Horror Jag?
- Thread starter Matt H.
- Start date
Randy, interesting.. (added) Oh, I see you mean the man who found "an exit" Never thought of it. But I think you'll see from the story it seems to point mostly to the first one.
It's a pretty short piece, if you have time... still old-fashioned in many ways, with some tropes, etc, but for me it's the neatest and tidiest of the "evil text" type stories I've read so far.
Story Responses -- 7 Pillars of Horror Part I
E.F. Benson, from Collected Stories
How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery
Posted 10/26/2020 (v 1.0)
Keywords: Ancestral house, Haunted house, Haunted room, Ghosts, Ghosts-harmless, Ghosts-harmful, Ghosts-twin infants, Murder-with curse, Violent crimes, Ancestors, Painting, Fireplace, Night as supernatural demarcation-danger, Empirical supernatural
A lovely little gem of a story with a clear, simple plot, humorous atmospherics and even vague suggestions it’s maybe partly a joke. It blends a light, semi-reality with some scary and grisly events and characters.
The tale concerns an *empirically* haunted house. Though the tale does not seem a fantasy in the least, ancestral ghosts are common in every-day to the occupants and mostly harmless. A nice little reality bender is when Benson mentions that ghosts are also likely to be the people in the house playing around to scare their guests. But one set of ghosts are different, and seeing them is fatal! Handsome Dick, his crime, the painting, the room itself all are welded together for a fairly substantial scare at the climax. The very end brings a sweet, fitting wrap up.
Were ghost twin infants and this particular type of resolution for haunting already cliché before this story? If so, it doesn’t matter; the story still pulls off a unified effect regardless. If this story was instrumental as a “trope-root” for either of these, all the more original!
E.F. Benson, from Collected Stories
How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery
Posted 10/26/2020 (v 1.0)
Keywords: Ancestral house, Haunted house, Haunted room, Ghosts, Ghosts-harmless, Ghosts-harmful, Ghosts-twin infants, Murder-with curse, Violent crimes, Ancestors, Painting, Fireplace, Night as supernatural demarcation-danger, Empirical supernatural
A lovely little gem of a story with a clear, simple plot, humorous atmospherics and even vague suggestions it’s maybe partly a joke. It blends a light, semi-reality with some scary and grisly events and characters.
The tale concerns an *empirically* haunted house. Though the tale does not seem a fantasy in the least, ancestral ghosts are common in every-day to the occupants and mostly harmless. A nice little reality bender is when Benson mentions that ghosts are also likely to be the people in the house playing around to scare their guests. But one set of ghosts are different, and seeing them is fatal! Handsome Dick, his crime, the painting, the room itself all are welded together for a fairly substantial scare at the climax. The very end brings a sweet, fitting wrap up.
Were ghost twin infants and this particular type of resolution for haunting already cliché before this story? If so, it doesn’t matter; the story still pulls off a unified effect regardless. If this story was instrumental as a “trope-root” for either of these, all the more original!
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Story Responses -- 7 Pillars of Horror Part I
E.F. Benson, from Collected Stories
Between the Lights
Posted 10/26/2020 (v 1.2)
This story has a core idea that is sufficiently scary, but mostly cradled within a somewhat bland outer shell. The pacing and portion seems off to me a bit on this one. It’s about a group of adults gathered in a house before Christmas, enjoying themselves, playing hide and seek, and then settling down to ghost stories. It’s agreed that screams and skeletons are cliché. Then the mood turns serious, with a strange story of real life from one of the group. He tells of a frightening premonition first, then of a horrifying dream-like experience later, resulting in his breakdown and serious illness.
No one loves the idea of nasty Picts and their weird old places in semi-wild lands more than me. (Weren’t they cannibals or something?) Add to it, strange, small man-creatures of demonic aspect, add the stink of flesh, and creepy slinking, and you have something good. I guess the protagonist stumbled into a spirit-warp in the hills, and had a premonition he would do so on the croquet lawn. It all had promise, but the outer narration, chimed in and spoiled the mood and pace more than once in my opinion. There were extraneous comments and events that diluted the central feeling. The final words are not fatally clunky, but not sublime either.
E.F. Benson, from Collected Stories
Between the Lights
Posted 10/26/2020 (v 1.2)
Keywords: Story framing-outer narrator, Christmas, Warning premonition, Ghost stories, Hide and seek, Visions-waking in everyday, Being in a pit, Hike in wild, Creepy wild places, Little people, Picts, Mental/physical relapse,
This story has a core idea that is sufficiently scary, but mostly cradled within a somewhat bland outer shell. The pacing and portion seems off to me a bit on this one. It’s about a group of adults gathered in a house before Christmas, enjoying themselves, playing hide and seek, and then settling down to ghost stories. It’s agreed that screams and skeletons are cliché. Then the mood turns serious, with a strange story of real life from one of the group. He tells of a frightening premonition first, then of a horrifying dream-like experience later, resulting in his breakdown and serious illness.
No one loves the idea of nasty Picts and their weird old places in semi-wild lands more than me. (Weren’t they cannibals or something?) Add to it, strange, small man-creatures of demonic aspect, add the stink of flesh, and creepy slinking, and you have something good. I guess the protagonist stumbled into a spirit-warp in the hills, and had a premonition he would do so on the croquet lawn. It all had promise, but the outer narration, chimed in and spoiled the mood and pace more than once in my opinion. There were extraneous comments and events that diluted the central feeling. The final words are not fatally clunky, but not sublime either.
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Story Responses -- 7 Pillars of Horror Part I
Clarke Ashton Smith, from The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies
The City of the Singing Flame
Posted 10/27/2020 (v 1.2)
This is an excellent example of a certain, very specific type of tale, and not the most common. It’s formed around a single, simple image and requires neither twist nor even theme in the sense we usually talk about it. The prose is sure-footed, building effectively in intensity, and Smith tones down the ornate diction to a degree in this one.
In this story the protagonist, and writer of the fictional journal account, resembles C.A. Smith himself – a writer of “speculative fiction” published in periodicals. He lives in the mountains of California. In the great, untrodden regions of the Sierra Nevada he finds an odd ridge containing weird stones. There he discovers a portal to another plane of existence, full of strange and awesome beings and vast stone cities. Drug-like celestial music emanates from a huge altar luring all to a fateful and awful ecstatic act.
The organizing image of the story – the sacrificial flame is suggestive, evocative and culturally connected, but also non-committal. The action could be a metaphor for several different things, but none of them are a perfect fit. Thus the story floats nicely between various interpretations, and achieves its uniqueness and shine. It fits in this collection of “dark-themed” work, and at the same time is really pretty definitively Sci Fi too. Regardless of its genre classification, it’s just a good, memorable story.
Clarke Ashton Smith, from The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies
The City of the Singing Flame
Posted 10/27/2020 (v 1.2)
Keywords: Human sacrifice, Imolation, Wilderness-hike, Music-weird and luring, Religious extasy, Flame, Aliens, Sierra Nevada, Weird boulders-stones, Writing profession, Personal journal, Narrative-fictional text, Narrative-outer narrator, Science Fiction, Ancient civilizations, Giants
This is an excellent example of a certain, very specific type of tale, and not the most common. It’s formed around a single, simple image and requires neither twist nor even theme in the sense we usually talk about it. The prose is sure-footed, building effectively in intensity, and Smith tones down the ornate diction to a degree in this one.
In this story the protagonist, and writer of the fictional journal account, resembles C.A. Smith himself – a writer of “speculative fiction” published in periodicals. He lives in the mountains of California. In the great, untrodden regions of the Sierra Nevada he finds an odd ridge containing weird stones. There he discovers a portal to another plane of existence, full of strange and awesome beings and vast stone cities. Drug-like celestial music emanates from a huge altar luring all to a fateful and awful ecstatic act.
The organizing image of the story – the sacrificial flame is suggestive, evocative and culturally connected, but also non-committal. The action could be a metaphor for several different things, but none of them are a perfect fit. Thus the story floats nicely between various interpretations, and achieves its uniqueness and shine. It fits in this collection of “dark-themed” work, and at the same time is really pretty definitively Sci Fi too. Regardless of its genre classification, it’s just a good, memorable story.
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Story Responses -- 7 Pillars of Horror Part I
Algernon Blackwood, from Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories
Ancient Sorceries
Posted 10/25/2020 (v 1.5)
Overall this story is simply not very effective in my opinion, though it has some impressive writing within it. It’s a good example of how some these Blackwood stories’ parts exceed their whole.
Typically, along with his excellent prose, psychological depth and use of ambiguity you will also find a circumlocution and elaboration perhaps a little too leisurely at times —though it's given that a certain amount is necessary for the effects of horror. There will also be a distinct degree of plot and setting-description repetition with variation. Add to that the long, winding, non-surprising revelation of things already more-or-less known, including some, even for the time that must have been cliched, and you have a fairly blunted final impact. Awkward and unnecessary layers of narratives, narrators and POV’s doesn’t help a bit, nor the seeming unnecessary outer-frame. (I’m aware that “Dr. Silence” is part of a series, but I’m judging this work on its own)
Who’s speaking from the perspective of whom, and how might they know or infer what they are saying is a puzzler at times, as is the fact that their narrating styles are all identical. Why not just use a single first person or a simple limited omniscient third person narration? It gets convoluted, dis-orienting and this too lessens the punch of any payload as it is.
It can be annoying and dis-engaging how the narrators demean the protagonist, and go to great lengths to tell us he is a dweeb, a milk-toast, and he and his soul are both referred to as being “little” repeatedly. He’s a geeky guy who turns out to be a “beast-master” or something (I picture Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters), and he gets the hot seventeen year-old cat-girl! Ok, perhaps a bit flip, but I still find the narrator’s judging his “flabby soul” as a distracting intrusion and it also lessens my interest in the protagonist.
Now that I’ve mentioned the flaws as I see them, let me say that there’s some great atmospherics and vivid scene setting in this story. It’s a deep and effective portrayal of the creepy town theme where an odd populace holds horrific common secrets. Some eye-rubbing and its mental equivalent are poetically executed as only Blackwood can. The images of shadowy animal transformations, and portrayals of dubious reality, vacillation and waking-vision are all memorable too. (By the way, I have not seen the film “Cat People” is it good?)
Algernon Blackwood, from Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories
Ancient Sorceries
Posted 10/25/2020 (v 1.5)
Keywords: Story framing, Narrative-outer, Narrative shifts, Train travel, Warning-obscure, Creepy town with secrets, Reality as collaborative deception, Cats, Human-animal transformation, Unremarkable character, Unglamorous hero, Black Mass, Satanism, Orgy-satanic-suggested, Celebrations-satanic, Woods-satanic-celebration, Fires-satanic-celebration, Ancient-traditional-local lore, Female-young attractive, Female-luring spirit, Female-sexual-suggestion, Dubious reality, Waking visions, 'Cat People'-films, Lost Ancestry, Night as supernatural-demarcation, The supernatural as science,
Overall this story is simply not very effective in my opinion, though it has some impressive writing within it. It’s a good example of how some these Blackwood stories’ parts exceed their whole.
Typically, along with his excellent prose, psychological depth and use of ambiguity you will also find a circumlocution and elaboration perhaps a little too leisurely at times —though it's given that a certain amount is necessary for the effects of horror. There will also be a distinct degree of plot and setting-description repetition with variation. Add to that the long, winding, non-surprising revelation of things already more-or-less known, including some, even for the time that must have been cliched, and you have a fairly blunted final impact. Awkward and unnecessary layers of narratives, narrators and POV’s doesn’t help a bit, nor the seeming unnecessary outer-frame. (I’m aware that “Dr. Silence” is part of a series, but I’m judging this work on its own)
Who’s speaking from the perspective of whom, and how might they know or infer what they are saying is a puzzler at times, as is the fact that their narrating styles are all identical. Why not just use a single first person or a simple limited omniscient third person narration? It gets convoluted, dis-orienting and this too lessens the punch of any payload as it is.
It can be annoying and dis-engaging how the narrators demean the protagonist, and go to great lengths to tell us he is a dweeb, a milk-toast, and he and his soul are both referred to as being “little” repeatedly. He’s a geeky guy who turns out to be a “beast-master” or something (I picture Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters), and he gets the hot seventeen year-old cat-girl! Ok, perhaps a bit flip, but I still find the narrator’s judging his “flabby soul” as a distracting intrusion and it also lessens my interest in the protagonist.
Now that I’ve mentioned the flaws as I see them, let me say that there’s some great atmospherics and vivid scene setting in this story. It’s a deep and effective portrayal of the creepy town theme where an odd populace holds horrific common secrets. Some eye-rubbing and its mental equivalent are poetically executed as only Blackwood can. The images of shadowy animal transformations, and portrayals of dubious reality, vacillation and waking-vision are all memorable too. (By the way, I have not seen the film “Cat People” is it good?)
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Story Responses -- 7 Pillars of Horror Part I
Clarke Ashton Smith, from The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies
The Last Incantation
Posted 10/28/2020 (v 1.0)
This is another excellent short tale by Smith, and one with a difference – it holds something like a recognizable “moral”, though dressed up beautifully and amusingly. It’s a tale about a bored, old sorcerer who has already achieved all there is to achieve. So he endeavors to recapture a long lost happiness through summoning the apparition of an old lover. But he learns an obvious and depressing lesson.
This truth holds for the humblest and the mightiest - whether you are a fantasy wizard who commands time and death and legions of powerful demons, or you are an actual modern patient on a shrink’s couch. “You can’t go back.” You can never be the same person you were in the past. Feelings of the past can really never be recaptured, because the one feeling them has changed. And in the end, the fearsome Viper spirit unexpectedly has a certain tenderness. He becomes a kind of therapist to the sorcerer, and It gives the tale a non-fantastic, modern ring.
Smith knows how to balance decoration with clarity perfectly. He makes the ornate fun to read. He can sketch and animate a grave and imposing world with very few words. The ookey diction gives tone, density and distinctiveness to the tales, as well as a mock-authority and pseudo-historical patina. But all this is not at the expense of clarity. His word-crafting and command, coupled with his penchant for well-focused stories with some form of artistic payload, in my opinion give his works greatness within the genre.
Clarke Ashton Smith, from The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies
The Last Incantation
Posted 10/28/2020 (v 1.0)
Keywords: Sword and Sorcery, Fantasy-reality, Semi-irony, Sorcerer, Incantations-spells, Potions, Viper, Unicorn, Atlantis, Occult, Demon, Necromancy, Unpermitted knowledge, Old-age, Boredom-sadness, Bathos, Personal growth, Lost-youth, Female-spirit-ghost, Female-appearing
This is another excellent short tale by Smith, and one with a difference – it holds something like a recognizable “moral”, though dressed up beautifully and amusingly. It’s a tale about a bored, old sorcerer who has already achieved all there is to achieve. So he endeavors to recapture a long lost happiness through summoning the apparition of an old lover. But he learns an obvious and depressing lesson.
This truth holds for the humblest and the mightiest - whether you are a fantasy wizard who commands time and death and legions of powerful demons, or you are an actual modern patient on a shrink’s couch. “You can’t go back.” You can never be the same person you were in the past. Feelings of the past can really never be recaptured, because the one feeling them has changed. And in the end, the fearsome Viper spirit unexpectedly has a certain tenderness. He becomes a kind of therapist to the sorcerer, and It gives the tale a non-fantastic, modern ring.
Smith knows how to balance decoration with clarity perfectly. He makes the ornate fun to read. He can sketch and animate a grave and imposing world with very few words. The ookey diction gives tone, density and distinctiveness to the tales, as well as a mock-authority and pseudo-historical patina. But all this is not at the expense of clarity. His word-crafting and command, coupled with his penchant for well-focused stories with some form of artistic payload, in my opinion give his works greatness within the genre.
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The 1942 Cat People, directed by Jacques Tourneur, is an excellent example of atmosphere and the power of suggestion winning out over a low-budget. It's the old story of man meets Serbian girl, man marries girl, girl can't be intimate without turning into the cat of Serbian folklore (no idea if there is a cat of Serbian folklore), and unfortunately not a house cat. Contains some striking black & white sequences that went on to influence later film makers like Scorcese.
The 1982 version is much the same with simulated sex, nudity and a couple of evocative fantasy sequences. Depending on the viewer, this is either a good thing -- stop being so coy about sex -- or a bad thing and maybe more is less. Given the popularity of slasher films at the time and their tendency to punish young women for having sex, this might have been something of a counter-argument.
Randy M.
Thanks Randy, Hmm... neither one sound very much like the Blackwood story at all. lol... I had heard that the film(s) were based on the story. The only link I see is people turning into cats.
About sex scenes in films (meaning those not primarily pornography), it's a delicate thing - Not a prude at all, but for me if you bring titillation into a film you can so easily fatally sidetrack, confuse, dilute all other message or effect. Also the film (or book) often becomes "the one with the sex scenes" and there its estimation and understanding is proscribed and ended.
(added) Will check out the Tourneur film. Believe I may have seen it or parts of it.
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It's possible that the original story was influenced by the Blackwood, but if so in the finished product that influence was pretty diffuse. If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching.
I agree about sex in movies, but since the original premise was based on intimacy as the trigger, it was probably inescapable that once the Hayes Office folded there would be someone producing a less metaphorical, more material remake.
I agree about sex in movies, but since the original premise was based on intimacy as the trigger, it was probably inescapable that once the Hayes Office folded there would be someone producing a less metaphorical, more material remake.
**SPOILER- READ STORY FIRST**
(added) Btw, "Hayes Office"? Don't know it.
The Tourneur film is in all likely hood excellent and ground breaking. Like I said, I dimmly remember scenes from it.
But the Blackwood story is really centered on Satanism and on the kitty-cats slinking into the woods to get their black-mass on. There was perhaps a little more than average suggestion of sex-seeming stuff with the girl, that is true. But there was (edited) little connection made between sex per se and transformation, at least I didn't see that.
It's mostly about a town of Satan-worshiping cat spirits (under some curse or something) that pretend to be human. They go about their daily activities almost like robots, or high functioning zombies -- in fact this is among the coolest things in the story, if you extend the metaphor. Much is made of their slinking and shadowyness, and the MC's almost has fun at being transformed himself. Story has a lot to it, including an ode to the mystery of cat phyiscality with its ambivalence of danger and beauty\attraction. Great stuff and consistently well-written (as I remember). But as a whole has the weaknesses I mentioned.
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Through the early 1930s Hollywood movies had so much violence (think gangster movies) and debauchery (by then current community standards) that there was much national uproar about the the ruining of public morals. Hollywood acted decisively by forming the Hayes Office, run by a highly-respected prude who established rules like even married couples had to be shown sleeping in twin beds or if two were in bed one must have her/his feet on the floor. The Hayes Office didn't entirely lose its authority until the mid-'60s at which point all the reins came off.
Afterwards, I figured it had something to do with censorship. Thanks for the history lesson.
Did 1947 version have a *town* of cat people or just one girl? Was there any suggestion of occult or Satan stuff? Yeah, suppose I can google it, I will, but hey "aahboiaw" too (ask a human being once in a while)Oh well, I went and peeked at Wikipedia. The article is good as usual and clarifies everything. The original idea for the film was based on the Blackwood story, but the story and setting was abandoned by the director.
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Here is another piece of meaningless trivia. The first two unmarried actors to be shown sharing a single bed on American network television were both comedic shows about the supernatural.
In the third episode of Bewitched, "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog," Samantha and Darrin Stephens are portrayed as sleeping in the same bed. The episode aired on October 1 1964.
The second would happen a few weeks later on November 26 1964. The tenth episode of The Munsters, "Autumn Kroakus," showed Herman and Lily Munster as sharing a bed.
Story Responses -- 7 Pillars of Horror Part I
E.F. Benson, from Collected Stories
The Man Who Went Too Far
Posted 10/28/2020 (v 1.2)
Certainly one of Benson’s more substantial and philosophical tales in this collection, The Man Who Went Too Far covers a lot of ground. It marshals many themes and possibilities masterfully together for such a brief story. The beautiful, familiar and “friendly” aspect of nature, art, mores, enlightenment, nature-communion, male beauty and friendship, preserved youth, all are touched upon or insightfully explored. But all of these lovely things go wrong. Through deft, ingenious writing they all lead to or are connected with transgression, paganism, bewitchment, an evil wicked nature, horror, tragedy, death and even subsequent haunting.
The tale is about a painter, Frank Halton who retires in a country house to “pursue joy” by communion with nature to an extraordinary and spiritual degree. He seems to have reversed the aging process and has gained a marvelous harmony with birds and beasts. But there is some truth in nature beyond even joy that he eventually seeks, lured by the weird music of the woods and river. Nature’s deeper truth seems wrapped up with terrible evil. Awful and malevolent spirits manifest and will have their due.
There’s a refreshing, innocent appreciation of male beauty, and some semi-sensuous descriptions of the grace of youth in this story. The narrator and Frank interact in a charming, intimate way full of affection. The characters seem highly evolved and sophisticated. It adds greatly to the reader’s sympathy for Frank, the “beautify boy”, who was perhaps just too beautiful.
Frank, an anti-puritan, puts forth an amazingly clear and persuasive “philosophy of joy.” It really makes sense, though later, it is shown to have some flaws, it remains probably the most powerful feature of the story.
Of course the main problem with too much joy through nature, is not logical (nature is full of suffering), but religio-supernatural. The evil luring Pan gods who lurk out there in the woods by the stream, would apparently love nothing more than to stomp on those who foray too far into joy. In the end though, Frank, almost literally has the last laugh. He decided to pursue truth even though he knew it would lead him to death. He dies with horror initially on his face, but the horror fades quickly into a sublime smile. What did he learn?
E.F. Benson, from Collected Stories
The Man Who Went Too Far
Posted 10/28/2020 (v 1.2)
Keywords: Youth-perpetual, Joy, Joy-through-nature, Personal philosophies-non occult, Legends-folklore-local, Paganism, Night as supernatural demarcation, Beauty of nature, Nature-evil-luring, Male-attractive, Pan, Pan pipes, Goat, Male-friendship, Music-luring, Martyrdom, Nature-communion, Enlightenment-eastern-sounding
Certainly one of Benson’s more substantial and philosophical tales in this collection, The Man Who Went Too Far covers a lot of ground. It marshals many themes and possibilities masterfully together for such a brief story. The beautiful, familiar and “friendly” aspect of nature, art, mores, enlightenment, nature-communion, male beauty and friendship, preserved youth, all are touched upon or insightfully explored. But all of these lovely things go wrong. Through deft, ingenious writing they all lead to or are connected with transgression, paganism, bewitchment, an evil wicked nature, horror, tragedy, death and even subsequent haunting.
The tale is about a painter, Frank Halton who retires in a country house to “pursue joy” by communion with nature to an extraordinary and spiritual degree. He seems to have reversed the aging process and has gained a marvelous harmony with birds and beasts. But there is some truth in nature beyond even joy that he eventually seeks, lured by the weird music of the woods and river. Nature’s deeper truth seems wrapped up with terrible evil. Awful and malevolent spirits manifest and will have their due.
There’s a refreshing, innocent appreciation of male beauty, and some semi-sensuous descriptions of the grace of youth in this story. The narrator and Frank interact in a charming, intimate way full of affection. The characters seem highly evolved and sophisticated. It adds greatly to the reader’s sympathy for Frank, the “beautify boy”, who was perhaps just too beautiful.
Frank, an anti-puritan, puts forth an amazingly clear and persuasive “philosophy of joy.” It really makes sense, though later, it is shown to have some flaws, it remains probably the most powerful feature of the story.
Of course the main problem with too much joy through nature, is not logical (nature is full of suffering), but religio-supernatural. The evil luring Pan gods who lurk out there in the woods by the stream, would apparently love nothing more than to stomp on those who foray too far into joy. In the end though, Frank, almost literally has the last laugh. He decided to pursue truth even though he knew it would lead him to death. He dies with horror initially on his face, but the horror fades quickly into a sublime smile. What did he learn?
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Pan seemed to be on the minds of late 19th century writers and early 20th century writers. See also, "The Great God Pan" by Machen, and I suspect there are others. May have something to do with Victorian prudery and what it may have masked in some.
Randy, yep. I thought of that. Considering you and others think much of that story, would kind of like to tag in onto the Machen list. There will probably be more of Pan as I go through all these stories.
If you (or anyone) have any of these stories on hand, would always be good fun to read/re-read one of them simultaneously and do two "blind" responses.
Finally got my MR. James stories... wow, there's a lot of them. On a quick browse, they don't seem as accessible or as perhaps as fun as Benson, but with a big collection like that takes a while to "click in" to the writer's style, etc. We'll see. So far, the ones who have impressed me most artistically are Benson and Smith (Willows too of course) Planning responses soon for Caterpillars and The Dead Spake. Currently reading Lovecraft - Mountains of Madness.
Story Responses -- 7 Pillars of Horror Part I
H.P. Lovecraft, from The Call of Cthulhu: And Other Stories
At the Mountains of Madness
Posted 10/30/2020 (v 1.7)
There are some rich possibilities in this work that cry out for further development. There are also a few highly effective moments and scares. But as a story, and as a whole, it has plenty of major flaws. It falls down in several ways that are pretty easy to see and it seems to bear the marks of incompleteness, haste or publishing-related deformity. But some of it must also simply be writing awkwardness or immature judgment.
The tale tells of a scientific expedition to the Antarctic. Hidden within the icy wasteland, a huge foreboding mountain range is discovered; and there lies the ruins of a gigantic, terrifying city of stone. This city was built millions of years ago and then abandoned, by an unknown race of non-humans. The expedition encounters scientific revelation after revelation, but it also finds terror and death. Monsters still lurk within the labyrinth.
The most obvious problem with the execution is there's too much dull or repetitive material. The far greater part of the text is solid blocks of similar description - a long and eventually forgettable succession of mountains, rocks, gigantic masonry, foreboding vistas, and so forth. Yes, I’m aware it’s supposed to be a geologist’s journal, but so what! This distracting repetition, both general and in specific words and phrases really sticks out, which to me points at lack of care in editing.
If, on the other hand, the writer was fully conscious that he repeated “Cyclopean” 27 times in this novella, and found that cool, I’d say that somewhat impugns his taste. You will have to read it to see what I mean. As you read, every word, idea, object and thought has already been stated (sometimes 5-6 or times)! Though the prose is well-formed and smooth, often vivid, there is truly nothing new until you get to the sparse good bits. Perhaps there was a publishing requirement for specific lengths or number of sections, etc.
Lovecraft also hammers in bolstering references to contemporaneous art and writing, which sometimes has a whiff of amateurism. One of many examples are the paintings of Roerich… Did I mention the scary mountains looked like his painting? (Oh yeah, I mentioned it 8 times). Did I also mention that this story you’re reading right now is a homage to Poe’s Gordon Pym? Let me validate the story further by mentioning C.A. Smith, and lots and lots of fictional(?) legends and stuff. First of all, this is a risky thing for a writer – to refer repeatedly to actual recent outside works of art of fiction, especially those that influenced the work the reader is reading. There are unattractive meta-fictional entanglements, or it can simply appear insecure.
While I’m heaping on the praise, I’ll say too that there seem to be big plot holes (or are they “to be continued”?). I never grasped what was going on with the missing man and dog, sled and equipment. Why? Who was doing what? What about all those suggestions and hints at the grisly scene of Lake’s camp? If it was explained or even suggested, I missed it. There is also a lot of painful circumlocutious “you gotta believe me!”, and “I’m about to tell you something scary.” A horror story can certainly use these, but not 300 times!
And the good stuff? Aside from some good old Romantic sublime nature terror, I think the brilliance of the basic sub-story-line concept perhaps overwhelmed its fictional vehicle. Maybe the tale was merely created to house it. Aliens who came a billion years ago, who began all life on earth, who possessed an advanced culture and art, who manipulate proto-plasm to create their own monster servants, who built immense, extremely creepy stone cities whose ruins are hidden in the ultra-high undiscovered peaks of the Antarctic – it’s great stuff! Too bad it took shape within a muddle. But maybe this is why other authors love to borrow it and riff on it. Its original fictional setting is undistinguished. It’s something therefore you might feel inclined to run with.
H.P. Lovecraft, from The Call of Cthulhu: And Other Stories
At the Mountains of Madness
Posted 10/30/2020 (v 1.7)
There are some rich possibilities in this work that cry out for further development. There are also a few highly effective moments and scares. But as a story, and as a whole, it has plenty of major flaws. It falls down in several ways that are pretty easy to see and it seems to bear the marks of incompleteness, haste or publishing-related deformity. But some of it must also simply be writing awkwardness or immature judgment.
The tale tells of a scientific expedition to the Antarctic. Hidden within the icy wasteland, a huge foreboding mountain range is discovered; and there lies the ruins of a gigantic, terrifying city of stone. This city was built millions of years ago and then abandoned, by an unknown race of non-humans. The expedition encounters scientific revelation after revelation, but it also finds terror and death. Monsters still lurk within the labyrinth.
The most obvious problem with the execution is there's too much dull or repetitive material. The far greater part of the text is solid blocks of similar description - a long and eventually forgettable succession of mountains, rocks, gigantic masonry, foreboding vistas, and so forth. Yes, I’m aware it’s supposed to be a geologist’s journal, but so what! This distracting repetition, both general and in specific words and phrases really sticks out, which to me points at lack of care in editing.
If, on the other hand, the writer was fully conscious that he repeated “Cyclopean” 27 times in this novella, and found that cool, I’d say that somewhat impugns his taste. You will have to read it to see what I mean. As you read, every word, idea, object and thought has already been stated (sometimes 5-6 or times)! Though the prose is well-formed and smooth, often vivid, there is truly nothing new until you get to the sparse good bits. Perhaps there was a publishing requirement for specific lengths or number of sections, etc.
Lovecraft also hammers in bolstering references to contemporaneous art and writing, which sometimes has a whiff of amateurism. One of many examples are the paintings of Roerich… Did I mention the scary mountains looked like his painting? (Oh yeah, I mentioned it 8 times). Did I also mention that this story you’re reading right now is a homage to Poe’s Gordon Pym? Let me validate the story further by mentioning C.A. Smith, and lots and lots of fictional(?) legends and stuff. First of all, this is a risky thing for a writer – to refer repeatedly to actual recent outside works of art of fiction, especially those that influenced the work the reader is reading. There are unattractive meta-fictional entanglements, or it can simply appear insecure.
While I’m heaping on the praise, I’ll say too that there seem to be big plot holes (or are they “to be continued”?). I never grasped what was going on with the missing man and dog, sled and equipment. Why? Who was doing what? What about all those suggestions and hints at the grisly scene of Lake’s camp? If it was explained or even suggested, I missed it. There is also a lot of painful circumlocutious “you gotta believe me!”, and “I’m about to tell you something scary.” A horror story can certainly use these, but not 300 times!
And the good stuff? Aside from some good old Romantic sublime nature terror, I think the brilliance of the basic sub-story-line concept perhaps overwhelmed its fictional vehicle. Maybe the tale was merely created to house it. Aliens who came a billion years ago, who began all life on earth, who possessed an advanced culture and art, who manipulate proto-plasm to create their own monster servants, who built immense, extremely creepy stone cities whose ruins are hidden in the ultra-high undiscovered peaks of the Antarctic – it’s great stuff! Too bad it took shape within a muddle. But maybe this is why other authors love to borrow it and riff on it. Its original fictional setting is undistinguished. It’s something therefore you might feel inclined to run with.
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Scary fun through Christmas! Oooooo...
Even after Hallow's Eve, there are still months to go - of growing winter, darkness, cold, creeping shadows. We'll have dead leaves swirling in the wind, scratching the pavement. Thanks to old Boz, we have a bit of scary fun even on Christmas! (A la Scrooge and gang--the most time-worn, version-worn and durable tale of all time!). And there's the Winter Solstice too. Druids in the noonlight anyone? I, for one am not putting my cape away after Hallo-wee-wee.
Even after Hallow's Eve, there are still months to go - of growing winter, darkness, cold, creeping shadows. We'll have dead leaves swirling in the wind, scratching the pavement. Thanks to old Boz, we have a bit of scary fun even on Christmas! (A la Scrooge and gang--the most time-worn, version-worn and durable tale of all time!). And there's the Winter Solstice too. Druids in the noonlight anyone? I, for one am not putting my cape away after Hallo-wee-wee.
I'll leave it at, boy do I disagree with everything except your last paragraph.
Randy M.
(P.S.: I'm smiling as I type because this pretty much examplifies of the extreme reactions HPL incites among readers.)
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