Vaila

by M.P. Shiel

Matthew Phipps Shiel (1865-1947), was a prolific British writer of fantastic fiction, remembered mostly for supernatural & scientific romances, published as novels, short stories & serials. He wrote under the pen name Gordon Holmes. After working as a teacher & translator he broke into the fiction market with a series of short stories published in The Strand & other magazines. His early literary reputation was based on two collections of short stories influenced by Poe published in the Keynote series by John Lane, Prince Zaleski (1895) & Shapes in the Fire (1896), considered by some critics as the most flamboyant of the English decadent movement. His 1st novel was The Rajah’s Sapphire (1896), based on a plot by Wm Thomas Stead, who probably hired him to write the novel. Around 1899-1900 Shiel conceived a loosely linked trilogy of novels which have been described as possibly the 1st future history series in science fiction. Shiel’s lasting literary reputation is largely based on Notebook 3 of the series which was serialized in The Royal Magazine in abridged form before book publication as The Purple Cloud (1901). He also wrote The Lord of the Sea (1901).

Genres: Short Stories

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1896

About the author

Matthew Phipps Shiel was a prolific British writer of West Indian descent. His legal surname remained "Shiell" though he adopted the shorter version as a de facto pen name.

He is remembered mostly for supernatural and scientific romances. His work was published as serials, novels, and as short stories. The Purple Cloud (1901; 1929) remains his most famous and often reprinted novel.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25⭐

Shiel after a fashion was a Poe aficionado and Vaila is his restatement of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. The narrator of the story visits his old university friend Harfager at the Harfager ancestral home on one of the far northern islands of Great Britain. Harfager suffers from hypertrophied hearing, which is known as Hyperacusis, where every day sounds may seem unbearably loud, painful and even frightening. Harfager appears half mad to the narrator as well as his aunt and Aith, their weirdly strange servant. The house is an odd structure made of brass, chained to the storm swept island. According to family records it was built as a result of a fraternal clash between two brothers 500 years before, and it embodies a curse. The house contains a gravity clock that contains little lead balls. When the clock is empty the house shall perish with all the descendent family within. It would seem, though Shiel doesn't explicitly state this that Aith is one of the quarreling brothers of 500 years before coming back to witnesses his final revenge. The curse takes effect with the narrator fortunately escaping the fate of the Harfagers. The story has merit but Shiel is no Poe.

[eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

another fave from the collection. reminded me somewhat of a mixture between frankenstein & dracula. also great use of sublimity and nature!!🤩

[Kjsbreda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atmospheric novella about a 500 year old mansion built over a wide waterfall on a remote island in the North Sea. The story creates many beautiful mental images. Shield wrote it in the style of Edgar Allan Poe's Fall of the House of Usher. There is a giant hourglass of sorts in a cellar of the mansion and, Horfager, who is the last of his tribe of gnomish men, knows that his time is running out.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating journey into a drowning mansion, full of anxiety and nervous breakdowns. Loved the aesthetics, but quite difficult to grasp the complex vocabulary for non-English readers.