Other editions of book The Ghost Pirates

"The Ghost Pirates" is a powerful account of a doomed and haunted ship on its last voyage, and of the terrible sea-devils (of quasi-human aspect, and perhaps the spirits of bygone buccaneers) that besiege it and finally drag it down to an unknown fate. With its command of maritime knowledge, and its clever selection of hints and incidents suggestive of latent horrors in nature, this book at times reaches enviable peaks of power.

Jessop is the only survivor of the final voyage of the Mortzestus, rescued from drowning by the crew of the passing Sangier. He begins to recount how he came to be aboard the ill-fated Mortzestus, the rumors surrounding the vessel and the unusual events that rapidly increase in both frequency and severity. He describes his confusion and uncertainty about what he believes he has seen, at times fearing for his own sanity.

William H. Hodgson considered his three novels, "The House on the Borderland", "The Boats of the Glen-Carrig," and “The Ghost Pirates” a trilogy. They are not sequels and not related, except for their emphasis on the supernatural beings, who came, perhaps, from another dimension.“The Ghost Pirates”, the third book of this trilogy, was one of H.P. Lovecraft’s favorite works.

The Mortzestus is reputed to be haunted but the crew dismisses the rumors as preposterous — at first. Two weeks out of port the rigging suddenly goes slack, a ghostly form arises from the sea, and shadows thicken around the vessel. The frightened sailors, convinced that supernatural powers are afoot, plot mutiny and demand to be set ashore. But a dense mist descends around the ship, threatening to swallow the craft and its men without a trace. The desperate crew's chilling fate is recounted in this compulsive page-turner by William Hope Hodgson, a master of seafaring yarns. Rich in nautical language and lore, it combines an intriguing view of shipboard life with a suspenseful ghost story. Horror author Robert Weinberg noted the occult classic's compact prose style, hailing it as "one of the finest examples of the tightly written novel ever published." And no less an authority than H. P. Lovecraft observed, "With its command of maritime knowledge, and its clever selection of hints and incidents suggestive of latent horrors in nature, this book at times reaches enviable peaks of power."