Tag Archives: Gothic horror

Balladeer’s Blog concludes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. (“Mal d’Auror”, meaning Evil’s Dawn or The Dawn of Evil.)

CANTO SIX: STANZA TEN

The best cover depiction of  Maldoror’s message.

Today it ends. A moral, ontological and supernatural battle that has raged since the dawn of creation comes to a close in the heart of Paris.

God – be he Creator or Demiurge, compassionate deity or power-crazed sadist – meets for the last time in combat with Maldoror.

When this day is over one of these two beings will never again walk the Earth. Continue reading →

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. This is the NEXT TO LAST installment.

CANTO SIX: STANZA EIGHT

“Maldoror and His Smile” by Lord Orlando

God has sent down an Archangel from Heaven to try to protect sixteen year old Mervyn from Maldoror’s sinister designs on him. The Archangel has assumed the form of a hermit crab in order to sneak into France unobserved by Maldoror. However, our supernatural main character has sensed the Archangel’s arrival anyway and stands along the shore where the being is trying to pass itself off as a mere hermit crab.

With a club in hand instead of one of his usual knives Maldoror watches the disguised Archangel pause on a reef before heading to shore. The figure sent from Heaven is fearful regarding its impending confrontation with Maldoror, whom the Angelic Armies concede to be a greater threat than Satan himself. For his part our vile protagonist observes that the Archangel is not very comfortable in the terrestrial sphere and plans to make quick work of him, planning to thus provoke God into engaging him in personal combat once again.   

The Archangel realizes it has been spotted and transforms from a crab into its full angelic form: Mario, the one-time Angel of the Sea who was in love with Maldoror. Way back in The Mysterious Riders this relationship was dealt with but Maldoror never revealed what happened to Mario, he simply vanished from the narrative. Now we learn why – Mario repented and returned to God, which must have been a particularly potent blow to Maldoror, which is why his ego would not permit him to recount that part of the tale. Now elevated to Archangel status Mario announces that God has given him a portion of his own power to make up for his inexperience in his new incarnation and to help him subdue our narrator.  Continue reading →

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

CANTO SIX: STANZA SIX

Maldoror is in his lair in Paris, observing himself in a mirror. He recalls how he used to have a third eye in the center of his forehead but ages ago a female cat pounced on him and chewed it out. This was done as revenge on Maldoror for the way he boiled the cat’s litter of kittens to death in a pot full of alcohol. (What kind of wine goes with cat meat?)

Maldoror then ponders the rest of his heavily scarred face and body, reflecting on the damage he and God have inflicted on each other in their long war against each other. In his usual insane way the supernatural being considers himself as “beautiful” as congenital birth defects are beautiful; as “beautiful” as genitals ravaged by venereal disease. Continue reading →

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

CANTO SIX: STANZA FOUR

Maldoror and Mervyn, drawn by Monsieur Le Six.

I’ve decided the Stanzas of this final Canto don’t merit individual titles. Too little happens in each as the story of Maldoror preying on the 16 year old youth named Mervyn proceeds incrementally.

The previous episode ended with Maldoror tracking Mervyn to his home on the Rue Lafayette. The young man now flees inside, fearful of the unknown presence he felt following him through the gaslit streets of Paris (left deserted after dark by Maldoror’s ongoing reign of terror). Continue reading →