"One goes out like a snuffed candle": The Horror of Marjorie Bowen and Other Worlds

I don't usually do two posts in one day. These days I've just been too busy working on my dissertation prospectus. But I find I have a little extra time this afternoon. I'm hanging out at a Caribou Coffee in Mayfield, Ohio, and I want to tell you about an interesting horror writer I just discovered.

Marjorie Bowen (1885-1952)

Her name is Marjorie Bowen (1885-1952). I don't know much about her other than that she wrote historical romances and horror stories. I picked up a collection of her short stories titled, The Bishop of Hell and Other Stories, and I read, "The Bishop of Hell." What a great story!

Some summary: it takes place in London in the late 18th century. It is ostensibly the remembrance of a fellow about a former friend by the name of Hector Geatrix. Hector Geatrix is a horrible guy. Of him the narrator states, "his reckless, his impiety, his boldness terrified even those hardened in wicked ways" (97). But what makes him even worse? He had been ordained a Bishop in the Church. The main crux of the narrative is Geatrix's love affair with a woman who he takes to the continent. I won't give it away, but it ends with a turn to the supernatural, an intriguing image that stirred me deeply.

Let me relate one great quote. Geatrix is meditating on engaging in a duel and the possibility of dying. This is what he says: "There's nothing, not even Hell, Jack--one goes out like a snuffed candle--just blackness, blackness, nothingness, nothingness" (106). I love the repition of the "blackness, blackness, nothingness, nothingness." Such a powerful and yet interesting statement taken in the context of the story's end (which, of course, I'm dying to tell you about. I won't, of course).

Let me try to articulate why I loved this story. First, it's pace. It moves so leisurely and yet relates so many events. In 15 pages you learn the life story of this villain. You learn where he has been, where he goes, and how he ends up. Secondly, in these 15 pages, a complete world is opened up for you. For me, Bowen was able to completely recreate London in the late eighteenth century through passing references to clothing, powdered wigs, jewelry, etc.. This is difficult to do.

Without a doubt, however, the greatest element of this story is how it suggests "other worlds." It folds into the texture of the narrative the idea that there is more to reality than this life. This effect is evoked more through tone than any direct statement. The portrait the narrator paints of Geatrix is disturbing, and it disturbs on a metaphysical level. How? I just don't know.

Anyhow, if you haven't heard of Marjorie Bown, if you haven't read her, then--I recommend this story to you. Wonder, wonderful.