Then again...that's not entirely true...I did read one short story he wrote in Gary Gianni's amazing "Corpus Monstrum" when it came out in 2002 - "The Gateway of the Monster" featuring Carnacki the Ghostfinder (a clear inspiration for Mignola's Hellboy when you consider his mixture of scientific apparatuses, firearms and spellcraft to combat the occult - I believe also previously acknowledged by Mignola). Of course, although it's a gripping story far improved by the addition of Gianni's beautiful linework - sadly I can't find a scan of a pic from that story, but this is the cover of the original book - can't recommend it enough - although there is also a more recent HC release by Dark Horse too.
Newer version (which I believe also contains the illustrated story - don't have either hard copy with me at the moment):
But...I'm getting off topic. Basically...if you like weird fiction in general...Lovecraftian, Howardian or others along that line...you really owe it to yourself to pick up this collection. It's $1.99 for nearly 1200 pages for crying out loud. (It's a massive collection, but looking again at his complete credits at wikipedia, I think there are a number of missing stories).
I think a key factor behind WHH's work is that unlike folks like Lovecraft or Howard who (despite their excellent writing)...actually had little experience to put behind it) - WHH really did live an adventuring life (similar to Joseph Conrad). Sailing, photography, running his own gym (ahead of his time), advertising his own workout routines, all before serving and dying in World War 1 at Ypres.
So in this collection you can basically break down the stories into two categories...general strange fiction (including the set featuring Carnacki) and the nautical stories (nearly all of which also feature a weird element). You could also probably add a third category and pull two more stories out of the general strange fiction category: "The House on the Borderland" and "The Night Land". Both of those stories are notable - in my opinion - for the absolutely immense scope of time they cover...outstripping by far even H.G. Wells' "Time Machine" - albeit in a different sort of format. The science is by no means accurate, but the fantastic nature and the staggering scales invoked on a cosmic stage are entertainingly gripping - at least to a dreamer like me.
I'll throw in this link just for the interested folks - but I'd caution that it's worth reading the originals in full first (pretty sure you can read them for full at the Gutenberg project as well): http://www.thenightland.co.uk/nightmap.html
Now, considering the nautical stories - while realistically written in describing the sea, the ships and the men who ply them both - these are distinctly different from those of Conrad with the key inclusion in nearly every story of a "weird" element. There are all manner of ghost ships, sea creatures, visitations and other bizarre occurrences covered - including "The Voice in the Night" - adapted by Toho on film as "Matango" aka "The Mushroom People".
I guess this isn't the most coherent review - first time I've tried reviewing a collection of stories - and the sheer size and diversity of this volume make it even more difficult. Suffice to say - as I mentioned at the beginning - if you're at all interested in classic weird literature - this is more than worth the price. These cheap Kindle versions have been a real treat IMO - considering how hard it's been to get hard copy volumes of a lot of these older works - and I expect to have a few more for reviewing in upcoming days.
Highly Recommended.
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