William Hope Hodgson (1877 – 1918) was born in Essex, England, but moved often throughout his childhood, including time in County Galway, Ireland, the setting of his most famous work, The House on the Borderland. He became a sailor at an early age, and his experiences at sea were an enormous influence on his later writing. His novels and stories centre themselves on vast expanses and the dread of unknown depths, frequently combining elements of horror, science fiction, and the occult, and proved immensely significant to future writers of Weird Fiction. He died in battle during WW1.
