Gradually you gain the impression that there is something indefinably wrong with the ship tantalising shadows flit about, and one is exasperated that nothing tangible happens. This sailor joins a ship at San Francisco and sails away.
“It is a rather ignorant sailor who tells the story, so the somewhat commonplace diction with which it begins should not be held against the author. I must confess that I have not yet seen the first two books, which are called respectively “The Boats of Glen Carrig,” and “The House on the Borderland.” I intend to read these two, and then, perhaps, I shall be sufficiently equipped to express an opinion upon the last one, for although I have read it from beginning to end, I admit I don’t know what to say about it. “The Ghost Pirates” is its title, and I see by the preface that this book is the last of three, all of which, I take it, deal with the supernatural. Such a volume would be a unique possession. I know of no other artist so capable of illustrating a creepy ghost story as Sime, and if this book should ever become “popular,” I hope the publisher will be enterprising enough to issue an edition de luxe with pictures galore by Sime. My attention was drawn to the book because it possesses a frontispiece by that greatest of the world’s weird artists, Sidney H. It is written by William Hope Hodgson, and issued by Stanley Paul and Co. “I happened the other day upon a recently-published book which seems to have gained certain favourable notices. Barr (321-322) discusses The Ghost Pirates in the last section of this column, under the further subheading “A Creepy Ghost Book” it goes: “The first item comes from Robert Barr, from a column, “The Idler’s Club”, in The Idler this particular item has the subtitle “Ghosts, and that Sort of Thing”.
Phillip contacted me regarding these items and has graciously allowed us to reprint them here with some of his comments. Ellis, we now have two more reviews to add to the list. Thanks to our intrepid researcher, Phillip A. Many of WHH’s books were widely reviewed and it is likely that we will continue to find new examples of this for some time. We are still finding examples of contemporary reviews of Hodgson’s work.
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