5 h 27 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Far from land, the crew knows how to face a storm—but not the figures aboard their ship.
In William Hope Hodgson’s The Ghost Pirates, young seaman Jessop joins the Mortzestus for work and a passage. The old sailing ship already makes her crew uneasy. Strange weather and a sound from aloft deepen their distrust. Then the men begin to speak of shapes, and ordinary shipboard work becomes something to fear.
Jessop tells only what he sees and what he can guess. Beside him, the young apprentice Tammy struggles with dread, while the captain demands obedience and the mate scorns the sailors’ fears. Their skills serve them against storm and cold. But what can those skills do when the danger follows no rules they know?
What you’ll discover
- A ship men distrust Step aboard the Mortzestus, where old timber and uneasy watches give fear room to grow.
- A sailor’s honest voice Follow Jessop as he tries to trust both his eyes and his reason.
- Dread in small details Listen for a sound aloft that the wind cannot explain away.
- Orders against the unknown Watch the crew’s need to work collide with fears their officers dismiss.
- The sea made strange Discover how Hodgson’s experience as a sailor grounds the story’s slow, unsettling horror.
Who will love it
For readers who love atmospheric ghost stories, sea tales and the roots of weird fiction, with phantom figures and supernatural dread aboard a sailing ship.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A doubtful ship and a nervous crew
- Small oddities that will not be explained
- The sailors begin to speak of figures
- Fear begins to cost the crew something
- What the story is really about
- How Hodgson builds dread on the page
Who’s who
- JessopA young seaman who tells the story, a plain and honest witness who wants to trust his eyes and his reason.
- TammyA young apprentice aboard the ship, whose fear shows how real the dread has become.
- The captainThe ship's commander, who needs an obedient crew and has little patience for talk of strange things.
- The mateAn officer of the afterguard who treats the men's fears with scorn and keeps the ship's work going.
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 5 h 27 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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I pirati fantasma
by William Hope Hodgson · 1909
Aboard the Mortzestus, Jessop faces strange sounds and glimpsed figures, with no escape across the sea.
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In short
The Ghost Pirates is a short horror novel by William Hope Hodgson, published in 1909. Hodgson had been a sailor before he was a writer, and it shows.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A doubtful ship and a nervous crew
The story opens aboard the Mortzestus, an old sailing ship that sits low in the water and carries a name the men can barely say. Jessop, the young sailor who tells the tale, has joined her like any other hand, looking for work and a passage. He has no reason at first to think her anything but a hard, worn vessel, much like others he has known.
But the sailors of the forecastle, the cramped living space at the bow, do not share his ease. They talk in low voices. They look at the sea and the rigging with a wariness Jessop does not yet understand. Old hands often grumble about a ship, so he takes it for the usual complaint. Yet the grumbling has an edge of real unease that sets this crew apart.
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What is The Ghost Pirates about?
It is a horror novel about a sailing ship, the Mortzestus, whose crew slowly becomes aware of strange sounds and shadowy figures. A young sailor, Jessop, tells how fear grows during a long voyage far from land.
Who wrote The Ghost Pirates and when?
William Hope Hodgson wrote it, and it was published in 1909. Hodgson had worked at sea, which is why the ship, the crew and the sailing details feel so exact and real.
Is The Ghost Pirates a true story?
No, it is fiction. Hodgson drew on his own experience as a sailor for the setting and the routine of a sailing ship, but the ghostly events are invented for the horror tale.
The author
William Hope Hodgson
1877–1918 · English horror and fantasy writer
William Hope Hodgson (1877–1918) was a British writer born in Essex, England. He worked as a sailor before becoming a writer. His novels include The House on the Borderland (1908) and The Night Land (1912). He served in the British Army and was killed in France during the First World War.
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