Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk: A Ghost Story for Christmas

by Frank Cowper, Seth (Illustrator)

Reading a ghost story on Christmas Eve was once as much a part of traditional Christmas celebrations as turkey, eggnog, and Santa Claus.

When he finds an abandoned duck punt on Christmas Eve, a hunter rows out into the marsh and comes across a shipwreck. He climbs aboard to explore—and finds himself trapped when a surge snaps the mooring line and his punt floats away. Sleep eludes him, and soon he discovers that he's not the only one trapped on the derelict ship.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Christmas, Classics, Mystery, Fiction, Paranormal

35 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2018

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

AND NOW I HAVE READ ALL ELEVEN OF THE BOOKS IN SETH'S GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS SERIES!!!

this is the first one that actually occurs at christmas. and it might be my favorite of seth’s cover designs in this series - it’s got that hardy boys vibe with a little candle cove thrown in for good measure.



the author’s bio reads thusly:

Frank Cowper (1849—1930) was an English yachtsman and author.

the fact that “yachtsman” takes top billing is telling. not that the story isn’t good, it’s fine, but it does take place on a boat and is full of boaty words like fore-chains and stern-post and companion-ladder and… rudders. i mention this because the bilge features prominently, and i’d just finished reading The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss, in which there is a humorously heated debate over boat terminology; a “basement/belowdecks/bilge” argument, and it gave me a memory-giggle.

FYI this is a bilge:



internet says this is a companion-ladder, but i’m not so sure that is what is meant in this story.



IN ANY EVENT, this tale involves a man trying to be a good friend:

It was during the Christmas vacation 197—. I was staying with an old college friend who had lately been appointed the curate of a country parish, and had asked me to come and cheer him up, since he could not get away at that time.

which he does. because he is a nice guy. his friend, however, is not, and as soon as this sucker gets to his friend’s new neck of the woods, characterized by monotony with a vengeance, he discovers that ‘hospitality’ isn’t a thing that his pal jones does, and he’s going to be pretty much on his own.

”You will find it precious dull, old man,” said Jones, as we were eating our frugal dinner. “There’s nothing for you to do, unless you care to try a shot at the duck over the mud-flats. I shall be busy on and off nearly all to-morrow.”

THANKS FOR THE INVITATION, YA JERK!

so the next day finds our narrator awkward and bored, as a man always is when another is actively doing his duty, so he takes his gun and goes off in search of those ducks. he fortuitously happens upon a duck punt and uses it to try to get some birds, but they are too clever and evasive, and he gets zero ducks but ends up drifting near an abandoned hulk, which is not an angry green baby dropped off at a firehouse, but a boat. i told you there would be boaty words.

now, the text does not explicitly state this, but knowing what we know of birds and their evil ways, i would not think it exaggeration to use the word “lured” here. those birds lured him to this abandoned boat, which, while he is exploring its decks (<—another boatword!) his duck punt floats away leaving him trapped. bet he wants to punt them ducks NOW, amiright? again, i’m not entirely sure the ducks didn’t help shove that punt back into the water with their wicked little wings.

ANYWAY, to make a long story short



this guy spends his christmas eve trapped on a boat in the cold in the middle of nowhere all because he thought he’d be a good pal. this being an olde timey family friendly ghost story, nothing much… happens. he’s trapped on a boat, he hears things and smells things and vaguely glimpses things that cannot be explained ooooOOOOoooo and then he lives to write about it.

i mean, it's more ghosty in his words than mine, but that's pretty much what it boils down to, and i'm saving the details of it for you to discover because, while i won't be tricked into coming to your dead-end town and killing birds for fun, i am still a pretty goodhearted person. don't listen to me, read your own damn books!

AND THAT IS ALL THERE IS FOR NOW! hopefully they will publish a few more next year so i can keep this spooooky christmas spirit going! thanks for all of it, seth/biblioasis!!

mission statement copied from my review for One Who Saw:

this holiday season, i am going to read through 'seth's christmas ghost stories' line on biblioasis, and i encourage you to do the same. the books are so cute and tiny, you can stuff someone's stocking or dreidel with 'em! the cover art and interior illustrations are by seth, and they are seasonally spoooooky, blending the spirit of halloween with christmas cheer the way nature, and jack skellington, intended.

come to my blog!

[GoldGato · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short story I was supposed to read for Christmas, but I was a week late. Therefore, I will start a new tradition of reading ghost stories for New Year's Eve instead. It's a haunted tale that's meant for winter, with its descriptions of remoteness and cold water throughout the tale.

In this Victorian ghoster, the narrator visits his friend only to find himself having to kill time because of his friend’s work schedule. Walking to the water, he gets himself into trouble when he finds an abandoned boat, with which he rows himself to a decaying ship. His goal is to shoot ducks from the safety of the deck, but the tides change, his little boat drifts off, and he must spend the night on a broken-down hulk.

This tale is all about the senses. The narrator hears noises, he smells bad odors, he touches wet and sticky drippings. What is happening around him? He doesn’t know but his confidence quickly disappears as would anyone’s who suddenly find themselves isolated inside a boat where the next step could send one down to a watery grave. Cowper does a fine job of detailing the surroundings, so that even before the narrator reaches the ship, the reader is a bit scared. That’s my type of ghost story, best to be read around the witching hour.

Book Season = Winter (doleful places)

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this is the problem when you have a stack of books from a collection - you inadvertantly pick up the wrong one and start reading only to realise several pages in that you have read it already - well it would seem a waste (not to mention I had got comfortable) to stop now so here we go again


Is it a bad thing that you end up reading a book that has literally just dropped through the mail box when you are surrounded by 100s of other titles waiting to be read - don't answer that I feel guilty enough.

This is another of the Christmas Ghost stories illustrated by Seth and written by authors across the ages who are masters of this genre (are Victorian style ghost stories a genre?)

Anyway its been a little while since I have read any of this growing series and I will say this one I really enjoyed - even in the height of summer the story evokes a sense of desolation you only get on those cold winters days where the world just seems to be wet and shades of grey and brown.

There is something special about these stories that thrive as much on the atmosphere and location of the story as much as the actual content they have, another great fun read.

[Ana on the Shelves · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentleman goes to visit his friend on Christmas and ends up becoming stranded on an abandoned boat left to rot away in the shallows, and all because he wanted to hunt some ducks. He soon accepts his fate. He shall have to spend Christmas Eve on this hulk. However sleep does not come easily and then the suspicion is settled. Is he not by himself?
Atmospheric and unsettling, Frank Cowper’s writing is sure to bring a chill upon your spine as you can easily see yourself there, in the dark, in the quiet… and not alone.

[Lydia Schoch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tale was set in an era when the social classes were much more divided than they are these days. That is to say, it was a terrible faux pas to befriend people from lower or upper classes. Since the lonely, financially secure main characters lived in an economically depressed area, this essentially meant that they could hire their neighbours to work for them but could never invite them over for something sociable like dinner.

I love being near all sorts of bodies of water, but they can be melancholy places in disagreeable weather. The thought of purposefully going out exploring in a chilly, watery environment on Christmas Eve made me shake my head and wonder what on Earth the protagonist was thinking.

With that being said, the protagonist’s impulsivity and willingness to take unnecessary risks was exactly what this plot needed to push it forward. He was someone I soon grew to like quite a bit even while shaking my head at his total disregard for his own safety.

The eerie thing about this haunting was that it happened in total darkness after the main character accidentally got trapped on the abandoned ship. Imagine hearing frightening sounds, having no way to discover what was making them, and not being able to move out of fear of walking the wrong way and falling through rotten, gap-filled lumber into a freezing sea!

That imagery alone was what earned this story a horror rating. It wasn’t gory at all, but it sure was horrifying.

[A.J. Sefton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the old tradition of ghost stories at Christmas and wish it was more popular. The Victorians really knew how to create the right atmosphere and this story is right there with them. The publication I read is accompanied by illustrations by Seth, and they are very good and stylish too.

The story is straightforward enough. A man goes to spend Christmas with his friend as he is on his own and will be working sporadically. The friend lives in a quiet, remote place and there isn't much to do, so the man takes himself to the mudflats to take in a bit of duck shooting. WHile following the water fowl he comes across a shipwreck and investigates. While exploring, the vessel he travelled in becomes loose and drifts off, meaning that he has to spend the night on the wreck in the hope that his friend comes to find him quickly.

There is a lot of nautical terminology that I was unfamiliar with (I have since found out that Cowper was an excellent yachtsman, and this was the main reason for his fame). Despite this, it doesn't distract from the tale and it is still easy to follow. Written in the first person in a typical Victorian gentleman's style, everything is explained logically and clearly.

The story is atmospheric and creepy, the desolation adds to the unsettling theme. A great story to read in the dark nights of winter around the fire.

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 2 out of 5]

A man goes to visit a friend in a remote location on the seaside and ends up getting himself stranded on a hulk on Christmas Eve where he sees and hears odd things. The interesting part of this book is that it feels like something we could actually experience and have no one believe us when the story told. However, the story's lack of a more tangible haunting kind of keeps it back a bit too. The telling however was done quite nicely.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little story here. Very atmospheric with a good creep-out factor and pretty effective use of a Victorian-style voice in the telling of the thing. It is perhaps a bit static overall, but the events that occur below decks are played out quite well. Good quick read.

[Emma Vossen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was just fine but the illustrations throughout and book design were absolutely fantastic. I want to own and read ever book in this series!

[Adam Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short ghost story of a man stranded on a haunted, derelict boat on Christmas Eve. Not the creepiest I’ve read, and not the best written but a nice spooky festive read nonetheless.

[Joanne Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very atmospheric ghost story about a man being stranded in a old, beached ship. I thought the writing was good but wanted more Christmas connection.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old-fashioned ghost story, so it's more atmospheric—eerie, uncanny—than frightening, and very gloomy—to the extent that—by piling on the adjectives thickly and often—Cowper almost manages to make gloom seem like a comical trait. Good illustrations by Seth, whose brainchild this series is.

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, creepy ghost story. By not providing an explanation at the end, I think Cowper costs the story some of its impact, but the whole setting on the ruined ship in the dark is done very effectively.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk (1889) by Frank Cowper is one of Seth's Christmas ghost stories published by Biblioasis, and the title pretty much tells you what it is about. In the manner of Captain of the Polestar, by Arthur Conan Doyle, it involves being stuck on a ship (Coweper is, besides being an author, is a yachtsman) as a ghost haunts it--the title says it is haunted, ok?--and to fit the purpose of the tradition, the events of the story happen on Christmas Eve, when you are supposed to read the story, in the British tradition. Made to order!

Visiting his friend on a Drab, Dreary, Depressing, Dark, (D)etcetera place, a man goes Duck-Hunting, and finds a Duck punt (like a Dinghy?) and steers it to an abandoned ship--led by the Ducks, seems like--where he thinks he can better hide to hunt said Ducks. Turnabout being fair play, the Duck punt becomes unmoored, possibly by the Ducks, and our Hapless Hero gets stuck on the ship over night, as it is raining, the tide is changing.

He shoots all the shells from his gun to let others know he is there, he uses all his matches to light his way to the hold, and there he is in the total darkness unable to sleep as he smells disturbing Smells--rotiing- hears Scary Sounds (on deck) and feels Slippery Slime, all of which adds up for him to ghost activity on the hulk (not that Hulk; it's not an angry ghost). No, surprise, since he is telling the story, he is rescued by his friend, who doesn't believe his story, and no one else he encounters does, either, except possibly readers of this tale, who may join our mc in being unable to explain the poltergeistish activity he hears and smells and touches on the ship.

I thought it was okay; possibly it will be chilling/creepy, gross for some readers, as one can imagine sleeping on an abandoned ship in a story in total darkness and hearing ghosts. But not me; not scared, a tough guy.

[Lady Megan Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a story I thought I would enjoy initially, but I do think nautical ghost stories are some of the spookiest, and this one did not disappoint.

Frank Cowper's "Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk" tells the story of a hunter who, on Christmas eve, rows out into a marsh and discovers a wrecked ship.

He climbs aboard to explore -- who wouldn't be curious? -- but while on board, a surge of water snaps the mooring line and his own little boat floats away.

He tries to make the best of it and sleep until the light of the next day, but he can't. Wide awake, he begins to discover that he might not be alone on this old ship.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic Christmas ghost story, though the only way it touches on Christmas is that it is the date of the occurrence. This is a really creepy story that takes full advantage of how disconcerting it can be to be in total darkness. The descriptive powers exhibited here are really first rate. There is a dreary little town with dreary weather. Then there are the descriptions of the coastal mud flats and the derelict ship. This all sets the scene for the scary night on the 'haunted hulk'. It plays on the fears of darkness as well as that of drowning and it delivers the scariest. I found this on the Classic Ghost Stories podcast which was excellently narrated by Tony Walker.

[Brian O'Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solidly moody and ultimately unsettling ghost story, even if the author lacks the artfulness and tact of an M.R. James or E. Nesbit. The story is overly verbose and often loses its momentum, culminating in a painfully over-explained epilogue that nearly smothers the strength of the confused terrors that came before. But those terrors can be quite potent, especially with the thick atmosphere that Cowper clumsily (but effectively) manages to conjure.

Seth’s design and illustration work here is, as always, gorgeous.

[Jameson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story is all atmosphere. Nothing happens, there’s no humor to help the stilted prose go down easier, there’s really nothing Christmasy about it, and the one or two illustrations aren’t very striking. In fact, they have a cheap photoshop quality about them.

I will try the others because I love the tradition and I love old ghost stories, but the value and quality make the series hard to recommend. Especially when the stories can be read for free online anyway.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final ghost story of the season for me. Nicely atmospheric with great details and I like how it leaves the backstory ambiguous. The narrator bugged me though, both in his defensiveness about his story being disbelieved and his foolishness in getting into the mess he got into in the first place.

[Red Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A chill, dank, atmospheric ghost story for Christmas in a very unusual location for a festive ghost story; a rotting hulk. This is very visceral in description; you can practically feel your hands slipping on the slime on the old rotting wood in the horribly peopled darkness.

[Malachi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun setting and descriptions.
I like these types where I learn a lot about the culture and times back then.
Commonplace items and thoughts that were just assumed as a cultural given.
Very interesting to put in context with the story itself.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cowper brings to holiday vacation supernatural misadventure the same tactile, succulent awareness of physical surroundings as found in the fiction of Geoffrey Household. It's a story set on water margins in a flat-horizon countryside in a cold climate. Superb.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is the next installment as I work my way through Seth's Ghost Stories for Christmas series. This one did make me cringe, but it did not have the creep factor that some of the other stories have had for me. This one definitely wins for the least pleasant setting!

[audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much narrator, not enough haunting.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fantastic illustrations!
Story anticlimactic.

[Malise · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I feel this is all really unsatisfactory. I wish I could give some thrilling and sensational explanation.” - the guy in the book.

[D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as enjoyable as some of the others in the same genre I have read

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evocative tale of a man experiencing a night of terror in complete darkness. No trick ending, either. First printed in 1889.

[Richard Dominguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good ghost story, with lots of atmosphere.
What I liked is that the "ghost" story was believable. It had the feel of it could happen to me or something like it.