The blog
Brutal as Hell has posted a biography of William Hope Hodgson. A physical fitness pioneer, Hodgson was responsible for giving Houdini one of the worst experiences of his career when he shackled him onstage during his tour of Blackburn in 1902. Houdini eventually escaped, but he wrote that he would never forget the "pain and agony" of that particular challenge.
It's interesting that Hodgson went on to become an author of early horror and science fiction novels and short stories. The bio even says he created the idea of the Sargasso Sea. Anyway, you can read up on the life of Houdini's 1902 tormentor by clicking
HERE.
Hi, I am the author of the WHH article on Brutal As Hell and am also the person behind the William Hope Hodgson Blog at: http://williamhopehodgson.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteI explore many of the facets of Hodgson's life and work on the blog. In addition, I have written an article on the infamous confrontation between WHH and Houdini in Blackburn in 1902 and hope it to be the definitive word on the event. Said article will be appearing next month, hopefully, in WEIRD FICTION REVIEW and also in a collection of essays about Hodgson next year from Hippocampus Press. I welcome all Houdini enthusiasts to check out the blog and the article when it appears. Thanks!
Thank you for the comment, Sam. I look forward to the article and essays. If it occurs to you, please give me a heads-up when they are published so I can do a fresh blog post about them.
DeleteMy article about the encounter between Houdini and William Hope Hodgson has just been published. You can get more details at the website for Centipede Press (centipedepress.com) under the page for WEIRD FICTION REVIEW #3.
ReplyDelete