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'I saw something terrible rising up through the middle of the 'defence'. It rose with a steady movement. I saw it pale and huge through the whirling funnel of cloud - a monstrous pallid snout rising out of that unknowable abyss. It rose higher and higher. Through a thinning of the cloud I saw one small eye... a pig's eye with a sort of vile understanding shining at the back of it. Thomas Carnacki is a ghost finder, an Edwardian psychic detective, investigating a wide range of terrifying hauntings presented in the nine stories in this complete collection of his adventures. Encountering such spine-chilling phenomena as 'The Whistling Room', the life-threatening dangers of the phantom steed in 'The Horse of the Invisible' and the demons from the outside world in 'The Hog', Carnacki is constantly challenged by spiritual forces beyond our knowledge. To complicate matters, he encounters human skullduggery also. Armed with a camera, his Electric Pentacle and various ancient tomes on magic, Carnacki faces the various dangers his supernatural investigations present with great courage. These exciting and frightening stories have long been out of print. Now readers can thrill to them again in this new Wordsworth series.
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Part of Wordsworth's Mystery & Supernatural series, featuring classic spine chilling tales, some previously unavailable for many years.
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With the success of the Sherlock Holmes stories, published in the Strand magazine in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the floodgates were opened to admit a wave of similar sleuths, independent fellows whose help was sought by desperate clients wh Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
With the success of the Sherlock Holmes stories, published in the Strand magazine in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the floodgates were opened to admit a wave of similar sleuths, independent fellows whose help was sought by desperate clients wh Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Thomas Carnacki is a ghost-finder, a supernatural detective who explores so-called hauntings. Sometimes these cases turn out to the machinations of scheming humans, sometimes atmospheric phenomena - and occasionally supernatural forces from beyond. The joy of these stories is that you never know which will be the actual cause. The result is always unexpected, especially in the brilliant story "The Hog". Hodgson's stories are laced with suspense and atmosphere. Carnacki is just as equally at home tackling the supernatural as he is using state-of-the-art technical equipment to expose fake hauntings. This is a rare gem - and anyone seeking pure pulp fiction with great atmosphere will find the Casebook of Thomas Carnacki a truly satisfying read.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
These nine stories from 1910-12 take the form of after-dinner entertainment narrated,by Carnacki to his awestruck chums.Thomas Carnacki is an investigator of supernatural phenomena.He is usually invited to the haunted location by the terrified owners and the examination begins.He is open minded and methodical,with a Holmes-like eye for detail.He uses a fascinating array of scientific apparatus including the "Electric Pentacle"in his examinations and usually stays the night.This is not much of a character study nor does it need to be.It is an outstanding collection of top-notch scary stories some of which have genuine unsettling moments,and all of which are much better than one would expect.Particlarly memorable are 'The whistling room'with a vast CGI-like mouth forming itself out of the floor and 'The hog'featuring a huge,grunting pig-demon.
Hodgson is a master of creating unsettling atmospheres with smells and sounds and unique imagery.As we follow Carnacki's scientific investigations,the reader is not sure if Hodgson will give us a supernatural or human culprit.Some of these stories enter the realm of truly wierd cosmic horror with physical laws bending as nightmare entities encroach upon our reality.Sometimes,what begins in that cosy Victorian or Edwardian literary world,ends up as some insane multi-dimensional nightmare.Carnacki himself adds to our uneasiness by frequently admitting his own fear.These are stories to be savoured,maybe read after dinner on a dark night with a brandy and a fine cigar or read them to the kids and pretend you are Carnacki."Do you see?do you?"
William Hope Hodgson produced many great wierd stories in his sadly short career,The House on the Borderland and The Night Land are highly recommended.The Night Land is extraordinary.
Hodgson is a master of creating unsettling atmospheres with smells and sounds and unique imagery.As we follow Carnacki's scientific investigations,the reader is not sure if Hodgson will give us a supernatural or human culprit.Some of these stories enter the realm of truly wierd cosmic horror with physical laws bending as nightmare entities encroach upon our reality.Sometimes,what begins in that cosy Victorian or Edwardian literary world,ends up as some insane multi-dimensional nightmare.Carnacki himself adds to our uneasiness by frequently admitting his own fear.These are stories to be savoured,maybe read after dinner on a dark night with a brandy and a fine cigar or read them to the kids and pretend you are Carnacki."Do you see?do you?"
William Hope Hodgson produced many great wierd stories in his sadly short career,The House on the Borderland and The Night Land are highly recommended.The Night Land is extraordinary.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I should point out that I read an older edition of these stories, simply called "Carnacki the Ghost Finder". It's got all the same stories in it though, so I'm not sure what's been edited in this edition. Anyway, the previous reviewer compared Carnacki to both Holmes and Algernon Blackwood's John Silence, which is a fair comparison. While it's true that Holmes has rather more characterisation, I cannot agree with that reviewer over John Silence. The Carnacki stories are far more entertaining and well-written. In contrast, the John Silence stories are rather po-faced, with no characterisation at all, unless Blackwood's almost homoerotic descriptions of Silence's powerful, wise eyes, unusually calm demeanour and ability to radiate confidence count. I also prefer the Carnacki retold first person narrative style, which means his character comes across more through his phrasing. He's clearly an excitable individual, repeatedly leaning forward to ask his enthralled audience "Can you imagine it? Can you?"
I'm not really into "weird" stories, so I found the ghostless stories worked better than the others, but then detective stories are fraught with problems when the "baddie" doesn't follow natural rules which can be systematically followed. My eyes did glaze over with descriptions of pentacles and the accompanying paraphernalia, but you get exactly the same sort of thing with John Silence (maybe I should review those next). Altogether good fun for dark nights. Can you imagine it? Can you?
I'm not really into "weird" stories, so I found the ghostless stories worked better than the others, but then detective stories are fraught with problems when the "baddie" doesn't follow natural rules which can be systematically followed. My eyes did glaze over with descriptions of pentacles and the accompanying paraphernalia, but you get exactly the same sort of thing with John Silence (maybe I should review those next). Altogether good fun for dark nights. Can you imagine it? Can you?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Occasionally hits the mark
This collection of stories is very hit and miss: some are outstanding examples of gothic ghost stories, others are completely interminable. Read more
Published 8 months ago by downkiddie
Excellent Read and at this price it's amazing value
Hodgson's Carnacki stories are brilliant short stories, hodgson is a fantastic writer and able to really describe the scene's with a vividness that is quite unique. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Gatanothioa
Carnacki, the Ghost Finder
Very truly original tales of the supernatural.
As a fan of William Hope Hodgson, I find his other stories rather telling about the time in which he lived and wrote but also... Read more
As a fan of William Hope Hodgson, I find his other stories rather telling about the time in which he lived and wrote but also... Read more
Published 14 months ago by The Academate
A forgotten gem
Read this and be converted as I was many years ago. A gem of a book and one you will treasure for years to come.
Published 15 months ago by James Wright
not too shabby at all
I enjoyed these short stories but unfortunately I started reading with my hopes a little too high as I had expected a writing style and skill on par with Robert E. Howard and H. Read more
Published on 20 July 2009 by Jorge I Williams
Overcoming its limitations
The bad things first- the characterisation is poor to non-existent, the language limited and, at their worst, the tales are clunky and unconvincing. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2008 by Good Book Fan
An account of mysteries both horrible and queer
There are nine short stories in this collection: four supernatural, two with just an incidental element of haunting and three that only seem to be spooky until properly... Read more
Published on 7 April 2007 by T. Bobley
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