THREE IMPORTANT ESSAYS IN THE GOTHIC MODE

 Among the many important articles on Gothic theory and criticism written throughout the years, three stand out as fundamental readings for any serious student of the Gothic genre.  It occurred to me that I should make an entry pointing out these three writings and, fortunately, they are available free online to read and/or download.


In order of the year of publication:


On the Supernatural in Poetry (1826) by Ann Radcliffe
The Uncanny (1919) by Sigmund Freud
Supernatural Horror in Literature (1927) by H. P. Lovecraft 

I've begun watching selected horror movies (many old classics I haven't ever viewed) motivated by my reading of two immensely readable and comprehensive books:  A History of Horror (2011) by Wheeler Winston Dixon; and The Rise and Fall of the Horror Film (1997) by Dr. David Soren.  Here are a few films I've recently viewed. 

The Devil Commands (1941, 65 mins, B&W)  directed by Edward Dymtrk, stars Boris Karloff as a scientist studying brain waves who becomes obsessed trying to communicate with his recently deceased wife who was killed in a car crash. This film is considered the best and most interesting of the Columbia horror film series of that era (Dixon, 56).  An eerie atmospheric tone is set immediately reminiscent of the movies The Haunting (1963, based on Shirley Jackson's novel, The Haunting of Hill House, 1959) and Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940, based on the  1938 novel of the same name by Daphine DuMaurier).  In a voice-over the main character in Rebecca begins her tale, "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..."  In The Devil Commands a similar foreboding tonal quality is captured with the voice-over that begins the movie, "No one goes near my father's house. No one dares..."   That same mysterious cadence is captured in The Haunting by the character, Mrs. Dudley, who reminds the guests of Hill House, "We live in town, miles away... there won't be anyone around if you need help... We couldn't hear you.  In the night.  No one could.  No one lives any nearer than town.  No one will come any nearer than that.  In the night.  In the dark."

Available for rental at Netflix - The Devil Commands


The Seventh Victim (1943, 131 mins, B&W) directed by Mark Robson and produced by famous Val Lewton, starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks and introducing Kim Hunter. This intelligent psychological horror film (shot in 24 days in May 1943) rates among Lewton's best.  Mary (Kim Hunter) leaves boarding school to go to New York to search for her missing sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks) who, Mary discovers, has been abducted by a group of Satan worshipers.  According to Dixon, the film perfectly reflects Lewton's personal views on the tenuousness of existence (Dixon, 47).  This is a tale of murder and intrigue set in a world where evil exist and the forces to defeat it are weakened in their efforts.

The Seventh Victim is a bleak, somber film populated with people who try to escape their preoccupation with death (Soren, 125).  Close-ups, up-angle shots, and shadows all add to the film's noir atmosphere.  A sense of hopelessness permeates the film in which its characters struggle to survive as they lead lives of quiet desperation.

Available for rental at Netflix - The Seventh Victim


The Haunting (1963, 112 mins, B&W) directed by Robert Wise, starring Julie Harris and Clara Bloom.  Based on the Shirley Jackson novel, The Haunting of Hill House.  This classic horror movie is about a paranormal investigator who recruits three people to help uncover the secrets of Hill House, a mansion overwhelmed by spirits of its former residents.  This is a first-class psychological horror thriller!

Available for rental at Netflix - The Haunting


Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964, 115 mins, B&W) directed by Bryan Forbes, starring Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough.  This is a well-acted, excellent scarey paranormal movie.

Available for rental at Netflix - Seance on a Wet Afternoon




__________

Dixon, Wheeler Winston.  A History of Horror.  New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 2011.
Soren, David.  The Rise and Fall of the Horror Film.  Baltimore, Luminary Press, 1997.





 

The Use of Labels on Gothic Quest

Labels are used to group together like entries on a blog (or other types of applications).  Their use are fairly obvious but this entry explains how various labels are used here on Gothic Quest.

In an attempt to cross-reference the entire blog, the following LABELing convention is explained below:

Anthologies - whenever one or more anthology titles are referred to in an entry.  An anthology is a collection of selected items by various authors.

Authors - whenever the name of one or more authors are mentioned in an entry.

 Collections - whenever the title of one or more collections are referred to in an entry.  A collection is generally a group of selected items by the same author.

Critique - an entry that contains a critical analysis of one or more works.

Doppelganger - An entry in which the doppelganger motif is mentioned or discussed.  Also interchangeably termed: The Double, The Twin, The Other.

Films - an entry in which one or more film titles are mentioned.

Novels - an entry in which on or more novel titles are mentioned.

 Poems - an entry in which one or more poems are mentioned.

Resources - an entry in which one or more non-fiction sources are referenced.  The resource(s) may be complete books, book sections, articles or any combination of resources.

Reviews - an entry that is either a review of one or more works or makes reference to such reviews.

Short Stories - an entry that discusses or mentions by title one or more short stories.

Titles - whenever a title of any kind is mentioned or discussed in an entry.

All the above labels have been applied to this entry to serve as an example.  In addition to the above labels, others may be used as needed.

A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons

This psychological horror tale is a great, fast read despite the fact that it bogs down in the middle for about fifty pages and its dénouement seems to go on at operatic length.  But these are minor flaws in a scary ghost story every bit as unnerving as "The Turn of the Screw" and as frightening as  Dracula.  Author Dan Simmons is an adroit story-teller whose writing skills are equal to the stylistic prowess of James and Stoker.  He creates a haunting atmosphere that permeates the novel and chills the reader with subtle terror and tantalizing suspense.   A Winter Haunting is a sequel, twenty years later, to Summer of Night.

Literature professor and novelist, Dale Stewart, has managed to sabotage his successful careers and his marriage by having an affair with a student that ended badly.  Filled with guilt and preoccupied with self-recriminations--having lost everything including his marriage, children, and confidence as a novelist--Dale decides to take a sabbatical from his university position so he can return to his childhood town in Illinois where he rents the farmhouse in which his childhood friend, Duane McBride, lived and died so long ago.  Hoping to rid himself of nightmares and demons and to find peace in the isolation, Dale settles in for the long winter ahead (his arrival is curiously late evening on Halloween) but, no sooner settled in, he begins experiencing strange and eerie things--cryptic messages in Old English appear mysteriously on his computer screen while he attempts to work on a novel; he sees black dogs roaming around even though no neighbors in the area own black dogs; thugs and enemies threaten him.  Is Dale hallucinating?  Is he being haunted by past ghosts?  Is he slowly loosing his mind?  Obsessive recollections of his friend, Duane, and of Duane's "accident" cause Dale to question his grip on reality.  Though haunted with ghosts of the past and terrorized by present dangers (real or imagined), this tale is woven with great subtly and refreshing intelligence.  A Winter Haunting is a fine addition to the ghost story oeuvre in the tradition of Henry James, Wilkie Collins and M. R. James.  Dan Simmons belongs to that group of brilliant writers who write darkly in the Gothic mode.

Some Short Stories Online

Here are some well-known short stories in the Gothic mode by famous authors that are available online to read or download.

Ash-Tree, The by M. R. James
Birthmark, The by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Double, The by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
Fall of the House of Usher, The by Edgar Allan Poe
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Jolly Corner, The by Henry James
Lost Hearts by M. R. James
Monkey's Paw, The by W. W. Jacobs
Secret Sharer, The by Joseph Conrad
Turn of the Screw, The by Henry James
 Yellow Wallpaper, The by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Hot Blood

Hot Blood
Jeff Gelb & Lonn Friend, eds.
New York: Kensington Publishing, 1989.

I had this anthology on my shelf of "Books-to-Read" for about a year and finally picked it up a few weeks ago and read most of the stories--each one better than the other!

As the title suggest, this collection of stories by contemporary masters of horror (such as Richard Matheson, Robet Bloch, and Ramsey Campbell) deals with passions, desires, seductions, lust, and obsession woven into compelling dark tales that will captivate your attention and imagination.


This volume contains two dozen stories: Changeling (Graham Masterton); The Likeness of Julie (Richard Matheson); The Thang (Robert R. McCammon); Menage A Trois (F. Paul Wilson); Mr. Right (Richard Christian Matheson); Blood Night (Chet Williamson); Chocolate (Mick Garris); Again (Ramsey Campbell); Bug House (Lisa Tuttle); Vengeance Is. (Theodore Sturgeon); The Unkindest Cult (J. N. Williamson); Reunion (Michael Garrett); Footsteps (harlan Ellison); Pretty Is... (Mike Newton); Aunt Edith (Gary Brandner); Daughter of the Golden West (Dennis Etchison); Meat Market (John Skipp and Craig Spector); The Voic (Rex Miller); The Model (Robert Bloch); Carnal House (Steve Rasnic Tem); They're Coming For You (Les Daniels); Suzie Sucks (Jeff Gelb); Punishments (Ray Garton); Red Light (David J. Schow).

Dracula by Bram Stoker

http://www.online-literature.com/stoker/dracula/

Shadowy Realms

Like many, I've always enjoyed a good scare. We enjoy being frightened as a result of the Fight or Flight response triggered by our brains when confronted with a stressful situation and adrenaline rushes through our body as, for example, when we ride a roller coaster. That's the biological explanation but I like the psychological one: each scare is a mini dress rehearsal for our eventual death, the Big Scare.

But thrill-seeking joy-rides aren't quite the same thing as the slow build-up of a good scary story that you read with a growing sense of dread and expectation while sitting pensively biting your nails. For many of us, we actually enjoy that build-up of tension and subsequent relief. I'll take sitting in a darkened movie theater witnessing a ghoul on a larger-than-life screen traipsing around a cemetery at midnight anytime over a reckless dare-devil ride on a motorcycle.

This blog is a continuing, if sporadic, record of my thoughts and reactions to what I am currently reading or viewing in the Gothic mode of the horrific, the dark, the grotesque and macabre. This is a log of my personal exploration of the Gothic genre in literature in film.

As I explore new titles in literature and film--or revisit some of my favorites I've read or viewed in the past--I intend to record my critical views in commentaries here in hopes visitors may find some of my remarks interesting and insightful.

I regard my study of, and search for, the weird and bizarre, as a Gothic Quest because most any good tale of terror or film of horror owes its foundation to elements of the early Gothic genre. Some of the more obvious components are: thunder and lightening storms, haunted castles, spiraling staircases, madness, monsters, mayhem, voyeurism, cemeteries, ladies in distress, flickering candlelight, shadowy figures in half-lit rooms, and the like.

But there are more subtle ingredients that give bone-chilling stories their special, strangely dark flavors of the grotesque and macabre. One such element (a favorite of mine) is the doppelganger--known also as The Double or The Other or The Twin. This psychological motif is present in many films (Fight Club, Strangers on the Train, Vertigo, Psycho, Body Double, Magic, Face Off--to name a few) and countless stories (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, "The Jolly Corner", "William Wilson", Frankenstein, "The Birthmark", "The Mezzotint", "The Oval Portrait", "The Secret Sharer").

There's an endless menu from which to select--a variable feast to spread upon the table--from classics like Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto to contemporary Ramsey Campbell's fantastic collection of short stories, Alone with the Horrors. Novels, novellas, short stories, poetry and films will be the landscapes of my search for the Gothic. Some non-fiction resources will be included when reference is made to scholarly criticisms and contemporary reviews.

Join me, then, on a journey into the shadowy realms in search of the uncanny, the speculative, the hauntings, the suspenseful, the sexual, the horrifying, the entertaining, the thrilling, the psychologically chilling--in a word, the Gothic in literature and film...