The Dedalus Book of French Horror : The 19th Century

"The two dozen authors collected here span the 19th century, from La Harpe in the aftermath of the Revolution to Huysmans' fin de siecle decadence. Poe, Hoffmann and the English Gothic novel all fed the imagination of the French fantasists, who frequently added a touch of Gallic wit to the heady brew of vampirism, ghostly gore and sexual misbehaving. Hale provides a scholarly introduction to this highly enjoyable selection of strange tales." — Scotland on Sunday "Stories like Eugene Sue's wickedly funny cautionary tale of how a brush with Rousseau can lead to an unpleasant end show that the French macabre is worthy of attention for its irony and humour. There are contes cruels, frenetiques and fantastiques by Baudelaire, Maupassant and the Marquis de Sade. But some of the best tales are by writers, now forgotten, who used E.T.A. Hoffman, Edgar Allan Poe and the English Gothic novel to create a uniquely French genre." — Isobel Montgomery in The Guardian "For those who know their frenetique from their fantastique, there's plenty of deliciously morbid stuff here, from Eugene Sue's Candide-like satire A True Account of the Travels of Claude Belissan, Clerk to the Public Prosecutor to Catulles Mendes's sexually overheated The Penitent and the Marquis de Sade's surprisingly chaste Diorci, or The Vagaries of Chance, one of the nineteen stories being published in English for the first time." — The Irish Times "Hale's inspired selection - he includes little-known pieces by Sade, Baudelaire, Dumas and Maupassant, as well as stories by unjustly forgotten writers such as Catulle Mendes, Jean Pichepin, Charles Nodier and Petrus Borel - not only makes this an invigorating collection to read, it virtually redefines the boundaries of the French horror genre." — Brendan King in The Times Literary Supplement This anthology provides a representative selection of a century of French horror writing by such authors as Petrus Borel, Theophile Gautier, Gerard de Nerval, Charles Nodier, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Baudelaire, and J.K. Huysmans, most appearing for the first time in English. It traces the full development of a genre that initially appeared in the aftermath of the French Revolution, and has been used to explore the most terrifying aspects of science and social life. CONTENTS Introduction Terry Hale in * The Lamp of Saint Just Frdric Souli; trans. by Liz Heron ss * The Travels of Claude Belissan Eugne Sue; trans. by Terry Hale ss * Solange Alexandre Dumas nv The London Journal, 1849 Monsieur de lArgentire, Public Prosecutor Ptrus Borel; trans. by Terry Hale nv * The Covetous Clerk Alphonse Royer; trans. by Terry Hale ss * One Eye Between Two Xavier Forneret; trans. by Liz Heron nv * Dorci, or the Vagaries of Chance Marquis de Sade; trans. by Terry Hale ss * Mademoiselle Scalpel Charles Baudelaire; trans. by Terry Hale ss * The Penitent Catulle Mends; trans. by Terry Hale ss * The Astonishing Moutonnet Couple Villiers de lIsle-Adam; trans. by Terry Hale ss * Constant Guignard Jean Richepin; trans. by Terry Hale ss * The Hanged Man Charles Cros; trans. by Liz Heron ss * Monsieur Mathias Jules Lermina; trans. by Liz Heron ss * A Burnt Offering Lon Bloy; trans. by Terry Hale ss * A Family Treat [from Becalmed] J. K. Huysmans; trans. by Terry Hale ex, 1992; revised The Prisoner of his Own Masterpiece Edmond Haraucourt; trans. by Terry Hale ss * Jacques Cazottes Prophecy La Harpe; trans. by Terry Hale ss * The Story of Hlne Gillet Charles Nodier; trans. by Liz Heron ss * The Green Monster Grard de Nerval; trans. by Terry Hale ss * The Invisible Eye Erckmann-Chatrian; trans. by Anon. ss Temple Bar Dec, 1870 The Reincarnation of Doctor Roger Henri Rivire; trans. by Terry Hale nv * The Head of Hair Guy de Maupassant; trans. by Terry Hale ss * Mademoiselle Dafn Thophile Gautier; trans. by Liz Heron nv * One Possessed Jean Lorrain; trans. by Liz Heron 100 hundred years of the best of French 19th-century literary horror. ""Hale's inspired selection - he includes little-known pieces by Sade, Baudelaire, Dumas and Maupassant, as well as stories by unjustly forgotten writers such as Catulle Mendes, Jean Pichepin, Charles Nodier and Petrus Borel - not only makes this an invigorating collection to read, it virtually redefines the boundaries of the French horror genre."" Brendan King in The Times Literary Supplement