Horror Shiel, M.P.: Vaila. v1. 08 Jan 09

[Dr. Drib]

Vaila is a novella written by M.P. Shiel.

Here's some information on the plot:

"Vaila was created by M.P. Shiel and appeared in “Vaila” (Shapes in the Fire, 1896)....“Vaila,” later rewritten and published as “House of Sounds,” (1911) is an M.P. Shiel horror story, and if you’ve read any of the Prince Zaleski stories you’ll know exactly what I mean by that.

"Vaila is about a nameless narrator and his best friend, Haco Harfager. As young men the pair are students in Paris, sharing a flat. The narrator, who was acquainted with “the great Corot,” has some experience with those whose insanity is somehow associated with noise, either a child who thinks she can hear the noise of the world or a poor man who becomes obsessed with the noise of politics. As it turns out, Harfager himself has a peculiar interest in noise. The narrator does not see this for a long time, because he and Harfager, though as close as flat mates can be, do not share intimacies with each other and for a long while neither knows much about the other’s background. The narrator knows that Harfager comes from a high background, and sees “over the whole white face of my friend...a look of woeful inability, utter gravity of sorrow,” but it isn’t until the narrator tells Harfager that he is leaving Paris on a trip that Harfager opens up to him. Harfager tells the narrator that he is “the object of a devilish malice...the prey of a hellish temptation,” the temptation being to return home to his mother and aunt, who are the source of the devilish malice. Harfager’s family is an ancient one, come from an adulterous man who mutilated and murdered his brother and took his wife as his own, and they live in Vaila, a remote house supposedly destined to be filled with wicked madness and a lecherous agony, and those inside destined to feel the fury of Harold, the mutilated ancestor, who had his ears cut off before he died, “til the tyme of the Houss bee ended.” The narrator genially scoffs at this story, but Harfager is quite convinced that it’s true. The narrator goes on his trip despite Harfager’s pleas--Harfager needs the narrator to help him resist the temptation to return home--and when he returns Harfager is gone."

Like all the books I assemble on MobileRead, this too was assembled to reflect human intervention and artistic judgment.

I hope you enjoy it.

Don

This work is assumed to be in the Life+70 public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. Copyright laws differ throughout the world, and it may still be under copyright in some countries. Before downloading, please check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work.

To report a copyright violation you can contact us here.