User:Yodin/Phantasmagoriana

Notes for the stories of Fantasmagoriana that don't have an article.

The Grey Room

Czygan claimed Heun never completed the promised ending to "Die graue Stube".

Carl Herloßsohn wrote to Wilhelm Hauff that he planned on writing a humorous conclusion to "Die graue Stube", but wanted to include it in his proposed Taschenbuch Vergißmeinnicht, that Hauff had not wanted to collaborate with him on.

It was a typical example of the German tales of fantasy and terror that were very fashionable at the time.

It was included in the second edition of Jacques Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal (1825) (worth checking which edition added it, and if/when it was removed from later editions) under the heading "Chambres Infestées" ('Haunted Rooms'). Seems to have been moved to the "Visions" article by 1853, along with an extract from "L'Heure Fatale". May have been translated in the first full English translation, published by Abracax Press (2014).

A. J. Day describes how many themes and ideas in Frankenstein are a reflection of Fantasmagoriana, and uses passages from Heun's "Die graue Stube" to compare to both the novel and Shelley's recollection of her inspiration in the preface to the novel.

In her essay "On Ghosts" (1824), Shelley may have been describing the Grey Room when she mentioned:

ghosts that lift the curtains at the foot of your bed as the clock chimes one

Translated by Marjorie Bowen as "The Grey Chamber", and included in Great Tales of Horror (1933) and The Bishop of Hell and Other Stories (1949). Includes a mention of the story by John C. Tibbetts. Professor Melanie Anderson describes it as a "traditional haunted house tale", but notes that its inclusion in The Bishop of Hell and Other Stories "continues Bowen's theme of violence in a distant past".

Translated again by Leonard Wolf in The Essential Frankenstein (1993), along with a new translation of Eyriès' preface.

Collected into the first volume of Clauren's Erzählungen (1822), and volume forty-six of his collected works Schriften (1828).

From Allgemeine Realencyklopädie, oder Conversationslexikon für alle Stände (1883):

Graue Stube große Anziehungskraft (Lpz. 1816); ebenso sein Taschenbuch Vergißmeinnicht, Leipz. 1818–33; seine frühern zerfireuten Schriften erschienen gesammelt als Erzählungen, Dresd. 1819 f., 6 Bbe., u. seine im Vergißmeinnicht gegebenen als Scherz und Ernst, ebb. 1820–27, 7 Bdchen.; Lustspiele, Dresd. 1817, 2 Bde.; Ges. Werke, Lpz. 1851, 25 Bde. Ueber seinen literarischen Streit u. Proceß mit W. Hauff s. u. Hauff. Auch Herloßsohn u. A. schrieben als Clauren, um den wahren Clauren zu persifliren.

Educator Otto Siepmann described the story as a "shallow narrative" that entertained the public, but by 1894 was "now deservedly forgotten" along with his other works.[1]

According to Karl Goedeke, one of twenty short stories by Clauren published that year:

1810 [...] Die graue Stube. (Eine buchstäblich wahre Geschichte). Nr. 71 f. Schluß in Nr. ? = Nr. 20) 3. Vgl. Anzeiger d. Deutschen 1810. Nr. 119. 127. 138. 227. Darauf H. C[lauren] im Freimuthigen 1810, Nr. 153. 226. 1811, Nr. 72. Dazu Aug. Apel, Die schwarze Kammer: Gespensterbuch 2. Theil. Daraus: Ztg. f. d. eleg. Welt 1811. Nr. 118/21. Französ. Übers. erwähnt von Hitzig S. 106.[2]

Julius Eduard Hitzig notes that it was reprinted twice in 1819? And translated into French by 1825 (Fantasmagoriana?).[3]

The Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern (1897) described it as one of Clauren's "early and successful tales".[4]

The Black Chamber

This tale is the best example of the Gespensterbuch introduction's claim to advance science through presenting a history of belief in the supernatural.

One of only two of Apel's stories included in Fantasmagoriana (along with "The Family Portraits"), and said by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger to have "sunk into obscurity".

The story is discussed by Paola Mayer.

Translated from the German Thomas De Quincey (under the name Archibald Frazer) as "The Black Chamber" for Knight's Quarterly Magazine (1823). Robert J. H. Morrison discusses this translation.

"Aktuarius Wermuth" ('Registrar Absinth') may have been based on Richard Wagner's father, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Wagner (1770–1813), a police actuary.

Reprinted in Zeitung für die elegante Welt, as part of its review of volumes 2 & 3 of Gespensterbuch (14–18 June 1811)[5][6]

The Death's Head

Unpublished illustration by Edward Vernon Utterson for Tales of the Dead

John Herman Merivale's review of Tales of the Dead in Blackwood's Magazine (1818) includes "The Death's Head".

It was a typical example of the German tales of fantasy and terror that were very fashionable at the time.

According to Brian Stableford, it contains some muted elements of the Kunstmärchen subgenre ("art fairy-tales") which typically centre around a moral allegory, with any horrific elements subservient to that goal.

Brian Stableford writes that both Frankenstein and The Vampyre broke away from the tradition of stories such as these. The authors attempted to get the same reaction of fear from readers, but shunning the tired motifs of lineage, family loyalty and inheritance, and instead replacing them with a highly charged and unsettling sexual subtext.

This also had an influence on Byron's composition of Manfred, in particular the Astarte scene.

May have been a source for Mary Shelly's mention of a "magic scene" from lantern shows.

Translated by Marjorie Bowen as "The Skull", and included in Great Tales of Horror (1933). Includes a review of the story by John C. Tibbetts.

The story is discussed by Paola Mayer.

Discussed by Ann Blaisdell Tracy.

Robert Stockhammer notes that "Der Todtenkopf" contains characters inspired by Cagliostro, who Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had written on, and who may have been discussed when Laun visited Goethe in 1804.

The Fated Hour

Unpublished illustration by Edward Vernon Utterson for Tales of the Dead

John Herman Merivale's review of Tales of the Dead in Blackwood's Magazine (1818) includes "The Fated Hour".

It is closely modeled on traditional ghost stories, with dead family members haunting the living.

It uses the familiar German doppelgänger.

Brian Stableford saw its vengeful ending as relatively successful.

Brian Stableford writes that both Frankenstein and The Vampyre broke away from the tradition of stories such as these. The authors attempted to get the same reaction of fear from readers, but shunning the tired motifs of lineage, family loyalty and inheritance, and instead replacing them with a highly charged and unsettling sexual subtext.

Translated by Robert Pearse Gillies as "The Sisters" in German Stories (1826). Gillies dismisses this and "The Death-Bride" as being "among those numberless ghost stories, of which the late M. G. Lewis has been the only successful adaptor". Gillies' book was reviewed in Blackwood's Magazine, which mentions this story (were there any other reviews of this book?).

Translated by Marjorie Bowen as "The Fatal Hour", and included in More Great Tales of Horror (1935). Includes a review of the story by John C. Tibbetts.

The story is discussed by Paola Mayer, and Jerrold Hogle.

Described with extended quotes in the "Heure" article of Jacques Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal (1826) (by the second edition reprint of 1826: worth checking which edition added it, and if/when it was removed from later editions). By the 1853 fifth edition, it seems to have been moved to the "Visions" article along with "La Chambre Grise".

Discussed by Ann Blaisdell Tracy.

The Death-Bride

Unpublished illustration by Edward Vernon Utterson for Tales of the Dead

One of the two described by Mary Shelley in her 1831 introduction to Frankenstein, saying "I have not seen these stories since then; but their incidents are as fresh in my mind as if I had read them yesterday.":

There was the History of the Inconstant Lover, who, when he thought to clasp the bride to whom he had pledged his vows, found himself in the arms of the pale ghost of her whom he had deserted.

In her essay "On Ghosts" (1824), Shelley also described:

The returning bride, who claims the fidelity of her betrothed

John Herman Merivale's review of Tales of the Dead in Blackwood's Magazine (1818) includes "The Death-Bride".

It is closely modeled on traditional ghost stories, with dead family members haunting the living.

It uses the familiar German doppelgänger.

Brian Stableford saw its vengeful ending as relatively successful.

Brian Stableford writes that both Frankenstein and The Vampyre broke away from the tradition of stories such as these. The authors attempted to get the same reaction of fear from readers, but shunning the tired motifs of lineage, family loyalty and inheritance, and instead replacing them with a highly charged and unsettling sexual subtext.

Stableford points out the primitive version of this sexual subtext is present in the spiriting away of the the bridegroom by an evil spirit that mimics the form of his wife-to-be. However, the focus of the story is still on the contractual obligations and consequences the bridegroom faces after repeating the fate of others who have abandoned their fiancees for a more advantageous marriage.

Translated by Robert Pearse Gillies as "The Spectre Bride" in German Stories (1826). Gillies dismisses this and "The Fated Hour" as being "among those numberless ghost stories, of which the late M. G. Lewis has been the only successful adaptor". Gillies' book was reviewed in Blackwood's Magazine, which mentions this story (were there any other reviews of this book?).

Translated by Charles John Tibbits as "A Strange Bride" in Terrible Tales, German (1891), and reprinted in The Best Terrible Tales from the German (1900).

Translated by Marjorie Bowen as "The Dead Bride", and included in Great Tales of Horror (1933). Includes a review of the story by John C. Tibbetts, who thought it was probably the inspiration for her novel The Spectral Bride (1942).

The story is discussed by Paola Mayer, and Jerrold Hogle.

May have been a source of inspiration for Washington Irving's "The Spectre Bridegroom", according to Walter A. Reichart.

Discussed by Ann Blaisdell Tracy.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Claudine von Villa Bella (1776) may have influenced Laun's "Die Todtenbraut".

The Family Portraits

Unpublished illustration by Edward Vernon Utterson for Tales of the Dead

One of the two described by Mary Shelley in her 1831 introduction to Frankenstein, saying "I have not seen these stories since then; but their incidents are as fresh in my mind as if I had read them yesterday.":

There was the tale of the sinful founder of his race, whose miserable doom it was to bestow the kiss of death on all the younger sons of his fated house, just when they reached the age of promise. His gigantic, shadowy form, clothed like the ghost in Hamlet, in complete armour, but with the beaver up, was seen at midnight, by the moon's fitful beams, to advance slowly along the gloomy avenue. The shape was lost beneath the shadow of the castle walls; but soon a gate swung back, a step was heard, the door of the chamber opened, and he advanced to the couch of the blooming youths, cradled in healthy sleep. Eternal sorrow sat upon his face as he bent down and kissed the forehead of the boys, who from that hour withered like flowers snapt upon the stalk.

In her essay "On Ghosts" (1824), Shelley also described:

the Grandsire, who with shadowy form and breathless lips stood over the couch and kissed the foreheads of his sleeping grandchildren, and thus doomed them to their fated death

John Herman Merivale's review of Tales of the Dead in Blackwood's Magazine (1818) includes "The Family Portraits", and wrote that the story is similar to Matthew Gregory Lewis' story of the "Bleeding Nun" in The Monk (1796).

Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger note that Shelley's recollection doesn't mention the family portraits.

It was first published in German in 1805, then reprinted in his anthology Cicaden (1810).

One of only two of Apel's stories included in Fantasmagoriana (along with "The Black Chamber").

Sarah Elizabeth Utterson included it in Tales of the Dead (1813), along with an epigraph from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale not found in the original.

It is closely modeled on traditional ghost stories, with dead family members haunting the living.

Brian Stableford complains that the family curse storyline is overly convoluted.

Brian Stableford writes that both Frankenstein and The Vampyre broke away from the tradition of stories such as these. The authors attempted to get the same reaction of fear from readers, but shunning the tired motifs of lineage, family loyalty and inheritance, and instead replacing them with a highly charged and unsettling sexual subtext.

Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger note a number of motifs in the story. They say that the "kiss of death" is a common theme in ghost stories, and may originate with the kiss of Judas; ghost stories about priests and monks (such as that told by the monk Tutilon in the story) were numerous in the Middle Ages; and haunted objects (including portraits) are one of the ten types of ghost identified by parapsychologist Peter Underwood.

Translated by Marjorie Bowen as "The Accursed Portrait", and included in More Great Tales of Horror (1935). Includes a review of the story by John C. Tibbetts.

The ancestral gallery motif became a feature of Gothic tales and ghost stories, including Heinrich von Kleist's play Das Käthchen von Heilbronn (1807–1808).

This story is discussed by Jerrold Hogle. At least twice.

Discussed by Ann Blaisdell Tracy.

The moving features of a portrait in Washington Irving's "The Adventure of My Aunt" may have been inspired by "The Family Portraits", according to Walter A. Reichart (and again by him).

Mentioned by Laun in his Memoirs:

Der Abend im Schloßgarten zu Ermlitz brachte besondere Schauer mit. Zufolge alter Sagen, waren in vorigen Zeiten, wo das Hochgericht nicht weit davon gelegen gewesen, dort manche Unheimlichkeiten zur Zeit der Dämmerung und später vorgekommen. Apel selbst hatte in seiner trefflichen Novelle: die Bilder der Ahnen, bereits etwas davon ungemein glücklich zu benutzen gewußt. Es konnte kaum fehlen, daß die Rede darauf gebracht wurde. Von da gerieth man auf den Gespensterglauben überhaupt. Bestimmter noch, als in der gedankenreichen Nachrede zum ersten Theile des „Gespensterbuches“ erklärte sich Apel gegen das absolute Läugnen von Gesichten und Klängen aus der sogenannten Geisterwelt. Einige Anekdoten von Erscheinungen und Winken aus derselben, machte auf den zum größten Theile aus Frauen bestehenden Kreis einen solchen Eindruck, daß beim Wiederaufsuchen der Zimmer Alles dicht sich aneinander drängte und schwerlich irgend etwas in der Welt, eine der Damen hätte bewegen können, in den dahin führenden, dunkeln Gang sich voraus zu wagen. Und später, als wir, Apel und ich, die Treppe hinauf nach unsern im obern Stocke befindlichen Schlafgemächern gingen, meinten wir selbst, erhitzt von den mancherlei besprochenen Phantasiebildern, beim Durchgange durch einen mit zum Theil ziemlich abentheuerlichen alten, Portraits behangenen Saale, ein Leben in einigen dieser Bilder zu erblicken. Besonders war es, als ob das Auge und die Gesichtszüge des vielleicht schon nahe an hundert Jahre alten Bildes eines schwarzbraunen Gärtners Bewegung erhielten, an dessen geheimen Zusammenhang mit der unsichtbaren Welt seine Zeitgenossen geglaubt haben follten.

Nach unserer Rückkehr in die Stadt Leipzig unterließen wir nicht von diesen Vorfällen und Nichtvorfällen einen treuen Bericht beim Thee im Petiskusschen Hause zu erstatten. Schauer und Lachen wechselten Anfangs. Grausigere Sagen verdrängten sodann das letztere. Es ging so weit, daß endlich eine auf dem Scheidewege zwischen Kind und Jungfrau eben angelangte, Kleine mit beiden Händen ihr Gesicht bedeckend, einen heftigen Schreckensruf ausstieß. Die Mühe, welche es kostete, den Quell der hellen Thränen zu trocknen, welche dem Mädchen über die erbleichten Wangen schossen, führte allmählig das Lachen wieder zurück. Man verständigte sich, so gut als möglich, über die Schauer der Geisterwelt. Sogar die immer besser wieder zu ihrer muntern Gesichtsfarbe gelangende Kleine lachte mit, und so kam endlich das allgemeine Verlangen nach Constituirung eines von Zeit zu Zeit zu haltenden Gespensterthee's, das hieß, eines geselligen Abends, zu Stande, dem das ungewisse Mondlicht der Geistergeschichten nicht fehlen durfte.

Und diese sogenannte Gespenstertheee wurden bald darauf Veranlassung zu dem gemeinschaftlich von Apel und mir herausgegebenen Gespensterbuche. Bekanntlich erstreckten wir solches mit Anfange des fünften Bandes über das eigentliche Gespensterreich hinaus in das Gebiet des aus den gewöhnlichen Naturkräften und Naturgesetzen nicht zu erklärenden Wunders hinein, weshalb es auch neben dem zugleich beibehaltenen, alten, einen zweiten Titel, das „Wunderbuch“ erhielt. Wir bezweckten dabei eine allerdings wünschenswerthe größere Mannichfaltigkeit, welche wir Anfangs durch Hinzufügung komischer Märchen zu erreichen gesucht, was aber bei mehren unserer Bekannten Misbilligung gefunden hatte. In der Folge trachteten wir die Mannigfaltigkeit des Werkes noch auf eine andere Weise, nämlich durch Herbeiziehung anderer Mitarbeiter zu bewirken. Zu meiner großen Freude gelang es auch Apeln, seine Freunde v. Fouqué und v. Miltitz zum Beitritte zu bewegen.

Contains the following passage: "Everyone is to relate a story of ghost, or something of a similar nature ... it is agreed amongst us that no one shall search for any explanation, even though it bears the stamp of truth, as explanations would take away all pleasure from ghost stories": which may have been the cue for the group at Diodati to start their own ghost stories.[7]

Discussed by Robert Mighall in A Geography of Victorian Gothic Fiction (2003).

Praised in an 1805 review of Kind's Malven, in Abend-Zeitung.[8]

The Revenant

Does not appear to have had any impact on the development of Frankenstein.

References