Carnacki

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Thomas Carnacki is a fictional supernatural detective created by English fantasy writer, William Hope Hodgson, who appeared in a series of six short stories published between 1910 and 1912 in The Idler magazine and The New Magazine.

These stories were printed together as Carnacki the Ghost-Finder in 1913. A 1948 Arkham House edition of Carnacki the Ghost-Finder edited by August Derleth added three stories: "The Haunted Jarvee", published posthumously in The Premier Magazine in 1929, "The Hog," published in Weird Tales in 1947, and "The Find," a previously unpublished story.

Contents

[edit] Notes on the Series

The stories are in part inspired by the public taste for eccentric consulting detectives, after the manner of Sherlock Holmes. Carnacki lives in a bachelor flat in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, and has a narrator sidekick, very much in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective. Whereas the Holmes stories never made use of the supernatural, except as a red herring, this is the central theme of Carnacki. The character of Carnacki was probably inspired in part by Dr. Hesselius, a supernaturally inclined scientist who appeared in short stories by the Irish fantasy writer Sheridan Le Fanu, notably the early and influential vampire story "Carmilla".

[edit] General Structure

The stories are presented using a framework story: Carnacki periodically sends notes of invitation to four friends, asking them to come to dinner and hear his latest tale. One of the men, Dodgson, is the actual narrator of the story, which comprises the bulk of each Carnacki story. Carnacki forbids discussion of the case in question over dinner. After dinner, the Carnacki lights his pipe, settles into a comfortable chair, and tells the tale without interruption.

Each of Carnacki's tales tells of an investigation into an unusual haunting, which Carnacki is charged with, not only understanding, but also ending. He employs a variety of scientific methods in his investigations, as well as resorting to more traditional folk-lore. He employs technologies such as photography and his own fictional invention, the electric pentacle. He is not dogmatic, and always uses evidence to draw his final conclusions, so that in some stories he decides the haunting is real, while in others it is staged or faked by an adversary for various reasons. This variety makes the stories suspenseful, as the audience is never sure if the ghosts are real or not.

After the tale is complete, Carnacki usually answers a few questions from his guests, but does not discuss the case at great length. He then sends his guests home.

[edit] Inventions

In addition to the trademark electric pentacle, Hodgson invented several rituals and ancient texts that feature in the Carnacki stories. Carnacki's work is informed by a fictional ancient text known as the Sigsand Manuscript, which is a source of many hints about protecting oneself from supernatural influences. Carnacki refers to Aeiirii and Saiitii manifestations, the latter being more dangerous and capable of overcoming Carnacki's protective devices, and several rituals, including the Saaamaaa Ritual, with its mysterious eight signs and "unknown last line" that is invoked in "The Whistling Room" by a mysterious power.

There are references to even more arcane fictional works, including the Incantation of Raaaee, but no further information is provided in the stories. Just as readers of H.P. Lovecraft's works sometimes believed that his Necronomicon was real, some readers may think Hodgson's stories refer to real manuscripts and rituals. Sadly, they existed only in Hodgson's imagination, although there is no reason that an enterprising Hodgson fan couldn't write his or her own Sigsand Manuscript.

[edit] Influence

The stories were influential on later horror and fantasy writers, notably Seabury Quinn and Algernon Blackwood, both of whom had their own supernatural detective characters (Jules de Grandin and John Silence respectively).

[edit] Critical Opinion

Unlike some of Hodgson's work, the Carnacki stories remain very accessible to a modern audience. A. F. Kidd and Rick Kennett in their introduction to No. 472 Cheyne Walk: Carnacki, the Untold Stories address the question "...what is it about Thomas Carnacki that fascinates so many people?"

It certainly isn't his dynamic personality. Not much character is evident in Hodgson's creation: he is your generic stiff upper-lip Edwardian Englishman... but the exotic landscapes he inhabits are supernatural... it's his exploits, and the carefully constructed milieu in which they take place, that continue to intrigue. They are quite timeless.

[edit] Summaries of Hodgson's Carnacki Stories

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] "The Gateway of the Monster"

In an ancient mansion, the bedroom known as the Grey Room is the site of a grisly murder generations ago. Carnacki is summoned to investigate a noisy spirit that tears off the bedclothes and spends each night slamming the door(s). Carnacki uses the electric pentacle to spend the night in the room and investigate. The manifestation is far more powerful than he expects, and he spends a miserable, terrified night in the pentacle while a horrible apparition in the form of a human hand pounds at his defenses. The next day Carnacki discovers in the room the fabled "luck ring," and he brings it with him into the pentacle. This proves unwise, though, as at nightfall the vicious entity begins to pour out of the ring itself and Carnacki is inside the pentacle with it! He barely escapes with his life, while the entity is trapped; he finally ends the haunting by melting down the ring into a lump of slag within his protective barrier.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: Christian symbolism; a supernatural manifestation; an artifact with supernatural power; a protective pentacle; a vigil. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

[edit] "The House Among the Laurels"

A deserted mansion displays signs of haunting, including what appears to be blood dripping from the ceiling, and several men have been found dead in the house. Is it a prank or a haunting? Carnacki recruits a group of burly local men to investigate, along with several dogs, and they attempt to stay the night within the mansion. During their ordeal doors slam, the fire goes out, a dog is killed, and the entire group bolts from the house in terror. Upon studying his photograph, Carnacki realizes that he and the men have been played for fools. His photograph shows a wire, too fine to see in the dark, lowered from the ceiling to remove the hook holding the door open. The "blood drip" is colored water, and the "ghosts" are actually a criminal gang living in secret rooms in the mansion and playing a trick on him, taking advantage of the local legends to frighten away interlopers.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: a legend; a protective pentacle; a vigil; purported supernatural events with a natural explanation; criminal activities taking place right under ones nose. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

[edit] "The Whistling Room"

When a chamber in a mansion manifests a loud, eerie whistling, Detective Carnacki is called to investigate. He makes an exceedingly thorough search of the room, but can find no explanation. He is still not convinced of the supernatural nature of the sound until he climbs a ladder and peers into the room: the floor of the room itself is puckering like a pair of grotesque, blistered lips. He hears Tassoc, the mansion's owner, calling for help, and enters the room via the window. But Tassoc is not in the room -- only an extraordinarily dangerous supernatural entity. Carnacki is saved only by the intervention of an unknown, second being, which utters the unknown last line of the Saamaa ritual, temporarily rendering the whistling entity powerless. With that, Carnacki throws himself through the window to escape. He then has the room demolished, and all parts burned in a blast furnace within a protective pentacle, including an ancient inscription in Celtic. According to legend, a court jester was once killed in the room's fireplace, and whistled as he was roasted to death.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: a legend; a protective pentacle; a supernatural manifestation; protection from one supernatural entity by another, more powerful one. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

[edit] "The Horse of the Invisible"

According to Higgins family tradition, any first-born female will be haunted by a ghostly horse during her courtship. This story has been long considered a legend, but now for the first time in seven generations there is a first-born female, and her fiancee has just suffered a broken arm after an attack by a mysterious assailant. Carnacki is summoned to investigate. He and the woman, Mary, and her fiancee, Beaumont, hear hoofbeats in the night, but no horse is seen. Carnacki takes his camera and begins hunting the sound of hooves. Many people present hear them, but no one can find an explanation; Carnacki sets up the electric pentacle around Mary's bed. The hoofbeats are heard again during the night, but nothing else seems to happen. No marks of hooves can be found around the grounds the next morning. That evening, though, hoofbeats and neighing are heard on the grounds, and Mary is heard screaming. Carnacki rushes out with his camera, and snaps a picture, but sees nothing after the blinding flash; Beaumont is struck in the head, but not badly injured; he claims that he has seen an enormous horse's head. The hoofbeats are again heard during the night. The decision is made to accelerate the wedding plans, in the hopes that the haunting will disappear when Mary is no longer courting, but actually married.

The next day, Carnacki takes Mary around the house, even through the cellars, snapping photographs to see if any manifestation can be seen on film. In the cellar a horrible neighing is heard, but nothing is seen. One of the developed photographs, however, an enormous hoof can be seen. The night again passes uneventfully. The next morning, though, hoofbeats and neighing can be heard almost immediately, in what seems a direct assault by the invisible horse; Carnacki fires his weapon and Mary's father attacks with his sword. As a light is brought they discover a fallen man, Parsket, wearing an enormous costume horse head and hooves. It seems that there is a natural explanation for the haunting after all. But as they interrogate Parsket, hoofbeats are again heard in the house, and this time it is not a trick; Parsket dies of fright. The marriage goes on as planned, and the manifestation is never heard from again. It seems that both the natural and the supernatural were at work.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: a legend; purported supernatural events with a natural explanation; a protective pentacle; a supernatural manifestation. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

[edit] "The Searcher of the End House"

Carnacki investigates a haunting in his own mother's house. In this somewhat complicated tale, the first indication that something is amiss comes when Carnacki, up late reading, hears his mother knocking, so he thinks, on the banister to tell him to go to his bed. She does not remember doing so the next day, and it happens again the following night. When Carnacki looks in on her, he finds her door open, but she is sound asleep. A strange mildew smell is in the bedroom. Carnacki investigates the house, including the three cellars, but can find no explanation.

The opening of the door happens again the following night, and this time while Carnacki is speaking to his mother the two of them hear a door slam twice downstairs. The smell of mildew is powerful as Carnacki investigates the house. More doors are heard slamming in the night, but Carnacki can find nothing. The next day, he consults the landlord, and learns something of the house's mysterious history, which includes a former tenant named Captain Tobias, and rumors of a ghostly woman. Several previous tenants had left upon seeing this apparition. The landlord agrees to spend the night in the house as well. In the dead of night, the two see a ghostly, naked child running through the house. The vision appears so strange that the two have little doubt that it is a supernatural manifestation. The landlord claims to see a woman, apparently searching for the child, although Carnacki cannot see it. And as if that wasnt strange enough, all of the seals on the doors are unbroken. As they debate what they have seen, the mildew smell returns, more powerful than ever. The downstairs passages are wet with grotesquely shaped footprints. In his nervousness, the landlord accidentally fires his revolver. No one is hit, but the police arrive to investigate. The physical evidence convinces the officer that an investigation is in order. As they wind up their tour, they find that a second officer has seen the ghostly woman. The men follow the wet footprints and smell into the cellars; on the top step, they find a wriggling maggot. Through their investigation of the third cellar,they find that the prints stop at a disused well, filled with water. They watch the well for the rest of the night, but nothing more happens.

The next evening, the men reconvene in the basement with lamps, a tripwire, and a wire cage to suspend over the well. Carnacki locks and seals the doors. As they keep watch, the ghostly child again manifests, apparently fleeing from an unseen pursuer. All present again claim to see a woman, Carnacki not included; he does, however, see all the metal objects in the basement shining strangely, but of course, the others cannot see this. While they watch, something is heard to emerge from the well, giving off the horrible smell; Carnacki lowers the cage, and when the men uncover the lanterns they discover that they have caught Captain Tobias, carrying a leg of spoiled mutton. He came in through a secret passage at the bottom of the well. We learn that Captain Tobias is wanted for smuggling, after being released from prison only a few weeks earlier. He is apparently trying to drive out the tenants of his old home so that he can retrieve smuggled goods; the sounds heard previously were the sound of him entering a hidden passage in Carnacki's mother's bedroom, but the wooden panels have warped with age, and so make a clicking sound.

As for the ghost, Captain Tobias also reports that he has seen the woman and child. Carnacki believes that "...the Woman and the Child were not only two complete and different entities; but even they were each not in quite the same planes of existence." He thinks the men may have witnessed the ghost of a wayward unborn child that refused to accept birth into the natural world and which was thus pulled back by what Sigsand called "thee Haggs." Carnacki goes on to say "it leaves us with the conception of a child's soul adrift half-way between two lives, and running through Eternity from Something incredible and inconceivable (because not understood) to our senses."

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: a legend; purported supernatural events with a natural explanation; a supernatural manifestation; a vigil. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

[edit] "The Thing Invisible"

A chapel attached to an Edwardian manor house contains an ancient, cursed dagger that has just apparently murdered someone of its own accord, and naturally, Carnacki is called in to investigate. He spends the night in the chapel wearing armor with his camera ready to photograph any mysterious phenomena. All night he hears mysterious noises. As he approaches the altar, the dagger nearly kills him. The photographic evidence settles it, though -- there is a rational explanation. The somewhat demented elderly gentleman of the manor house has armed an ancient trap that guards the altar: a spring mechanism designed to fling the dagger when the altar gate is opened. Carnacki uncovers the truth because of a subtle difference between the "before" and "after" photographs of the altar's cast iron metalwork.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: a legend; purported supernatural events with a natural explanation; a vigil. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

[edit] "The Hog"

Carnacki faces perhaps his most powerful adversary: a disturbing hog spirit of giant proportions which is trying to enter our world. He is equipped with a new variant on the electric pentacle involving rainbow-colored tubes.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: a supernatural manifestation. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

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[edit] "The Haunted Jarvee"

Carnacki makes an appearance to investigate a shipboard ghost in a blending of the Carnacki series with one of Hodgson's more typical nautical settings.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: ... See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

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[edit] "The Find"

Carnacki investigates a seemingly impossible book forgery in the least supernatural of the Carnacki stories.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: ... See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

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[edit] Adaptations

"The Horse of the Invisible" was adapted as an episode of the 1970s British TV series, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, and starred Donald Pleasence as Carnacki.

[edit] Carnacki Stories by Other Authors

[edit] 472 Cheyne Walk

The book No. 472 Cheyne Walk: Carnacki, the Untold Stories by A. F. Kidd and Rick Kennett collects twelve stories written about the further adventures of Carnacki. Four of these stories were originally published as a 32-page booklet of the same title in 1992. The book version was printed in a limited edition of 500 copies.

Many of these stories are inspired by off-hand references to other cases of hauntings that Carnacki makes in his stories, which were never explained further in the original story series. In their introduction to the 1992 booklet the authors describe these stories as pastiche, in the sense of respectful imitation or homage, as opposed to parody, which mocks the original (either with respectful humor, or more viciously). The authors suggest that Hodgson, by having Carnacki casually drop references to other cases which he himself did not write about, "invited" his readers to enter the "shared universe" and pick up where he left off. Readers may decide for themselves whether to consider these stories "canon," or a legitimate part of the Carnacki story arc; they closely follow not only the basic framework structure of the Carnacki original stories but also Hodgson's style and vocabulary.

[edit] Summaries of the 472 Cheyne Walk Stories

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] "The Darkness"

In "The Gateway of the Monster" and "The Horse of the Invisible," Carnacki makes passing references to the "Black Veil case," in which a man named Aster died because he did not accept the necessity of staying inside the protective pentacle. In "The Darkness," Aster is a reporter who accompanies Hodgson on his investigation of a haunted room. An apparition of a mysterious woman can be seen in the window and a rotting black veil is found inside a secret compartment in a window-seat. Carnacki burns the veil inside a pentacle in the hopes of ending the haunting. However, as night falls, Aster will not enter the pentacle, believing this to be superstitious nonsense. Both men lose the power of sight as the apparition manifests, and Carnacki must listen helplessly from inside the pentacle as Aster is driven into screaming madness and death. No option remains to end the haunting but to destroy the house itself.

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: An artifact with supernatural power; a protective pentacle; a supernatural manifestation; a vigil. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

[edit] "Matheson's Inheritance"

In "The Gateway of the Monster" Carnacki makes reference to the "Noving Fur" case. It is unclear if this is a typographical error and Hodgson intended "Moving Fur" instead; the Collected Fiction edition and the Project Gutenberg electronic text show this correction. "Matheson's Inheritance" covers both bases by including moving fur and placing the haunting in Noving House in Wales.

Matheson has inherited a baroque mansion. Local legend says the house was once occupied by a dewi (wizard) and his familiar an afanc. One room in the house emanates dread. Carnacki and Matheson can find no natural explanation, and so Carnacki spends the night in the room, inside his protective pentacle. In the middle of his vigil his candle flames suddenly turn black, and the floor becomes a heaving carpet of fur, as if the pentacle was upon the back of a giant animal. It is clear that the protective barrier has failed utterly. As in "The Whistling Room," a second powerful entity intervenes and the candle flames turn blue; Carnacki is given a moment to escape the room, and does so, although his pantlegs are torn and his legs covered with cuts. In daylight, strange, ancient bones are found under the floorboards of the room; before the room can be demolished, that wing of the mansion burns.

The blue candle flames point Carnacki back to references to the protective powers of colors in the Sigsand manuscript, suggesting the origin of the colored tubes that appear in Hodgson's Carnacki story "The Hog." The afanc is described as having a horse-like head; this description does not match the Welsh myth, and so may be a reference to "The Horse of the Invisible."

Characteristic Hodgson motifs: a legend; a protective pentacle; a supernatural manifestation; protection from one supernatural entity by another, more powerful one; a creature or creatures unknown to science; a vigil. See Motifs in William Hope Hodgson's Fiction.

[edit] TODO

Brief summaries are needed for the remaining stories in this book.

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[edit] Parodies

Rick Kennett has also written a parody of "The Whistling Room" called "The Sniffling Room," published in The Goblin Muse, April 2000. In this brief story, rather than receiving an invitation and then eagerly attending Carnacki's storytelling evenings, the attending gentlemen are instead kidnapped, dragged to Carnacki's home, and forced to listen against their wills to a told by a man they consider to be a raving lunatic. It thus mocks primarily the common framework of the Carnacki stories, rather than Carnacki's actual investigation.

[edit] External links

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