Something Knygatin said, over on the thread for Arthur Machen's Hieroglyphics, suggested the idea for this new thread.

Man is the animal that tells weird stories.

This is a thread for weird stories about animals.

It’s not a thread for stories about humans who because of a curse or through use of magic assume the form of animals such as wolves, or vampires that assume the form of bats, and so on. It is not a thread for imaginary animals such as griffins.

The thread does allow stories about animals that, in some weird way, are like humans. An example is Lafacadio Hearns’s “The Dream of Akinosuke,” in Kwaidan.

[www.gutenberg.org]

I'd like to include Ray Bradbury's "The Emissary."

[www.newforestcentre.info]

What are some other examples?

Ach! How could I have forgotten it? Arthur Machen's short novel [u]The Terror[u] -- which then brings to mind Daphne du Maurier's "The Birds."

War with the Newts (1936) by Karel ÄŒapek.

Minicthulhu, I'll make an interlibrary loan request for that one.

- "Roog" by Philip K. Dick (dog).
- "Out in the Garden" by Philip K. Dick (duck).
- "The Alien Mind" by Philip K. Dick (cat).
- "The Cats of Ulthar" by H.P. Lovecraft.
- "The Rats in the Walls" by H.P. Lovecraft (real cats and phantom rats).
- "The Black Cat", by Edgar Allan Poe.
- "Sredni Vashtar" by Saki (ferret).
- "The Justice of the Elephant", by Clark Ashton Smith.

Do Scooby-Doo endings count? If so:
- "The Hound of the Baskervilles", by Arthur Conan Doyle.
- "The Hedgehog", by Saki.

Do phantom animals count? If so:
- "Green Tea", by Sheridan Le Fanu (demon monkey).
- "The Dutch Officer's Story" by Mrs. Crowe.
- "Dog or Demon?" by Theo Gift.

Do animals that may be possessed count? If so,
- "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances at Aungier Street?" by Sheridan Le Fanu (diseased rat)
- "The Judge's House", by Bram Stoker (rats, and 1 rat in particular).

Do monstrous "animals" count? If so:
- "The Sea Raiders", by H.G. Wells (bad squids).
- "The Spider", by Clive Pemberton.
- "The Ash Tree", by M.R. James.
- "The Dreams in the Witch-House" by H.P. Lovecraft (featuring Brown Jenkins)

Do stories told in verse count? If so:
- "The Raven", by Edgar Allan Poe.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 7 Oct 19 | 04:32PM by Platypus.

Platypus, what a bunch of nifty stories you have listed. I guess some of the stories you listed would be debatable, but then, if there's a fan of macabre fiction who hasn't yet read the story of the haunting monkey-apparition, "Green Tea," such a one should hasten to do so!

Sorry, btw, for writing as if Lafcadio's last name was "Hearns," in my first posting above. I knew it was "Hearn" but my typing fingers didn't.

One of the most memorable moments for me in Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness is when one of the characters (Lovecraft himself in spirit) meets what is basically a giant upright sea cucumber with a star fish shaped head. After getting to know it a little better, he finally starts to appreciate it, and exclaims "What a Man!". It is humorous, and has the warmth and imagination to be deeply appreciative and observant of other life than Man only.

Here is one of the better epigrams from The Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith: "The real objection to the Darwinian theory is that man has not yet evolved from the ape."

Dale, "War with the Newts" is available on gutenberg.
[gutenberg.net.au]

By the way, ÄŒapek also wrote a sci-fi play called "R.U.R." (1923) in which the word "robot" was used for the first time. (the word was invented by his brother Karel ÄŒapek)

The Dream Snake by Robert E. Howard (snake)
The Story of the Brazilian Cat by A. C. Doyle (puma)
Spider by H.H. Ewers (spider)

Thank you, Minicthulhu!

Has anyone read a story by H. F. Heard called "The Cat 'I Am'" -- published in Heard's The Great Fog and Other Weird stories and his Weird Tales of Terror and Detection? I have had the former book in my hands, but I don't think I read that story -- anyway I don't seem to remember it.

I have never heard of this author before but judging by the reviews I have read, his creepy tales might be worth reading.

His story "The Chapel of Ease" has impressed me, but be warned, it is slow.

Dale

Knygatin Wrote:
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> Here is one of the better epigrams from The Black
> Book of Clark Ashton Smith: "The real objection to
> the Darwinian theory is that man has not yet
> evolved from the ape."

Although Smith would have been more correct if he had written "the Bible" in the epigram instead of "the Darwinian theory". Darwin used correct scientific observations of man. It is Christianity (and Judaism, and Islam) that has brainwashed people into believing that man stands superior and separate from all other life. This arrogance and lack of humility in the face of nature has caused much damage.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

[MUCH SNIPPED]...

>
> Here is one of the better epigrams from The Black
> Book of Clark Ashton Smith: "The real objection to
> the Darwinian theory is that man has not yet
> evolved from the ape."


I've long thought that you can learn all that you really need to know about humanity by watching old Jane Goodall documentaries.

I'm not being facetious... :^(

--Sawfish

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Dale Nelson Wrote:
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> His story "The Chapel of Ease" has impressed me,
> but be warned, it is slow.
>
> Dale

OT, somewhat, but what did you make of De la Mare's "All Hallows"?

For reasons I cannot fully fathom, I keep returning to this story as if to a favored getaway at the beach...

--Sawfish

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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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