Serapion: A tale of Demonic Possession from the Victorian Era
Written by Gertrude Barrows Bennett and Francis Stevens
Narrated by Chirag Patel
2/5
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About this audiobook
In a career that spanned a mere three years, Gertrude Barrows Bennett (writing as Francis Stevens) published half a dozen books that came to define the genres that followed on. she is most popularly known as the woman who invented dark fantasy, but on the way she also invented a new, creepier kind of dystopian Sci Fi.
Today, you would call this a tale of trauma-onset schizophrenia, or perhaps a terrible descent into Dissociative Identity Disorder, foretold by genetics. In 1920, the best way to make sense of it was demonic possession. A true masterwork of psychological horror, from before psychology existed.
"One of the most intense, complete and unrelenting tales of psychological horror ever put together. No gore, guts and physical putrescence so common to horror, but the utter dissolution of a human spirit, as told by the victim. It is also perhaps the saddest book I've ever read, a perfectly realized story of unredeemed personal degradation and its effects on all it touches.
Clayton Barbour, the narrator, is a protected bourgeois son just weak enough to allow himself to be overwhelmed by a sly, dissembling force of evil, just strong enough to be constantly tormented by his weakness. Invited to a séance by a casual acquaintance, Moore, who sees in him a psychic force, he becomes the inadvertent victim of Moore's wife's contact with a channeled malignant force.
From this point on, the life of Clayton, his family and his friends is slowly, inextricably ripped asunder by events and in ways that seem unconnected but are manipulated by the Fifth Presence within him. Bennett pulls no punches, provides no happy ending. In that, it is her most honest work (and perhaps a summing summing up of her own life to this point, when she had lost a husband, father and invalid mother)...
Dark, wrenching, truly horrifying, but a book I can recommend without the least reservation." [Derek Davis, Goodreads]
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The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories: Strange Tales and Dark Wonders from the Man who Created Modern Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime And The Gods: The Book That Influenced Millions of Fantasy Writers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gods Of Pegana: The First Ever Modern Fantasy Collection Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Book of Wonder: A collection of creative and inspirational tales from the Father of Fantasy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales of Wonder: Eighteen Magical Tales of Dreams, Destinies, Strangeness and Wonder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNightmare!: The First Ever Dark Fantasy Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales of Three Hemispheres: A collection of classic fantasy stories by Edward Plunkett Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heads of Cerberus: The Book that Created Dystopian Sci Fi Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Serapion: A tale of Demonic Possession from the Victorian Era Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Sunfire!: Collected pulp magazine tales from the original mistress of fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Citadel of Fear Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClaimed!: The Tale of Undersea Gods That Inspired Cthulu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for Serapion
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The story is no doubt dark and grim, if a little over-melodramatic in places, and could be gripping if it were read in a suitable manner, but unfortunately the effect for me was ruined by the narrator, who read as if the audience were five year old children and the subject was a happy fairy tale. Listen to a preview and make your own mind up. I'll get the book and read it to myself.