Customer Reviews

The House on the Borderland (Dover Mystery, Detective, & Other Fiction)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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I happened across this title by accident. I was at the Vancouver airport looking for a book to read. I scanned the classic sections and this one popped out at me. The title was familiar and it was something I remember wanting to order a year ago.

If you enjoy Edgar Allan Poe, H.P.Lovecraft, Arthur Machen and the like, then I definitely recommend this work.

The setting is Ireland and its far environs. Two men on a hunting trip happen upon a garden and some ruins, discovering a lost manuscript half- buried under earth and rubble. They read it and discover the writings of a reclusive man, living in a house on the border between reality and the otherworld. The man's only companions are his dog and his sister (whom we rarely see throughout the story).

Sinister happenings occur earlier on and the man has to defend his home against... well... I won't give anymore away. Later on, the book takes a journey through time and space, a celestial adventure through the cosmos.

All in all, a fascinating and gripping read. Highly imaginative, thrilling, compelling, fantastic and stirring. There are elements of terror blended with a tender sublime here. It is fascinating to think this was written in early twentieth century. I am reminded of the works of Lord Dunsany in terms of tone and visual scope. This book is far from forgettable. A literary-fantasy-horror adventure of the highest kind.

This novel by William Hope Hodgson can probably be best described as a somewhat forgotten classic. It has a good reputation, but I don't think nearly enough people have read it!

A warning to those who plan to buy "House on the Borderland", beware of bad paperback editions. I think this is now in the 'public domain', so any publisher can put out a copy(and believe me, there are plenty of bad copies out there). This paperback is from Dover Publications, and was first published in 2008. The quality of the paper is really good and there is even a pretty cool introduction("Hodgson's Borderland", written by Mike Ashley).

Also, the back cover of the book notes that this is an "unabridged republication of the edition published by Chapman & Hall(London, 1908)".

And if you need more motivation to read "House on the Borderland", remember that even H.P.Lovecraft liked this one, calling it "A classic of the first order". :)

borderland was written in the early 1900s and is a wonderful dark fantasy/horror/sci-fi book. it's refreshing to read a book that is so descriptive without the gore and vulgarity that so many horror novels have these days. call me old-fashioned, but i like atmosphere more than action. hodgson is very visual about alternative dimensions, time travel and things that go bump in the night. like the previous reviewers mention, if you like machen, and lovecraft, you'll enjoy hodgson's book. there's all kinds of editions out on this book. not to sure why. i have an old carroll & graf paperback from '85.

The House on the Borderland chronicles one man's experiences during his stay in a mysterious house that he bought on the cheap because of its reputation. This book is very similar to the works of Machen and Lovecraft in how it creates a tense atmosphere throughout the story. The only detraction is that there is very little dialogue since there are so few characters in the story. Almost the entire book is written as the diary entries of the owner of the house. As such, it gets a little tiresome at times. Still, there are some pretty suspenseful moments that drove me to continue reading. Such moments are really what elevate this book to the level of a classic in the genre. It's also the kind of book that doesn't attempt to answer all of your questions about what's happening. The entities and occurrences related to the netherworld are never really understood. This is definitely a classic of early horror literature, but just be aware that it is written in an older style that may not satisfy modern society's need for instant gratification.