Cover image for

The Ghost Pirates

Author William Hope Hodgson
Categories Nautical, Ghost Stories, Pirate Tales
Language English
Published 1909
Word count 48,590
Excerpt

t twelve paces distant; when, abruptly, the silent figure made three quick strides to the port rail, and climbed over it into the sea.

I rushed to the side, and stared over; but nothing met my gaze, except the shadow of the ship, sweeping over the moonlit sea.

How long I stared down blankly into the water, it would be impossible to say; certainly for a good minute. I felt blank--just horribly blank. It was such a beastly confirmation of the unnaturalness of the thing I had concluded to be only a sort of brain fancy. I seemed, for that little time, deprived, you know, of the power of coherent thought. I suppose I was dazed--mentally stunned, in a way.

As I have said, a minute or so must have gone, while I had been staring into the dark of the water under the ship's side. Then, I came suddenly to my ordinary self. The Second Mate was singing out: "Lee fore brace."

I went to the braces, like a chap in a dream.

II

What Tammy the 'Prentice Saw

The next morning, in my w

ReviewsAdd a review for this title.

Average Rating:

2006.11.23
sujen

Very creepy! A little hard to read the dialogue at times, due to the author's spelling of the sailor's accents. Overall, this book is an interesting quick read.

2006.08.30
Kingsley Turner

"Ghost Pirates" is the tale of a ship surrounded in mystery.

The story is explored through the experiences of the narrator "Jessop". He joins the ship for a return journey to England, knowing beforehand that strange things have happened previously. Most of the crew has left the ship, only one sailor is left who has knowledge of the goings-on, but is not keen to elaborate.

As the journey home unfolds, strange things appear at night, benign at first; but then things start to go amiss high-up in the rigging.

One of my most favourite parts, was the chase-down of something up in the sails during the dead of night. Sailors scramble up with only the meagre the light of a lantern, and the blue-white blaze of an occasional, frantically lit flare. Up and up the go, forcing back the darkness and unknown, only to find more than they bargined for.

At times I felt a bit confused interpreting the written accents of a few of the sailors, in particular (what I think was) the Scottish ones. Also the book jumps straight into sail and rigging terminology I had no idea of, but you quickly learn that "the royal" is one of the sails, and similiarly for other terms.

Overall this book is great, the story isn't very long, but once the narrator made his first "sighting" I was hooked.
I'd rather give it 9/10, than 5/5 though,
it's good, but not perfect.