Interview: “The Wreck of the USS Hollander” by James Pyles
In “The Wreck of the USS Hollander,” a deep-ocean recovery crew descends on a sunken Cold War submarine—and wakes something that’s been waiting in the dark. The past knocks from the torpedo room in patterns no one can explain, and the answer, when it comes, is more human than anyone expected.
Interview Questions
Did a real place or moment inspire part of your story?
I based the story including the location on the actual wreck of the USS Scorpion. In October 1968, U.S. Navy searchers located the wreck of the Scorpion lying on the seabed in more than 9,800 feet of water, at the edge of a remote patch of the Sargasso Sea. The findings of the Court of Inquiry were inconclusive. The Tribunal ruled the destruction of the USS Scorpion was caused by an “unexplained catastrophic event.” There was enough mystery in the Scorpion’s sinking that easily fit into my story.
Was there a moment where the story changed direction on you?
Initially, I wasn’t going to have Watson’s letter mean anything to the Victoria’s crew. Then it occurred to me that the message would be so much more powerful if Captain Stone turned out to be Watson’s son. He was about the right age, so everything fit. It meant that Stone had been drawn to that place and time for a real reason.
Does water mean something special to you personally, or was it just the right element for this tale?
Actually, I had previously written a ghost story set on a lake for Jamie (the publisher) and didn’t know what I was going to do to make another water-related ghost story unique. I decided to up the ante by making it the ocean and having my “ghost ship” be a submarine. Ghosts underwater seem so much more frightening to me than on dry land.
What inspired you to set this story in the deep sea, and how did you approach blending science, history, and the supernatural?
Once I decided to make my ghost ship a submarine, I had a flash of memory of some 1960s TV show I saw as a kid. It had to do with a ship or a sub finding a wrecked submarine on the ocean’s bottom from decades before. They heard the sound of an SOS or something like it being pounded from the inside of the hull even though the crew had died long ago. The ending was kept ambiguous and I remember it scared the heck out of me.
Beyond that, as I’ve already stated, the crew of the USS Scorpion and the circumstances of her loss figured prominently in my crafting this ghost story. The fact that Cold War era submarines really did carry nuclear-tipped missiles sweetened the deal.
Cora is a richly developed character—confident, competent, and haunted (literally and figuratively). How did her past—both her naval service and her relationship with Simon—influence how she responds to the haunting?
Cora is a person who needs to have a certain position in life, one that affords her challenges and responsibilities. She thought she had found that in the Navy, but due to apparent sexism, she wasn’t taken seriously. If playing by the rules didn’t work for her, then breaking them would. She loved and depended upon Simon in many ways, but ultimately, he was the conduit for her to get what she wanted.
In part, the haunting made her question everything about herself since, by definition, it’s such an impossibility, something she couldn’t manipulate or control. But the encounter with the ghost Soviet sub put her right back in her element in terms of the undersea combat she was trained for. That said, hearing the SOS and Watson’s message reminded her of the sense of loyalty and compassion she had for her shipmates in the Navy, something she never really found with Simon and his pirates.
The ending ties Cora’s experience to Stone’s history in an unexpectedly moving way. What drew you to the idea of legacy—specifically, how the past reaches forward to shape the present in personal and mysterious ways?
As I was writing, I started asking myself why, besides the intrusion of the Thetis, would these ghostly apparitions occur now? If it was just by chance, it might still be a good story, but at the same time, it lacked meaning. The reveal that Stone was actually Watson’s son, that fate had brought him and his father’s spirit to a point of closure together made the encounter complete, even though it cost the crew of the Thetis their lives. As tragic as that was, it also gave Cora a sense of completion, serving the crew of the Hollander and the Navy one last time.
What are you working on now—and what’s fun or exciting about it?
Actually, I just signed a contract for the publication of my second novel. What’s really exciting about it is the publisher has created a series of adventure novels specifically for boys and teens, something that hasn’t been around for a while.
I got to tap into my own youth and the books that made me fall in love with science fiction. It was a lot of fun channeling that part of myself into an original story and to be a part of a project designed to encourage boys to read more, to enjoy what they’re reading, and to see themselves in the protagonists. If we want to encourage boys to start reading for pleasure again, we have to give them something they’ll want to read. I feel privileged to be a part of such an ambition.
About the Author
James Pyles is a science fiction and fantasy writer and retired technical writer. Since 2019, over sixty of his short stories have been featured in anthologies and periodicals. His most recent novel is Our Legacy The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure.
Find out more about James at: poweredbyrobots.com/
Read the Story
“The Wreck of the USS Hollander,” appears in Haunted Waters, available now from Blackbird Publishing.
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