Moon-slave

by Barry Pain

A famous short story

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1901

About the author

Born in Cambridge, Barry Eric Odell Pain was educated at Sedbergh School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He became a prominent contributor to The Granta. He was known as a writer of parody and lightly humorous stories.

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this after finding out that Punchdrunk's latest immersive experience Viola's Room (which I loved so much, I went twice) is essentially a modern reimagining of this gothic horror short-story, originally published in 1901.

"The Princess Viola had, even in her childhood, an inevitable submission to the dance; a rhythmical madness in her blood answered hotly to the dance music, swaying her, as the wind sways trees, to movements of perfect sympathy and grace."

The atmosphere builds nicely, the horror and dread mounting slowly—something bad is going to happen, but we're not entirely sure what, it's like a fever dream. It's a quick read, full of subtle repressed desire and sensuality, and having had the Punchdrunk experience first, which parallels this dark fairytale to the life of a 90's teenager in a sort of surreal, liminal dream-space, absolutely colored my interpretation and enjoyment.

[hayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

didn't finish it today read it over the summer and forgot to put it here