What are you reading for Victober?

[Sherrymartin]

So it's Victober, the month many bookworms devote to works of Victorian literature. This year, I'm going hardcore: no books at all except those written from the 1830's to 1900. If you're taking part in Victober, what are you reading?

So far, for me:

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde by R. L. Stevenson
The Club of Queer Trades by G. C. Chesterton
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
In a Glass Darkly by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Various supernatural tales by Edith Nesbit
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Dickens (in progress).

[YesNo]

This is the first I've heard of Victober. However, that looks like a good list.

[Danik 2016]

I liked the idea of Victober, A complete list must be immense. It would have to include Thomas Hardy (where is our reddleman gone to?),
The Brontës, more Dickens, Wilkie Collins, The Mill and the Floss, Elisabeth Gaskell, Vanity Fair, Barchester Towers, among others.

[Lemonade]

Never heard of it either but it does sound like a nice idea. Unfortunately I wont participate, this year. I'm in the middle of The Sonnets and books concerning them or Shakespeare himself, or his time.

Don't forget Doyle though, at least all his Sherlock Holmes stories before 'The Adventure of the Empty House' are written before 1900.

[kev67]

I've heard of it. A group of vloggers on YouTube started it, unless they got the idea from somewhere else. I have been reading:

Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell
Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu
Miss Majoribanks, Margaret Oliphant

[Pompey Bum]

Don't forget Doyle though, at least all his Sherlock Holmes stories before 'The Adventure of the Empty House' are written before 1900.

And after that (with a few exceptions) they weren't as good.

As far as Victober goes, I gave at the office. I think Victovember would have been a better idea--October's supposed to be for ghost stories. I suppose if I had heard about it earlier I would have read something Gothic--The Woman in White or something. As it was I read Entertaining Satan by John Demos for Halloween. That was a non-fiction about the Massachusetts witchcraft trials in the decades before the more-famous hysteria of 1692. It was neither scary nor particularly well written interesting enough and a story seldom told. Actually, I've been reading non-fiction all year (I tend to do all one or the other over long periods). Anyway, I've read enough Victorian fiction to take a pass on Victobers for years to come.

Enjoy Carmilla, Kev. Most of it is just okay, but the scene where the spook pops out from under the bed is oddly beautiful (no spoiler there--it's just something that happens).

P.S. I'm looking forward to Dickensember, though.

[kev67]

And after that (with a few exceptions) they weren't as good.

As far as Victober goes, I gave at the office. I think Victovember would have been a better idea--October's supposed to be for ghost stories. I suppose if I had heard about it earlier I would have read something Gothic--The Woman in White or something. As it was I read Entertaining Satan by John Demos for Halloween. That was a non-fiction about the Massachusetts witchcraft trials in the decades before the more-famous hysteria of 1692. It was neither scary nor particularly well written interesting enough and a story seldom told. Actually, I've been reading non-fiction all year (I tend to do all one or the other over long periods). Anyway, I've read enough Victorian fiction to take a pass on Victobers for years to come.

Enjoy Carmilla, Kev. Most of it is just okay, but the scene where the spook pops out from under the bed is oddly beautiful (no spoiler there--it's just something that happens).

P.S. I'm looking forward to Dickensember, though.

The YouTube Victober event included several challenges, which this year included something gothic for Halloween. Ghost stories are tradition for Christmas too. Hence my choice of Carmilla, which is about saphic vampires. I also watched the Hammer House of Horror film, The Vampire Lovers, which was an adaption of the book.

[Pompey Bum]

The YouTube Victober event included several challenges, which this year included something gothic for Halloween.

Dang, I missed it. Perhaps I'll read Northanger Abbey once Jane-uary rolls around.

I also watched the Hammer House of Horror film, The Vampire Lovers, which was an adaption of the book.

Ah, Hammer Studios at it's schlocky best! Cleavage and bright red paint. Unfortunately Le Fanu was not nearly as lurid. Worth reading, though, on a rainy night.

[kev67]

Ah, Hammer Studios at it's schlocky best! Cleavage and bright red paint. Unfortunately Le Fanu was not nearly as lurid. Worth reading, though, on a rainy night.

Carmilla reminded me an awful lot of those Hammer Horror films. There was a Karnstein series, the first of which was The Vampire Lovers. My favourite was Twins of Evil. They were all set in central or Eastern Europe, where the woods were thick, the population density was low, the society was semi-feudal, and the technology was 17th century. Not very much like Britain in 1870, although I am not sure where Le Fanu was based, since he was Irish.

[Pompey Bum]

Carmilla reminded me an awful lot of those Hammer Horror films. There was a Karnstein series, the first of which was The Vampire Lovers. My favourite was Twins of Evil. They were all set in central or Eastern Europe, where the woods were thick, the population density was low, the society was semi-feudal, and the technology was 17th century.

I envisioned Carmilla differently than the Hammer version, but the blessed interface between reader and writer allows for considerable variation. I was also recovering from a fractured neck when I read it and deep in the thrall of opioids (in fact, I chose it because I couldn't handle anything much longer), so God knows what my mind was doing.

I do remember those old Hammer films fondly--in a goofy, nostalgic sort of way. I was a teenager when they were popular, and I recall how much fun they were.

Not very much like Britain in 1870, although I am not sure where Le Fanu was based, since he was Irish.

I don't know that much about Le Fanu, either. I think he was born in Dublin but eventually moved elsewhere in Ireland. But Carmilla was set in Austria. That was part of my problem with it. I didn't find Laura's family's living arrangements especially believable, which made the horror less effective for me. (The story would have been scarier if it had been set in an anonymous Irish village adjacent to ruins). But I found the depiction of Laura's friendship with Carmilla memorable; and as I said, the first bedroom scene was masterful.

Okay, what the heck! Tomorrow is Halloween so I just downloaded Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales. I hope it rains again tonight. It's never too late for Victober!

[kev67]

nk he was born in Dublin but eventually moved elsewhere in Ireland. But Carmilla was set in Austria. That was part of my problem with it. I didn't find Laura's family's living arrangements especially believable, which made the horror less effective for me. (The story would have been scarier if it had been set in an anonymous Irish village adjacent to ruins). But I found the depiction of Laura's friendship with Carmilla memorable; and as I said, the first bedroom scene was masterful.

Okay, what the heck! Tomorrow is Halloween so I just downloaded Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales. I hope it rains again tonight. It's never too late for Victober!

Not many of the famous Irish writers seem to have set their stories in Ireland before James Joyce, so far as I can tell. I gather landlord-tenant relations were very much worse in Ireland than England, so it wouldn't be ghosts and vampires you'd have to worry about out there. Despite my mother being Irish, I don't really know enough about it. I read some short stories set in 19th century Ireland by an author called William Carleton, but they were not very good.

I have read one other story by Sheridan Le Fanu, which was about an artist's beautiful daughter who marries an unsuitable man. I don't think he did subtle psychological terror. He wrote about monsters. OTOH, I enjoyed the formal politeness of the language in Carmilla. Even Carmilla was a very polite vampire.

[Pompey Bum]

Even Carmilla was a very polite vampire.

Yes, Dracula was rather cordial, too, at least at first. "Welcome to my house. Leave something of the happiness that you bring," and so on. Everyone's nice when they want something.

This is an oldie from me, but I'll revive it for the discussion:

There once was a fiend named Lestat
Who wore a wolf's coat and top hat.
He was more of a killer
Than that sweet kid, Carmilla,
And flew circles 'round Bram Stoker's bat.

Happy Halloween to you!

[Psycheinaboat]

I had never heard of Victober. Very cool. I am just beginning Shirley and the Professor by Charlotte Bronte.

[kev67]

I had never heard of Victober. Very cool. I am just beginning Shirley and the Professor by Charlotte Bronte.

I have read Shirley, but I was rather disappointed with it. I had heard it was an industrial novel, but it was not as good as Mary Barton or North and South in that respect. I was interested to find out that Shirley had been considered a boy's name before that book. The only male Shirley I have heard of was a wrestler from the 70s called Big Daddy, whose real name was Shirley Crabtree.

[Pompey Bum]

Okay, my Victober responsibilities are fulfilled. Last night I read a short novella/long short story by Le Fanu called An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street. It was about two students who took lodging in what proved to be a haunted house. I didn't find it frightening or even a well structured story. There were several (presumably) suspenseful accounts of mysterious footfalls in the night, but most of the ghostly encounters were recounted in broad daylight after the events. And these stories dragged on to little purpose until the account abruptly ended. I got the feeling that Le Fanu was padding out a magazine entry--perhaps one meant for students to read by candlelight.

But although the novella was not especially memorable, there were some notable aspects in terms of our discussion. First of all, the story was set in Dublin. So here indeed was an Irish writer (before Joyce) writing about Ireland. And this was not incidental. Dublin ambiance such as the cant of drunken wayfarers and the (apparently reassuring) sound of rowdy street quarrels are mentioned several times, as is the contrast between the city's daytime bustle and evening peace. Irish dialect is used for one of the minor characters, and certain Irish folk beliefs come up in the superfluous material at the end. I'd be interested to learn how many of Le Fanu's tales were set in Ireland.

The other surprise was Le Fanu's attempt (at least) to produce a psychological story. He's no Dostoyevsky, but he (or his narrator) spends much time parsing the nature of fear, nightmares, and bravery ("keeping spirits up by pouring spirits down" is the story's single memorable line--and Le Fanu appears to have been repeating a well known joke). This was the most interesting aspect of the novella to me. If Le Fanu had structured his plot more tightly (instead of just going for a creepy atmosphere), he might have made something of this piece. As it is, I cant particularly recommend it.