Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Oxford University Press, USA (1993), Paperback, 384 pages
Description
Fiction. Horror. Short Stories. HTML: In a Glass Darkly collects together five short stories from gothic horror and mystery writer Sheridan Le Fanu. The book, published in 1872 a year before Le Fanu's death, is named from a passage in Corinthians which speaks of humankind perceiving the world "through a glass darkly." The stories are told from the posthumous writings of an occult detective named Dr Martin Hesselius. In Green Tea a clergyman is being driven mad by an evil demon that takes the ephemeral form of a monkey, but is unseen by others as it burdens the victim's mind with psychological torment. In The Familiar, revised from Le Fanu's The Watcher of 1851, a sea captain is stalked by a dwarf, "The Watcher." Is this strange character from captain's past? In Mr Justice Harbottle a merciless court judge is attacked by vengeful spirits, dreaming he is sentenced to death by a horrific version of himself. The story was revised from 1853's An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street. In The Room in the Dragon Volant, a notable mystery which includes a premature burial theme, an innocent young Englishman in France tries to rescue a mysterious countess from her unbearable situation. Lastly, Carmilla tells the tale of a lesbian vampire. It was a huge influence on Bram Stoker's writing of Dracula and the basis for the films Vampyr in 1932 and The Vampire Lovers in 1970..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
Pretty fun. The first three stories, "Green Tea," "The Watcher," and "Mr. Justice Harbottle," are that type of indirect horror focusing on the psychological effects on a protagonist--and thus on using that protagonist as a representation of a particular psychological illness, dramatized by the
Show More
horror-story setting. "The Room in the Dragon Volant" is then a detective story rather than a horror story, one in which Le Fanu's enjoyment of setting up shocking twist after shocking twist is palpable. It all comes together in "Carmilla," which reflects both these tendencies. If good writing for you is all about well-chosen words and non-trundling sentences, this ain't it, but if it's about striking and creepy images that last, this is a good early model. Show Less
LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
The stories here hold some of the beginnings of what we now consider the horror genre, and they stand up to time as tales that are both chilling and fascinating. That said, the best of the bunch are easily "The Familiar" and "Carmilla"; "The Familiar" is haunting and strange--it stays with you, and
Show More
that's all that needs to be said. "Carmilla" is one of the early vampire stories that directly speaks of vampires, and worthwhile not only as a story in itself, but for someone looking for the roots of vampirism in contemporary literature. "The Room in the Dragon Volant" is the one story that drags somewhat, but still, it's worth the read. On a separate note, while I fully recommend this book to lovers of horror and the supernatural, I do not recommend this particular edition that I came across, from Adamant Media Corporation, Elibron Classics. The number of typos and mistakes were, in all truth, infuriating. Nevertheless, the stories made the book well worth my time. I'd give the book four and a half stars, this edition one...hence, I settled on three. Show Less
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
In a Glass Darkly is made up of five short stories (although "Dragon Volant" is long enough to be classified as a novella) that are a mix of ghost stories, horror, mystery and fantastic. Each story is a little stranger than the last which makes for the perfect Halloween-time read especially with
Show More
the lights dimmed low. The book ends with the short story "Carmilla" about a lesbian vampire who needs more than victims to survive. "Carmilla" appears to have the most success out of all the short stories, prompting other authors to write similar vampire stories with greater success. Show Less
LibraryThing member JBD1
More good reading from Le Fanu, though I found I liked the two final tales ("The Room in the Dragon Volant" and "Carmilla") better than most of the others. Excellent for a dark and stormy night. Not quite as good as M.R. James at his best, but certainly worth a read if you like this sort of thing.
LibraryThing member MathMaverick
Excellent collection of five short stories! Comparable to O'Henry and Maupassant in quality. I like to refer to these stories as 19th century twilight zones. I especially liked "Mr Justice Harbottle" and "The Room of Dragon Volant", both of which had great turns at the end. The last story,
Show More
Carmilla, also had a great twist, but was much more predictable (although still very suspenceful). Show Less
LibraryThing member john257hopper
This is a collection of five stories - three short stories and two novellas, by this 19th century Irish author of supernatural and horror stories. The five stories are all linked as being supposedly papers from the collection of a scholar of paranormal phenomena, Dr Martin Hesselius. Of the five,
None of the other four stories are of the same standard, in my view. The other novella, "The Room in the Dragon Volant", about the adventures of an English milord in France in 1815 after Napoleon's fall, was rather long-winded, and indeed almost a full novel, consisting of 26 short chapters. It started off feeling a bit like a Conan Doyle Brigadier Gerard story and finished dramatically like an Edgar Allan Poe story, but meandered too much in between. The three short stories all featured people haunted to death by spectres, and all successfully built up an atmosphere of creeping dread, while lacking the majesty and rich atmosphere of "Carmilla". The best of these was probably "Mr Justice Harbottle", where an 18th judge is haunted to his death by the ghost of a man he wrongly convicted to the gallows. "The Familiar" was a similar haunting, though for a more ambiguous reason, while in "Green Tea", a man is haunted by a spectral monkey due to having drunk too much of the eponymous beverage, which allegedly unduly exposes the brain of the drinker to disembodied spirits (!). So, overall a mixed collection.
Show More
by far the best is probably Le Fanu's most famous story, the vampire novella "Carmilla", a superb classic of horror literature and the most significant influence on Bram Stoker's Dracula and the horror film spin offs of the last century or so, containing all the tropes of vampire literature, i.e. the isolated castle somewhere in the middle of Europe, the extinct noble family with a dark secret, etc.None of the other four stories are of the same standard, in my view. The other novella, "The Room in the Dragon Volant", about the adventures of an English milord in France in 1815 after Napoleon's fall, was rather long-winded, and indeed almost a full novel, consisting of 26 short chapters. It started off feeling a bit like a Conan Doyle Brigadier Gerard story and finished dramatically like an Edgar Allan Poe story, but meandered too much in between. The three short stories all featured people haunted to death by spectres, and all successfully built up an atmosphere of creeping dread, while lacking the majesty and rich atmosphere of "Carmilla". The best of these was probably "Mr Justice Harbottle", where an 18th judge is haunted to his death by the ghost of a man he wrongly convicted to the gallows. "The Familiar" was a similar haunting, though for a more ambiguous reason, while in "Green Tea", a man is haunted by a spectral monkey due to having drunk too much of the eponymous beverage, which allegedly unduly exposes the brain of the drinker to disembodied spirits (!). So, overall a mixed collection.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
Horror fiction isn't very much my thing, and a lot of early horror fiction especially leaves me cold-- I feel like it's pretty obvious why Dracula took root in the popular consciousness to an extent that "Carmilla" did not. So there are some creepy moments in the five stories collected here, but
Show More
overall I wasn't too moved. Except in the case of, surprisingly, "The Room in the Dragon Volant," which doesn't have any fantastic elements in it, but is about a young Englishman trying to make his fortune gambling in France who falls in love with the abused wife of a cruel count. This was pretty gripping and creepy in turns, and the characters were very fun. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheWasp
A collection of gothic short stories taken from a "collection" of papers and reports from Dr Martin Hesselius, who had fascination with "metaphysical medicine".
The stories are well written and engaging.
The stories are well written and engaging.
LibraryThing member overthemoon
a good collection of stories though not quite as horrifying as I expected. The first one, with the haunting monkey, was the weakest; I thoroughly enjoyed the intrigue of the Dragon Volant, not really knowing where it was leading, and the last one, Carmilla, was quite sensual though it finished too
Show More
abruptly, as many vampire stories do. Show Less
LibraryThing member JVioland
Good, scary stories. Some may find it too mild considering today's formula for throat-slashing as being somehow novel. I recommend it to see how true originality compares to the boiler-plate drivel that is produced today.
LibraryThing member psalva
This was wonderful. I enjoyed how each story has a different take on the supernatural occurrences. Some have “scientific” explanations, on the fence between hallucinations and actual spirits. One story only seems to be supernatural to advance the plot. And then, of course, Carmilla is firmly a
Show More
supernatural story. Spoiler- it’s the best one in this collection. It’s a great example of suspense where the reader knows but the characters don’t. I dropped it down a star for “The Room in the Dragon Volant,” which is not as interesting, is too long and has a clunky and too sudden conclusion Show Less
LibraryThing member ElisabethZguta
Old Collection Worth Reading
These old short stories are true to the Gothic horror genre. Although written over a century ago, the tales are easily understood and thoroughly enjoyable. My favorite, and the reason I bought this book, was the short story Carmilla which was inspiration for others, like
These old short stories are true to the Gothic horror genre. Although written over a century ago, the tales are easily understood and thoroughly enjoyable. My favorite, and the reason I bought this book, was the short story Carmilla which was inspiration for others, like
Show More
Bram Stoker and his character Dracula. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
Reason read: TBR takedown, January 2023. Reading 1001
This is a series of short stories and novellas published in 1872. The stories are from the posthumous papers of a fictional occult detective Dr. Martin Hesslius.
1. Green Tea (green tea gives him the ability to 'see' that he is being followed by
2. The Familiar involves a sinister owl.
3. Mr. Justice Harbottle - cruel judge, doppelganger, story r/t by letters
4. Novella; The Room in the Dragan Volent; mystery involving catalepsy
5. Camilla: early vampire story.
I enjoyed the novellas much more than the short stories.
This is a series of short stories and novellas published in 1872. The stories are from the posthumous papers of a fictional occult detective Dr. Martin Hesslius.
1. Green Tea (green tea gives him the ability to 'see' that he is being followed by
Show More
a demon (monkey). 2. The Familiar involves a sinister owl.
3. Mr. Justice Harbottle - cruel judge, doppelganger, story r/t by letters
4. Novella; The Room in the Dragan Volent; mystery involving catalepsy
5. Camilla: early vampire story.
I enjoyed the novellas much more than the short stories.
Show Less
LibraryThing member patience_crabstick
These Victorian ghost stories are just OK--not particularly scary, except for the last one, "Carmilla." Le Fanu indulges in the irritating Victorian practice of finishing a date or street address with a dash, (We arrived in N___ St.) I'm glad that device has gone out of style.
LibraryThing member charlie68
I enjoyed these subtly creepy tales.
LibraryThing member hglotzbach
Carmilla alone deserves a 5 star (incredible vampire story that inspired Bram Stoker). However, I felt the rest of the short stories were very repetitive.
LibraryThing member imyril
I've read half of this collection, which is as much as I'm willing to commit to. Classic Victorian horror, which is to say wildly variable by modern standards - the first in the collection, Green Tea, is neither horrible nor interesting, so makes a terrible introduction. The last, Carmilla, is a
Show More
classic vampire tale and I thoroughly enjoyed it as an early example of the genre - but not quite enough to make me go back and read the 3 tales in between. Show Less
LibraryThing member WeeTurtle
In contemporary terms, Le Fanu's writing would be "slow burn." He is wordy and the stories are a bit of a slog at times, especially since the horror elements tend to be more subtle and sinister. I imagine most people would pick this up to read Green Tea or Carmilla. Green Tea was interesting but
Good writing, but not a major "page turner" in my view.
Show More
took a few attempts, and Carmilla was interesting to read from the perspective of it being an early vampire story and how it might have influenced later works. Good writing, but not a major "page turner" in my view.
Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1872
Physical description
384 p.; 7.2 inches
ISBN
0192828053 / 9780192828057