Books I Read In September

Fiction

'Classic Tales of Vampires and Shapeshifters' ed. by Tig Thomas

This is a highly illustrated collection of short stories and novel extracts, primarily of vampire and werewolf stories. It features a range of 19th and 20th Century authors, with the oldest being Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) and the newest being E.F. Benson (1867-1940). Some of the stories are well known. There is the first part of 'Varney the Vampyre' (1847) by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest which began as a series of penny dreadful weekly episodes published 1845-47 before being novelised at 500,000 words. It established a lot of the 'lore' we tend to associate with vampires.

There are two extracts from Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (1897) around the vampirisation of Lucy Westenra. there is also a short story, 'Dracula's Guest' which Stoker had intended to be the first chapter of the novel. Set in Munich it shows how Stoker originally envisaged Dracula coming from Styria, part of Austria, rather than Transylvania, at the time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire but now in Romania. This short story has been recorded as a radio play by the BBC. Another well-known story is an abridged version of 'Carmilla' (1872) by (Joseph) Sheridan Le Fanu, which is set in Austria. To a modern reader the same-sex undertones are very clear and one can imagine at the time it was striking for that as for the vampirism portrayed.

The inclusion of these stories/extracts does highlight why they were successful. However, there are a lot of stories in this book which I certainly have never encountered but are of real interest. There are many of the Gothic tropes such as thunderstorms and dark castles that we associate with vampires and werewolves. However, Thomas has done well in selecting stories with different, perhaps unexpected elements. 'The Horror from the Mound' by Robert E. Howard, for example is set in West Texas; 'The Mark of the Beast', a werewolf story by Rudyard Kipling is set in northern India; 'The Cat of Nabéshima' is a Japanese story featuring a cat version of the kitsune fox and mujina badger shapeshifters and 'The Other Side: A Breton Legend' by Count Eric Stenbock, as the title suggests is set in Brittany and features an alien realm bordering ours where werewolves, wolfmen and even flame-eyed owls inhabit. The eponymous 'The Horla' seems to be a Brazilian homunculus creature with an ability to drain energy.

While Count Dracula and Sir France Varney are male vampires and werewolves, female ones probably outnumber them in the book. One that struck me was the 20th Century Mrs. Amsworth who features in E.J. Benson's eponymous story. She is a buxom, middle aged woman who plays piquet and uses the telephone but at night flies around an English village long plagued by vampires but is ultimately struck down by a motor car. Perhaps more classic are 'The Vampire Maid' from Westmorland who entraps a hiker and 'Clarimonde' who successfully seduces a French priest; she drains blood from the arm rather than neck; Carmilla takes it from the chest. The vampire of 'Aylmer Valance and the Vampire' by Alice and Claude Askew, is much less happy with her state. Aylmer Valance is a psychic detective, a early 20th Century precursor of the numerous ghost hunter television programmes of today and not a little influenced by Sherlock Holmes. There are a couple of more standard ghost stories, with E.J. Benson's 'The Room in the Tower' though effectively the ghost may be living dead and is found in a coffin full of blood (that features in a couple of stories and not a trait we tend to see now) and 'The Cold Embrace' by Mary E. Braddon.

The writing does at times strike the modern reader with the earnestness of 19th and early 20th Century authors. Some tropes seem over-used too. The endings of many of the stories, often the destruction of the vampire, is typically rushed; done in a paragraph. This may explain why some such as those written by Stoker, but also authors renowned in other genres, such as Kipling and Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] who writes quite an elegant werewolf story, with tiny glints of his usual humour as in the title of 'Gabriel-Ernest' stand out as delivering similar chills and curiosity but with greater deftness than some of the other authors. Overall I found this an interesting collection with unfamiliar stories, and themes and situations that you wonder why contemporary authors in vampire, werewolf and other supernatural stories do not revive for a fresh look at them.

'Fen' by Daisy Johnson

Though this is a short story collection, there is quite a lot of references in the stories to things that happen in others in the collection, so it is best to read them as a whole rather than, for example, dipping in and out. They are all roughly set in the same context: a very dreary part of rural East Anglia and the coastline a short journey away. Much of the focus is on young women, them having sex and becoming pregnant at a young age. Against these aspects many of the stories are magic realism. The best known sees an anorexic woman turn into an eel. However, there is a woman created of earth; a man raised from the dead whose words cause injuries; birds and foxes that can carry souls; three cannibal women house sharing. This is a modern Gothic and reminded me of novels set in the bleak parts of the southern USA where not only the landscape but the desultory aspects of the modern world add to the chill. It does not really go fully into horror, but certainly reminds you that some of the most cutting aspects of horror come from the sense of being trapped; unable to escape what is happening. I would not say I enjoyed this collection but I was impressed by it.

Non-Fiction

'Renaissance Europe 1480-1520' by J.R. Hale

Having been allocated simply a 40-year slice of the series Fontana History of Europe, Hale made a wonderful decision not to slog through these years outlining the events chronologically. He does have some chronology, especially in Chapter II looking at the politics of Florence, France, Spain, England and Germany. However, for the most part, he studies the history thematically. He apologises for what he feels some readers might see as pretentious. However, in fact he delivers a really lively book that is an excellent source book for anyone interested in or writing about the era, especially how people of the time saw themselves and others.

There are practical aspects about how time was seen and how mobile the populations were; what people ate then moving on to social class, gender, religion, health and death. This book is a real antidote to lazy assumptions about people's behaviour which puts a blanket generalisation over many decades, even centuries. He is excellent on showing how in this crucial period attitudes were changing, importantly influenced by a connection to the Classical world and the wider dissemination of ideas through printing. He also has great sections on the importance of music and drama and how these impacted right across social levels, things often neglected for this era. This is a vibrant, enjoyable and informative book which I recommend for students of this period or simply readers who might be interested in seeing what was happening at this turning point in European (and he does cover from Portugal to Russia in his survey). I would also recommend this book to anyone about to embark on writing a non-fiction book, especially a historical one, to see a style which is both accurate but reaches out to readers whether they are specific or general.