The Joy of Erudition > Recent Status Updates

The final piece in this collection is the short poem "Averoigne", which describes the gothic horror allure of the setting.

"The End of the Story"—Fitting for the last story in this collection, though it's not the last in order of publication. "The Enchantress of Sylaire" was the last one he wrote, which may be why it's so much better than the others. This one shares a lot of the same ideas, but feels more sinister than the upbeat Sylaire. A man learns of a door to secret underground pleasures, and he finds it. Good ending or bad?

"The Satyr"—Another re-read. A very short story about marital infidelity, which may or may not have been influenced by a satyr in the nearby woods. Nothing supernatural was hinted at until very late. A woman cheats on her husband with a famous troubadour, and when he finds out, he sets out to murder them both during their tryst, but then a satyr shows up. There are two variant endings, but both are abrupt.

"The Disinterment of Venus" is a disappointing story, once again told entirely in distant narration with no particular character as the point of view. Working in their garden, some monks unearth an ancient statue of Venus, which turns out to be somewhat alive and has the power to turn men's minds away from their holy pursuits. This will not do.

"A Rendezvous in Averoigne" is one that I read before and couldn't remember the name of. This is a very straightforward vampire story, but it has a lot of atmosphere. Two young lovers arrange to meet in the woods for some loving, but they're both ensnared by the lure of the aforementioned vampires and brought to their castle to be fed upon, and it's up to the main character to do something about it.

"The Mandrakes" is entirely summary narration, very distant and impersonal, but the idea is good. Like a ghost story I've heard before, this is about the vengeful spirit of a secretly murdered woman getting her posthumous revenge. The difference is that she does it through mandrake roots that have grown in the garden plot where she was buried.

"The Beast of Averoigne" is a good story with a good structure, just too little character. Most of it is told in summary narration, but he gets away with it because it's 1st person perspective. On the rare occasions there's dialogue, it's good dialogue. This is a supernatural mystery about the secret of a monster brought by a comet to ravage a town, a shunned sorcerer turned hero, and a big coverup.

"The Enchantress of Sylaire" remains my favourite Averoigne story above all others, with a strong structure, lively characters, a dark romance, and a playful irony that neatly resolves the story. This story might actually be a *second* take on "The Demoiselle d'Ys", as it shares some specific elements, just not the time travel. Werewolves, vampires, lamiae, potions, a magic mirror, a portal, and a love triangle!

"The Colossus of Ylourgne" has good ideas in it, but the execution is lacking. The focal character is *eventually* Gaspard du Nord, but half the story is told in summary, with a very distant voice, relating what happens with other characters. When we finally get to Gaspard's POV, things improve, and it may have inspired the Elder Scrolls' Numidium. A dwarfish sorcerer builds a giant flesh golem to attack his enemies.

After 4 years, the end is in sight!

"A Night in Malnéant"—A dreamlike story about a man travelling endlessly to try to escape the guilt and regret of having driven the love of his life to suicide some years ago. He stops in a grim city and finds no lodging there, because all rooms are occupied by mourners, and all attention is focused on funerary arrangements for a beloved lady who bears the same unusual name as his late love.

"The Holiness Of Azédarac"—A wicked sorcerer who has attained a high position in the church seeks to get rid of a young monk who found evidence of his diabolism. He sends a man to slip something into the monk's wine—but not poison! Instead it's a potion that sends him 700 years into the past, where he falls in love with a woman. This feels like Smith's take on "The Demoiselle d'Ys" by Chambers, which I like better.

"The Maker of Gargoyles"—An evil sculptor is commissioned to sculpt two terrible gargoyles for a cathedral. Somehow, though, he doesn't even realise that his evil thoughts causes them to come to life and slaughter the villagers who dislike him. He's as surprised as anyone to find out it was his fault.

"The Mother of Toads"—An unusually explicit tale about a young man's encounter with a lascivious witch who resembles a giant toad, who has hundreds of toad familiars. He was sent there by his master to fetch some potion ingredients, but the toad-witch drugs his wine and rapes him.

"Shadow Plane"—This was a cool one that had the feel of secret government experiment creepypastas or SCP Foundation concepts, told in the form of livestream broadcasts from a pair of mountaineering sisters. A sinister figure funds an expedition that leads to a plane crash in the mountains, and strange shadows that may not be illusions close in with each broadcast for help.

"Devoured By the Soiled and Peeling Wallpaper"—A story that takes place in a future after the recent fall of civilisation, where hostile haints (a kind of ghost) make most places uninhabitable. The world is rather roughly sketched out, and it's more of a character piece, about a man who sees that the ghosts of his mother and sister have returned to their home. He hopes they won't kill him.

"The Beast of Bray Road"—This is just a description of a monster that's been seen on a particular road for a long time, with a few anecdotes. No plot.

"Tales From Alexandria"—Not what it sounds like. I was unsure of this one at first, but I ended up liking it. This has been the only proper "fantasy" story in this issue. This one is also an idea I've seen done before many times (someone can enter the worlds of books or make the worlds in books real), but it was different enough that it wasn't predictable. Plus, it included a sinister clockwork body snatcher.

"No Burning Bushes"—Flash fiction about a faceless protagonist running into Yahweh mingling at a party. Cute, but I've seen this exact same idea done better before, with more interesting protagonists and with actual plots and endings.

"The Dreams in the Cipher House"—This story had a lot of great ideas in it, and gets into the less popular concepts of ancient alchemy, such as seeking underlying patterns in nature and music. The main character (fresh out of prison) gains strange cosmic powers, but at the expense of thinking in abstract concepts that alienate his peers. Good, but I would have enjoyed it more if it weren't so steeped in rap culture.

"Gut Instinct"—Another flash fiction, but nothing really to say about this one. Didn't do anything for me.

"Apocalypse Lights"—Similar to "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", except with a whole commune of scapegoats, who apparently willingly accept their role of thankless suffering. But the townsfolk who benefit from their self-sacrifice are so monstrously cruel and avaricious, it's not enough for them.

"The Thing in Jesse's House" by Heather Graham is by far the best story in this issue up to this point. A great story about a brother and sister, a serial killer, and a haunted house. The cover illustration looks like it comes from this story. The satisfying epilogue is extremely welcome in a world of non-endings where we're left to guess what comes next.

"Diomedes vs the Gods"—a bit of flash fiction about an even more macabre version of the Roman circuses. Grand Guignol style re-enactments of mythological battles, using crude surgical grafts to create stand-ins for legendary monsters using enslaved participants. The surgeries don't have to be sterile, as they're not intended to live long.

"Her Happy Place" — a vaguely Stephen King-style story about an evil killer camper trailer. The ending is sinister, but too open-ended for my taste. I assume, since it's a horror story, that it's meant to imply it's going to kill her grandchildren, too, but the "wink" at the end makes me unsure. We don't get enough insight on how she feels about her grandchildren to know if it's meant as reassuring or conspiratorial.

Burroughs uses the word "hideous" in this book 51 times.