"The Outsider" by H. P. Lovecraft

Here it is, my last post for my October Horror Story Challenge!! I'm really pleased that I stuck it out, and although the last week I was in overtime to make up for the few posts that I missed, I'm happy I was able to see it through to completion.

So now onto Lovecraft's "The Outsider". I am very happy that the book ended with this story, what better way to end a collection of classic horror stories than with one of the best genre authors? After spending his life in isolation and darkness, a young man seeks out human company, and learns more about himself than he cared to ever know.. (And honestly if I said any more, it would pretty much give away the entire story).

Lovecraft has a way of making you sympathize with the protagonist of this story, and I felt quite sad for him, growing up away from human warmth and affection and instead given the company of darkness, bats, rats, and spiders. This is how monsters are created, don't they know psychology and criminology?! People need human attention to grow properly, whether or not they're 'normal'. Still though, it's the tragic plight of the narrator that causes you to just feel sorry for him, whether or not he's truly an outsider to mankind (nay, to the world as a whole).

Although, I have to admit a chill went up my spine when he was in the newly emptied room, after the entirety of the party guests fled from the castle. Every kind of monster ran through my head, and I think it was pretty clever of Lovecraft to not describe the figure itself, just the emotions of horror and despair felt after seeing it.

So, that does it for reviews for my October challenge. Happy Halloween!! Enjoy the reviews, and feel free to post your reactions to my posts or to the stories themselves if you've read them!

- Justin

"The Horror-Horn" by E. F. Benson

Not only does this prey on any person's fear of what may inhabit snowy mountains and woods, it also makes you feel significantly colder just through the language itself! I'm also rather amused that this was tonight's story, just after our little October snowfall yesterday and throughout last night. The literary powers out there have uncanny timing with that kind of stuff.

Who doesn't believe in the rumors of the Abominable Snowman? Whether it's belief in one being or a tribe, most people can rationally agree that there may in fact be some kind of human-like creature inhabiting whatever mountain range you choose to believe he lives in. This story takes place in the Swiss Alps, and also hints at potential Yeti-life on Mount Everest as well. Creepy.

Naturally, the story begins with a hard snowfall, and the sharing of stories by the fireplace in what I take to be a ski resort (early 20th century style, of course). The narrator listens to a tale of encountering a strange human-like beast, that makes the story-teller think of the un-beauty of life and the idea that such creatures could be crawling from the abyss from which we once crawled, only much less evolved than mankind. Sure enough, the narrator scoffs and only believes the 'intellectual' part of this story, but not so much the sheer animalistic horror felt by one who looks upon such a creature.

The narrator then journeys a few miles off to visit a friend at a separate ski resort (and skis there, rather than, you know, driving. Like a normal person who wouldn't want to be completely beat after such a journey), and gets lost in the clouds and coming snowfall of that evening. What does he come across when the clouds clear up slightly, BUT A SHE-YETI! OH MY GOD I HOPE HE DOESN'T GET RAPED BY IT! He naturally flees, and has to give a coherent, non-psychotic and non-drugged account of his story later for anyone to believe him, and a search party only turns up circumstantial evidence of his encounter with this monster. Surrrrrprise.

I kinda liked this story, because I for one do believe that Yeti might actually exist (make fun of me all you want, but I'm more willing to accept the existence of a species than to deny it simply because I haven't seen it). Also, the author did a great job instilling this pure horror in his readers. I wouldn't want to be eye to eye with such a beast, I happen to be optimistic and look on the bright side of everything. After this kind of encounter, it doesn't appear that anyone would be able to see the better side of life anymore. What kind of world do we live in when these unevolved monsters still exist? A terrifying one.

One more day in October, and one more horror story to go. And I'm very excited for it, as it's H. P. Lovecraft's "The Outsider". It's gotta be good. Right?

- Justin

"The Bad Lands" by John Metcalfe

It's always hard to discern when something strange or abnormal is occurring in a story, and especially so when the character begins the story moving to the country to cure his 'demon sickness'. I didn't know whether to think Brent was possessed/haunted before his move to Todd, or if the tower and the ominous lands surrounding it did the trick, and the details given in the story weren't really that helpful. After introducing Mr. Stanton-Boyle into the plot, I was more prone to believe that there was something truly abnormal or even supernatural about the land. Was it a tower, or was it 'old Hackney's farm?' Metcalfe may have been trying to create this question in his readers, or it may have just happened regardless. I myself don't think he tried to create this confusion, that the story created it of its own accord. Perhaps Brent brought the strangeness with him to Todd, and that Stanton-Boyle only began to feel its presence after Brent's arrival without knowing that he was the reason. There wasn't enough of a timeline in this story to really be able to pick apart such details. Or maybe that was the point? I'm not sure. Like I've said before, I'm a reader, not a writer. I don't know all their tricks. Yet..

I'm sorta ambivalent about the story; I feel like nothing really got resolved and I just feel bad for Stanton-Boyle now, who doesn't know what to believe. His own senses and memories of what he felt and saw? Or the plenty of passersby/police who claim that Brent was burning down and old barn, and there was nothing odd or out of place about it. So confusing.

Here's hoping tomorrow's story is a little more comprehensive, and hopefully a little creepier. I haven't been sufficiently scared since reading "The Willows", and I'm really hoping for some good Halloween reading.

- Justin

"Silent, White, and Beautiful" by Tod Robbins

Finally, my last post until I'm completely caught up from this weekend's shenanigans and non-literary enjoyment! Go me! Very pleased with myself for managing schoolwork, work, and illness to be able to get 2 stories read and reviewed daily this week, on top of *finally* starting Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus and Will Lavender's Dominance. Quite pleased, indeed.

So yes, Tod Robbins' tale of a madman. René Galien, the story's narrator, is clearly psychopathic and disturbed, and it's incredible that this writing was able to rile up so much emotion. Mostly of shock and horror at his callousness, and dedication to his artwork, but a little bit of pity for the unsuccessful artist he was, and the sad fate of all the characters in this story.

After apprenticing for four years in Paris, and losing his mentor to a suicide, René returns to New York, to the boarding home his father lived in before his death. After a month of unsuccessfully selling his sculptures of gargoyles, nymphs, and satyrs (of which I'm sure I would have bought at least one, they seem remarkable), he winds up married and settled down with the landlady's daughter, and resigned to a life of misery with these two women he whose company he can scarcely tolerate. Of course, there's got to be a bright side to everything, right? René conjures up in his mind images and ideas of an ideal family, his "Happy Family", that he seeks to sculpt and put into clay. And of course, he wants to use his wife and mother-in-law as.. models...

Like I said, René's callousness and insanity truly astonished me. He spoke so matter-of-factly that my psych training once again took control, and I found myself thinking of him as psychotic and psychopathic, with a hint of antisocial/narcissistic personality disorder. Not that that really means anything to the average reader, but I was intrigued. Also SPOILER ALERT I'm pretty sure this story has to be the basis for the original House of Wax story.. I mean, it just has to. He was so devoted to his craft, and sought so desperately to be successful in selling his work, that he was willing to change his subject into one more appealing to the 'stupid optimistic New York public'. Yeah, apparently they don't take to the macabre as well as Paris in this story.

This was a great story, and I think having my psych experience made it even more interesting, as I got a chance to think analytically and compare this character to violent and psychopathic criminals that I've heard about in class. Particularly that time I watched an interview with the Ice Man, Richard Kuklinski (Scared the crap out of me, he was so nonchalant about the hundred-plus murders that he confessed to). Scary how these kinds of people actually exist.

New post tomorrow! So happy to be back on track haha :)

- Justin