Irish Short Story Week Year Two
March 11 to July 1
Gothic and Ghost Stories Week
April 15 to April 21
My Prior Posts for ISSW Year Two
Bram Stoker Resources Page
I would like to invite you to consider joining us for Irish Short Story Week Year Two. All you are asked to do is to post on one Irish short story or a related work of non-fiction and let me know about it. There are links to 1000s of stories on my resources page. If you are not into older stories, you can find lots of great 2012 fiction online also. Guests posts are also very welcome. Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions or questions.
This week, in the company of our guest host Charlotte Riddell, and the usual cast of characters, I will be posting on some of the great Irish Ghost and Gothic stories.
Do you cringe when you go into a book store and see half the space seems to be taken up with books about vampires? We have, at least in part, an Irish short story writer, Bram Stoker, to thank for the world wide craze for vampire books and movies. Stoker (1847 to 1912, Dublin) wrote Dracula, a really great novel and a lot of paranormal short stories. (There is some background information on Stoker in my prior posts on him.)
"The Judge's House" is considered to be Stoker's best short story. I really liked it and found it pretty scary. It is, of course, very well written and totally atmospheric. The central character in the story is a young man who is looking for a quiet place to study for his final college exams. He does not care for the sea shore as it is too noisy and he feels country is too isolated so he settles on a small town. He finds a house he likes but he is advised it was once owned by a late judge notorious for hanging people for the smallest of offenses. The local rental agent advises him to find another place but he says he is not superstitious and, being young, he wants to show he has no fear. I really hate to tell much of the plot of this story because it is so much fun and in order to be into the plot you need to start it fresh.
There are some great scenes with rats!. The ghost in this story is totally believable. The ending is quite horrible. If you enter into the spirit of the story, you will be scared and a bit creeped out.
You will find it on the resource page at the top of the post.
Bram Stoker Resources Page
This week, in the company of our guest host Charlotte Riddell, and the usual cast of characters, I will be posting on some of the great Irish Ghost and Gothic stories.
Do you cringe when you go into a book store and see half the space seems to be taken up with books about vampires? We have, at least in part, an Irish short story writer, Bram Stoker, to thank for the world wide craze for vampire books and movies. Stoker (1847 to 1912, Dublin) wrote Dracula, a really great novel and a lot of paranormal short stories. (There is some background information on Stoker in my prior posts on him.)
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| "Bram Stoker is a great writer, but my Daddy, Joseph Sheridan le Fanu, is the best"-Carmilla |
"The Judge's House" is considered to be Stoker's best short story. I really liked it and found it pretty scary. It is, of course, very well written and totally atmospheric. The central character in the story is a young man who is looking for a quiet place to study for his final college exams. He does not care for the sea shore as it is too noisy and he feels country is too isolated so he settles on a small town. He finds a house he likes but he is advised it was once owned by a late judge notorious for hanging people for the smallest of offenses. The local rental agent advises him to find another place but he says he is not superstitious and, being young, he wants to show he has no fear. I really hate to tell much of the plot of this story because it is so much fun and in order to be into the plot you need to start it fresh.
There are some great scenes with rats!. The ghost in this story is totally believable. The ending is quite horrible. If you enter into the spirit of the story, you will be scared and a bit creeped out.
You will find it on the resource page at the top of the post.
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| "Please join us"-Ruprect
Mel u
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I wish I liked ghost stories but they spook me too much. I don't read Stephen King even. The ghost stories I really liked though were on an old classic film - Japanese ghost stories, which were really good.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of this story and don't think I've read anything else by him than Dracul which of course is a great novel.
ReplyDeleteI'm keen on reading this story, it sounds great.
This sounds like a lot of fun: I liked Dracula a great deal more than I expected to!
ReplyDeleteHarvee, I understand and resoect your attitude
ReplyDeleteCaroline, it really is a good story
buried in print, when I started Dracula might thinking was that it was a book I needed to read and I ended up really liking it
I must read more of Bram Stoker, besides 'Dracula'. Today is the 100th anniversary of his death. A lot of people know his work but don't realise he's Irish
ReplyDeleteValerie Sirr-most people never move beyond Dracula-prior to this story I posted on a very good one drawing on his many years in the business side of the theater. I read of his last year on The Guardian today-very sad.
ReplyDelete