Out of the Storm

Out of the Storm, William Hope Hodgson, Centaur Books, 1980

Here is  group of imaginative fiction stories from the early 1900s, a very different era in the fiction world.

There are a pair of stories about large sailing ships being attacked by huge, hideous sea creatures. On a ship where the crew is starting to talk back to the drunken captain, the second mate is murdered from behind, but there is no one nearby. The crew, all of which are accounted for, can't help but think that there is a supernatural explanation.

There is a daring mid-ocean rescue of a young woman who is the only person still alive on a derelict ship. The complication is that the ship is also home to thousands of very hungry rats, who are not particular about what, or who, they eat. There is also a mystery story about a pair of dead bodies that are found at the top of a rural water tower.

Hodgson was one of the pioneers of the entire imaginative literature field. He did it all; he wrote mysteries, horror, fantasy and adventure tales. This book is a really good example. If a copy can be found, it will certainly keep the reader entertained.