The Whistling Room by William Hope Hodgson (1912)
Tuesday’s Tale of Terror October 11, 2016
“Then I heard it, an extraordinary hooning whistle, monstrous and inhuman, coming from far away through corridors to my right.”
October is the month for ghost stories. We love stories about luminous skulls or cavernous tombs, haunted grounds, haunted castles. These other worlds draw us in. Can you hear the call? Is it hovering behind your ear? Chilling your neck? Come into the world of Carnacki the ghost finder.
Do you believe there could be a hidden mischief in silence? Carnacki is a ghost hunter. He is invited by Mr. Tassoc, owner of Lastrae Castle in Ireland, where a room is said to emit an evil whistle that drives all away in horrific fear. Carnaki agrees to spend a few weeks at the castle to solve the mystery.
“This room had just that same malevolent silence—the beastly quietness of a thing that is looking at you and not seeable itself, and thinks that it has got you. Oh, I recognized it instantly, and I whipped the top off my lantern, so as to have light over the whole room.”
This is one of William Hope Hodgson’s (1877-1918) most famous ghost story and it delivers all the haunting elements of paranormal phenomena. He wrote novels and short stories and many explore the borders of human existence and beyond. Lovecraft said that Hodgson was ‘second only to Blackwood in his serious treatment of unreality.” Hodgson certainly deserves revival these days, as he has long been forgotten as one of the most skilled writers of supernatural mysteries.
Read it at Gaslight.mtroyal.ca:
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/carnack3.htm
I loved the audio of this story. Settle back and listen to this ghostly storytelling in the spirit of Halloween (30 minutes).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlZQ7jhM_c8
Don’t forget to view the INDEX above of more free Tales of Terror. This is a compendium of over 170 short stories by over 100 master storytellers of mystery, supernatural, horror, and ghost stories. Join me in reading one short story every other week! Comments are welcome.
Other Reading Web Sites to Visit
Slattery’s Art of Horror Magazine
Books & Such Bibliophilica Lovecraft Ezine Parlor of Horror
HorrorAddicts.net Horror Novel Reviews HorrorSociety.com
Monster Librarian HorrorNews.net HorrorTalk.com
Rob Around Books The Story Reading Ape Blog
For Authors/Writers: The Writer Unboxed