THE WEREWOLF (1896) – By Clemence Annie Housman. Halloween month continues at Balladeer’s Blog! Here are two more neglected works of Gothic Horror, this first one features a female author writing about a FEMALE WEREWOLF so that makes it a bit special right there.
The Werewolf is set in 1890’s Denmark. Amidst werewolf attacks plaguing the countryside a Danish family finds itself being charmed by a sultry, seductive woman who calls herself White Fell. The woman travels alone by night so is obviously the werewolf at large. Unfortunately her potent beauty allays suspicion and even pits brothers Sweyn and Christian against each other.
Eventually after the family’s youngest child and the grandmother get added to the werewolf’s body count Christian enacts a plan to end the lycanthrope’s reign of terror. This enjoyable tale features the werewolf variation which finds those so cursed transforming every night at midnight, not just on nights of the full moon.
THE OCTAVE OF CLAUDIUS (1897) – By Barry Pain. This obscure little Gothic honey is just good enough that you wish it had been better. There are so many elements that make it appealing but it falls just short of being a worthwhile read for anybody except obsessive fools like me.
Claudius Sandell, a once-promising young man who has wound up disinherited and poverty-stricken is broken and suicidal but is saved by mad scientist Dr Gabriel Lamb. Lamb is a wealthy sadist whose macabre experiments on human beings have already cost his wife her sanity and their infant child its life.
Since Claudius feels he has nothing to lose he accepts Dr Lamb’s proposition to become his most recent human guineau pig in exchange for eight days (the “octave” of the title) with enough money to indulge himself in ways Oscar Wilde would have found gaudy and excessive. He can also pretend to be wealthy and successful to impress all the people in his life who had written him off as a failure.
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While Sandell enjoys his bittersweet eight days of living it up he also gets his novel published through sheer bluff, reconciles with his father and, of course, falls in love. All the while he knows he faces his doom in Dr Lamb’s experiment at the end of it all. Periodic cutbacks to the Lamb household fill in more of the Doctor’s twisted, violent ways, the fate of his caged experimental “failures” and eerie hints at the exact nature of his research into human evolution.
Dr Lamb with one of his caged “failures” in Blind Bargain (1922)
The mad doctor plans to transform Claudius into the next step in humanity’s development, but the strain will likely kill the unfortunate man. A Lon Chaney silent movie called Blind Bargain (1922) adapted the story and improved it a bit by making Dr Lamb’s butler and nurse characters two of his monstrous failed attempts at his “next step in evolution.”
Unfortunately that film is one of the countless silent movies that have not survived. As for the novel, even the fiery conclusion can’t save it from its own too-frequent failings. Primary among those failings would be the way it gets bogged down in Soap Opera storylines with many of the supporting characters.
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I didn’t know about that Chaney movie!
Yep. It’s horrible how many silent films were lost.
Octave of Claudius should have been better than you describe it. Werewolf seems awesome.
Yeah, Octave of Claudius makes you want to like it more but it just feels too blah when it’s over. Like it didn’t fully capitalize on its premise.
That Caudius story sounds so good. Why do you say its disappointing?
It fails to fully cash in on its concepts. A description of it will always sound better than what the author actually did with it.
The Claudius one would work as a movie I bet.
Yeah, the silent movie already improved on some of the elements. Another film could improve even more.
I at first thought the wereowlf and the octive of claudius was one big story. lol
Ha!
Octave of Claudius seems awesome. Too bad it goes bad.
I agree. It’s a shame to waste such a great start and premise.
I would love to see a movie version of The Werewolf.
I would to!
Very atmospheric tales!
I agree!
The Werewolf sounds better than the Octave story.
Well, since it’s more complete and more fully realized, yes it is.
I couldn’t even force myself through Octave of Claudius. You have my sympathy.
Ha! Thanks. It wasn’t as bad as all that since I kept thinking about how close it was coming to being a very good story but just kept sabotaging itself.
I love getting the letters, but please usually do not go telling folks they are likely to get about one a week. I’ve been lucky to obtain one a month. You need to do a little better than that….or end the pinocchio stories at the quite least. If just one a month is what it is, then that is what it is.
My dream retirement would be living in Udaipur, India! I have been for the city and like the persons and Indian culture. I’d be thrilled to be able to see this film which takes place in the top place in the entire world! 🙂
Very nice! The werewolf one sounds better to me.
I understand.
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No problem.
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I love these reviews of old gothic horror stories.
Thanks!
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