As an extra bonus, I’ll put up the next part right now. Sorry if it’s a bit overwhelming. Just make sure you read Part VI as well! (In moderation, of course.)
I consider myself as much a fan of horror as I am of fantasy, and some of my favorites of both blend each genre’s elements in a subtle and efective way. Subsequently, these next authors are cited many times by many critics as contributors to the development of fantastic literature, and I feel I would be doing a disservice if I didn’t include them here as well. They might not always be writing outright horror, but they all have horrific elements, and sometimes, they only hint at the fantastic, as if they are just starting to cross a door into a larger world.
J. SHERIDAN LE FANU (1814-1873)
A native Irishman, Le Fanu was the most well-regarded writer of ghost stories in the Victorian era, as well as a number of Gothic sensational novels. His work was designed to induce psychological terror rather than cheap shock, often employing an indirect approach to the subject matter which allows room for a natural explanation while keeping the door of the supernatural open. Among his most revered novels are Uncle Silas, The House by the Churchyard, and Carmilla – the first great modern vampire tale; some of his most effective short stories include “Green Tea”, “The Familiar”, and “Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter.”
Offsite resources:
E. T. A. HOFFMANN (1776-1822)
The son of Prussian jurists, Hoffmann is one of the leading individuals in the German Romantic movement, as well as a composer, a music critic and a caricaturist. His stories and novels are flavored with the macabre seeping into everyday life, which would influence such later luminaries such as Dickens, Baudelaire, Kafka, Poe and even George MacDonald. He is the originator of the famous Christmas story, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, as well as suck dark tales as “The Sandman”, “The Golden Bowl”, and “Mademoiselle de Scuderi”; noteworthy novels include The Devil’s Elixirs and The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr.
Offsite resources:
NPR.org – No Sugar Plums Here: The Dark Romantic Roots of “The Nutcracker”
GoogleSites: German Literature
WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON (1877-1918)
Author, photographer, and bodybuilder, Hodgson was an early practitioner of “cosmic horror” with his two most famous novels – The House on the Borderland (in which the signature abode transports an unnamed narrator to another dimension) and The Night Land (a vision of the future of humanity in a time where the sun has gone out and the world is teeming with horrors). His other two novels (The Boats of the “Glen Carrig” and The Ghost Pirates) and many of his short stories draw from his experiences as a sailor, associating the ocean with haunting dread. He is also known for creating the occult detective Thomas Carnacki and the smuggler Captain Gault. His carrer was cut rather short due to his death in WWI.
Offsite resources:
The Night Land – a website dedicated to celebrating and expanding upon Hodgson’s novel
Alan Gullette on William Hope Hodgson
WordPress blog devoted to Hodgson
Great Science-Fiction and Fantasy Works
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers in the Great War
ALGERNON BLACKWOOD (1869-1951)
Hailed as one of the finest early writers of the weird tale, Algernon Blackwood’s work is comprised of chilling ghost stories and explorations of the awe of nature, as well as some science fiction subjects (he believed humans have latent psychic abilities). Aside from creating one of the best known occult detectives, John Silence, two of his best known stories are “The Willows”, in which two men discover unseen forces crossing over into our dimension, and “The Wendigo”, where a party in the wilderness is assailed by an unidentified, nebulous creature.
Offsite resources:
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers in the Great War
ARTHUR MACHEN (1863-1947)
Machen (pronounced MACK-en), a Welshman, was convinced that the material world around us is only a veil behind which a larger spiritual world of ecstasy and terror awaits; this philosophy informs much of his fiction, such as the fixup novel The Three Impostors and the legendary novella The Great God Pan. Some of his other important works include the story “The White People” and the partly autobiographical novel The Hill of Dreams; he is also primarily responsible for the British legend of the Angels of Mons. He is regarded as one of the finest writers of modern horror and fantasy by many scholars today, having influenced may of the greatest writers in the field(s).
Offsite resources:
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers in the Great War
Victoria Gothic – Arthur Machen: An Ecstasy of Fear
Barnes & Noble Review – “Beyond the Veil: The Fiction of Arthur Machen” by Michael Dirda
M. R. JAMES (1862-1936)
Medievalist scholar and provost of both King’s College at Cambridge and Eton College, James is known to the world at large as one the greatest writers of ghost stories ever put to page; his deliberately constructed antiquarian tales – collected originally in four volumes and meant as Christmas Eve entertainments – eschew much of the of Gothic trappings for a contemporary setting, relying on a slow build of dread to an unsettling climax. His works are so well regarded that they are regularly adapted by the BBC for radio and television.
Offsite resources:
The New Yorker – “Fright Nights: The Horror of M. R. James” by Anthony Lane
New Statesman – “How M. R. James’s Ghost Stories Became a Christmas Institution” by John Sutherland
H. P. LOVECRAFT (1890-1937)
A name so synonymous with horror that it has became a subgenre unto itself, Lovecraft is considered to be the spiritual successor of Edgar Allan Poe and one of the most influential 20th century authors of horror and fantasy. Drawing on the older traditions as well as modern discoveries, his major contribution was creating horrors on a cosmic scale, with ancient beings from deep space – regarded as “gods” by older peoples – awaiting the opportunity to reclaim the earth for themselves, with humanity an insignificant bystander in the grand scheme. While his prose could often become purple, and his materialistic philosophy and strong racist views are problematic for both Christian and secular audiences, his importance to the development of speculative fiction cannot be overstated.
Offsite resources:
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
The Wall Street Journal – “Here’s Why H. P. Lovecraft Matters More Than Ever” by Michael Calia
ROBERT E. HOWARD (1906-1936)
Being a close friend of Lovecraft through literary correspondence, there is a streak of cosmic horror in his work, but the legendary Texan pulp writer – the creator of one of the most iconic characters in pop culture, Conan the Barbarian – is best known for nearly singlehandedly creating the subgenre of sword and sorcery with his tales of high adventure in exotic “historical” periods; filled with a grand eloquence and breakneck pacing, Howard’s stories are outstanding exercises in mythopoeia, and while many have imitated him, he is rarely equaled. From the splendor of the ancient lands of the Atlantean exile Kull, to the last stand of the last king of the Picts, Bran Mak Morn, against the invading Roman legions, down to the moody crusades of the Puritan wanderer Solomon Kane, Howard’s works have lost none of their original fire. And his poetry isn’t half bad, either.
Offsite resources:
The Robert E. Howard Foundation
Texas State Historical Association: Robert E. Howard
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
REH: Two-Gun Raconteur – The Definitive Robert E. Howard Journal
CLARK ASHTON SMITH (1893-1961)
Alongside Lovecraft and Howard, California native Smith is one of the best writers for the influential pulp magazine Weird Tales, weaving tales of wildly exotic locations with both cosmic horror and a sense of humor. He was also an accomplished poet, painter and sculptor. However, his fame has never reached the heights that Lovecraft and Howard attained, though that is not to say that he was disregarded entirely. His ornate construction of language and his total immersion in the wildness of his locations have won him as many admirers as there are detractors.
Offsite resources:
Alan Gullette on Clark Ashton Smith
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Black Gate – The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Ashton Smith: Part I
Black Gate – The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Ashton Smith: Part II
Black Gate – The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Ashton Smith: Part III
Black Gate – The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Ashton Smith: Part IV
I’ll leave you here, for now. May these works leave an excellent impression upon you. Until then, the forum topic may be found here: http://www.lostpathway.com/tavern/index.php/topic,16.0.html
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