I first read The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe in high school. I was lucky enough to attend a school which gave the option of studying the literature of Poe and Twain in more depth, and I jumped at the chance. My teacher, Gary Harrison loves both authors, but was particularly animated about Poe. […]
Classic Gothic Ghost Stories
It could be argued that our fascination with horror and the occult is based primarily on our culture. It this is true, the gothic horror story of literature is the birthplace of this fascination. Herein you’ll find some of the classics of the genre, curated especially to give the reader an introduction to this fascinating field of literature.
On Valentine’s Day: Surviving a broken heart, finding hope in Edgar A. Poe and Annabel Lee’s metaphoric necrophilia
Though it’s tempting after reading Annabel Lee to believe Poe thought otherwise, sometimes love dies. There’s always a choice involved. Someone has to make the decision that this is it. If it’s not you, it’s a blow that’s hard to recover from. To start with, you don’t want to. Your love didn’t die. You want […]
A Halloween song plus bonus … on fictionalizing your life, Bob Dylan’s mask, the melancholic nature of the Brits, a 16th lutist channelled by Ed Sheeran and the bravery of Jeff Flakes
A Halloween gift for our readers. Edgar A. Poe’s To One in Paradise, based on the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar, performed by the author as a part of Folkswitch. www.folkswitch.com. Top image, Chatterton by Henry Wallis, 1856 + + + The topic of fictionalizing your life came up with a friend a week or so […]
Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe
“The death… of a beautiful woman” is “unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world” Edgar Allan Poe Ligeia is a curious one in the Poe canon. Published in 1838, scholars are still debating how to take it. Some see it as a tale reminiscent of reincarnation, others a supernatural tale and quite possibly the […]
Laudanum from the Witch’s Garden: The opiate that drove the romantic poets to enlightenment and insanity
Top: Poppy Field by Cate Davies. Click here to view larger or purchase a print. I’m standing in the Tate Gallery, years ago, staring at the painting by Sir John Everett Millais of Ophelia. I know the story, and the story of the model, Elizabeth Siddal. It was the Pre-Raphelite movement in painting, the romantic […]
Eating Poe, Part II: Edgar Allan Poe’s time on Sullivan’s Island and debunking a Charleston myth
I wake up before dawn and heard the ocean outside. The dunes separate the beach house from the sea itself, but not the smell of the ocean, nor the pounding of the surf, a dull thud, without the crackle and sizzle of the foam. The sky is beginning to lighten, I get dressed and grab […]
Eating Poe: Part One, Richmond and an Author’s Forward
Poe stands for every fucked up soul who wandered a graveyard on a dark and lonely night. For every person who has grieved to the point of madness, and who can draw a line between dread and fear with a sharp point pen. Poe is the beacon of darkness, the one who first reached the […]
The Ash Tree by M.R. James
M.R. James nearly always appears at the top of the lists for the best gothic horror story authors, and for good reasons. His Ghost Stories of an Antiquarian (1904) is perhaps one of the best collections of spine tingling short stories ever written. + + + Everyone who has travelled over Eastern England knows the […]
A history of winter tales and Christmas ghost stories, to make the blood run wintery cold
Snowfield by Cate Davies Now I remember those old women’s words, Who in my wealth would tell me winter’s tales, And speak of spirits and ghosts that glide by night Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta (1589) “It always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story.” Jerome K. Jerome, Told After Supper (1891) + + + WINTER […]
The Kit Bag by Algernon Blackwood
Algernon Blackwood (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) wrote more ghost stories than about anyone else, and more great ones as well. A novelist known just as much for his horrific short stories, this Londoner had the heart of a mystic. He wrote in a letter to a friend “My fundamental interest, I suppose, […]
Between The Lights by E.F. Benson
Winter Wings, by Cate Davies. To view larger or to purchase a print of this image, click here An unusual gothic horror story, written in 1912 and set in the sunlight rather than the dark and taking place on the day before Christmas. A tale of looking back and the healing power of Christmas. A […]
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
The Great God Pan, a novella by Welsh born Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947), was cited by Stephen King as maybe the best horror story in the English Language. Originally decried for its strong sexual and horror content, it is almost tame in comparison to today’s literature of the same genre. […]
