Pirate Ghosts - Tales of Hauntings at Sea

Pirate Ghosts - Tales of Hauntings at Sea

This compilation of nightmare shorts written by such literary giants as H. P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch and Washington Irving promises the reader 'with bloodcurdling buccaneers, spectral ships, uncanny experiences under the Jolly Roger and eerie spirits from a historic past that refuses to stay dead'. Pretty high expectations, huh?

The anthology could have been renamed Caribbean Magic Ghosts with some Piracy Themes Thrown in the Mix. Few had pirates as main characters and just as many did not even include any manner of sea rovers.

This is not to say that the anthology, compiled by Frank McSherry, Jr., Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg isn't an inviting read. The short stories include some great nightmare themes and effectively scare the reader.

H. P. Lovecraft's The Terrible Old Man is one such story that eschews the piracy theme but is as creepy as Robert Bloch's The Red Swimmer, a great story of revenge on a bloodthirsty pirate.

The lengthiest short, Henry S. Whitehead's Seven Turns in a Hangman's Rope is a tedious read as he lays on one subordinate clause after another, extending sentences into paragraphs. The detail in which he describes the depth of the white witch's knowledge and sense into voodoo and obeah was unnecessary, gaging its lack of impact on any of the climatic scenes.

August Derlith's The Blue Spectacles, Carl Jacobi's The Digging at Pistol Key and John Masefield's Anty Bligh, along with the tales of Irving, Lovecraft and Bloch are just plain spooky fun. These are wonderful tales of vengeful ghosts, macabre magic (and a pirate or two) all thrown in with eerie tropical settings. Since I recently reviewed a biography of Jean Lafitte by Jack C. Ramsay Jr., I was pleased to see the dashing pirate appear in The Blue Spectacles. It and Irving's story were the only two with pirate ghosts.

Clark Ashton Smith's A VinTAGe from Atlantis is a short read that contains some of the best pirates in the book, but tends to get preachy. Before I Wake by Henry Kuttner is a slow-moving tale of a young boy haunted by dreams of piloTAGe to magical places. Pirates are Mentioned as part of his fantasy while the story clutches the island magic obeah tightly to its breast.

Lady Eleanor Smith's No Ships Pass could probably be the forerunner of the Twilight Zone-esque 'you are here now and there is no way back' theme. Again short on pirates, but a great story.

Pirate Ghosts is a must read for lovers of the nightmare genre but not for the pirate aficionado or fan. The Caribbean magic has interwoven a spell among the pages and presides over the stories, and gives us a nice tropical scare.

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How to Write Lovecraftian Fiction

Perhaps no other singular writer has had a more vital affect on the field of weird horror fiction than Howard Philips Lovecraft. Following in the wake of Lovecraft's mostly posthumous success, many writers of weird horror and fantasy have taken up the task of producing Lovecraftian fiction. In this article, we will discuss some general guidelines about how to write Lovecraftian fiction.

Lovecraft largely wrote in a subgenre he himself labelled "cosmic horror". His central body of work suggests a cosmic history extending far beyond the knowledge of humanity. His universe is populated by discrete huge entities known as "The Elder Gods" and "The Great Old Ones". Next to these alien races, mankind appears historically insignificant and technologically primitive.

Love Craft

There are many respects in which a piece of fiction could be said to be "Lovecraftian". Firstly, the story might deal with well these kinds of vast alien intelligences operating beyond the human sphere of knowledge. A story might also be determined Lovecraftian with respect to the atheistic worldview espoused by Lovecraft in his fiction - that humans are merely soulless, insignificant animals in the greater cosmic scheme. Lovecraft himself referred to this philosophical position as "mechanistic materialism". In this way, Lovecraft implicitly challenged the ingrained assumption that the magical necessitated the supernatural. His Elder Gods were not true gods, but aliens sufficiently influential, considerable and knowledgeable to be worshipped as such by humankind.

How to Write Lovecraftian Fiction

Another respect in which a story might be determined Lovecraftian is the use of language. As a self-styled antiquarian, Lovecraft used many terms that were determined archaic in his own lifetime. Many Lovecraftian imitators hope to transport something by employing idiomatic words and spellings from the Lovecraftian oeuvre, such as "eldritch" and "connexion". But while this can go some way in providing flavour to a story, it is not by itself enough to yield a worthwhile contribution to the field.

If you are wanting to lead to the definite mythology of the Lovecraftian universe (also sometimes referred to as "The Cthulhu Mythos") then you could plainly write a tale featuring the entities and cosmic backdrop Lovecraft himself did. Many writers, both pro and amateur, have shaped a large body of Mythos fiction. However, with so many imitators of Lovecraft's style and language, the kinds of fiction that become customary need to have some distinctive feature. Stories which are well Lovecraftian could be said to import something essentially Lovecraftian to a novel setting, contribution a new take or a new twist.

A true contribution to literature of a Lovecraftian "spirit" will need something beyond mere imitation of archaisms, settings or names. Aspiring Lovecraftian writers would do well to ask themselves what it was that Lovecraft was trying to achieve in his fiction. Beyond the trappings of the Lovecraft tale, what is the essence of what he was trying to chronicle in his stories of cosmic horror? What today is the relevance of what Lovecraft was saying? Can this alarming worldview be imported to a new setting, with new kinds of characters and locations? To be successful in writing Lovecraftian fiction, the aspiring writer needs above all else to read Lovecraft and to internalise the meaning and significance of his work. Only when a writer has a true bearing of the direction from which Lovecraft speaks can they gather a deeper comprehension of how to write Lovecraftian fiction.

How to Write Lovecraftian Fiction

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Pure Poetry

Introduction to Pure Poetry: Pure Poetry: pure but mysterious poetry is or has been looked upon as either too highbrow, or too lowbrow, depending what generation you were born in, raised in, or happened to slip into. I can only define such things in my own terms. Some folks, who have jumped into this genre of poetry, have become too soft, or too morbid. There never seems to be a balance. Robert Howard did a good Job in this area, Clark A. Smith, was slanted to the more morbid side, and H.P.

Lovecraft was a tinge in the middle someplace. George Sterling was perhaps the more flexible of the group, but could he be considered pure poetry then, since he did put restrictions onto himself; Robinson Jeffers on the other hand did his best, but wasn't the equal to the others I've Mentioned so far, so I feel, but close. Lin Carter made his point in this genus style of poetry and to me was not the equal of the others I've Mentioned thus far; but Richard L. Tierney was good, and overlooked--there are more to mention but not sufficient space to mention them.

Love Craft

Pure poetry has a flare for the fantastic. The imaginative poetry of this type comes out to its limits of expression; perhaps a forgotten art nowadays. My friend Phillip Ellis is perhaps one of the last, of the new generation to pick up on this dying style. Myself, I am a difference of it: I use and like the style, the symbolism, images and metaphors it demands to have. Yet I am myself am in violation of this like Sterling--both of us guilty of not using its full force, as Clark A. Smith did; not saying he was good than Sterling or Tierney or Howard. Some might say I scratched its covering compared to others, if well this is the case, then I am happy I did that much, and left the morbidity out; it is not in my veins to go beyond the limits of my values, not out of sainthood, perhaps out of knighthood moreso. With this I end with these last words: in this type of poetry, the swine doesn't ordinarily pick out the pearls, nor can find them, so don't expect for them to notice them.

Pure Poetry

Pure Poetry

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