“Xelucha”M. P. Shiel(1896)
Matthew Phipps Shiel was a prolific British writer
whose most famous work, The Purple Cloud(1901),
is usually regarded as science fiction despite its
metaphysical theme. This became more evident in
the film version, The World, The Flesh, and the Devil
(1959), which strayed considerably from the origi-
nal story. Shiel wrote in a number of genres, includ-
ing a considerable number of supernatural stories,
of which his best known is “Xelucha,” which deals
with a sort of universal female principle.
The narrator is Merimee, a man who admits
freely to living the life of a sybarite. He sleeps by
day and wanders through London at night, enjoy-
ing clubs and parties, usually under the influence
of drugs or strong drink and often accompanied by
women of low repute. Merimee has recently been
disturbed by the death of a long-time friend,
Cosmo, whose final letter brings to mind a woman
named Xelucha who died of cholera some 10 years
earlier. Merimee had been romantically involved
with Xelucha for some time, although he no longer
remembers her face but does recall that she had
seemed to him the epitome of feminity. He does re-
member her personality, which was unusually as-
sertive and flamboyant. Merimee also ponders the
statement that “vitality is not material,” not realiz-

ing how it will soon be brought home to him with

great force.

One night he is wandering alone when he en-

counters a mysterious, attractive woman who in-

vites him to her apartment for a sumptuous feast

and vintage wine. She offers no name and will not

let him touch her even fleetingly. When they arrive

the food and drink are excellent, but she refrains

from taking any herself, instead engaging Merimee

in a sometimes abstruse philosophical discussion in

which she claims that creation is a function of will,

that he knows far less than he believes he does, and

that the true torment of hell is the constant envy of

those who remain in the land of the living.

It is late in the argument when Merimee no-

tices that the woman’s clothing has unaccountably

changed. The woman then identifies herself as

Xelucha, or at least her spirit. When Merimee tries

to grasp her she vanishes in a puff of filth and fetid

odors, and he collapses and loses consciousness.

When he recovers he finds the room filthy and dis-

orderly and realizes the fineries and the refresh-

ments were all an illusion. Technically speaking,

“Xelucha” is a ghost story, but the presence who

used that name is more a generic amalgamation of

the souls of collective womanhood than of any par-

ticular individual.

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