An Inky Unfathomable Space

Her Letters by Kate Chopin  (1895)

Tuesday’s Tale of Drama   July 14, 2020

Her Letters is a mysterious little drama and one of Kate Chopin’s most powerful fiction. The story opens with a woman sitting before a generous fire that illuminates her apartment while a steady rain falls from a leaden sky.  A thick bundle of letters is on a table.

A ponderous scene for sure. Are the envelopes love letters? A confession maybe?

 

 

Have you ever in your lifetime left something to chance? Taking risks is the theme here in this story of love, marriage, and passion. When death is eminent, letting go of the past and the secrets it holds become an issue of trust vs. desire vs. opportunity.

The ending here carries a shadowy flavor that surprised me. Sometimes to solve the mystery, one must listen to the beyond. A fascinating read!

 

 

 

Read Her Letters here at KateChopin.org

https://www.katechopin.org/pdfs/Kate%20Chopin%2C%20Her%20Letters.pdf

Listen to the audio here at You Tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InPV7eFQJhY

 

Kate Chopin (1850–1904) was an American author who is considered a pioneer of early feminist literature. She is best known for her novel The Awakening, a depiction of a woman’s struggle for selfhood that was immensely controversial during Chopin’s lifetime. Chopin wrote in a naturalistic style and cited the influence of French writer Guy de Maupassant. She died at the age of fifty-four.

“To succeed, the artist much possess the courageous soul

… the brave soul.

The soul that dares and defies.”

A bust of Kate Chopin at the Writers’ Corner in St. Louis, Central West End Association, dedicated on March 11, 2012.

 

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Beyond Castle Frankenstein, a Ghost Story of Mary Shelley

 

July 6, 2020   Beyond Castle Frankenstein by Paula Cappa

Inside the ruins of Castle Frankenstein in Darmstadt, Germany, a ghost resides.  This is no ordinary ghost. It is a ghost of the unfinished.  The saddest thing about ghosts is that they have no home. They exist in a kind of blue dementia where most of us are afraid to enter. If a time ever comes to you when you are tempted to enter that blue dementia, I encourage you to open the door.  This short story, a fiction both historical and biographical, Beyond Castle Frankenstein, is what happened to Mary Shelley when she opened that door and passed over threshold.

This story was originally published in Journals of Horror, Found Fiction, edited by Terry M. West, at Pleasant Storm Entertainment, Inc.  I have reprinted it on Amazon as a Kindle single and in ebook format on Smashwords.

 

Mary Shelley is haunted. Haunted beyond cemeteries and tombstones. Love and madness rattle her every day. Scandal and drama steal her sleep. And finally it is the stab of her own impending death that drives her to conjure the dead.

 

Those who have been following this blog and read my supernatural mysteries, you may be familiar with this story as I have posted about it and Mary Shelley a few times. As well, I have several of her short stories in the INDEX above for your reading pleasure.  Beyond Castle Frankenstein is my favorite because it relates factual information about one of our most enduring and talented authors in literature. I felt honored to discover this story in my writing world and present it to so many readers both via Pleasant Storm Entertainment publisher and now as a reprint.

Castle Frankenstein still stands today in Darmstadt, Germany.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As does the Casa Magni in Italy where Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley lived for short period of time.

 

The image below is a shocking portrait of the body of Percy Bysshe Shelley being cremated.

 

Some early reviews of Beyond Castle Frankenstein

“Historical fact and fiction blend in an evocative and atmospheric tale of a romantic triangle, love and jealousy that transcends death, and a haunted protagonist; but is Mary Shelley truly haunted by the shade of her predecessor as Shelley’s wife–or by her own guilt? Using the literary conceit of a “found fiction,” accomplished and award-winning author Cappa skillfully crafts a work as macabre as any of her protagonist’s own creations.  Not to be missed by readers who are Shelley fans; but most readers of supernatural fiction will appreciate this e-story whether they’re Shelley fans or not.” Werner Lind, author of the vampire novella Lifeblood, award-winning short fiction, avid book reviewer, and a librarian with published scholarly articles.

“Paula Cappa’s Beyond Castle Frankenstein is just the kind of supernatural story I most enjoy: A touch of antiquarianism (reminiscent of M.R. James), the involvement of real people and places (presented accurately), imaginative, atmospheric, and with just the right frisson of horror at the end. It is a well-conceived story well told, and a welcome addition to the world of supernatural fiction. I am looking forward to reading more of Paula Cappa’s work.” Andrew M. Seddon, author of What Darkness Remains, In Death Survive, Tales from the Brackenwood Ghost Club.

Did you know that Mary Shelley …

 … Said she made up the name “Frankenstein.” In German, Frankenstein  means Stone of the Franks. Historians report that the Shelleys visited Castle Frankenstein on a journey up the Rhine River.

… Said that she wrote Frankenstein from a waking dream: “I did not sleep, nor could I be said to think.”

“I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideious phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life. … He sleeps; but he is awakened; he opens his eyes; behold, the horrid thing stands at his bedside, opening his curtains and looking on him with yellow watery, but speculative eyes.” Preface from the London Edition of Frankenstein, 1831.

 Buy on Amazon.com  .99 cents

 

 

On Smashwords.com for ibooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and more

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1028313

 

Journals of Horror: Found Fiction, editor Terry M. West, Pleasant Storm Entertainment, Inc.

 

Thank you to all my readers and followers on this Reading Fiction Blog!