| THE HORLA (Le Horla) has been first published in 1887.
This eerie story describes the thoughts of a man convinced that an invisible creature is trying to take control of his mind. This creature would have come all the way from Brazil aboard a commercial boat and would have been attracted by the man's white house situated near the Seine river. A few days after the passage of the boat, our hero starts to feel unhappy without any good reasons at all and one morning, he notices that, while he was sleeping, someone has drunk the water on the night table. He leaves for Paris where his depressing thoughts soon disappear. When he comes back home, the nightmares reappear and the creature takes control of his body more and more often. Soon, he's unable to decide anymore to leave the region in order to escape from this invisible monster. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book - scarey (primal ax-wielding fear) FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story Horror story? Yes Horror plotlets - the bodysnatchers are coming! Descript. of chases or violence - 10 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 60 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10 % Main Character Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Main Adversary Identity: - Male Alien Has magical powers? Yes Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - Invisibility How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting Earth setting: - 19th century Takes place on Earth? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation How much dialogue? - little dialog |
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