Classic Horror

[j d worthington]

LOL... Indeed... Matheson is a master at unsettling people....

 

[j d worthington]

Well, as mentioned in the monthly reading thread, I've been going through a lot of the work of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, one of the originators of the classic ghost story, and also one who wrote several classic mystery novels in the mid-19th century (in fact, in modern terms, he may have invented the "locked-room" sort of mystery tale).

Le Fanu is one who, though he seems to be ever gaining more recognition, went through a long period of eclipse following his death in 1873, partly because many of his best stories were published anonymously in various magazines, and partly because of the shift within a few years to a more modernist approach; Le Fanu's style was decidedly of the more laconic, relaxed, old-fashioned prose sort which accumulates detail and builds an atmosphere slowly... but all the more effective for that, as he uses it to (appropriately) creep up on you, gradually taking you from a leisurely, almost chatty beginning to some of the nastiest concepts to be encountered in supernatural fiction; and even there, it may take several readings to get the full depth of the diabolism of what he has in mind, so that his tales grow with each reading.

For example... one of his most famous tales, "Green Tea" left me somewhat cold on first reading, but nowadays is one of my personal favorites, as with each reading, the ghastliness of the situation grows, and the implications of the view of the universe within that story become more and more appalling as each layer surfaces upon a new reading. He's a subtle, but very powerful writer, and this concentrated reading of his work has caused my respect for him to grow by leaps and bounds. He is also one of the few writers who can blend a sly, homely humor with the truly horrific, and use the tension between the two to greatly increase the effect of his tale, constantly unsettling what your preconceptions are on how such a thing should work. In that way, at least, he's a surprisingly modern writer.

At any rate, I thought, for those who are interested, I'd also post some links to some of his work, and certainly I encourage anyone who appreciates a well-told tale, and some truly chilling ideas and imagery, to look him up. I don't think you'll be sorry you did...

http://www.horrormasters.com/Collections/SS_Col_Fanu.htm

http://www.horrormasters.com/Collections/SS_Col_Fanu2.htm

Browse By Author: L - Project Gutenberg

Enjoy!

 

[Connavar]

Any story of him i can find in those sites you would recommend? The more horror like story the better.

I want to read more horror and why not try some classic stuff. Recently read Conan Doyle,Oscar Wilde and the way victorian writers wrote makes me smile.

 

[j d worthington]

Connovar... that's a little difficult to say, as his horror, as I noted, "creeps up on you", especially with the blending of horror and grotesque humor... But I think I'd suggest "Green Tea", "Carmilla", "Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter" (this last from The Purcell Papers, vol. 2, on Gutenberg), "Mr. Justice Harbottle" (and perhaps its mirror-image, "Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street") for the pure ghostly tales, and "The Child that Went with the Fairies" and "Stories of Lough Guir" for tales that rely on folkloric motifs...

 

[Connavar]

I like reading Green Tea in the format in the site you linked to.

The words was alot bigger and it was like reading a real book and not like gutenberg size where it feels wierd reading a story in that size in wordpad.

If you know similer sites with similer size the stories are in, let me specially looking forward to trying Lovecraft,the author or Mars and Tarzan series cant spell his name

 

[ravenus]

Edgar Rice Burroughs?

 

[j d worthington]

Nearly all of Burroughs is available here:

Edgar Rice Burroughs: Arthur's Classic Novels

(Thank Teresa for this one -- great site!) Granted, most of it seems to be small print, but not any more so than a huge number of the books I have; and it does allow you to read a huge chunk of what the man wrote....

 

[Connavar]

Yep that is he cant never rememer how to spell his name


Thanks JD.

Im gonna finish Green Tea and will get back to you what i thought of it.

Already i dig his humor, several times i have chuckled of the way the main character says and thinks of people.

 

[AE35Unit]

Well I've not yet read Dracula but I have read Frankenstein. What a shock that was, soooo different to any film!
Also read some Poe(Pit and the Pendulum is real creepy as is The Raven)
Also there's Dickens's A Christmas Carol which,if you've never read be warned,it does get scary! BTW any other Dickens horror recommendations?)
As you can see I really like the old stuff!

 

[Connavar]

I havent actually read Poe or Dickens since as a kid in school when they forced them on you.

Never gave them a chance.

Will prolly read Poe and Dickens and give them a real chance soon as i have a little shorter TBR pile. I saw JD i think reading Dickens horror stories. Gotta find them.

If i found HPL actually readable for the way he writes. Poe shouldnt be a struggle.

 

[j d worthington]

Dickens wrote several good ghostly tales, from "No. 1 Branch Line: The Signalman" to "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain". They've been collected together a couple of times (iirc -- I've got one of these anyway), but can be easily found on the web at places such as HorrorMasters.com, as can those of other writers of the period.

 

[Connavar]

I will rather take a chance and buy the collection than read those stories on the comp.

Hopefully i can find them in bookmooch. I havent read Dickens in 9 years so maybe i should read his famous library books before buying his horror.


I liked David Copperfield BBC mini maybe i will begin there if i cant find his horror stories in bookmooch or the library.

 

[j d worthington]

I will rather take a chance and buy the collection than read those stories on the comp.

Hopefully i can find them in bookmooch. I havent read Dickens in 9 years so maybe i should read his famous library books before buying his horror.


I liked David Copperfield BBC mini maybe i will begin there if i cant find his horror stories in bookmooch or the library.

Connavar: There are several collections: The Supernatural Short Stories of Charles Dickens, The Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, The Christmas Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, most of which overlap; so you should be able to find one or more fairly easily....

 

[Connavar]

I saw the library had in a collection from 1982 called Complete Ghost stories of Dickens.

Over 20 stories so im gonna get that.

I saw a ghost story collection with Le Fanu too, which im excited about. I liked his writing when i tried him.

 

[brsrkrkomdy]

I've already read The Complete Ghost Stories Of Charles Dickens edited by Peter Haining. It's a good collection. There are some excerpts from some of his novels.

It's interesting to discover the Germans had a three volume Das Gespensterbuch. I ought to nab that one someday. And while we're on the subject of weird tales from foreign lands. There's one or more called Tales From the Liaio Chai Studio by Pu Songling. From what I've read, this writer had collected weird and ghost stories from villages and other provinces of China whenever he himself traveled there. He's written at least 500 of the stories. However, when it comes to English translations, there are some that are too transliterative and dry. At least that's what I've read.

So, there's a recent volume of Pu Songling's Tales From the Chinese Studio, printed by Penguin books.

 

[Connavar]

Connavar: There are several collections: The Supernatural Short Stories of Charles Dickens, The Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, The Christmas Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, most of which overlap; so you should be able to find one or more fairly easily....

That collection is the only Dickens that is always loaned in the library.

What are the odds people keeping home the only Dickens i want to read.

I decided to get it from bookmooch instead of waiting for it forever.

 

[AE35Unit]

Hmmm no mention of MR James. I'm sure I had a collection of his stories(Wordsworth classics) but don't know what happened to it.

 

[Lobolover]

Who here has read much of the classics of the genre? I'm not referring to the more recent writers (though some of them may indeed be classics), but the works that established the horror (or supernatural, or weird, or whatever label you wish to use) field in the first place. Writers like Le Fanu, Shelley, Radcliffe, Dickens, Blackwood, Machen, O'Brien, Maupassant, Ewers, Shiel, James, Hichens, Morrow, Hodgson, Wakefield, Wilkins-Freeman, Mrs. Oliphant, Vernon Lee, etc.

How many have read HPL's treatise on the subject, Supernatural Horror in Literature (which remains perhaps the best single historical overview of the genre to date)? How many have looked into some of the more obscure writers in the field? And what are your opinions on any of the above?

Have read SHiL about five times.I looked into MANY of the writers,the obscure ones,and am proud to say have one of the bigest colection of tales on the comp,along with a handfull of purchases.

Le Fanu-didnt read anything
Blacwkood-love him,but didnt read more then 2 stories till now,cause of the length
Shelley-only read Frankenstein,not bad,but there are tales much more worth reprints
Maupassant-Horla was briliant.As to the other tales,their briliant things of the "other" sort
Machen-Absolutely adore (but we have the Weird thread for deeper discusion of that)
Ewers-great scot he's good,but I only read the Spider
Shiel-am about to read
James-good
Hodgson-wonderfull,but ive only FINISHED two of his stories and have been stuck on th Night Land,even though I have it all (700 pages!
,well,okay,in printing,its a bit less) printd out.
Wakefield-didnt read anything ,couldnt.In this respect,if you could help me with the Red Lodge,i'd realy apreciate it.

 

[Connavar]

James ? Which James have you read ? M.R James or Henry James ?


I read Washington Irving and Henry James last night for the first time with The Adventure of The German Student and The Ghostly Rental .

 

[Jinxs]

Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite. The way he writes is unique and plus the life he led was scary itself...Plus what about Stephen King the Shining??? That is a classic...Maybe my taste is off who knows?!?