786702824

Publisher: Running Press, 1996

Synopsis

At an ancient and crumbling estate, overrun by wild gardens, resides a man who has a most unusual story to tell--a story that blends horror, fantasy, and science fiction. As a beautifully written work of pure imagination, it has few equals, and has been compared to the writings of Poe, Machen, Blackwood and Lovecraft. Reprint.

About this title

Review

This classic novel of the weird supernatural, first published in 1908, was an important influence on H. P. Lovecraft. In the ruins of an ancient stone house in Ireland is found the diary of an elderly man who lived alone with his sister and their pets, and who longed for his lost love. The diary tells of how the man explores a cyclopean cavern beneath the house and fights off swarms of white pig-like monsters pouring up from below. Then, in a visionary sequence, he breaks through to an alternate space-time dimension and sees a doppelganger of his house on a vast desolate plain. The prose is hokey at times, but the strange mood evoked by the other-dimensional setting is powerful indeed. As acclaimed horror writer T. E. D. Klein says, "Never has a book so hauntingly conveyed a sense of terrible loneliness and isolation."

About the Author

William Hope Hodgson (15 November 1877 – April 1918) 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. He used his experiences at sea to lend authentic detail to his short horror stories, many of which are set on the ocean, including his series of linked tales forming the "Sargasso Sea Stories". His novels such as The Night Land and The House on the Borderland feature more cosmic themes, but several of his novels also focus on horrors associated with the sea. Early in his writing career he dedicated effort to poetry, although few of his poems were published during his lifetime. He died in World War I at the age of 40.

Edition details

• Publisher: Running Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0786702826
• ISBN 13: 9780786702824
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 188