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Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
The novelist and children's author Catherine Crowe (c.1800 1876)
published The Night Side of Nature in two volumes in 1848. This
lively collection of ghostly sketches and anecdotes was a Victorian
best-seller and Crowe's most popular work. Sixteen editions
appeared in six years, and it was translated into several European
languages. The stories are intertwined with Crowe's own
interpretations and commentaries which attack the scepticism of
enlightenment thought and orthodox religion. Crowe seeks instead to
encourage and re-invigorate a sense of wonder and mystery in life
by emphasising the supernatural. The stories in Volume 1 centre on
dreams, psychic presentiments, traces, wraiths, doppelgangers,
apparitions, and imaginings of the after-life. Crowe's vivid tales,
written with great energy and imagination, are classic examples of
nineteenth-century spiritualist writing and strongly influenced
other authors as well as providing inspiration for later adherents
of ghost-seeing and psychic culture.
The novelist and children's author Catherine Crowe (c.1800 1876)
published The Night Side of Nature in two volumes in 1848. This
lively collection of ghostly sketches and anecdotes was a Victorian
best-seller and Crowe's most popular work. Sixteen editions
appeared in six years, and it was translated into several European
languages. The stories are intertwined with Crowe's own
interpretations and commentaries which attack the scepticism of
enlightenment thought and orthodox religion. Crowe seeks instead to
encourage and re-invigorate a sense of wonder and mystery in life
by emphasising the supernatural. Volume 2 probes the mysterious
phenomena of troubled spirits, haunted houses, spectral lights,
apparitions and poltergeists. Crowe's vivid tales, written with
great energy and imagination, are classic examples of
nineteenth-century spiritualist writing and strongly influenced
other authors, including Charles Baudelaire, as well as providing
inspiration for later adherents of ghost-seeing and psychic
culture.
Friederike Hauffe (1801-1829) suffered throughout her short
lifetime from severe spasms and nervous fevers, and in her
semi-conscious state she allegedly saw spectres and spoke and wrote
predictions in an unknown, 'innate' language. When physically well,
Hauffe could communicate with spectres of the dead, and created a
complex diagram of circles to explain the nervous energy of a
person and its changes throughout the year. The flow of
consciousness and one's waking state in the spirit world, or 'sun
sphere', was individual and seasonal. After continued illness, she
was finally taken into the care of Dr Justinus Kerner for the last
few years of her life. His use of magnetic treatment apparently
gave her some relief, and she was able to use her 'spiritual sight'
to aid others. Kerner's 1829 account of her life, depicting a woman
with unusual psychic gifts, was published in English translation in
1845.
Catherine Crowe (1790-1872) was a successful author of fiction,
non-fiction and plays, who moved in literary circles and
corresponded with the prominent authors of her day, including W. M.
Thackeray and Harriet Martineau. Her interest in the supernatural
and the spiritual dimension, and her frustration with the
narrow-mindedness of her generation, are evident in this work,
first published in 1859. A strong believer in the possibilities of
spiritual planes and of forces beyond contemporary human knowledge,
she suggests that much is still unknown to the human race, and that
the advance of scientific materialism may hinder the search for
spiritual insight. Unusually for her time, Crowe also questions the
literal truth of the Bible, suggesting metaphorical interpretations
of scripture, and asks how modern miracles or prophets might be
recognised, in a society so closed to the possibility of the
physically impossible.
Transformation of the werewolf in literature made its greatest
strides in the 19th century when the shape-shifting monster leapt
from poetry to the short story. It happened when this shorter form
of literature was morphing into darker shapes thanks in no small
part to Edgar Allan Poe, Honore de Balzac, E. T. A. Hoffmann,
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Prosper Merimee, James Hogg, and so many
others in Europe and the United States.The fifty year period
between 1800 and 1849 is truly the cradle of all werewolf short
stories. For the first time in one anthology, Andrew Barger has
compiled the best werewolf stories from this period. The stories
are "Hugues the Wer-Wolf: A Kentish Legend of the Middle Ages,"
"The Man-Wolf," "A Story of a Weir-Wolf," "The Wehr-Wolf: A Legend
of the Limousin," and "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains." It
is believed that two of these fine stories have never been
republished in over one hundred and fifty years since their
original printing. Read "The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849"
tonight, just make sure it is not by the light of a full moon "
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