THE SONGS OF MALDOROR (1868)

I am always glad to interact with readers of Balladeer’s Blog! Many of you have been asking for a guide to my examination of the surreal horrors in The Songs of Maldoror. Readers asked for it to be the same format I used for the Navajo epic myth about the war god Nayanazgeni battling the dark gods called the Anaye. 

THE SONGS OF MALDOROR – First Canto

This work by the author Isidore Ducasse aka the Count de Lautreamont was nearly a century ahead of its time. This neglected masterpiece of surreal horror was so envelope-pushing that Ducasse had the publisher stop printing copies after just eighty-eight were made. He feared that the subject matter in the book might cause him to be arrested or committed to an insane asylum.

Opening Stanzas – An introduction to Maldoror, the book’s mysterious protagonist. Maldoror is a supernatural being who considers God his archenemy & Satan a rival and who regards humans as his prey. Modern readers will recognize in this character elements of Freddy Krueger, Aleister Crowley, Coffin Joe, Heath Ledger’s Joker and the vampire Lestat. Click HERE

First Canto, Stanza 6: THE BLOOD AND TEARS OF A CHILD – You’ll know you’re not in Kansas anymore as Maldoror wallows in the type of physical and emotional violence he enjoys inflicting on children. Click HERE 

First Canto, Stanza 7: FROM TODAY I ABANDON VIRTUE – In a night-darkened cemetery Maldoror encounters a mausoleum-sized glow-worm who wants our protagonist to kill the living incarnation of prostitution. Click HERE 

First Canto, Stanza 8: AN INSATIABLE THIRST FOR THE INFINITE – Maldoror prowls the streets after dark, relishing the fear that he and the other monstrosities of the overnight hours inspire in the wretched mortals who lay shivering in their beds. Click HERE

First Canto, Stanza 9: I SALUTE YOU, ANCIENT OCEAN – Our vile protagonist ponders how his own body count of victims stacks up to the list of lives claimed by the ocean. He also recalls some of the acts of violence he has committed at sea over the decades. All that plus the tableau of Lucifer himself chained on the ocean floor, causing the tides with his labored breathing. Click HERE 

First Canto, Stanza 10: A RAIN OF BLOOD FROM MY MIGHTY FORM – Maldoror takes flight and causes a rain of blood to fall from his body. And not just regular blood but acidic blood which melts the flesh of the hapless humans below. Eventually humanity tries to strike back against the aerial assault. Click HERE

First Canto, Stanza 11: DISTANT SCREAMS OF MOST POIGNANT AGONY – In the dead of night Maldoror travels from house to house brutally slaying all but one member of the families he attacks. He spares one person so that they may bear the pain of mourning and the pain of the memory of his deeds for the rest of their lives. Click HERE

First Canto, Stanza 12: THE PHILOSOPHICAL GRAVEDIGGER – Our main character wanders a graveyard at night, encountering necrophiliacs having an orgy with some attractive corpses, bloodied ghosts and zombies who clamber from their graves to take in the nighttime sights. Maldoror also encounters an insane elderly gravedigger whose bizarre philosophy intrigues him. CLICK HERE

First Canto, Stanza 13: THE GREAT TOAD-ANGEL – After snacking on the worms he finds in a dog’s carcass Maldoror is visited by a hideous winged toad-like creature. The two figures know each other from the distant past and the Toad-Angel exposes a great deal of information regarding what kind of creature Maldoror may be. CLICK HERE 

FOR MY REVIEW OF an 1812 Gothic Horror story featuring a Mandragore, an undead servitor called a Barenhauter and a She-Golem click  HERE

FOR MORE HALLOWEEN ITEMS CLICK HERE:  https://glitternight.com/category/halloween-season/

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