Classic Horror

[ravenus]

Some of those Dickens stories are excerpts from the Pickwick Papers, I believe.

[j. d. worthington]

Yes, some of the stories in the collection were (including "The Goblins that Stole a Sexon"), as well as one from Nicholas Nickleby and another (the "Confession" story) from a serial, Master Humphrey's Clock. They were included as tales told, and remain somewhat controversial for that reason (as to his reason for including them) --though I'm not sure why, as many novels throughout literary history have such inserted tales, from the sentimental and picaresque novels on...

Have you read these and, if so, what are your thoughts?

[ravenus]

Don't recall all the stuff but...

I really loved the Madman's diary excerpt and the story about the talking chair was cute. I remember liking the Signalman story a lot, although I can't fully recall it now. Must have read some of the others as well.

On the whole, damn good old-school stuff and Dickens could write as good a ghost story as the best of that lot.

[j. d. worthington]

Not classic horror per se, but about one of the true classics of the genre: M. R. James:

Warnings to the Curious: Criticism on MR James - Hippocampus Press

This is the first such book, I believe, devoted exclusively to his ghostly tales, and thus long overdue. There is also a link to a very interesting review, for those who would like more information... and a lot of the scholars represented here are both very good as scholars, and often very entertaining and fascinating to read....

[HardScienceFan]

JD, I am going to thrill you with the following

Everybody who wants to be scared out of his wits,read House by Richard Matheson

[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/Collect...S_Col_Fanu.htm

http://www.horrormasters.com/Collect..._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 :P

[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 :P


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.