One of the classics in this genre but best read as individual short stories as the episodes can be a bit repetitive and long winded (but they were paid by the word in those days, weren't they). Viewed from the 21st century Hodgson's devices have a 'steam-punk- quality that's perhaps even more entertaining than intended.
I don't find Lovecraft's vision of the otherworldly visitors at all at play here. These are strange, dangerous, and ghostly apparitions, but their harm is almost always localized. Hodgson summons great Lovecraftian fear and awe in his excellent novel The House on the Borderland.
I, like Pyrophage, enjoy these tales, though. Hodgson drones on a little too long, but the Carnacki is a likably fallible hero, unlike his relative contemporary Sherlock Holmes.
A great read for fans of early horror, detective fiction, and early speculative fiction.
Never read Hodgson before this. Interesting blend between Lovecraft's vision of the Supernatural and Doyle's detective work. I wonder if Carnacki ever encountered something that could be considered "impossible" before he achieved the merely improbable?
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on Nov 04, 2009 at 21:00
One of the classics in this genre but best read as individual short stories as the episodes can be a bit repetitive and long winded (but they were paid by the word in those days, weren't they). Viewed from the 21st century Hodgson's devices have a 'steam-punk- quality that's perhaps even more entertaining than intended.
on Mar 08, 2009 at 20:38
I don't find Lovecraft's vision of the otherworldly visitors at all at play here. These are strange, dangerous, and ghostly apparitions, but their harm is almost always localized. Hodgson summons great Lovecraftian fear and awe in his excellent novel The House on the Borderland.
I, like Pyrophage, enjoy these tales, though. Hodgson drones on a little too long, but the Carnacki is a likably fallible hero, unlike his relative contemporary Sherlock Holmes.
A great read for fans of early horror, detective fiction, and early speculative fiction.
on May 22, 2008 at 03:25
Never read Hodgson before this. Interesting blend between Lovecraft's vision of the Supernatural and Doyle's detective work. I wonder if Carnacki ever encountered something that could be considered "impossible" before he achieved the merely improbable?