Un extraño suceso en la vida de Schalken el pintor y otros relatos

by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Injustamente relegado al olvido durante mucho tiempo, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (Dublín, 1814 - 1873) ocupa, desde que lo rescató su discípulo M. R. James, el lugar que le corresponde en la historia del género y de la literatura victoriana: el de un genio del terror, creador de la ghost story moderna, maestro de fantasmas. Hijo de un pastor protestante y descendiente de hugonotes, abandonó sus estudios de Derecho para dedicarse, con gran reconocimiento, a la literatura y a la edición del Dublin University Magazine, que alcanzó prestigio internacional.
Pero Sheridan era un hombre solitario y sombrío, y la muerte de su esposa le sumió definitivamente en la reclusión: nunca salió de Dublín, se negó incluso a ver a sus amigos y se ocupó solo en la escritura y la lectura. Le llamaban El príncipe invisible. Su novela Carmilla (1871) se considera la mejor historia de vampiros jamás escrita e influyó de forma decisiva en el Drácula de Bram Stoker; surgió del escalofriante relato Un extraño suceso en la vida de Schalken el pintor, incluido en esta selección. Las historias de Sheridan también han inspirado numerosas adaptaciones cinematográficas, fascinando a directores como Dreyer o los españoles Vicente Aranda y Jesús Franco.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Classics

127 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2009

About the author

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. M.R. James described Le Fanu as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories". Three of his best-known works are Uncle Silas, Carmilla and The House by the Churchyard.

Reviews

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miedo lo que se dice miedo no dan estos cuentos, al menos para la mentalidad de hoy en día en que cosas mucho más terroríficas pasan continuamente (por desgracia), pero sí que he encontrado estas historias bastante inquietantes, excepto la primera que está escrita en clave de humor. El que más me ha perturbado es el último de los cuentos que trata sobre una anciana bastante desagradable que guarda un secreto. Leyendo a Le Fanu se comprende por qué es uno de los padres de la novela gótica y de terror: no es lo que cuenta, es cómo lo cuenta.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Schalken The Painter is written by the 19th century ghost writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, changed how horror was perceived and took horror fiction into a new direction, he had a way of looking at horror in a different way. Rather than focus on the way external factors e.g a sound on the stairs he decided to focus his writing based on how he could make a reader feel physiologically making them uneasy and nervous in a room through process of a thought.

Schalken The Painter is relatively hard to read due to I think the time when it was made so the language differentiates so much from modern that it takes a lot of time to decipher what the author is trying to say, which makes following the story a lot harder. It's rather slow going and drags on a lot, I understand the tactic of building suspense but leaving a reader confused isn't really doing the same thing.

The meeting with Vanderhousen is a confusing one but I assume it was a meeting that often happened back in those times in order to gain the hands of lady's they were interested in courting and marrying, he seemed to almost bully Gerrard with his wealth for the hand of his niece Rose and succeeded that by the end of the meeting they had agreed she would marry him within a week. Gerrard never realised that Schalken was also taken with his darling niece though.

After the meeting between Vanhousen and Rose, Gerard had to spend some time convincing Rose that although Vanhousen was an ugly man hat was just unusual he was a liberal and wealthy man he proved this by sending many gifts to her over the following week until the day of their wedding. After they married they rode off in a coach and for many weeks Gerard received no contact from his niece, which made him worry. Schalken became depressed and forlorn over Rose leaving. Eventually it was too much for Gerard and he ventured to go and find Rose Schalken accompanied him and they followed the route asking the man that drove their carriage away where they went, he told them they just dissapeared.
Rose finally returned in a room seemingly exhausted, thirsty and starving within 5 minutes of being in the room she was rambling and begging for the clergyman believing he was the only man who could save her, the clergyman was sent for and she was sent to rest whilst she waited, she didn't want to be left alone as she thought it were dangerous so when her uncle went out of her room to fetch candles and the door slammed between them with no way of it opening. Guys heard the screams, scratching and scuffles within the room but they couldn't get in until silence descended and when they finally got into the room they found her gone again.

This book was more of a mystery, kind of hinting at horror, I enjoyed it despite the wordy descriptions.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a true ghost story and one you may not to read going to bed at night like I did. This is a ghost reaching out from the grave to take a soul unto itself. You see it coming in the start of the book but still are not prepared for the ending. I struggled a little bit with his style/use of words but it is an older book. A very good read.

[Cristina (bibliotecadepueblo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reseña próximamente.

[Rata Encrespada · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOOKY STUFF me gustó, halloween story vibes, muy bueno, con arroz blanco

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
Me gustó mucho más que Carmilla, crea un ambiente más aterrador y crea también un personaje "vampírico" que causa verdadero miedo, te deja mucha intriga y es de esas historias en la que piensas por días tratando de darle respuesta a todas las cosas que no se explicaron y quedaron en el total misterio.

[Valentina Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ Puntaje solamente por el cuento “Un extraño suceso en la vida de Schalken, el pintor”

[Pedro Ceballos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relatos cortos pero buenos.

[mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pesar de ser monstruos, se sintió poco común el encontrar una historia en donde el vampiro fuera desagradable en todo aspecto, y no relacionado a pecados y lujuria.
Buena narración y ambiente.