The House on the Borderland is the account of a man, known only as the recluse, who moves into a remote and shunned house and unwittingly finds himself suspended between worlds, traveling through time, and fighting for his life against a siege of misshapen monstrosities. The author’s sweeping imagination evokes a wide variety of fantastical effects, from eerie intimations of the weird to vivid manifestations of supernatural horror, from fabulous glimpses of otherworldly landscapes to direct combat with non-human assailants of murderous intent. First published in 1908, the novel quickly acquired a reputation as a rare and visionary example of cosmic horror that would influence and draw praise from H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Olaf Stapleton and others. As gripping and surreal as a fever dream, The House on the Borderland remains one of the most transporting destinations in literature.
With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The House on the Borderland is both modern and readable.
William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918) was a British author and poet best known for his works of macabre fiction. Early experience as a sailor gave resonance to his novels of the supernatural at sea, The Ghost Pirates and The Boats of the Glen-Carrig, but The House on the Borderland and The Night Land are often singled out for their powerful depiction of eerie, otherworldly horror. The author was a man of many parts, a public speaker, photographer and early advocate of bodybuilding. He was killed in action during the Battle of the Lys in the First World War.