the narrator’s theories. Although it acts much
like a vampire, drawing sustenance from its vic-
tim’s neck, it seems to be taking life energy rather
than blood and leaves no physical evidence be-
hind. Supernatural stories in the 19th century
tended to make use of existing legends, vampires
and ghosts primarily. “The Horla” is an imagina-
tive and impressive departure.
The Horse and His BoyC. S. Lewis(1954)
The fifth book in the CHRONICLES OF NARNIAsteps
back in time to a period during the rule of High
King Peter, which took place in the closing chapters
of the first book, THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE
WARDROBE.Two of the children from that earlier
work, Edmund and Lucy, are briefly involved as
characters, but this is primarily the story of Shasta,
a young boy who runs away just as he is about to be
sold into slavery, and Aravis, a girl who is also a
fugitive, in her case because she wishes to avoid an
arranged marriage, a plot device found frequently
in adult fantasy. The story starts in Calormen, an
Arabian Nights–type fantasy kingdom located near
Narnia, with whom relations are not entirely peace-
ful, and continues as the two travel together, learn-
ing much about themselves and their surroundings
as they flee toward Narnia. C. S. LEWISused a
much more adult theme than he had in the previ-
ous volumes, and the plot is more tightly con-
structed, although still somewhat episodic.
Shasta learns that the man he thought of as
his father actually found him drifting alone in a
boat, which explains the disparity in their looks.
He escapes with the assistance of Bree, a talking
horse from Narnia who has similarly been taken
captive, although until now he had not revealed to
anyone that he had the capacity to speak. They in-
tend to reach safety in Narnia, soon meeting Ar-
avis, who also has a talking Narnian horse, Hwin.
Aravis is spoiled and inconsiderate, but they de-
cide they are safer together than traveling sepa-
rately. Lurking in the background is a mysterious
lion, whom readers of the earlier books will recog-
nize as the mystical Aslan, who intercedes periodi-
cally to nudge them in the proper direction. Aslan
shows a harsher side this time, inflicting a painful
injury on Aravis in response to her own sin.
At the same time, Prince Rabadash has been
urging his father to declare war on Narnia, resort-
ing to trickery when the latter refuses to commit
himself. For this he will eventually be punished by
Aslan, who turns him into a donkey, but only after
the other two have reached Narnia safely. Their
adventures include crossing a desert, encountering
a mysterious hermit, and surviving other low-key
trials and tribulations, and upon their arrival they
discover that Shasta is actually a missing prince.
The story is told in a more adult style than the pre-
vious Narnia books, and Aslan’s character is con-
siderably darker.A House-Boat on the StyxJohn Kendrick
Bangs (1895)
Much of the writing of John Kendrick BANGSis lost
because of the many pseudonyms he used, and
much that survives has been deservedly forgotten,
although a few of his ghost and horror stories have
weathered the passage of time fairly well. His most
famous work is this very unusual fantasy novel,
whose full original title is A House-Boat on the Styx:
Being Some Account of the Divers Doings of Various
Shades.The frame of the story is an exclusive club
in hell established by a number of dead souls, some
historical and some fictional literary figures. The
book is structured as a series of episodes, each de-
signed to satirize some aspect of human civilization,
or more specifically some aspect of the individual
character around which a particular episode is fo-
cused. Eventually, trouble rears its head from two
directions, capture by a dead pirate and invasion by
a group of feminist minded women.
Bangs continues the story with The Pursuit of
the House-Boat: Being Some Further Account of the
Divers Doings of the Associated Shades under the
Leadership of Sherlock Holmes, Esq (1897), which
some critics prefer to the first volume. Holmes is
tasked with tracking down the missing houseboat,
but by the time he succeeds the feminists have al-
ready outsmarted the pirates and regained control.
A third volume, The Enchanted Type-Writer(1899),
is considerably less interesting. The narrator, who is
still alive, repairs a typewriter that then begins au-
tomatically typing messages from hell. Some of the
targets of Bangs’s satire are no longer familiar toA House-Boat on the Styx 167