hese storiesare the kind of stories that helped Hodgson achieve commercial success. These stories were often published in the highest paying fiction markets of his day, and demonstrate his wide-ranging narrative talent... Today's readers of Hodgson may be more familiar with his stunningly original novels of cosmic vision, such as '' The House on the Borderland'' or ''The Night Land ''The Night Land'' is a horror/fantasy novel by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1912. As a work of fantasy it belongs to the Dying Earth subgenre. Hodgson also published a much shorter version of the novel, entitled '' ...'', but it is his narratives of the sea that first captured the attention of the reading public. Most importantly, however, it was in the weed-choked Sargasso Sea where Hodgson first began to explore unreality, and the borderlands of human existence.
"From the Tideless Sea Part One"
This story was first published in the United States in April 1906 in ''The Monthly Story'' and first published in England in May 1907 in ''The London Magazine''. This story contains several similarities to Hodgson's novel ''Plot summary
A sailing ship happens to fall upon a floating water-cask, well-sealed with pitch and containing a manuscript. The cask is opened and the manuscript is read aloud. It is the story of the ship ''Homebird''. A terrible storm at sea heavily damages the ship, breaking away all three masts and severely injuring the captain, and leaving it at the mercy of the winds and tides until it is caught in the "cemetery of the oceans," the Sargasso Sea. A group of crew members attempts to free the ''Homebird'' but are taken by a giant octopus. The remaining crewmen are also killed, leaving only the narrator, the injured captain, and the captain's daughter. As the captain's health fails, the narrator constructs a superstructure out of wood and pitch-hardened canvas to protect the vessel from the predator. The captain realizes that he will soon die, leaving the narrator alone with his daughter. To protect her honor, the narrator agrees to marry the young woman. :"'Do you -- do you love her?' :"His tone was keenly wistful, and a sense of trouble lurked in his eyes. :"'She will be my wife,' I said, simply; and he nodded. :"'God has dealt strangely with us,' he murmured, presently, as though to himself. :"Abruptly, he bade me tell her to come in. :"And then he married us. :"Three days later, he was dead, and we were alone. The narrator continues to fortify the ship's defenses, and soon finds that his new wife is pregnant. He takes stock of the ship's stores of food and finds that sufficient provisions exist to keep them alive for fifteen to seventeen years. The narrator of the story within a story concludes by describing his plans to enclose the manuscript in the water-cask and attach it to a balloon, so that the wind will carry it to open water. The narrative returns from the story-within-a-story to describe the present captain's reaction to the story:"Seventeen years pervisions," he muttered thoughtfully. "An' this 'ere were written sumthin' like twenty-nine years ago!" He nodded his head several times. "Poor creetures!" he exclaimed. "It'd be er long while, Jock -- a long while!"
"From the Tideless Sea Part Two: Further News of the ''Homebird''"
"The Mystery of the Derelict"
"The Thing in the Weeds"
{{Empty section, date=July 2010"The Finding of the ''Graiken''"
A man abuses his friend's trust by taking over his ship and sailing on a mission to the Sargasso Sea to rescue his girlfriend."The Call in the Dawn"
British short story collections Short stories by William Hope Hodgson Fictional works set in the Atlantic Ocean