Of Poe and Lovecraft

Having recently read H. P. Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, the thought came to my mind: Why does Edgar Allan Poe dominate the high school horror curriculum when Lovecraft is just as terrifying, if not more? So, what makes Poe better? Why not include more Lovecraft? This post is dedicated to this pondering inside my head.

Why Poe?

Chances are that you read at least one of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories when you were in high school. As a high school teacher myself, I always did several of his stories because it generated interest in the students and, hey, who doesn’t like a good creepy story? When I taught these stories, I taught them for several reasons: 1) Their connection to American Romanticism, 2) as evidence of Poe’s Philosophy of Composition, and 3) as a representation of the horror/Gothic genre.

Connection to American Romanticism

Romanticism, in general, was a movement that saw thinking move away from strict Enlightenment thought about reason to embrace the power of imagination. In Britain, poets turned predominantly to poetry that expressed imagination through personal experience and the power of nature. Romanticism was also heavily influenced by both the American, French, and Industrial revolutions which were causing upheavals in the everyday lives of millions of people. Nature was seen as a creator, destroyer, preserver, and a balm against the industrialized world, but to some writers, nature alone was not enough to escape from the grinding metal of industry. Thus, people yearned for something beyond the natural.

In the context of Romanticism, nature can certainly be supernatural, but the supernatural can also take imagination to new heights. The Gothic grew out of Romanticism to help satisfy, shall we say, a heightened need for escape that “traditional” Romanticism did not offer. In the Gothic, the supernatural held heightened sway and led characters on more fantastical adventures that did a better job at distracting people from the drudgery and stresses of their everyday life.

American Romanticism also focuses on the expression of imagination, personal experience, and nature, but seemed to permeate the short story as equally, if not more, than it did poetry. (In Britain, when you talk about Romanticism, it’s almost entirely poets and their poetry….) Poe, as a horror writer, takes the Gothic into account in many of his stories. For example in Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” the supernatural is brought into play through the Red Death manifesting as a masked and uninvited party-goer at Price Prospero’s castle. The Red Death is itself a manifestation of nature as a destroyer, and all of this came from the imagination of Poe. So, at its heart, it’s a Romantic story of death. Not every Poe story fits into this exact formula, but Poe has a formula nonetheless.

Poe’s Philosophy of Composition

Poe probably didn’t intend to be Romantic. (For that matter, literary periods are not named while they are occurring, they come to light in retrospection and once a new era has begun or even later.) Poe did intend to follow his own philosophy to write the best stories that he could. In brief, Poe believed the following about any short story:

• The end of the story (denouement) must always be kept in view…
• Every element of the story must move toward a single effect…
• A story should take no longer than one sitting (in Poe’s day, 2.5 hours) or the reader would be interrupted by the needs of everyday life…

These basic elements create a solid foundation with which to analyze a story. Thus making Poe a great opportunity for literary analysis; he identified a clear set of criteria and high school students are generally more engaged when reading his stories and likely to learn more.

Example of the Horror/Gothic Genre

Due to the nature of how Poe wrote, his work lends itself to be very teachable in the high school setting. For student’s who had not yet been exposed to the horror or Gothic genre, because, let’s be honest, it’s deplorable how little these young people read, Poe is an accessible introduction.

However, having read several stories by H. P. Lovecraft, including The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, I felt that I was significantly more impacted by his Gothic horror fiction than that of Poe’s. Why?

What About Lovecraft?

Considering how Lovecraft stands up to Poe related to his connection to a literary movement, philosophies, and and option for exposure to a genre, he is unfortunately eclipsed by a series of factors that are not related to his ability horrify and disturb his readers.

Firstly, Lovecraft and Poe were not writing at the same time. Poe was born, wrote, and died in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. Lovecraft’s was writing much later; his first published story, “The Tomb,” was not published until 1917. So, Lovecraft simply cannot be chosen as a representation of both the Gothic/horror genre as well as an example of American Romanticism.

Secondly, Lovecraft does not have a strict philosophy of composition like that of Poe. Lovecraft does, it appears, heavily incorporate different themes into his writings. These themes often include superstition, religion, threats to humanity, race, fate, guilt, and forbidden knowledge. While these themes can make for a juicy story, Lovecraft’s views of race were… well… racy. So that could be another nail in the coffin.

Lastly, while Lovecraft could certainly be a representation of the Gothic and of horror, if a teacher has covered the base with Poe, they likely do not have time to incorporate another story or set of stories from Lovecraft. It is also possible that Lovecraft may be looked over because he is a good but more wordy than Poe. However, in Snicket’s Servant’s opinion, many of Lovecraft’s descriptions are part of what make his writing so memorable and disturbing.

So, Should Lovecraft be Ditched?

Absolutely not! While Lovecraft is put at a disadvantage when compared to Poe, Lovecraft still evokes a more lasting impact on his readers due to a number of factors. (See my post about The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.) His themes, especially of forbidden knowledge, seem to creep into his readers. Furthermore, Lovecraft does something that Poe does not. Lovecraft has a way of building suspense that continuously piques his reader’s curiosity, even beyond the end of his stories. With Poe, everything in self contained; once the final effect is achieved, things are resolved, and the story ends. Lovecraft’s stories also end in a satisfying way, but he manages to leave a part of the story within us that ruminates and takes longer to dissipate. While we are given an acceptable explanation, we yearn for more.

Or, perhaps, we were brought closer to other worlds that we thought we could have been in a story.

A Selection of Their Best Works

Edgar Allan Poe

According to Interesting Literature, the following 10 are recommended…

1. The Balloon Hoax
2. The Premature Burial
3. Hop-Frog
4. The Gold-Bug
5. The Tell-Tale Heart
6. William Wilson
7. The Purloined Letter
8. The Black Cat
9. The Murders in the Rue Morgue
10. The Fall of the House of Usher

It would be remiss if I didn’t also recommend “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Case of M. Valdemar,” and “The Masque of the Red Death.”

H. P. Lovecraft

According to the Discovery section of Reedsy.com, the following 10 stories are Lovecraft’s best…

1. The Call of Cthulhu
2. The Shadow Over Innsmouth
3. The Whisperer in Darkness
4. The Dunwich Horror
5. At the Mountains of Madness
6. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
7. The Silver Key and Through the Gates of the Silver Key
8. The Shadow Out of Time
9. The Mound
10. Imprisoned with the Pharaohs

In Snicket’s Servant’s opinion, there are two others that should be added to the list: “The Color of Space” and a short novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Both are suspenseful, disturbing page turners.

Who horrifies you more?

Your humble blogger,

-Snicket’s Servant

Works Cited

“The 10 Best H.P. Lovecraft Books for New Readers.” Reedsy, Reedsy

Limited, 15 Feb. 2020, reedsy.com/discovery/blog/best-lovecraft-

books.

“The Best Edgar Allan Poe Stories.” Interesting Literature, Interesting

Literature, 18 June 2017, interestingliterature.com/2015/10/the-best-

edgar-allan-poe-stories/.

Lovecraft, H. P. Great Tales of Horror. Fall River Press, 2012.

Poe, Edgar Allan. Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. The Franklin Library, 1979.

Featured Photo

Elchavoman. Poe and Lovecraft. 11 Mar. 2015.

Indiana Jones: The True Adventurer

Netflix recently added everyone’s favorite adventure movies to their ever expanding library: Indiana Jones.  From the moment my family watched Raiders of the Lost Ark with me, I was hooked.  (My first experience with an adventure story was in 7th or 8th grade when my class read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  This book was also much enjoyed.)  With Netflix’s recent additions, I began to think about why I liked the Indiana Jones movie so much.  Thinking of other adventure stories, I think of Disney’s National Treasure and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Mummy, Laura Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (among the others). These movies are all entertaining as well, but there is something that sets Indiana Jones easily above the rest.

So, shall we take an adventure to discover what makes an adventure story truly mesmerizing?

The Adventure Story

If you ask any of a number of dictionaries, there isn’t really a concrete definition of an adventure story.  Some dictionaries might say “a story about an adventure,” but that’s about as helpful as a Phillips head screwdriver with flat head screws.  Definitions that several dictionaries will give you if you search “adventure story” are:

Story: a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events.

Thriller: a suspenseful adventure story or play or movie. (This is a terrible definition for an “adventure story” because it uses “adventure” in the definition…)

Saga: a narrative telling the adventures of a hero, family, or group of people, often about the people of Iceland.  (My thoughts on Njal’s Saga are a post in themselves…)

So, as you can see… there isn’t a great definition of adventure story.  A “story” can be anything.  A “thriller” can be its own genre of writing and movie (see Alfred Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” if you’re interested).  A “saga” brings to mind the Odyssey or the Iliad… which certainly are adventures, however, they’re not Indiana Jones.

The best “definition” that I can offer for an “adventure story” is:

A high-intensity, fast-paced story that includes dangerous, often physical, action which follows a character and his or her companions, beyond their normal lives, to achieve a goal.

In my humble opinion, Indiana Jones certainly fits the bill.  So, with a much more concrete definition identified, we can proceed.

The Adventures

Raiders of the Lost Ark

To say that the first installment of the Indiana Jones series is a humble beginning is entirely inaccurate.  The first installment is a slam dunk action-packed adventure that includes all parts of our definition of an adventure story.

We have from the get-go a high-intensity, fast-paced, dangerous, and physical story.  To highlight a few examples: Indy is almost flattened by a giant rolling boulder booby trap; he is almost shot and burned to death in a remote Himalayan bar; he is seemingly sealed in a millenniums old chamber (sans the Ark of the Covenant); is almost blown up in a flying wing plane while fighting a giant and saving his beloved Marion; and is almost vaporized(?) by the Ark of the Covenant itself.  There are many, many more instances in just this one movie, but you should watch it for yourself.

Indy is not alone on his adventure!  He has his good friends Marion, Marcus, Sallah, and others to help him on his way.  Marcus and Sallah often serve as comic relief characters, which also make the movies very funny (especially in The Last Crusade) but, in Raiders, Marion is key.

While we learn that Indy hasn’t seen Marion for a while, and they didn’t leave each other on the greatest of terms, she becomes, perhaps, the most beloved “Jones girls” of the series.  Marion herself has a wide array of abilities, especially her ability to drink anyone under the table.  She can be both damsel in distress as well as capable helper, but most significantly loved by all.

If you haven’t seen the movies, and haven’t caught on, the goal for the first movie is to discover the lost Ark of the Covenant and keep it from the Nazis.  As Amy Farrah Fowler reveals in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, the Nazis would have found the Ark (and died) whether Indiana Jones was involved or not, however, as many have said, sometimes the journey is as enjoyable as the destination.  And I think that is one of the best parts of Raiders;  the climactic scene when the Nazis open the Ark is awe-inspiring, but the watcher has a heck of a good time watching Indy fighting the Nazis to get there, especially since Indy is “making it up as he goes.”

The Temple to Doom

One thing that is often missed about The Temple of Doom is that it is a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Our beloved directors did not want the Nazis to be the antagonist a second time in a row.  This time, however, things was a little more creative.  Our antagonists, providing Indy with many high intensity and physically dangerous action and us with endless entertainment, are the members, both willing and unwilling, of the Thuggee cult.

The Thuggees are an entertaining, dangerous, and exciting creation, but also brought criticism upon the movie.  The Thuggees praised the goddess Kali as a rather demonic destroyer that desired human sacrifices.  Kali is a Hindu goddess, and is a destroyer, but a destroyer of evil forces… things that she does destroy allow for goodness to reign.  Furthermore the movie helped to garner the creation of the PG-13 movie rating.  I would say that that was an appropriate move since not everyone was prepared to see someone have their still beating heart ripped out of their chest and then be lowered into a lava pit as well as several characters being whipped as a punishment and/or torture.

Moving on.

The goal of out dearest Indiana Jones for The Temple of Doom was to recover a mystical stone that helped to protect a village in Northern India.  The people of the village believe that members of the Thuggee cult were responsible for the theft of the stone as well as the kidnapping of all the children from the village.  Village elders believed that Indy, “Jones girls” Willie Scott (surely an homage to the Wilhelm Scream given how much she shrieks in the movie), and sidekick Short Round were sent by Shiva to bring back the stone and the children.  The Sankara stone, Sivalinga, as Indy explains and as is revealed throughout the movie, is one of five and could bring both life and destruction to those possessed them all.  Indy also reveals that the stone would bring fortune and glory if he found any one of them… so off they go to Pankot Palace and a whole lot of trouble.

As I have already said, the Thuggees bring plenty of high-intensity and physical danger to Indy and company.  Most notably through a booby trap that Indy discovers that almost crushes and stabs himself and Short Round to death.  Luckily, they are saved by Willie after she gets over being a diva for a moment and confronts a room full of bugs.  Later, Indy is almost crushed to death again, however this time in a rock crushed while fighting a behemoth of a child chain gang overseer.  Lastly, Indy, Willie, and Short Round come close to their demise in an epic mine cart chase and are almost washed out of the mine in a deluge of water from a storage reservoir.

One of the most interesting things about The Temple of Doom is the mine cart chase itself. Production only had so much space at the location of filming.  The relatively short length of actual track was lit differently each time the carts passed through to create the illusion that it was another section of track.  Furthermore, several scenes were created using stop-motion models.  Watching the movie, you might never notice the difference unless you know what to look for.

The Last Crusade

The Last Crusade tackled perhaps the ultimate adventure: the quest for the Holy Grail.  I think it is important to recognize that while Indy is on yet another adventure, it is also a quest.  The thing about quests is that the hero of the quest often unexpectedly finds more or less than what he or she is actually looking for.  In The Last Crusade, Indy not only finds (and quickly looses) the Holy Grail, but he also heals his relationship with his father.  With the action, comedy, and the deeper story between Indy and his dad make for a very round movie.

It is interesting to recognize that Indiana Jones is largely a flat character. Throughout Raiders of the Lost ark and The Temple of Doom, Indy’s character stays the same: he wins some, he loses some, he get the girl, and he achieves his goal.   While he also does this in The Last Crusade, Indy’s father adds another dimension that the other movies did not have.

The high-intensity, fast-paced, dangerous. and physical action of the movie brings back elements of the previous two, but also adds a certain amount of humor.  Indy’s father, played by the one-and-only Sean Connery, helps to add that humor in the burning castle’s rotating fireplace, in the motorcycle side car, the zeppelin, using his umbrella to disturb a flock of seagulls to crash a plane, and simply in the dynamic between the two characters.  Additionally, the Nazis have returned and the “Jones girl,” Dr. Elsa Schneider,  is one of them… if only Marion were back in the picture…

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not going to say much about The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  While it’s, surprisingly, a little over ten years old, its making and action are just… different from the original three adventures.  It is certainly an interesting movie and brings back the Ark of the Covenant as well as our beloved Marion, however the spirit, shall we say, of the movie is missing.  Perhaps my final words will help flesh out what I mean.

So, Why is Indiana Jones the True Adventurer?

The biggest reason Indiana Jones is the true adventurer is because all the stunts except a very few, actually had to be performed by a human person.  To a certain extent, the danger was real for the actors and stunt doubles.

For example, Harrison Ford and his stunt double were actually dragged behind the truck carrying the Ark of the Covenant.  A trough was dug for the truck to drive over so there would be enough clearance for a person to fit underneath.  Other stunts were not as dangerous, but still physically demanding, like swinging from place to place on a whip, running across train cars, and getting into choreographed fist fights.

Another element that makes the Indiana Jones movies true adventures is the element of magic in each movie.  In Raiders of the Lost Ark, we witness the power of God.  In The Temple of Doom we witness the power of Kali, while misappropriated, and voodoo.  In The Last Crusade we see the power of the Holy Grail.  The element of magic brings a sort of romance to the movies that other adventure movies lack.

So, what do you think?  Is Indiana Jones the true adventurer, or does someone else deserve the title?  Personally, I don’t think anyone can compare!

-Snicket’s Servant

The Romance of Steam

The steam engines and the wonder of the Pennsylvania Railroad were probably what first attracted me to steam engines.  I also have to say that Thomas the Tank Engine also played a hand as well.  From time to time, amid the stress of school and other aspects of life, I find myself on YouTube searching for videos of trains passing by.  I can spend hours looking at old footage of Pennsylvania locomotives high balling down the main line, their piston in a roar as the speed by.  While surfing through these videos, I came across a channel called Distant Signal.  Distant Signal is run by Danny Harmon (or Railfan Danny on Facebook) who lives in central Florida and has numerous fantastic videos of the trains he follows through the area.  From his videos, I have learned a lot about CSX trains and signals and just really like watching the trains pass by.  While I do enjoy watching the trains of today speed by, I begin to thing of the glamour of the steam era and how romantic it must have been to ride in Pullman cars and arrive in ornate stations.  I also begin to wonder why I believe that steam is romantic…

What makes steam romantic?  Is it the breathing of the locomotive?  Is it the majesty of their moving parts?  Is it the grandeur of the stations?  What exactly makes steam tick is different for each person… if their not a diesel fanatic… but these things really stand out to me.

The Romance of the Locomotive

Today, many things seem self-contained.  This both by design and necessity.  The sleek design of today’s products make them attractive as well as, in many cases, safer.  Sometimes the things that we purchase have moving parts that we could get injured in and for that reason are covered.  A significant part of the romance of the locomotive is being able to see its moving parts.  In the 21st century, we don’t often get to see the moving parts of things because of their design, however in the age of steam, moving parts were all over the place on locomotives.

The most significant visible moving parts of steam locomotives are the pistons and coupling rods.  Looking at all the different wheel combinations and their coupling rods has always fascinated me as well as seeing them work.  Perhaps my favorite steam locomotive is the Pennsylvania K4s Pacific.  This steam locomotive was the Pennsylvania

PRR Engine No. 1361

Railroad’s passenger workhorse that most famously pulled the Broadway Limited from New York City to Chicago.  Its six big driving wheels and powerful pistons quickly pulled passenger trains through the Allegheny Mountains to Pittsburgh and on westward.  Its whistle echoed through valleys and across rivers as it claimed its spot in history.

While the moving pistons and coupling rods of steam engines are fascinating, they also posed dangers.  Exposed moving parts were great places for hands to be mangled in and also required much more maintenance than today’s diesels.  Engines low on water ran the risk of exploding among many other dangers that could befall a train on the tracks.  It is, however, this danger that adds to the romance of steam engines.  Only trouble… and danger… is interesting.

 

The Grandeur of a Train Station

If you were to mention train travel or grand old train stations to a passerby, chances are that they would think of Grand Central Station (really Grand Central Terminal) in New York City.  Grand Central Station is a fantastic example of an elaborate, and still used, station of days gone by, however many people don’t know of New York’s other, and lost, grand station… and arguable far grander than Grand Central.

New York’s Pennsylvania Station.  Photo from Wikipedia.

The Pennsylvania Railroad, truly dominating the state and states adjacent, build their grandest station in New York City.  Pennsylvania Station was a beaux-arts masterpiece of midtown Manhattan from 1910 to 1963.  With the ability to accommodate 144 trains per hour on 21 tracks and 11 platforms, by 1935 it had served over 1 billion passengers. Unfortunately, as the demand for passenger train travel declined after WWII, the station began falling into disrepair.  Finally in 1963, demolition began on the grand old building and Madison Square Garden, and several other new buildings, took its place.

The grandeur of New York’s Pennsylvania Station is a fantastic example of the romance of steam.  Today we simply do not have buildings that are as thrilling as those we had before…

The eastern facade of Pennsylvania Station. Photo from Wikipedia.

The main waiting room of Pennsylvania Station. Photo from Wikipedia.

Interior of the Main Concourse of Pennsylvania Station. Photo from Wikipedia.

So, What About the Romance of Steam?

The romance of steam grows out of the breathing of the locomotive, the majesty of a locomotive’s moving parts, and it the grandeur of the stations… but also, perhaps, because these things are no longer here.  No matter who we are, we will always think of and long for that which is no longer here whether it be a grand old train station or the memory of a childhood Christmas.  As William Wordsworth wrote in “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”:

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

The earth, and every common sight,

To me did seem

Appareled in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.

It is not now as it hath been of yore;-

Turn wheresoe’er I may,

By night or day,

The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

And sometimes, I wonder: Do I have more fun dreaming of what it might have been like?  Or would I have had a greater time being there?  That, I cannot decide.

– Snicket’s Servant