Udolpho: Issue 1

By Ellerslie Books

Udolpho is a creative anthology devoted to all things gothic. This unique collection includes essays, short fiction, and poetry featuring an array of hallmarks of the genre. Also included is a brief outline of the elements of gothic literature and a listing of prominent gothic writers from across the last three centuries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ellerslie Books
• Release date: Apr 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088120750

Book preview

Udolpho

Udolpho

Udolpho

Issue 1

H.S. Leigh Koonce, Editor

publisher logo

Ellerslie Books

Copyright © 2023 by Ellerslie Books

Cover Design: Cory McNamee

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Printing, 2023

Contents

Definitions

You're Vile

Instinct

The Upstairs

Inheritance

Functional Society

secret names

Delicious Offering

Instinct - Joey

Drowning In Words

From Himalayan Salt Lamp

From Himalayan Salt Lamp

From Himalayan Salt Lamp

The Grandest House in Lynn County

The Flame

Walls

Contributors

Gothic Authors for Further Reading

Definitions

Gothic literature: a school of writing that varies in topics but often includes an element of fear, the threat of supernatural events, the past intruding upon the present, imprisonment, murder, and vengeful persecution.  The setting is often a place with an historic feel, such as a castle, a crypt, or a religious building.

Female gothic literature: work by women that, historically, permitted a discussion of sexual desire and the societal norms facing their gender.  Often times the work involves a persecuted heroine, a villainous father or guardian, and the search for an absent mother.  A sense of horror centers around rape, incest, and/or the control of a woman by a man.

Southern gothic literature: set in the southern United States and involving deeply flawed, eccentric characters, some supernatural or magical elements, grotesque situations with a dark sense of humor, and events influenced by poverty, crime, and violence, usually set in an area with structural decay.

Eco-gothic literature: writing that highlights the darkness of the future planet due to climate change and other human forced detriment to the planet.

*the term literature is used to denote not only fictional prose, but also poetry and essays.

You're Vile

Leslie Simon

you’re vile, you make acid burn

you turn wind into deadly hurricanes

you scorch down trees

and close the light

you live in darkness

where hate grows like fungus

you are mold, the germ

the parasite that eats away at the living

You are EVIL…my daughter, the Devil

Instinct

Art X. Love

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.

- Buddha

Sometimes, it’s the darkest shadows. It’s in the coldest nights. 

A young man wearing all black is sitting at a bar, a single piece of paper his companion. He holds on to a fountain pen with a dragon emblem.  It’s the thickest fog. It’s in the silence. He writes. Pleased with himself, folds the paper into a triangle and places it in the front pocket of his ripped jeans. He slides his pen into his other pocket and scans the room. Someone catches his eye. In the patio, next to a statue of a gargoyle. Their eyes connect and the lights of the venue flicker. He approaches. 

Something tells me you’re going to change my life. he says to her. 

Something tells me you’ve used that line before. the woman responds. 

He chuckles, and pulls out a cigarette case. Unfortunately, it’s yet to ring true, but I have hope for you. He motions the case to her. She accepts the offer and pulls a cigarette out. 

Butterfly effect; doesn’t everyone change your life? she says, testing him. 

Logically, sure. Spiritually, no. He produces a red zippo lighter. He lights her cigarette and then his. 

"Sounds like you want someone to change you." she says and she takes a long drag. Their eyes connect deeply. It’s as if she’s trying to get through to his core. 

He opens his eyes wide and matches her with a deep inhale. I could never change.

Everyone changes, she says. She looks at the gargoyle. Except statues. They’re frozen. They only change when they’re broken and shattered.

A short chubby young man wearing a pink hawaiian shirt approaches. Hey man, sorry to bug you, but someone told me I could pick up from you, I’m going to rave this weekend. 

The young man in all black looks around. Who the hell is this little. I should rip his head off right here. Who told you that? 

The bartender, Hawaiian shirt motions behind him. The man in black looks, makes eye contact with the bartender, and they both nod. 

Here, take my number down, he says. I can make some money off this loser. Hawaiian shirt obliges and pulls out his phone. 

Thanks, man I’ll hit you up, nice to meet you, and uh hi, you’re really pretty, uhm well have a good night you guys, see you around. Hawaiian shirt takes off. 

So where were we, the man in black refocuses on his female companion. 

I forgot, but hey, in case we get disrupted again, you haven’t told me your name yet. she says. 

Jax, his eyes flash a bright red.

Joey, her eyes flash a bright purple. 

They shake hands. Holding on just a second longer. The lights in the venue flicker. Lighting flashes across the sky. The bands skips a beat. A bartender slips and spills a plate full of drinks. A fight breaks out. 

•••

The alarm sounds. It beats the high pitched wane into his ear drums. Jax’s fist lands on the alarm and is dismantles, sending shards of plastic flying through the room like kamikaze pilots. Jax stands in the middle of his disaster. His studio apartment reeks of rotten food, perspiration, incense, and marijuana. Splattered across the floor, his unkept collection of black clothes. The walls, mostly grey and black, drip with colorful arrows, scribbles, shapes, x’s, o’s, in an assortment of randomized patterns all culminating to the center of the room where, in a gold frame, at a slight tilt, measuring 72 inches by 48 inches, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Warrior stares into Jax’s face. Jax, always one to be curiously on edge, begins to tiptoe toward the piece, silently, as if not to awaken Warrior, and Jax’s head, in a methodical, unconsciously deliberate pace, begins to tilt, and continues to angle itself the closer he gets to the painting, until finally, he is breathing down Warriors neck, heavily, almost panting, and then in one gesture, Jax’s arms move in a furious rush toward the painting and he straightens it, perfectly. 

There, Jax says peacefully. 

•••

Jax walks down the concrete stairs of the concrete building in the concrete jungle of Los Perdidos. It’s evening. The lights are dim. The moon glows. All the animals are out to play. Jax wears his disguise; his mirrored sunglasses, black cap, and mask. Jax presses a button on his pentagram shaped remote control key. By the time he reaches