William Hope Hogdson (1877-1918) was praised by Lovecraft, and that’s no easy praise. Such works as House On the Borderland or The Night Land were proclaimed “impossible to forget by any reader” by the author of Providence. And we should not rule out the possibility that WP Hogdson’s visions could be even more powerful.
Hogdson’s literary style is a bit harsh, or cumbersome, as Lovecraft himself pointed out. In The Night Land, for example, this might be something of an obstacle for a comfortable read, mainly if English is not your first language. Hogdson’s writing here is some kind of pretended 17th century style which can prove hard to swallow.
Perhaps it’s not an overstatement to say that WHH is more readable in translations, as translators usually “fail” to reproduce this obscure style. Then you have the brilliantly gloomy plot and mise en scène created by Hogdson, but you avoid the harshness of his original writing.
The Night Land is an impressive description of a horrid world. The sun has died out, and it is now millions of years in the future. The Earth is frozen and resignedly keeps revolving around her star. (In 1912, when TNL was published, star evolution was not as well understood as today). The whole surface of our planet is in darkness.
The remains of humanity live in the Redoubt. This is a huge pyramidal construction that holds all men and women surviving in this half-dead world. Away from the Redoubt, and sorrounding it, are the deep shadows, the Night Land. A full mysterious geography: paths, valleys, mountains. Also monstrosities wandering by: lovecraftian creatures whose origins, nature or purpose are unknown.
A man from the past transports his mind into this distant dark future. He will inhabit the Redoubt. One day he hears a woman’s voice by telepathy, and this voice reveals that there is a second Redoubt, also inhabited by people. The mysterious narrator, who traveled through the ages into this horrible time, will now venture onto the Night Land, in search of that second pyramid.
One must agree with Lovecraft. Few other times has human imagination conjured up such a terrifying scenario, fascinating in its weird originality.
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