Janie's Reviews > The House on the Borderland

Told you it was a classic. :)
It's interesting that you mention the possibility of the story being 'a diary of madness'. I'd never heard that reading mentioned prior to my initial reading of the book, but there were one or two occasions where I began to wonder whether the narrator was actually mad. Certainly, the narrator's sister often seems entirely unmoved by the events of the novel, almost as though they weren't actually occurring anywhere beyond the narrator's mind.

Nah, that's just what the pigs want you to think. ;)

Jeremy wrote: "Nah, that's just what the pigs want you to think. ;)"

Ha, the swinish beings!

T. wrote: "Told you it was a classic. :)
It's interesting that you mention the possibility of the story being 'a diary of madness'. I'd never heard that reading mentioned prior to my initial reading of the b..."

It is indeed a compelling classic. :)

It was the sister's responses to the narrator's actions that had me suspicious about his sanity. I'm glad you noticed her reactions (or lack of reactions), too.

Such a strange, lush, and compelling novel.

Agreed. I can't believe it took me so long to finally read it!

Sometimes I think Hodgson is one of horror's secrets, esp. for US readers.

I need to read more of his work.

I can recommend Hodgson's Carnacki the ghost finder stories. It's among my favorites books. And it has a story that it's somehow connected with the House on the borderland.

I second the recommendation of 'Carnacki: The Ghost Finder'. The Carnacki stories were my introduction to Hodgson's work, and impressed me enough at the time to make me want to pick up a copy of 'The House on the Borderland'. Like Yorgos says, one of the Carnacki stories does indeed contain a link to 'The House on the Borderland'.

I would also highly recommend checking out the novel 'The House of Silence', which is a sequel to 'The House on the Borderland' published 3-4 years ago and written by the late Avalon Brantley. Not only does it build upon the inherent mystery of Hodgson's work, and in so doing tying together several strands of what we might want to call the Hodgson Mythos, but it is also, in my opinion, the single best weird fiction novel of the 21st century so far.

I want to read Brantley's novel for some time now and I have read some really amazing things about it. Is it necessary to read the night land in order to understand the House of silence?

I think 'The House of Silence' stands on its own two feet, even while it weaves 'The House on the Borderland' and 'The Night Land' together. It would be quite possible to read 'The House of Silence' without ever having read any of Hodgson's work; a familiarity with Hodgson will merely add to the experience of reading Brantley's novel. I, for example, do own a copy of 'The Night Land', but I've yet to progress more than about a hundred pages into it.

If you did want to familiarize yourself with something of 'The Night Land' then I would recommend you do a quick google search on the House of Silence; a structure which plays a memorable role in the original Hodgson novel, and provides the title for the Brantley novel. That should be enough for you to know before reading 'The House of Silence'.

Got it. Thank you!

Thank you for the recommendations, Yorgos and T.! Now to find an affordable copy of "The House of Silence..."

Janie, visit Zagava's site (the publisher). The paperback edition is affordable, considering the other editions out there.

Thanks, Yorgos, I will!

Yep, the paperback edition is a recent republication of the novel and is definitely the way to go. I own an original hardback copy of 'The House of Silence', but that was a very limited run and is now entirely out of print, so I can only imagine a copy of that would set you back an exorbitant amount of money now.

I just ordered the paperback edition from Zagava. Thanks again, T. and Yorgos!

By the way, do either of you know which Carnacki story references The House on the Borderland?

Yes, it's "The Hog".

I hope you enjoy 'The House of Silence' as much as I did. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the novel.
And, yes, Yorgos is right, the Carnacki story which references 'The House on the Borderland' is 'The Hog'.

Ah, an appropriate title. This story is included in the collection I chose. Thanks!

T. wrote: "I hope you enjoy 'The House of Silence' as much as I did. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the novel.
And, yes, Yorgos is right, the Carnacki story which references 'The House on the Bor..."

I cannot wait to receive it! It sounds very enticing. i am looking forward to reading some Carnacki stories, too.

Also The Hog might be the best Carnacki story. It's also the longest one of his Carnacki stories. Probably a good idea to read it after the Borderland. It might be on public domain.

Yorgos wrote: "Also The Hog might be the best Carnacki story. It's also the longest one of his Carnacki stories. Probably a good idea to read it after the Borderland. It might be on public domain."

The Hog is in the collection that I just got for only $1.99. I plan on reading this story very soon.

'The Hog' is also available online here.

Excellent! Thanks, Sean!

This is one of my favorites from the first half of 20th century weird fiction. I need to read it again!

Christopher wrote: "This is one of my favorites from the first half of 20th century weird fiction. I need to read it again!"

I thought much of the imagery was stunning. I will be revisiting it again, too!

I would also point you to "The Voice in the Night." Heh heh heh.

Thank you sir, I now have it. Mwahaha.