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Reader and Collector, v. 3, issue 3, June 1944
Page 10
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10. WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON AND THE DETECTIVE STORY by Ellery Queen Creator of one of the best known detectives in the history of fiction. Writer of a couple of dozen detective novels, editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and compiler of four fine detective anthologies, the latest of which is "The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes." Too few people in America are familiar with the work of William Hope Hodgson; and even this fortunate minority, who know Mr. Hodgson as a writer of weird and supernatural stories, have to be reminded that he also wrote two books in the detective-crime field. One is "Captain Gault"---ten short stories about a modern smuggler. The other is "Carnacki The Ghost-Finder"---six short stories about a ghost-breaker: a unique detective who investigates haunted houses and similar phenomena. Readers, writers, and students of supernatural fiction deplore the fact that at the end of five of the Carnacki stories, Carnacki produced a tangible, real-life explanation for the ghostly manifestations. For example, H.P. Lovecraft, one of the great modern masters of weird fiction, once expressed the opinion that the Carnacki stories were "weakened" by the realistic solutions. Well, one man's meat is truly another man's poison. To your Editor of the sane, of-this-world explanations strengthen rather than weaken the stories. These natural elucidations frowned on by devotees of the weird, must be applauded by devotees of the detective story; they transform Carnacki from a mere dabbler into the unknown to a legitimate and authentic detective. But let's not quarrel over Carnacki. He's a 24-carat "find" both for lovers of the "invisible" and addicts of the "visible". Let's rejoice that EQMM can bring you one of Carnacki's strange and fascinating adventures which, to the best of your Editor's knowledge, is here printed for the first time in the United States. * In the near future, "The House Among the Laurels", a short story taken from "Carnacki, The Ghost-Finder" will be published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. The above article will appear as a preface to this story.
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10. WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON AND THE DETECTIVE STORY by Ellery Queen Creator of one of the best known detectives in the history of fiction. Writer of a couple of dozen detective novels, editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and compiler of four fine detective anthologies, the latest of which is "The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes." Too few people in America are familiar with the work of William Hope Hodgson; and even this fortunate minority, who know Mr. Hodgson as a writer of weird and supernatural stories, have to be reminded that he also wrote two books in the detective-crime field. One is "Captain Gault"---ten short stories about a modern smuggler. The other is "Carnacki The Ghost-Finder"---six short stories about a ghost-breaker: a unique detective who investigates haunted houses and similar phenomena. Readers, writers, and students of supernatural fiction deplore the fact that at the end of five of the Carnacki stories, Carnacki produced a tangible, real-life explanation for the ghostly manifestations. For example, H.P. Lovecraft, one of the great modern masters of weird fiction, once expressed the opinion that the Carnacki stories were "weakened" by the realistic solutions. Well, one man's meat is truly another man's poison. To your Editor of the sane, of-this-world explanations strengthen rather than weaken the stories. These natural elucidations frowned on by devotees of the weird, must be applauded by devotees of the detective story; they transform Carnacki from a mere dabbler into the unknown to a legitimate and authentic detective. But let's not quarrel over Carnacki. He's a 24-carat "find" both for lovers of the "invisible" and addicts of the "visible". Let's rejoice that EQMM can bring you one of Carnacki's strange and fascinating adventures which, to the best of your Editor's knowledge, is here printed for the first time in the United States. * In the near future, "The House Among the Laurels", a short story taken from "Carnacki, The Ghost-Finder" will be published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. The above article will appear as a preface to this story.
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