As he does in many of his stories, Hodgson employs a framework or "story within a story." In the framework, an elderly ship's doctor recounts a strange event that happened to him some years earlier, in the context of discussing his ideas about a fundamental life force that can manifest itself in the presence of proper materials.
While sailing as a passenger, a sudden storm disables the ship. In the aftermath, a derelict vessel is discovered. A small boat is sent to investigate, since from a distance the shape of the vessel seems to indicate that it is surprisingly ancient. The captain is interested in possible salvage.
Upon boarding the vessel, the investigators discover that it is encased in a thick fungus-like encrustation. In order to go below the deck, the captain kicks the encrustation, which begins to spurt a reddish fluid, and a rhythmic thudding like a heartbeat is heard. The solid surface of the encrustation begins softening and heaving, becoming mobile and gelatinous, and actually begins to dissolve the shoes of the investigators, as if it is attempting to digest them.
As events escalate, the lantern is dropped and extinguished; in the frantic attempt that follows to escape the vessel, a crewman is killed as he falls on the undulating surface and it envelopes and dissolves his body. The doctor and the captain manage to get over the side into an old lifeboat where they beat off a pseudopod and manage to escape back to their own vessel.
The doctor believes that the particular combination of cargo aboard the derelict, as it decayed, may have resulted in spontaneous generation of a new life form.
William Hope Hodgson 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. Hodgson 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 House on the Borderland (1908) and The Night Land (1912), feature more cosmic themes, but several of his novels also focus on horrors associated with the sea. Early in his writing career Hodgson dedicated effort to poetry, although few of his poems were published during his lifetime. He also attracted some notice as a photographer and achieved renown as a bodybuilder. He died in World War I at age 40.
Startide Rising is a 1983 science fiction novel by American writer David Brin, the second book of six set in his Uplift Universe. It earned both Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel. It was revised by the author in 1993 to correct errors and omissions from the original edition.
A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship, is a vessel with no living crew aboard; it may be a ghostly vessel, such as the Flying Dutchman, or a physical derelict found adrift with its crew missing or dead, like the Mary Celeste. The term is sometimes used for ships that have been decommissioned but not yet scrapped, as well as drifting boats that have been found after breaking loose of their ropes and becoming carried away by the wind or the waves.
The Twisted Claw is Volume 18 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap.
Thomas Carnacki is a fictional occult detective created by English fantasy writer William Hope Hodgson. Carnacki was the protagonist of a series of six short stories published between 1910 and 1912 in The Idler magazine and The New Magazine.
The Ghost Pirates is a horror novel by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1909.
Jesus is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Enix. It was first released in 1987 on the PC-8801, FM-77AV, X1, and the MSX2 and was later ported to the Famicom in 1989 as Jesus: Kyōfu no Bio Monster. A sequel, Jesus II, was released on the PC-8801, PC-9801, and X68000 in 1991.
Legacy of the Daleks is an original novel written by John Peel and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor, Susan, the Master - as the Roger Delgado incarnation - and the Daleks.
Foreign Devils is an original novella written by Andrew Cartmel and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Second Doctor and Jamie and Zoe as well as fictional psychic detective Carnacki.
The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" is a horror novel by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1907. Its importance was recognised in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the twenty-fifth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in February 1971.
D.C.O. Cargunka is a fictional sailor created by English writer William Hope Hodgson. Cargunka was an attempt by Hodgson to create a recurring character to use in short stories for magazine publication. Hodgson had previously achieved success with his series of stories about Carnacki, the detective of the supernatural. Hodgson's next attempt at a recurring character was Captain Jat, although Jat appeared in only two stories. The popular smuggler character Captain Gault was next. D.C.O. Cargunka was Hodgson's last recurring character and he appeared in only two stories.
Sargasso Sea Stories are a group of short stories written by English author William Hope Hodgson's short stories which are set around the Sargasso Sea. They have been featured in various short story collections, including The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" and Other Nautical Adventures: The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson, Volume 1. In his introduction to this volume, the editor Jeremy Lassen writes:
[These stories] are 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, 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.
Aliens: Earth Hive is a 1992 novel by Steve Perry, set in the fictional Alien movie universe. It is an adaptation of the story "Outbreak" which was the first in the Aliens comic book series, written by Mark Verheiden.
Britannic is a 2000 spy television film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith. The film is a fictional account of the sinking of the ship of the same name off the Greek island of Kea in November 1916; it features a German agent sabotaging her while she is serving as a hospital ship for the British Army during World War I. It stars Edward Atterton and Amanda Ryan, with Jacqueline Bisset, Ben Daniels, John Rhys-Davies, and Bruce Payne as costars. It first premiered on cable network Fox Family and was then broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4.
Saber Marionette J to X, also known as Saber Marionette X, is a 1998 Japanese anime television series, the last part of the Saber Marionette J series, and a sequel of Saber Marionette J Again. Like the previous ones, it was created by Satoru Akahori. The 26 episode saga began airing in Japan on October 6, 1998 to March 30, 1999. It is licensed by Bandai Entertainment.
Ghostboat is a 2006 British television film, based on a novel by George E. Simpson and Neal R. Burger. The film features David Jason as its star. It is a fantasy tale of His Majesty's Submarine Scorpion vanishing during the Second World War, leaving only one crew member surviving. 38 years later, in the Cold War year 1981, the Scorpion reappears; the crew have disappeared, but the vessel is otherwise unchanged and has not aged in the intervening years. A Royal Navy crew along with the sole survivor of the original voyage is given the mission of retracing the last days of the boat prior to its 1943 disappearance. A supernatural influence takes hold of most of the crew, and they start showing characteristics of the old crew. They find themselves fighting Second World War ghosts.
Captain's Blood is a novel by William Shatner, co-written with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, based upon the television series Star Trek. The novel was released in 2002 in hardcover format. It is the second novel in the "Totality" trilogy. The story began with Captain's Peril and concludes with Captain's Glory.
Captain Kidd's cannon is an iron cannon that was discovered in 2007 off of the coast of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic. The cannon is believed to be part of the wreckage of the Quedagh Merchant, a ship that was commandeered and later abandoned by Captain Kidd in 1699. It is the first pirate cannon that has been recovered from the Caribbean. One of 26 cannons found off the coast of Catalina Island, it was first taken to Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation for investigation and research before being displayed in the exhibit National Geographic: Treasures of the Earth at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Alien: Out of the Shadows is a 2014 novel written by Tim Lebbon and published by Titan Books. Set between Alien and Aliens, the book chronicles Ellen Ripley's involvement in a Xenomorph outbreak on the planet LV-178 and the mining vessel in orbit above it. The survivors' attempts to escape the creatures are further complicated by Ash, whose A.I. consciousness has survived inside Narcissus, the shuttle that brought Ripley to them.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
