I've long been a fan of the narrative device of naming a source of supernatural knowledge; power; or revelation; then supplying only small bits an pieces; or only repeated hushed references to its existence.

HPL's mention of the Necronomicon is one instance; along with the other restricted or sanctioned works mentioned in the Mythos.

Then there was Chambers' "The King in Yellow"--a play that was capable of inducing strange and terrible reactions in its readers.

Can anyone comment on how these devices affect the overall tone of a piece of fiction; and/or identify other such instances?

--Sawfish

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

That business is a major aspect of what people mean when they write about "the Cthulhu Mythos," isn't it? As far back as the 1950s or so, Lin Carter broke a discussion of the Mythos into two parts, if I remember correctly: The Gods and The Books.

M. R. James must be one of the major early authors for that sort of thing. He was a genuine authority on apocryphal books and medieval manuscripts.

Confecting such things is one of the most attractive sources of fun for the writing of stories in this vein.

It's not just ghostly stories and Cthulhu Mythos material. Tolkien obviously lavished a lot of thought on (imaginary) ancient sources for the otherwise "lost tales" of Middle-earth. There's a mildly entertaining couple of books that have Tolkien as a character (not with his name, but you can tell) who discovers the ancient chronicle that will be the basis for the disclosure, under the guise of fiction (i.e. LotR), of the lost history of the human race. The books (so far?) are Toward the Gleam and The Lucifer Ego, by T. M. Doran. ...I see there is a third book, Kataklusmós.

Fun stuff!

Thanks for the pointers to the books!

--Sawfish

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

Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> M. R. James must be one of the major early authors
> for that sort of thing. He was a genuine
> authority on apocryphal books and medieval
> manuscripts.

M.R. James sometimes referenced real texts. The only fictional works I recall him referencing are Karswell's works The History of Witchcraft, and (unpublished at Karswell's death) The Truth of Alchemy, both from James' story "Casting the Runes". These works evidently contain real occult knowledge, but James does not approach them with nearly the same attitude of hushed reverence.

I belonged to the Charles Williams Society (now defunct, I think). In its 76th Newsletter, the CW Society announced a competition. "CW's books mention many fictitious works, such as Sir Giles Tumulty's HISTORICAL VESTIGES OF SACRED VESSELS IN FOLKLORE or Peter Stanhope's A PASTORAL. You are invited to submit a review of any one of these, not more than 100 words in length, before 20 March 1995."

I wrote this, drawing on Williams's entertaining Holy Grail thriller War in Heaven, which has two villains, Gregory Persimmons and Giles Tumulty:

Review: Historical Vestiges of Sacred Vessels in Folklore by Sir Giles Tumulty.

Students of ethnography and ecclesiastical history have long needed an account of surviving pre-Conquest liturgical vessels. They will not find it in this tendentious monograph. The author has prosecuted his researches with a "zeal not according to knowledge," his preoccupation with "occult energies" supposedly resident in such objects and his readings of the Arthurian romances as sober history persistently distorting his findings. Moreover, his sources are largely works in his private library, some of which are treasures rightfully belonging to the nation, others mere trash -- in either case, unavailable to serious scholars.
M. R. JAMES

A scathing review. for sure.

Sir Giles comes off as an egotistical thief of little taste.

--Sawfish

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

Hodgson's Carnacki stories reference various fictional texts, including The Sigsand Manuscript, which is evidently document written in Middle-English in the 14th century. Carnacki also frequently references, often in the same context, something called "The Saaamaaa Ritual", which is vaguely associated with "ab-human priests". It is not crystal clear if The Sigsand Manuscript is the source for these references.

Carnacki does not seem to approach these texts with any hushed reverence, because that is just not his style. But, judging by some of the situations he encounters, perhaps he ought to.

Thanks!

I was able to get 6 of the 9 Carnacki stories on Project Gutenberg.

Had never heard of these before today.

--Sawfish

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

Sawfish Wrote:

> Sir Giles comes off as an egotistical thief of
> little taste.


Williams seems to have had a lot of fun with Tumulty in War in Heaven, and bestwoed on him, in Many Dimensions, a suitably bizarre death.

It could be fun to write a prequel to those two novels with the earlier years of Tumulty.

Dale Nelson Wrote:
> I wrote this, drawing on Williams's entertaining
> Holy Grail thriller War in Heaven, which has two
> villains, Gregory Persimmons and Giles Tumulty:
>
> Review: Historical Vestiges of Sacred Vessels in
> Folklore by Sir Giles Tumulty.

Now you're making me curious. The only thing by C. Williams I have read is The Place of the Lion

And Place is the one I usually suggest as the Williams novel to start with (while Shadows of Ecstasy is for completists).

I've read all seven of them more than once. War in Heaven is, I'd say, an exceptionally good weird novel that's not too far from the realms of pulp. All Hallows' Eve is a literary ghost story of unusual vigor of imagination.

The title of War in Heaven has virtually nothing to do with the story. It was originally titled The Corpse, which seems flatfooted, so I guess we should take what we have!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 19 Aug 21 | 03:04PM by Dale Nelson.

Btw there's an unusual "manuscript" idea in John Meade Falkner's The Lost Stradivarius -- it's a musical composition rather than a verbal work.