FREE THE CASEBOOK OF CARNACKI THE GHOST FINDER PDF W. H. Hodgson,David Stuart Davies | 192 pages | 05 Jul 2006 | Wordsworth Editions Ltd | 9781840225297 | English | Herts, United Kingdom The SF Site Featured Review: The Casebook of Carnacki, The Ghost Finder Thomas Carnacki is a fictional occult detective created by English fantasy writer William Hope Hodgson. Carnacki was the protagonist of a series of six short stories published between and in The Idler magazine and The New Magazine. These stories were printed together as Carnacki, The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder Ghost-Finder in The stories are inspired by the tradition of fictional detectives such as Sherlock Holmes. Carnacki lives in a bachelor flat in No Cheyne WalkChelsea ; the stories are told from a first-person perspective by Dodgson, a member of Carnacki's "strictly limited circle of friends", much as Holmes' adventures were told from Watson's point of view his other friends are Jessop, Arkwright and Taylor. Whereas the Holmes stories never made use of the supernatural except as a red herring, this is the central theme of the Carnacki stories, though several of the stories have non-supernatural endings. The character of Carnacki The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder inspired in part by The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder. Hesselius, a supernaturally inclined scientist who appeared in short stories by the Irish fantasy writer Sheridan Le Fanunotably the early and influential vampire story " Carmilla ". Carnacki is also highly reminiscent of Algernon Blackwood 's John Silence. The stories are presented using a framework story: Carnacki periodically sends notes of invitation to four friends, The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder them to come to dinner and hear his latest tale. One of the men, Dodgson, is the actual narrator of the story, who comprises an extremely minimal part of each Carnacki story. Carnacki forbids discussion of the case in question over dinner. After dinner, Carnacki lights his pipe, everyone settles into their favourite chairs, and he tells the tale without interruption. Each of Carnacki's tales tells of an investigation into an unusual hauntingwhich Carnacki is charged to identify and to end. He employs a variety of scientific methods in his investigations, as well as resorting to more traditional folklore. He employs technologies such as photography and his own fictional invention, the Electric Pentacle. He is not presumptuous, 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: of the nine Carnacki The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder, one has no supernatural component, four feature authentic paranormal activity, two have the appearance of the supernatural as a disguise for mundane human activity, and two contain manmade hoaxes in parallel with an actual haunting. After the tale is complete, Carnacki usually answers a few questions from his guests and may hand around a relevant The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder, but does not discuss the case at great length. He usually dismisses his guests with the genial phrase "Out you go! In addition to the trademark electric pentacle, Hodgson invented several rituals and ancient texts that feature in the Carnacki stories. Carnacki uses a fictional ancient text, the "Sigsand Manuscript", as a resource to protect The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder against 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. The stories influenced later horror and fantasy writers, notably Seabury Quinn and Algernon Blackwoodboth of whom had their own supernatural detective characters Jules de Grandin and John Silence respectively. Simon R. Green pays homage to Hodgson with his Ghost Finders series, where the protagonists work for the mysterious Carnacki Institute. Unlike some of Hodgson's work, the Carnacki stories remain very accessible to a modern audience. Kidd and Rick Kennett in their introduction to No. 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 They are quite timeless. Although a self-proclaimed fan of Hodgson's work, H. Lovecraft considered Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder "vastly inferior" to his earlier novels, calling it "his poorest work" and Carnacki himself "very weak, artificial and stereotyped", "surely only a mediocre echo of John Silence". The first six stories are covered here in sequence of their original publication, five in monthly issues of The Idler and "The Thing Invisible" in The New MagazineJanuary Most if not all collections follow that sequence, prior to Project Gutenberg Ebookwhich contains the first six stories alone, in their magazine sequence. The collection as presented The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder Forgotten Futures contains both versions of "The Thing Invisible" and publishing history notes that identify some minor differences in the other stories. In an ancient mansion, the bedroom known as the Grey Room was the site of a grisly murder generations ago. Carnacki is summoned to investigate a noisy spirit that tears off the bedclothes and slams the door s. The manifestation is far more powerful than he expects, and he spends a miserable, terrified night in his electric pentacle while a horrible apparition in the form of a giant human hand pounds at his defences. The next day, Carnacki finds the fabled "luck ring", and he brings it with him into the pentacle. This proves unwise, as when night falls the vicious entity pours from the ring itself and Carnacki is inside the pentacle with it. He barely escapes with his life, while the entity is trapped. He ends the haunting by melting down the ring into a lump of slag within his protective barrier. A deserted mansion in Ireland 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 realises 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 coloured 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. When a chamber in a mansion manifests a loud, eerie whistling, 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 outside and peers into the room through the window: 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, The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder court jester was once killed in the room's fireplace, and whistled as he was roasted to death. According to Hisgins family tradition, any first-born female will be haunted by a ghostly horse during her courtship. Carnacki is summoned to investigate. Many people present hear the hoofbeats, 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 happens. No marks of hooves can be found around the grounds the next morning. The following evening, hoofbeats and neighing are heard on the grounds, and Mary is heard screaming. Carnacki rushes out with his camera, and snaps The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder 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 with the successful conclusion of the courtship. The next day, Carnacki takes Mary around the house, snapping photographs to see if any manifestation can be seen on film. In the cellar a horrible neighing is heard, but nothing is seen. In 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.