William Hope Hodgson is now becoming a favorite of mine like Clark Ashton Smith, and H. P. Lovecraft. There is something fantastic about these tales of how they were ahead of their time.
I've always found body horror like this to be of a deeply unsettling nature. Not so much the fear of death, but the fear of the loss of humanity. I can only imagine the creeping terror one might feel, knowing their body was irreparably contaminated and naught was left but to count the days..
This, The Wendigo and in general any tale of stranded travellers in the middle of the nature are among my favourites since childhood. This story in particular caused me a very strong impression as a kid. Just the simple fact of finding "an old man" in the middle of nowhere is a clear indicator something is terribly wrong.
Fantastic reading as always! I have a bit of a fungus phobia so I pretty much died listening to this story. And now I feel grossed out and itchy all over, oh no 🍄
Plumbing the depths of the back catalog again. I remember this from one of the nautical horror compilations but it was worth revisiting. Such a sad story.
I read this as a child, and it remains one of the most horrifying tales I have read. It was also made into a television program in the 1950sm I do not recall which program it was on, but it was perfectly done and again, it was horrifying. The fact that they did NOT attempt to depict the poor victims was very good as the mind had to construct the images.
@@HorrorBabble Coming on this late, and you may have already learned this, but the show was 'Suspicion', (1958) and it was episode 1.24. Patrick MacNee played the ship's captain.
It was also the basis for the 1968 Japanese Sci-Fi/Horror movie MATANGO, which was shown on American TV under the title of ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE.
This has been one of my favorite stories for a long time. I read it every year in October along with a selection of other horror fiction. Great job narrating!
Bit of a classic this one Jamie - glad you enjoyed it! It always reminded me of the Stephen King short, "Weeds": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeds_(short_story)
Another wonderful narration of a cool story. I wonder if Wliam Hope Hodgson purposefully wrote this story and "The Derelict" to sort of, but not exactly, be connected. Very similar things are going on. This is about the fifth story I have heard someone narrate before Ian. Needless to say, Ian's narrations are now my go-to versions. I just found this channel about a month ago. I am so hooked that I listen to at least one story a day! I have a lot of catching up to do!
When Horror Meets Science Fiction Episode 3: The Voice in the Night Penned by British writer, William Hope Hodgson, The Voice in the Night tells of a schooner at sea, approached in the middle of the night by a small rowboat. The passenger aboard the boat, who refuses to bring his boat close alongside and requests that the sailors on the schooner put away their lanterns, tells a disturbing tale. Chapters: 00:43 - The Voice in the Night Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble Intro music: "Above the Blue Smoke" iangordon.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-monochrome Image used with the permission of mgkellermeyer (mgkellermeyer.deviantart.com) Support us on Bandcamp or Patreon: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com www.patreon.com/horrorbabble HorrorBabble MERCH: teespring.com/stores/horrorbabble-merch Search HORRORBABBLE to find us on: AUDIBLE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY Home: www.horrorbabble.com Rue Morgue: www.rue-morgue.com Social Media: facebook.com/HorrorBabble instagram.com/horrorbabble twitter.com/HorrorBabble
You are more than welcome. Then try this. I love Brian Lumley and he is another exponent of Lovecraft. Try and get the anthology: www.amazon.com/Fruiting-Bodies-Other-Fungi-Lumley-ebook/dp/B0080K3O7S/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=fruiting+bodies+and+other+fungi+by+brian+lumley&qid=1609536919&s=specialty-aps&sprefix=fruiting+bodies+and+&sr=1-1 Two of my favourite stories a diptych in fact, The Deep Sea Conch & The Cypress Shell. In the meantime..... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k2e3p1cLCZw.html
Great stuff, I am new to the channel and I am going through all the stories posted before I joined. Normally I would have given up after a few days but the choice of tales, the production and the narration are top notched so I have a lot of entertainment ahead. I am happy to watch any adverts to keep this channel going and once I have recovered from my illnesses, which will hopefully be soon, I will be able to join your channel. However, for now thanks.
This is a first body horror book that actually made me uncomfortable, sad and somewhat scared. I've read some Junji Ito manga but it didnt do anything like this here short masterpiece
What a classic. This inspired HP Lovecraft. The narrator sounds a bit like Alex in A Clockwork Orange. "I felt all the malenky little hairs on my plott standing endwise"
Thank you. I have always perceiving this particular story as less as a horror story, but more as a story causing deep pity. Similar to leprosy victims. In the 1960s there was a Japanese horror film "Mushroom People", but that one was more funny than scary, with actors attired as mushrooms attacking the Japanese who landed on an uncharted island... I wonder when you'll read W.H.Hodgson's "Derelict"
That movie (titled Matango in the original Japanese release) was actually based on this story. Also, IMO it does a decent job building tension, due to it mostly being character-driven: the actual matango/mushroom people only show up in a few scenes (mostly towards the last minutes of the movie) and the big threat for the most part is the characters growing more insane and hostile to each other.
I know that I saw this story adapted for television on one of the anthology series of the fifties or sixties. I just can't place it. I think Ronald Howard, Leslie Howard's son, may have been in that episode. It's a solid story and works in either medium.
filmnoir50 yes... I watched it not long ago...found it here on RU-vid. But I can't remember the name of the series..might be Thriller? If I find I'll let u know.
Hi Bill - it means Eastern Standard Time. Although we're in the UK, the majority of our listeners are in the USA and Canada, so it makes sense for us to schedule readings this way. PLUS, Jennifer and I lived in Canada last year, so it was much more convenient for us.
There is a Japanese horror film whose English title is "Attack Of the Mushroom People." Same scenario. Ship wrecked people land on a deserted island dominated by a strange fungus and mushroom. It infects them, and they find that they are compelled to eat it. They are transformed into giant lumpy fungus people. The writers must have borrowed the idea from this story-the parallels are too close. I don't recall the credits, so they may have mentioned "based on a story by..." It's a really creepy movie full of character conflict. When I first saw it as a kid, we had a black and white TV and that colorlessness lent it an even creepier air. Years later when I finally tracked down a video tape of the film, I discovered that was actually in color. It was less effective in color, so I turned the color adjust on my TV down to B&W. If you can find this film, watch it. It's a silly, creepy treat!
Yes! It is! After I posted the comment I decided to NOT be lazy and looked it up, using imdb and the English title, and found the Japanese title, Matango. Have you seen it? Turn the color off-it's great in B&W.
Cynthia Olen ... Matango is AWESOME. Great set design, atmosphere, and such a different concept (obviously borrowed from this tale)! just listened to this story today, and it blew me away how close it is in plot/idea...
Matango/Attack of the Mushroom People was the first thing I thought of too. Remarkable parallels if the screenwriter for the movie hadn't encountered this first.
HorrorBabble I listened to The Opener Of The Way about 15 times before I finally knew what happened at the end 😁 No fault of the story or narrator of course
