There are some stories that seem to have been written not on paper but directly upon the human condition, and Poe’s The Man of the Crowd is one of them. It's the story of a nameless narrator, recovering from illness, who sits in a London coffeehouse and watches the endless river of humanity pass by. At first, … Continue reading The Man of the Crowd: The Ghost of the City
Tag: gothic
Anno Dracula: Empire of the Undead
What if the monster had won? It’s the forbidden question behind so much of Gothic literature. We tidy our novels with the crucifix triumphant and the stake neatly driven home, as if evil may always be dispatched with a mallet and a bit of ash. Yet Kim Newman, that merry necromancer of the imagination, dared … Continue reading Anno Dracula: Empire of the Undead
Haunted, Harrassed, and Hard-Done-By: Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black
They say curiosity killed the cat, but if you ask me, it merely got the cat thoroughly spooked and left it clinging to the curtains like a caffeinated spider. Such is the effect Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black has on a reader: you pick it up thinking you’re in for a quaint little ghost … Continue reading Haunted, Harrassed, and Hard-Done-By: Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black
Whistles, Rhymes, and Ghosts – Oh My! M. R. James’ Guide to Summoning Ancient Horrors with Nursery Tunes
When I think of M. R. James, it’s like I’ve accidentally stumbled into a foggy, overgrown cemetery on Halloween night, while wearing the world’s most embarrassing costume and holding a mysterious old book I definitely shouldn’t be holding. His stories - oh, the stories! - are like that one weird uncle who insists on showing … Continue reading Whistles, Rhymes, and Ghosts – Oh My! M. R. James’ Guide to Summoning Ancient Horrors with Nursery Tunes
Thrawn Janet by Robert Louis Stevenson: A Masterpiece Buried Beneath a Mound of Linguistic Muck
Reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s Thrawn Janet is rather like stumbling across a hidden bottle of whisky in a dusty old kirk - an unexpected pleasure, provided you can stomach the cobwebs and the dead rats floating inside. The story itself, once you prise it out from beneath the dreadful mound of vernacular rubble, is a … Continue reading Thrawn Janet by Robert Louis Stevenson: A Masterpiece Buried Beneath a Mound of Linguistic Muck
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