Genus Unknown
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« on: January 04, 2013, 10:00:16 AM » |
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Read this one in American Supernatural Tales, edited by S.T. Joshi, which includes the paragraphs about opium. I was unaware that there was a "cleaned up" edition.
It's an odd little story, all right. Dude gets attacked by an invisible monster, ties it up, starves it to death, and then... well, that's that. I was really expecting more in the way of a slow buildup, with little hints of the monster's presence, but nope. Pretty much just jumps right to the monster attack and then stumbles around awkwardly from there.
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« Last Edit: January 04, 2013, 01:58:39 PM by Genus Unknown »
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Konrad Hartmann
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« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2013, 10:39:27 PM » |
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So is the invisible monster an allegory for opium abuse/addiction?
It also seems like the characters, by discussing the idea of terrible things, may have called themselves to this creature's attention.
I liked this story, in part because it didn't tie things up neatly. The characters encountered something weird, studied it as well as they could, but in the end remained puzzled. There's a feeling that one should and almost could make sense of things, but the explanatory pattern remains elusive. I like this era of weird fiction because it doesn't mind dealing with uncertainty.
And I am also impressed with the wrestling abilities of protagonists from this period. The men from "What Was It?" and "The Upper Berth" were willing to wrestle and attempt to subdue any creature who invaded their sleeping quarters.
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Konrad Hartmann-Now with more Evil!
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upwithgravity
Blissfully Ignorant
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« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2013, 02:27:17 AM » |
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Just last month Amy H. Sturgis did a bit on Fitz-James O'Brien for her column at StarShipSofa. She did a very brief bio, biblio, and concentrated a bit more on The Diamond Lens. You can give it a listen here, starting a little after the 9:00 mark. http://www.starshipsofa.com/2012/12/04/starshipsofa-no-267-ted-kosmatka/ I think it's about twelve or thirteen minutes long. |
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Moon-lit Meadow-monster
Blissfully Ignorant
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« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2013, 08:00:11 PM » |
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The poor monster was just lurking harmlessly until Harry went and threw a book at him.
There's nothing to even indicate he was a man-eater, he seemed to want to go unnoticed.
I couldn't help picturing John Hammond (Jurassic Park) smoking opium.
Also, "the rustle of unseen silk dresses"? He's a hairless naked monster.
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T. Kelly Lee
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« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2013, 09:56:20 AM » |
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The monster's crime, of course, was being "unnatural" at a time in history when dis-order and non-comformity were harshly frowned upon. This story is pretty reflective of Victorian values. These are the guys who chopped the penises off ancient statues before putting them in museums and who created braces to prevent erections. Serious mass repression. So the threat of an invisible, naked man-like monster is a metaphor for LOTS of things.  |
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old book
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« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2013, 09:59:35 AM » |
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How are we certain it was male, again? Sorry, I listened to the dramatization and skipped re-reading the story. Why didn't they just paint the thing to get a sense of its form as it was tied up? Oh, maybe paint hadn't been invented yet, that's right.  |
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We live on a placid Rhode Island and Providence Plantations of ignorance in the midst of the black seas of an infinity of dark foreigners, and it was not meant that we should voyage too far.
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T. Kelly Lee
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« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2013, 08:56:41 AM » |
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How are we certain it was male, again? Sorry, I listened to the dramatization and skipped re-reading the story. Why didn't they just paint the thing to get a sense of its form as it was tied up? Oh, maybe paint hadn't been invented yet, that's right. If they are anything like the stoners that live down stairs in my weekday apartment, they're too effed up to do anything logically. Just sayin'. |
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old book
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« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2013, 12:05:58 PM » |
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"Hey, dude, let's smoke it out!" The poor creature slowly reveals itself as a quivering mass of marijuana smoke stains. "I think it's got the munchies!" Then it dies.
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We live on a placid Rhode Island and Providence Plantations of ignorance in the midst of the black seas of an infinity of dark foreigners, and it was not meant that we should voyage too far.
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Rob
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« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2013, 07:27:36 AM » |
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Maybe it's because I just saw the Hobbit, but for some reason all I could picture listening to this was Gollum wearing the ring
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Genus Unknown
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« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2013, 02:04:22 PM » |
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I was thinking of something else. A hairless, monstrous creature with sharp teeth, about the size of a 14 year-old boy? There's only one guy I know of who fits that description...  Well, you know, except for the part where Bat Boy isn't invisible. |
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Yojimbo
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« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2013, 09:32:42 PM » |
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My first exposure to this story (and many others, including, I think, those of HP), was through a tiny little book I picked up at a grade school book fair. I don't remember the title, but it was a survey of monsters from science fiction and horror. It covered literature and film. I learned about the Horla and Ymir from the same book. I do faintly remember that the Horla, "What Was It?" and "The Colour Out of Space" were discussed all at the same time.
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