Publisher's Synopsis
A Collection of Classic Short Ghost Stories
Carnacki
The Ghost Finder
By William Hope Hodgson
Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder is a collection of occult detective short stories by author William Hope Hodgson. It was first published in 1913 by the English publisher Eveleigh Nash. In 1947, a new edition of 3,050 copies was published by Mycroft & Moran and included three additional stories. The Mycroft & Moran version is listed as No. 53 in Queen's Quorum: A History of the Detective-Crime Short Story As Revealed by the 100 Most Important Books Published in this Field Since 1845 by Ellery Queen.
The stories are inspired by the tradition of fictional detectives such as Sherlock Holmes. Carnacki lives in a bachelor flat in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea; the stories are told from a first-person perspective by Dodgson, one of Carnacki's four friends, much as Holmes' adventures were told from Watson's point of view. (The other three friends are Jessop, Arkwright and Taylor). Whereas the Holmes stories never made use of the supernatural except as a red herring, this is the central theme of the Carnacki stories, though five of the stories have non-supernatural endings.
The character of Carnacki was inspired in part by Dr. Hesselius, a supernaturally inclined scientist who appeared in short stories by the Irish fantasy writer Sheridan Le Fanu, notably the early and influential vampire story -Carmilla-. Carnacki is also highly reminiscent of Algernon Blackwood's John Silence.
Includes;
No. 1--THE GATEWAY OF THE MONSTER
No. 2--THE HOUSE AMONG THE LAURELS
No. 3--THE WHISTLING ROOM
No. 4--THE HORSE OF THE INVISIBLE
No. 5--THE SEARCHER OF THE END HOUSE
No. 6--THE THING INVISIBLE
