The House on the Borderland (1908)

-
by William Hope Hodgson

Halloween Reviews 2020




A mysterious recluse buys an ancient house that is reputed to have been built by the Devil and learns that it is the portal to another dimension of horror. 
William Hope Hodgson's seminal horror novel is of interest for its historical significance as an inspiration to writers of weird fiction, but it has much to recommend it on its own merits as well. 
William Hope Hodgson
The framing device, in which contemporary figures discover a first person account that provides the bulk of the story is a familiar trope of the genre and probably makes one of its earliest appearances here. 
It sets an atmosphere of dread very successfully. 
The first part of the story, concerning the recluse’s struggle with the Swine-Things that besiege the house and the last part concerning his mysterious fate are tightly written and eerie. 
Unfortunately, there is a lot of dead weight as well--namely, some spiritualistic nonsense about reuniting with a former love on the shores of the Sea of Sleep and an interminable interlude in which the recluse flits about a rapidly aging universe. 
Some reviewers complain about Hodgson’s prose style. 
I suppose some allowances must be made since he was conforming to stylistic norms of more than a century ago, but it wasn’t a barrier for me since I listened to the excellent audio version produced by the Tales to Terrify podcast, and a good reader can make up for some clunky writing. 
(I wish I could remember the reader’s name, but I recommend searching this version out.) 
By the way, the appearance of the fungus at the end of this story reminds me of a short story written by Hodgson called “The Voice in the Night,” a remarkable sea story in which a hideous fungus is encountered. 
I encountered it in one of the compilations of stories from Weird Tales magazine that is available on Kindle.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hamilton (2020)

-
Image
Director: Thomas Kail Writers: Lin-Manuel Miranda, based on the book by Ron Chernow Stars: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr., Phillipa Soo, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos This powerful Broadway musical provides an exciting, explosive account of Alexander Hamilton’s battle to transcend his outsider status as a low born bastard from the West Indies and gain the respect and power in America that will ultimately grant him access to “the room where it happens,” the place where policy is made and the course of the nation is set.  This filmed record of the stage production, assembled from two performances, showcases the energy of the performers.  In addition to the quality of the play, it is astonishing just to witness the complex interplay of music, rap, and choreography in long unbroken takes.  Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and the book and made the bold choice to cast it almost exclusively with people of color.  This...
Read more

The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time #3) (1991)

-
Image
by Robert Jordan This novel draws Robert Jordan's large cast of characters, scattered during the events of the previous book, together once again for a confrontation with evil in the city of Tear, where Rand al'Thor, now becoming widely acknowledged as the much anticipated and dreaded Dragon Reborn, must claim a legendary sword in accordance with prophecy. Robert Jordan  Jordan has quite a few balls in the air already in a series that numbers fourteen fat novels.  Judging from the opinions of readers of the later books, it looks as though this profusion of heroes, villains, and schemes may ultimately serve to diffuse the drama of Jordan's story; however, this novel maintains its narrative momentum by showing us how our cast of characters converge for an action-packed climax.  Rand is oddly missing from most of this tale, but we gain some intriguing insights into other characters. "The Dragon Reborn" (Spanish) "The Dragon Reborn" (Italian)
Read more

Lust, Caution (2007)

-
Image
Director: Ang Lee Writers: James Schamus, Hui-Ling Wang, based on a story by Eileen Chang Stars: Tang Wei, Tony Leung, Joan Chen, Leehom Wang, Chung-Hua Tou, Zhi-Ying Zhu, Ying-Hsuan Kao, Lawrence Ko, Johnson Yuen, Lar Lok Chin A young woman living in China during the Japanese occupation (Tang Wei)  becomes entangled with a collaborator (Tony Leung), whom she has been assigned to seduce and set up for execution.  The assignment eventually becomes the context for her entire life, until her very sense of self is wrapped up in layers of deceit and betrayal.  Ang Lee's masterful film introduces us to our characters when they are young college students swept up in idealistic fervor and then rejoins them years later when they are older and wearier, fighting the same battle more out of necessity than idealism.   This is a long film because Lee takes his time fleshing out these characters, but it is time well spent.  I was thoroughly engrossed and shattered by the ...
Read more