The Voice in the Night
Encyclopedia
"The Voice in the Night" is a short story by William Hope Hodgson
, first published in the November 1907
edition of Blue Book Magazine
.
The story has been adapted a number of times, most prominently in the 1963 Japanese film Matango
.
Weird fungi in the shape of animals or humans are a recurring theme in Hodgson's stories and novels; for example, in the novel The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" the survivors of a shipwreck come across tree-like plants that mimic (or, perhaps, have absorbed) birds and people.
, in more general anthologies like Beyond Time and Space
, as well as in other publications like Twilight Zone Magazine.
He and his fiancée, aboard the ship Albatross, were abandoned by the ship's crew, who took the lifeboats. Building a raft, the two escaped from the sinking vessel and found another nearby ship in a lagoon, apparently abandoned, and covered with a fungus-like growth. They attempt to remove this growth from the living quarters but are unable to do so; it continues to spread, and so they return to their raft. The nearby island, however, is also covered with this growth. Eventually the speaker and his fiancee find the fungus growing on their skin and feel an uncontrollable urge to eat the fungus. They discover that other humans on the island have apparently been entirely absorbed and become one with the strange fungal growth.
As the speaker in the rowboat rows away, just as the sky is lightening, the narrator can dimly see a grotesquely misshapen form in the rowboat, scarcely recognizable as human.
to produce his television series
. It was directed by Arthur Hiller
from a script by Stirling Silliphant
. It starred (in the order they were billed in the titles and credits) Barbara Rush
, James Donald
, Patrick McNee, and James Coburn
.
The second filmed adaptation was the Japanese motion picture Matango
(1963), shown on American television under the title Attack of the Mushroom People.
#9.
Doug Wheeler adapted the concept for his run on DC Comics
' Swamp Thing
, even naming the main villain Matango.
, first published in the October 1973 issue of Cavalier
magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift
. It is the story of a man who, having become reclusive after a work-related accident, drinks a bad can of beer and is ultimately overtaken by fungal growth from within.
John Brosnan
's novel The Fungus from 1985 has a similar plot, where mutated fungi destroys England, and those infected die or become mutated mushroom people, depending on what kind of fungus they have become infected with.
Brian Lumley
's short story "Fruiting Bodies", which won the British Fantasy Award
in 1989, concerns a strange fungus that slowly destroys a town and ultimately consumes the bodies of the last remaining residents but keeps their form. The story ends ominously as wood from the town has been harvested for use in homes across England, and the narrator has inhaled spores from the strange fungi. Lumley has named "The Voice in the Night" as one of his favourite stories.
The concept of fungal symbiosis or assimilation of humans is also frequently found in the work of Jeff VanderMeer
, especially in his "Ambergris" novels and short stories.
William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction and science fiction. Early in his writing career he dedicated effort to poetry, although few of his...
, first published in the November 1907
1907 in literature
The year 1907 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* June 26 - Mark Twain receives an honorary doctorate of laws degree from Oxford University.*James Joyce meets Ettore Schmitz for the first time....
edition of Blue Book Magazine
Blue Book (magazine)
Blue Book was a popular 20th-century American magazine with a lengthy 70-year run under various titles from 1905 to 1975.Launched as The Monthly Story Magazine, it was published under that title from May 1905 to August 1906 with a change to The Monthly Story Blue Book Magazine for issues from...
.
The story has been adapted a number of times, most prominently in the 1963 Japanese film Matango
Matango
, also known as Matango, Fungus of Terror and Attack of the Mushroom People, is a 1963 Japanese tokusatsu movie. It was directed by Ishirō Honda, written by Takeshi Kimura based on the story "The Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson , and had special...
.
Weird fungi in the shape of animals or humans are a recurring theme in Hodgson's stories and novels; for example, in the novel The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" the survivors of a shipwreck come across tree-like plants that mimic (or, perhaps, have absorbed) birds and people.
Publication history
After its first outing the story has been reprinted numerous times - in collections of Hodgson's stories like Deep WatersDeep Waters (book)
Deep Waters is a collection of short stories by author William Hope Hodgson published in 1967 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,556 copies, the second of the author's books to be published by Arkham...
, in more general anthologies like Beyond Time and Space
Beyond Time and Space
Beyond Time and Space is an anthology of science fiction stories edited by August Derleth. It was first published by Pellegrini & Cudahy in 1950...
, as well as in other publications like Twilight Zone Magazine.
Plot synopsis
In this story, a schooner at sea ("becalmed in the Northern Pacific") is approached in the middle of "a dark, starless night" by a small rowboat. The passenger aboard the ship, who refuses to bring his boat close alongside and requests that the sailors on the schooner put away their lantern, tells a disturbing tale. Initially begging food for his fiancée, he receives a box of foodstuffs, floated to him in a wooden box. Later that same evening he returns to report that his fiancée is grateful for the food, but will soon die, and he tells the sailors his full story.He and his fiancée, aboard the ship Albatross, were abandoned by the ship's crew, who took the lifeboats. Building a raft, the two escaped from the sinking vessel and found another nearby ship in a lagoon, apparently abandoned, and covered with a fungus-like growth. They attempt to remove this growth from the living quarters but are unable to do so; it continues to spread, and so they return to their raft. The nearby island, however, is also covered with this growth. Eventually the speaker and his fiancee find the fungus growing on their skin and feel an uncontrollable urge to eat the fungus. They discover that other humans on the island have apparently been entirely absorbed and become one with the strange fungal growth.
As the speaker in the rowboat rows away, just as the sky is lightening, the narrator can dimly see a grotesquely misshapen form in the rowboat, scarcely recognizable as human.
Film
The story has been filmed twice. The first and more faithful adaptation, under the title "Voice in the Night," was made as an episode of the television series Suspicion (1958). This was one of ten episodes of Suspicion made by Shamley Productions, the company established by Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
to produce his television series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
. It was directed by Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller, OC is a Canadian film director. His filmography includes 33 major studio releases, including the 1970 film Love Story...
from a script by Stirling Silliphant
Stirling Silliphant
Stirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, moved to Glendale, California as a child, graduated from Hoover High School, and was educated at the University of Southern California...
. It starred (in the order they were billed in the titles and credits) Barbara Rush
Barbara Rush
Barbara Rush is an American stage, film, and television actress.-Career:A student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Barbara Rush performed on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse before signing with Paramount Pictures...
, James Donald
James Donald
James Donald was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he usually specialised in playing authority figures.Donald was born in Aberdeen, and made his first professional stage appearance sometime in the late-1930s, having been educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast...
, Patrick McNee, and James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
.
The second filmed adaptation was the Japanese motion picture Matango
Matango
, also known as Matango, Fungus of Terror and Attack of the Mushroom People, is a 1963 Japanese tokusatsu movie. It was directed by Ishirō Honda, written by Takeshi Kimura based on the story "The Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson , and had special...
(1963), shown on American television under the title Attack of the Mushroom People.
Comics
The story acted as the springboard for the story "Forbidden Fruit" in The Haunt of FearThe Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in 1950. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Haunt of Fear was sold at newsstands beginning with its May/June 1950 issue...
#9.
Doug Wheeler adapted the concept for his run on DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...
, even naming the main villain Matango.
Similar works
"Gray Matter" is a short story by Stephen KingStephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, first published in the October 1973 issue of Cavalier
Cavalier (magazine)
Cavalier is an American magazine that was launched by Fawcett Publications in 1952 and has continued for decades, eventually evolving into a Playboy-style men's magazine...
magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift
Night Shift (book)
Night Shift is the first collection of short stories by Stephen King, first published in 1978. Many of King's most famous short stories were included in this collection.-Stories collected:-Details:...
. It is the story of a man who, having become reclusive after a work-related accident, drinks a bad can of beer and is ultimately overtaken by fungal growth from within.
John Brosnan
John Brosnan
John Raymond Brosnan was an Australian writer of both fiction and non-fiction works based around the fantasy and science fiction genres. He was born in Perth, Western Australia, and died in South Harrow, London, from acute pancreatitis...
's novel The Fungus from 1985 has a similar plot, where mutated fungi destroys England, and those infected die or become mutated mushroom people, depending on what kind of fungus they have become infected with.
Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley is an English horror fiction writer.Born in County Durham, he joined the British Army's Royal Military Police and wrote stories in his spare time before retiring with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1980 and becoming a professional writer.He added to H. P...
's short story "Fruiting Bodies", which won the British Fantasy Award
British Fantasy Award
The British Fantasy Awards are administered annually by the British Fantasy Society and were first awarded in 1971. The membership of the BFS vote to determine recommendations, short-lists and winners of the awards...
in 1989, concerns a strange fungus that slowly destroys a town and ultimately consumes the bodies of the last remaining residents but keeps their form. The story ends ominously as wood from the town has been harvested for use in homes across England, and the narrator has inhaled spores from the strange fungi. Lumley has named "The Voice in the Night" as one of his favourite stories.
The concept of fungal symbiosis or assimilation of humans is also frequently found in the work of Jeff VanderMeer
Jeff VanderMeer
Jeffrey Scott VanderMeer is an American writer, editor and publisher.He is best known for his contributions to the New Weird and his stories about the city of Ambergris, in books like City of Saints and Madmen.-Biography:...
, especially in his "Ambergris" novels and short stories.
External links
- "The Voice in the Night" at Manybooks.netManybooks.netManybooks.net is a digital library that takes e-books from Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive, and other free sources and converts them to file formats suitable for e-readers, such as PDF or ePub...