Tag Archives: horror

Review of “The Spider” by Hanns Heinz Ewers: Halloween Countdown

For October 25 Plot: Medical student Richard Bracquemont tells the police inspector he has a plan to help solve the mystery of three recent suicides. He’ll move into the room where they occurred, #7 of the Hotel Stevens, Rue Alfred Stevens (Paris 6). Against his better judgment, the inspector accepts. He has a phone installedContinue reading “Review of “The Spider” by Hanns Heinz Ewers: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “Seaton’s Aunt” by Walter de la Mare: Halloween Countdown

For October 24 Plot: In exchange for a lavish treat, the narrator, Withers, agrees to spend a holiday with an unpopular boy, Arthur Seaton. Seaton appears “yellow” in color, with “slow chocolate-coloured eyes, and lean weak figure.” Because of his appearance, “most… true-blue Englishmen” treat him with condescension, hostility, or contempt. A day or twoContinue reading “Review of “Seaton’s Aunt” by Walter de la Mare: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Screaming Skull” by F. Marion Crawford: Halloween Countdown

Plot:Retired Captain Braddock has come to live in his late cousin Luke Pratt’s house. Cousin Luke was a doctor. His wife pre-deceased him. Their son was killed (in the Boer War?) in South Africa. Braddock isn’t nervous—so he keeps telling his unnamed houseguest, who is also an old sailor. He’s heard the skull scream often.Continue reading “Review of “The Screaming Skull” by F. Marion Crawford: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “Schalken the Painter” by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Halloween Countdown

For October 22 Plot:The painting by the artist Godfrey Schalken is a family heirloom. A woman in a white dress, part of which forms a veil. She holds a lamp, lighting her features, an effect at which its creator excelled. It shows her “arch smile,” as if she’s pulled off some prank. Behind her, inContinue reading “Review of “Schalken the Painter” by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Repairer of Reputations” by Robert W. Chambers: Halloween Countdown

For October 21 Plot: As envisioned from 1895, the year 1920 looks good. The tariff and labor questions have been settled. New architecture replaces old. The war with Germany, occasioned by the latter’s seizure of the Samoan Islands, has left no visible mark on the republic. And we won’t mention the ridiculous plight of GeneralContinue reading “Review of “The Repairer of Reputations” by Robert W. Chambers: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Open Door” by Mrs. Margaret Oliphant: Halloween Countdown

For October 20 Plot: On his return from India in 18—, Colonel Mortimer takes a house called Brentwood for his family. Edinburgh is within reach so his daughters can have the masters and lessons they need, and his boy, Roland, whose education has been neglected, can now receive the proper education for a lad hisContinue reading “Review of “The Open Door” by Mrs. Margaret Oliphant: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “Mysterious Maisie” by Wirt Gerrare: Halloween Countdown

For October 19 Plot: With her father recently deceased and her mother in failing health, seventeen-year-old Laura must earn a living. She is not (her sister Maggie writes) fit to be a teacher. Even if she were, hearing what Maggie has to say about her own post as an assistant mistress of a high schoolContinue reading “Review of “Mysterious Maisie” by Wirt Gerrare: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Listener” by Algernon Blackwood: Halloween Countdown

For October 17 Plot: In a series of diary entries, the unnamed narrator tells the reader how he took new rooms in a less-then-affluent part of town. The lodgings lack “modern conveniences,” presumably running water and electricity. He’s a writer with several irons in the fire, and—whaddya know—he’s poor. Not that he had to be.Continue reading “Review of “The Listener” by Algernon Blackwood: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Horla” by Guy de Maupassant: Halloween Countdown

For October 15 Plot:The story is presented in a series of journal entries. Things start happily. The narrator appears wealthy enough to have servants and something of an estate. He contemplates the invisible though our are senses too poor to perceive it: “we can see neither the inhabitants of a star nor of a dropContinue reading “Review of “The Horla” by Guy de Maupassant: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen: Halloween Countdown

For October 14 Plot: Dr. Raymond wants to show his friend Clarke his new method of seeing “beyond the veil.” The physical world as we know it is an illusion, but with a little bit of brain surgery, one can see reality, or as he claims the ancients referred to it, “seeing the god Pan.”Continue reading “Review of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen: Halloween Countdown”