The House on the Borderland
William Hope Hodgson
Read by Alan Winterrowd
In 1877, two gentlemen, Messrs Tonnison and Berreggnog, head into Ireland to spend a week fishing in the village of Kraighten. While there, they discover in the ruins of a very curious house a diary of the man who had once owned it. Its torn pages seem to hint at an evil beyond anything that existed on this side of the curtains of impossibility. This is a classic novel that worked to slowly bridge the gap between the British fantastic and supernatural authors of the later 19th century and modern horror fiction. Classic American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft lists this and other works by Hodgson among his greatest influences. (Summary by Wikipedia) (5 hr 22 min)
Chapters
| 01 - Author's Introduction & The Finding of the Manuscript | 25:17 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 02 - The Plain of Silence | 12:05 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 03 - The House in the Arena | 13:17 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 04 - The Earth | 6:57 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 05 - The Thing in the Pit | 14:09 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 06 - The Swine-Things | 19:32 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 07 - The Attack | 11:06 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 08 - After the Attack | 9:30 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 09 - In the Cellars | 7:55 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 10 - The Time of Waiting | 6:38 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 11 - The Searching of the Gardens | 13:53 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 12 - The Subterranean Pit | 21:35 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 13 - The Trap in the Great Cellar | 9:29 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 14 - The Sea of Sleep | 8:41 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 15 - The Noise in the Night | 21:52 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 16 - The Awakening | 10:46 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 17 - The Slowing Rotation | 12:52 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 18 - The Green Star | 14:40 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 19 - The End of the Solar System | 9:22 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 20 - The Celestial Globes | 7:23 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 21 - The Dark Sun | 10:23 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 22 - The Dark Nebula | 10:25 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 23 - Pepper | 2:22 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 24 - The Footsteps in the Garden | 8:03 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 25 - The Thing From the Arena | 18:01 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 26 - The Luminous Speck | 5:09 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
| 27 - Conclusion | 10:58 | Read by Alan Winterrowd |
Reviews
Odd one indeed
Mike
I unlike the other reviewers enjoyed the middle of this book. I had a beautiful picture in my minds eye of the solar system dying. Before this I considered the end of time the point when life could not it did not exist on the Earth. This gave an idea of what might take place long after that.
One strange story...
Kydiana
This is a truly genre-defying tale that will keep you guessing. Is it fantasy? horror? science fiction? Just when you think you are getting a sense of its direction, it takes you down a totally different path. It amazingly anticipates many elements that we see in these genres today. Well-read. Thank you!
Its an excellent read, but...
Timothy Ferguson
I'm sorry the story doesn't seem to have stood the test of time. There -are- parts which are horrific, but you really need to concentrate to hold the mood.
Free Listens Review
Sayeth
The beginning of this narrative is eerie while the climax is heart-thudding terrifying, but a large section of the middle, in which the narrator describes a hallucinogenic dream in which he travels to the end of the world, dips into boredom. Apart from this middle section, the novel is a short, spooky classic of horror literature. For full review and other reviews of free audiobooks, visit www.freelistens.blogspot.com
A good classic horror story
zaax.uk
A horror story that has stood the test of time - like all good stories should. The Night land is another horror by William Hope Hodgson
Well ahead of it's time
EB
wildly imaginative, replete with beautiful prose, and unsettling, sublime descriptions of time and space. in one sense it is similar in style to Clark Ashton Smith in HP Lovecraft comma and like the stories of those two writers, house on the Borderland is not an action story. there are certainly moments of suspense and action, but it is more of a fantasy horror epic. if you've ever read HD Wells The Time Machine, this story reminds me a lot of the last chapter or two of that book: poetic, poignant, moving comma and rather horrific.
one of the weirdest stories ever written
Nyq
The reader was excellent. Great quality, amazing pronunciation, the whole shebang. The book... Is indescribable. Definitely a must read for weird fiction fans. I'm not sure if I really like it because it's just so crazy that I don't understand my own feelings towards it. You'll think "hey, this is super weird" as you go through the first few chapters. And THEN you'll get to the weird part in the second half. Sounds crazy? You haven't even heard the weird part...
Not sure about this one
benefitsingers
I wish I could give this more stars but I guess I just really didn't get this story. I agree with one of the other reviewers that the middle was rather boring. I was left a bit confused at the end as well. Maybe it is just me. The reader did a good job though, he spoke very clearly and it was easy to understand him. So for me 3 for the story and 5 for the reader