"Supernatural Horror in Literature" -- Online Sources for Works Referenced

[Lobolover]

I think of reading Witch Wood right after The Master of Silence and maybe A Rebours .

Esentialy , could you tell us the contents of that colection , J.D. ? As far as stories go I only read those mentioned by Lovecraft .

 

[GOLLUM]

No, I haven't found a copy of it yet although I did scan through it online. I suppose I should set aside some funds to simply get a lot of texts you and GOLLUM have linked me to online printed out and bound for easy reading.

Well funnily enough I picked up a copy of Witchwood like 2 weeks ago. I remember J.D. commenting on it at the time. Naturally I've not read it yet. Could have gotten you a copy but an online print out will probably suffice for now....

 

[Sattamander]

I better version of Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin can be found at Gutenberg Australia. Can't post the link due to your rules but you should be able to find it easily

 

[Sattamander]

Okay one last link: for "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages" by Sabine Baring-Gould wikisource has the collection broken down by individual stories which is a lot cleaner than archive.org text.

 

[j d worthington]

Hi, Sattamander: Thanks for the feedback, and for bringing these in. The filters won't allow the posting of links at this point, and booted some of your posts to a moderated queue, so I'll bring those links in as well:

"The Maker of Moons" (novella only):

http://www.horrormasters.com/Themes/Chambers.htm

The Door of the Unreal, by Gerald Biss:

http://www.horrormasters.com/Collections/SS_Biss.htm

Wagner, the Wehr-wolf, by George W. M. Reynolds:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/27202

Melmoth, the Wanderer, by the Rev. Charles Robert Maturin:

MELMOTH THE WANDERER

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Sabine Baring-Gould:

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages - Wikisource

Again, all credit for these links goes to Sattamander....

 

[antiloquax]

Many thanks to J. D. Worthington for putting together this excellent list of online resources!
a

 

[j d worthington]

Thank you. Unfortunately, as with so many things of this kind, it is in need of updating, which I haven't had time for. However, I hope to devote a couple of weekends to getting this done in the near future, replacing nonworking links, finding (perhaps) better, more definitive sources, etc. But, as far as I know, the majority of what is here is still functional, and should be of help to those trying to locate any of these pieces, or who wish to not spend a mint attempting to put it all together....

 

[antiloquax]

I read the HPL essay yesterday. I really enjoyed it. He mentions many books I have not even heard of and which sound very interesting. His enthusiasm for Poe is infectious and makes me want to read more. I've got quite a few HPL audiobooks and started to listen to "Herbert West: Reanimator". I think I will read some Arthur Machen fairly soon also.
I found that pretty much all the links worked, although I sometimes went back and searched Gutenberg again to get mobi files for my Kindle. The "horrormasters" site is also very good.
The only thing I wondered about was translations. Obviously, only older translations are in the public domain. Mind you, if I want to read Balzac, Maupassant etc I am sure I can get some more recent editions from my library.
Thanks again JD
a

 

[j d worthington]

When it comes to the translations, there is another factor. Many modern translations tend to be a bit too pedantically literal, and lose the music. (This is by no means always the case, but I've run into it time and again.) The ones HPL mentioned, and many of those I linked to with the French writers, were done by such writers as Lafcadio Hearn, who himself had a great deal of verbal magic, and whose work is still considered by many to be among the best translations of these writers ever done. That ability to write beautifully oneself can be especially important with translations of tales which have such fantastic aspects, as it adds tremendously to the atmospheric impact, the ability to convincingly carry the reader into that strange realm, where a more literal translation would simply be a curiosity. One also sees this with, for instance, Dante and, from what I've seen of Joe Bandel's translation of Ewers' Alraune, by H.H.E. On that last, though the Guy Endore translation is faulted by excising a particularly erotic passage, Endore's abilities do add a lot more layers to the work than Bandel's much more precise and literal rendition, and -- from translations of Ewers work by Ewers himself that I have seen -- comes much closer to the original author's style and voice.

So I'd look for reviews by knowledgeable commentators before going with modern translations; compare what they say about these with their comments on some of the older versions; it can make one heck of a difference....

 

[antiloquax]

So I'd look for reviews by knowledgeable commentators before going with modern translations; compare what they say about these with their comments on some of the older versions; it can make one heck of a difference....

Thanks JD!

 

[j d worthington]

For those interested, I've completed an updating of the links in this thread. a lot of them had become unavailable; others were more limited than some of the newer ones I've found; and a few things that weren't available earlier are online now. Again, as mentioned in the update to the first post, if anyone is aware of any legitimate links I've missed, please let me know, and I'll add them in.


I hope the thread proves of use to those unable to find (or afford -- with some, this is not surprising, as they are staggeringly expensive!) the print versions, or prefer electronic versions. At any rate, it has been a heck of a ride, and I hope some out there enjoy at least some of the works gathered together here....

 

[Lobolover]

And yet over four years later and still one cannot find a complete version of Horrid Mysteries online.

Great work maintaining and updating this JD. You show dedication that not many would for a project like this.

 

[j d worthington]

And yet over four years later and still one cannot find a complete version of Horrid Mysteries online.

Great work maintaining and updating this JD. You show dedication that not many would for a project like this.

Thank you!


I suppose when it comes down to it, what is going on is that, as it took me over 30 years to put together this material in printed form (though even now I am missing an occasional item, albeit I've read even those up to the final few in the eighth chapter) I wanted, where possible, to make access to these things easier for those who would like to read them, but simply didn't have time, money, or resources to acquire them. It's a pity that some things are still so difficult to come by (I really would like to see someone reissue Ewers' Frank Braun trilogy, with or without Mahlon Blaine's illustrations, in easily affordable editions), and that some are also not available -- at least legally -- online, as I would like to see them get considerably more exposure... but these things take time, and while not all of this material is worth waiting for, a great deal of it is....

 

[Lobolover]

Thank you!


I suppose when it comes down to it, what is going on is that, as it took me over 30 years to put together this material in printed form (though even now I am missing an occasional item, albeit I've read even those up to the final few in the eighth chapter) I wanted, where possible, to make access to these things easier for those who would like to read them, but simply didn't have time, money, or resources to acquire them. It's a pity that some things are still so difficult to come by (I really would like to see someone reissue Ewers' Frank Braun trilogy, with or without Mahlon Blaine's illustrations, in easily affordable editions), and that some are also not available -- at least legally -- online, as I would like to see them get considerably more exposure... but these things take time, and while not all of this material is worth waiting for, a great deal of it is....

Sadly, even though I was very optimistic about Wakefield's work coming out soon, it's been more then four years since Wakefield, along with L T C Rolt, won Wordsworth's poll for in-copyright authors which was supposed to determine two authors who'se work they'd publish. Since then nothing has been heard on the subject, and Wordsworth's listing of upcoming titles for 2014 doesn't make any mention of the subject.

That despite the fact that a complete Wakefield (his six original collections plus the Murray volume with some new tales and the Ash Tree Press volume of unpublished stories from 2000) at present will cost at least 438 dollars, without shipping costs.

And while not related to SHIL, nothing has been heard of the Rolt volume/s since then either.

I can't imagine why it's taken that long, unless the estate is being unreasonable....given the fact Wakefield died in 64 and none of his book was reprinted in a non-connoisseur limited edition since, I can't imagine how they would plan to make any money off his writings at present.