The Devil's Muse

Category: literary

  • Horror Cinema Trivia: Only Lovers Left Alive

    Only Lovers Left Alive is a dreamy tale about vampires that, interestingly, never uses the word “vampire” in the movie. I really enjoyed how this story made me reflect on the passing of time and the feeling of being connected to the past. I liked this tidbit about the movie related to British literature:

    Christopher “Kit” Marlowe (Sir John Hurt) mentions writing Hamlet, and ghostwriting for William Shakespeare to have an outlet for his work. The real Marlowe died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 29, a few weeks before the publication of Shakespeare’s first known play. The Marloweian theory, which is considered fringe by a vast majority of scholars, suggests that he faked his death, and adopted the nom de plume “William Shakespeare.”

    I loved the mix of moodiness and drama in this story.

    Source: IMDb Trivia: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

    Jarmusch, Jim. Only Lovers Left Alive, Soda Pictures, 2014.

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  • The Devil’s Book

    1922, from Abecedarian: Restoring the Lost Sense
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  • A Medieval Good Death

    An illustration of a medieval “good death.” A man in bed is struck by the figure of Death, while a monk at his side urges him to “pray Christ thy soule to save,” and Christ promises “mercie thou shall have.” The Carthusian Miscellany, England (Yorkshire or Lincolnshire), 1460-1500

    From Medieval Manuscripts Blog – Byland Abbey Ghost Stories: A Guide to Medieval Ghosts

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  • Rebel

    by Gustave Doré, 1866
    (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paradise_Lost_37.jpg)

    “Satan, now in prospect of Eden, and nigh the place where he must now attempt the bold enterprise which he undertook alone against God and Man, falls into many doubts with himself, and many passions, fear, envy, and despair; but at length confirms himself in evil, journeys on to Paradise whose outward prospect and situation is described; overleaps the bounds; sits in the shape of a cormorant on the tree of life, as highest in the garden, to look about him. The garden described; Satan’s first sight of Adam and Eve; his wonder at their excellent form and happy state, but with resolution to work their fall; overhears their discourse, thence gathers that the tree of knowledge was forbidden them to eat of, under penalty of death; and thereon intends to found his temptation by seducing them to transgress: then leaves them a while to know further of their state by some other means.” – Book IV, Paradise Lost, John Milton, 1674, based on text from 1817 London edition

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  • The Death of Cleopatra

    The Death of Cleopatra, by Reginald Arthur, 1892

    Give me my robe. Put on my crown. I have
    Immortal longings in me. Now no more
    The juice of Egypt’s grape shall moist this lip.

    – Cleopatra,
    Antony and Cleopatra, Act V, sc ii, 335-337,
    Shakespeare

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  • Horror Junior: Return to Oz

    I was a child of the 1980s, and I first saw Return to Oz on a Sunday night as the weekly Disney family movie. I was excited to see it as a sequel to The Wizard of Oz, but I was not expecting it to be so scary. The witch with the replaceable heads was freaky and surreal, and I loved it. I had never seen anything like it.

    I rewatched the film this past week for nostalgia, not thinking it would be as intense as I remembered. Oh, no. It was intense. The movie began with poor little Dorothy narrowly escaping electro-shock therapy to discourage her imagination. It was terrifying.

    The other frightening scenes were equally as scary today. I liked the story of this movie more than The Wizard of Oz, both then and now. Also, as an adult, I have read L. Frank Baum books from the Oz series, and I better appreciate how Return to Oz captured the threatening and sinister tone of his storytelling.

    Murch, Walter. Return to Oz, Buena Vista Distribution, 1985.

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  • Go Beyond Hill House with Shirley Jackson | Rue Morgue Archives

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  • The Rabbit Witch

    Happy Year of the Rabbit!

    Taken from The Library of Congress: The Rabbit Witch and Other Tales by Katharine Pyle, 1938

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  • Christmas Ghost Stories

    I have a copy of one of these ghost stories, and I love it! A great gift idea for any fan of the literary paranormal.

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  • Horror Cinema: The Turning

    I came across The Turning on Netflix. I enjoyed most of it: the contrast of the modern main character with the older estate and secondary characters; the jump scares with the mannequin; a creepy kid, who is a ghost?

    My interest fell off about two thirds through when I lost touch with where the story was going. The main character was going mad and seeing things, and, instead of focusing in on the ghost story as a conclusion, I found that it spiraled out into chaos.

    I have never been that impressed by Henry James’s “Turning of the Screw.” I have tried a few times over my lifetime because I love some of his other works, and I love nothing more than a ghost story. When I started this movie, I was hopeful that it would be a fresh take on the story and could change my mind on the source material.

    Not successful.

    Sigismondi, Floria. The Turning, Universal Pictures, 2020.

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