Review of the book “Gloomy Tales” by Edith Nesbit.
“Gloomy Tales” is a collection of horror stories written by Edith Nesbit, originally published in 1893. The author is known for her work in children’s literature, but in this book she shows her ability to write macabre and creepy stories for adults.
The collection consists of twelve stories that address different topics, from ghosts to curses and the living dead. Although the stories are short, Nesbit manages to create a disturbing atmosphere and capture the reader’s attention from the beginning.
In the world of horror literature, there are many names that come to mind when we think of the masters of the genre: Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, HP Lovecraft, Stephen King… But there are other authors who may not be as well known or recognized for their horror works, and yet they deserve a prominent place in the history of ghostly narrative. One of them is Edith Nesbit, an English writer who was born in 1858 and who was more famous for her children’s stories than for her dark stories.
Edith Nesbit was a woman ahead of her time, who became involved in politics and social activism, and who founded with her husband the Fabian Society, a socialist organization that was a precursor to the British Labor Party. She was also a woman with a tumultuous and passionate life, who had to endure the infidelities of her husband and who adopted his illegitimate children with her lover. In addition to writing children’s books, such as The Dragon Book or The Five Children and That, Nesbit also cultivated the horror and mystery genre, publishing four collections of supernatural stories between 1893 and 1910.
One of those collections is Relatos sombres, edited by La Biblioteca de Carfax in 2017 with a translation by Gonzalo Gómez Montoro. This is a book that brings together nine horror stories written by Nesbit between 1887 and 1910, which show us his ability to create disturbing atmospheres and chilling situations. Some of the stories are the following:
– The marble statue: A newly married couple moves to a house in the country near an old church. Everything seems to be going well until All Hallows’ Eve arrives, when the church’s marble statues are said to come to life.
– From the realm of the dead: Can love be strong enough to bring the loved one back from the dead?
– The third substance: A man escapes from criminals and takes refuge in the house of a doctor who offers him his help. But he soon discovers that the doctor has sinister plans for him and that he wants to turn him into a superman by injecting him with three mysterious substances.
– John Charrington’s Wedding: A man finally wins the hand of the most beautiful woman in town and swears that he will marry her dead or alive. But fate has a macabre surprise in store for him.
– The Shadow: Three young friends convince a shy housekeeper to tell them a ghost story in which an evil shadow plays an important role.
– The five senses: A doctor specialized in vivisection loses the love of his life because of his cruelty to animals. Obsessed with increasing his sensory abilities, he embarks on an experiment that leads him to experience the horror of being buried alive.
– The ebony frame: A man falls in love with a woman who appears in a painting he has inherited. The woman turns out to be her beloved in another life, who sold her soul to the devil to preserve her beauty until he found her again.
– In the dark: Two friends meet again after several years and one confesses to the other having killed a third man whom they both hated. However, it seems that the body of the murdered man appears to him every year in the dark.
One of the most interesting aspects of the collection is Nesbit’s ability to create complex and compelling characters in very few pages. Characters often find themselves caught in strange and supernatural situations that test their sanity and bravery. However, Nesbit also shows the fragility and vulnerability of the characters, making them more human and closer to the reader.
Another highlight of the book is Nesbit’s prose, which is elegant and poetic. The author has the ability to create vivid, evocative images that remain etched in the reader’s mind long after they have finished reading. Her detailed descriptions and flowery language create an atmosphere of mystery and tension that makes each story even more terrifying.
As for the stories themselves, each of them has its own charm and originality. “The Haunted House” is a story about a couple who buys a house with a dark past, while “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” follows the odyssey of a man who is shipwrecked at sea and finds a mysterious island. Each story has its own unexpected and surprising twist, which makes the collection even more interesting.
In short, “Gloomy Tales” is a fascinating collection of horror stories that showcases Edith Nesbit’s talent for writing not only for children, but for adults as well. The elegant prose and ability to create complex, evocative characters make this book a must-read for any lover of the horror genre.
Source: https://algunoslibrosbuenos.com/relatos-sombrios
