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The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances
‘[O]ne of the most singular volumes of weird tales in English literature.’ – Hugh Lamb
‘An artist too little known and valued by his own generation, yet no record of the English short story would be complete without a study of his contributions.’ – Eden Phillpotts
‘The book is sinister, enveloped in gloom – yes, and Decadent . . . but it is strong, it has authenticity . . . there is nothing quite like The Stone Dragon in modern English fiction: but in it you may distinctly trace the influence of Poe, and perhaps also Villiers de l’Isle Adam and Charles Baudelaire.’ Thus one anonymous contemporary critic summed up R. Murray Gilchrist’s first (and only) collection of Gothic and weird tales, The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances (1894). Extremely scarce in its original edition, Gilchrist’s book has gone on to be recognized as a classic of Decadent and horror fiction deserving of recognition alongside the works of Arthur Machen, Eric Stenbock, and Vernon Lee. Told in a hauntingly beautiful prose, Gilchrist’s tales of murder, madness, and doomed love exercise a fascination that is wholly unique.
This digital edition reprints the unabridged text of the 1894 Methuen first edition and includes the stories ‘The Stone Dragon’, ‘The Manuscript of Francis Shackerley’, ‘Midsummer Madness’, ‘The Lost Mistress’, ‘Witch In-Grain’, ‘The Noble Courtesan’, ‘The Writings of Althea Swarthmoor’, ‘The Return’, ‘The Basilisk’, ‘Dame Inowslad’, ‘Excerpts from Pliny Witherton’s Journal: Also a Letter of Crystalla’s’, ‘My Friend’, ‘Roxana Runs Lunatick’, and ‘The Pageant of Ghosts’.
‘An artist too little known and valued by his own generation, yet no record of the English short story would be complete without a study of his contributions.’ – Eden Phillpotts
‘The book is sinister, enveloped in gloom – yes, and Decadent . . . but it is strong, it has authenticity . . . there is nothing quite like The Stone Dragon in modern English fiction: but in it you may distinctly trace the influence of Poe, and perhaps also Villiers de l’Isle Adam and Charles Baudelaire.’ Thus one anonymous contemporary critic summed up R. Murray Gilchrist’s first (and only) collection of Gothic and weird tales, The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances (1894). Extremely scarce in its original edition, Gilchrist’s book has gone on to be recognized as a classic of Decadent and horror fiction deserving of recognition alongside the works of Arthur Machen, Eric Stenbock, and Vernon Lee. Told in a hauntingly beautiful prose, Gilchrist’s tales of murder, madness, and doomed love exercise a fascination that is wholly unique.
This digital edition reprints the unabridged text of the 1894 Methuen first edition and includes the stories ‘The Stone Dragon’, ‘The Manuscript of Francis Shackerley’, ‘Midsummer Madness’, ‘The Lost Mistress’, ‘Witch In-Grain’, ‘The Noble Courtesan’, ‘The Writings of Althea Swarthmoor’, ‘The Return’, ‘The Basilisk’, ‘Dame Inowslad’, ‘Excerpts from Pliny Witherton’s Journal: Also a Letter of Crystalla’s’, ‘My Friend’, ‘Roxana Runs Lunatick’, and ‘The Pageant of Ghosts’.
- GenresShort StoriesGothic
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1893
6 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
R. Murray Gilchrist
45 books8 followersRobert Murray Gilchrist was born in Sheffield, England in 1867. He never married and throughout his life lived mostly in remote places, including the North Derbyshire village of Holmesfield and a remote part of the Peak District.
He began his writing career in 1890 with a novel, Passion the Plaything, and would go on to publish a total of 22 novels, six story collections, four regional interest books, and a play. His stories appeared in many popular periodicals of that era, including The Temple Bar and the decadent journal The Yellow Book. Not much is known about Gilchrist’s personal life, but he is known to have lived for a time with a male companion, and given that Gilchrist never married and sometimes featured homoerotic themes in his work, as in the story ‘My Friend’, it is possible he was homosexual.
Though well known today to connoisseurs of weird and Decadent fiction, Gilchrist’s story collection The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances was generally poorly received by critics on its initial appearance in 1894, and following the book’s failure, Gilchrist chose to write in other genres. It was not until Hugh Lamb began anthologizing some of Gilchrist’s work in the 1970s that he began to be rediscovered. Now he is ranked by many alongside other fin de siècle practitioners of weird fiction, including Vernon Lee, Arthur Machen, and Eric Stenbock and The Stone Dragon is a volume highly sought-after by collectors.
During World War I, Gilchrist was noted for his charitable assistance to Belgian refugees, many of whom attended his funeral after his death in 1917.
-Valancourt Books
He began his writing career in 1890 with a novel, Passion the Plaything, and would go on to publish a total of 22 novels, six story collections, four regional interest books, and a play. His stories appeared in many popular periodicals of that era, including The Temple Bar and the decadent journal The Yellow Book. Not much is known about Gilchrist’s personal life, but he is known to have lived for a time with a male companion, and given that Gilchrist never married and sometimes featured homoerotic themes in his work, as in the story ‘My Friend’, it is possible he was homosexual.
Though well known today to connoisseurs of weird and Decadent fiction, Gilchrist’s story collection The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances was generally poorly received by critics on its initial appearance in 1894, and following the book’s failure, Gilchrist chose to write in other genres. It was not until Hugh Lamb began anthologizing some of Gilchrist’s work in the 1970s that he began to be rediscovered. Now he is ranked by many alongside other fin de siècle practitioners of weird fiction, including Vernon Lee, Arthur Machen, and Eric Stenbock and The Stone Dragon is a volume highly sought-after by collectors.
During World War I, Gilchrist was noted for his charitable assistance to Belgian refugees, many of whom attended his funeral after his death in 1917.
-Valancourt Books
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 12, 2018
When the gloves made of human skin first made their appearance in the titular story, "The Stone Dragon," I knew I was going to love this book. And I did. A lot.
In this book you'll find ghostly tales, Gothic tales, many stories on the weird side, but it also, in my opinion, has a nice Beaudelaire sort of feel (a la Fleurs du Mal), an eeriness that reminds me of Poe, and in some stories, it reminded me of the French contes cruels that I love so much, since Gilchrist doesn't resort to contrived happy or expected endings. Au contraire -- his stories, for the most part, reflect the idea that "...love, nay, life itself, should terminate at the moment of excess bliss." This sort of theme is played out time and time again, along with another idea that permeates this book, stated most clearly in the story "Althea Swarthmoor." He lets us know (in case we haven't figured this out by the time we get to that tale) that we are going to be talking about
"...Passion and of Death, and how they oft walk hand in hand together..."
Considering what happens repeatedly throughout this book, it turns out to be one of the most morbid set of tales I've ever encountered, and the moment I finished I seriously wanted to read it all again.
The atmosphere is intense, dark, and eerie to the point where once inside the book I didn't want to leave. Honestly, it's still haunting me, and it's rare for me to encounter a book that will just not leave my head. Now here's the caveat -- it's definitely Victorian, meaning that it is not an easy read in terms of prose style. Another thing: anyone deciding to read this book strictly for its weirdness or hoping for shocking horror may be a bit disappointed. There are stories that are supernatural in nature, there is a lot of weirdness going on, but for the most part we're looking, as the author tells us in no uncertain terms, for that mingling of "Passion and Death." Going into it solely with the expectation of a few supernatural thrills is not the reason for picking up this book. It's well beyond that, and to label it as simply "weird" or "horror" doesn't begin to touch what's in here.
For readers who want more in their reading of the strange, and don't mind having to be patient with the prose, the payoff is immeasurable.
more here:
http://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2018...
In this book you'll find ghostly tales, Gothic tales, many stories on the weird side, but it also, in my opinion, has a nice Beaudelaire sort of feel (a la Fleurs du Mal), an eeriness that reminds me of Poe, and in some stories, it reminded me of the French contes cruels that I love so much, since Gilchrist doesn't resort to contrived happy or expected endings. Au contraire -- his stories, for the most part, reflect the idea that "...love, nay, life itself, should terminate at the moment of excess bliss." This sort of theme is played out time and time again, along with another idea that permeates this book, stated most clearly in the story "Althea Swarthmoor." He lets us know (in case we haven't figured this out by the time we get to that tale) that we are going to be talking about
"...Passion and of Death, and how they oft walk hand in hand together..."
Considering what happens repeatedly throughout this book, it turns out to be one of the most morbid set of tales I've ever encountered, and the moment I finished I seriously wanted to read it all again.
The atmosphere is intense, dark, and eerie to the point where once inside the book I didn't want to leave. Honestly, it's still haunting me, and it's rare for me to encounter a book that will just not leave my head. Now here's the caveat -- it's definitely Victorian, meaning that it is not an easy read in terms of prose style. Another thing: anyone deciding to read this book strictly for its weirdness or hoping for shocking horror may be a bit disappointed. There are stories that are supernatural in nature, there is a lot of weirdness going on, but for the most part we're looking, as the author tells us in no uncertain terms, for that mingling of "Passion and Death." Going into it solely with the expectation of a few supernatural thrills is not the reason for picking up this book. It's well beyond that, and to label it as simply "weird" or "horror" doesn't begin to touch what's in here.
For readers who want more in their reading of the strange, and don't mind having to be patient with the prose, the payoff is immeasurable.
more here:
http://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2018...
January 14, 2022
Rich and strange, this selection of decadent gothic musings is sublime, intoxicating and at times a little overwhelming, like a heady narcotic. Best consumed in small doses.
• The Stone Dragon
• The Manuscript of Francis Shackerley
• Midsummer Madness
• The Lost Mistress
• Witch In-Grain
• The Noble Courtesan: The Writings of Althea Swarthmoor
• The Return
• The Basilisk
• Dame Inowslad
• Excerpts from Pliny Witherton’s Journal: Also a Letter of Crystalla’s
• My Friend
• Roxana Runs Lunatick
• The Pageant of Ghosts
• The Stone Dragon
• The Manuscript of Francis Shackerley
• Midsummer Madness
• The Lost Mistress
• Witch In-Grain
• The Noble Courtesan: The Writings of Althea Swarthmoor
• The Return
• The Basilisk
• Dame Inowslad
• Excerpts from Pliny Witherton’s Journal: Also a Letter of Crystalla’s
• My Friend
• Roxana Runs Lunatick
• The Pageant of Ghosts
August 30, 2020
I might have given it 4 stars for the lovely writing but there were too many fatal women. If I hadn't known he was a bachelor, I'd have known he was a bachelor. If I may put it that way.
March 12, 2024
Simple stories regarding content and plot (we could say that "nothing" happens in many of them) but adorned with beautifu descriptions. Some parts were a little difficult to read for someone whose mother tongue is not English and who is far from mastering it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews