Xélucha and Others by M. P. Shiel
"Xélucha and Others" is a collection of stories by M. P. Shiel, showcasing his best work drawn from earlier collections like "Shapes in the Fire" and "The Pale Ape." The titular story, "Xélucha," follows the narrator, Mérimée, who encounters a mysterious woman in a decaying building, only to discover she is the ghost of an exotic courtesan from his past. The collection explores themes of supernatural vengeance, madness, and the interplay between reality and the fantastic. Other stories delve into various narrative styles, including ghostly retribution in "The Bride" and "The Tale of Henry and Rowena," as well as psychological horror in "The Case of Euphemia Raphash," where the protagonist's hidden identity leads to tragic outcomes. "The Pale Ape" introduces a character who transforms into a violent creature, while "Huguenin's Wife" and "Dark Lot of One Saul" feature surreal and eerie settings that challenge perceptions of sanity and existence. The overarching atmosphere of the collection is rich with gothic elements, inviting readers into a world where the boundary between life and death is often blurred.
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Xélucha and Others
First published: 1975
Type of work: Stories
Type of plot: Fantasy—occult
Time of work: Various times from the early seventeenth century to the early twentieth century
Locale: Primarily England, but also other European locations and a subterranean cavern
The Plot
The stories in Xélucha and Others represent a selection of some of the author’s best work from the previous collections Shapes in the Fire (1896), The Pale Ape (1911), and Here Comes the Lady (1928). M. P. Shiel supplied an original introduction and revised the title story, “Xélucha,” for this collection, although its publication was delayed until nearly thirty years after the author’s death.
In “Xélucha,” the narrator, Mérimée, meets a mysterious woman during one of his nocturnal rambles. She invites him to her home. In a dark, decrepit building, the interior of which is equally in shambles, Mérimée finds a luxuriously furnished room and an elegant table spread with a variety of sumptuous foods. There, the pair dine and talk through the night. As Mérimée becomes drunk on his hostess’s wine, her conversation turns to death and the tomb. Mérimée finally realizes that his hostess is the ghost of Xélucha, an exotic courtesan with whom he was once involved. Horrified, he loses consciousness. When he revives, he finds himself in a filthy room that apparently has been uninhabited for years.
“The Bride” and “The Tale of Henry and Rowena” are also ghost stories, both dealing with supernatural vengeance against unfaithful lovers. “The Primate of the Rose” deals with another kind of vengeance, as Crichton Smyth, the leader of a mysterious secret society, punishes E. P. Crooks, a writer whose romantic dalliance with Smyth’s daughter has led to her social ruin and eventual death. Tortured with curiosity over Smyth’s society, Crooks begs to see a secret “apartment” associated with it. He is led there blindfolded only to find that he has been immured within.
Two tales of murder revolve around the motif of the evil alter ego. “The Case of Euphemia Raphash” centers on Dr. Raphash’s search for the murderer of his sister. He is revealed as the killer, having committed the crime during one of his periodic attacks of madness, during which he is possessed by an evil personality. “The Pale Ape” veers further into the fantastic, as several murders previously attributed to the ghost of an ape are pinned on the demure Sir Philip Lister, who changes into a violent, apelike creature when agitated.
“Huguenin’s Wife” relates the narrator’s visit to his eccentric friend’s labyrinthine house on the isle of Delos. Huguenin is convinced that his mysterious wife, Andromeda, has transformed into a grotesque creature through the use of ancient magic. The narrator believes that his friend is mad, but as earthquake and fire destroy the house, he sees a fantastic monster attack and kill Huguenin among the flames.
Set in the seventeenth century, “Dark Lot of One Saul” presents the journal of James Dowdy Saul, who is locked in a cask and thrown into the sea, where he falls into a huge, subterranean cavern. He gradually explores and adapts to the weird, dark world in which he finds himself and fabricates paper and ink so that he can record his experiences and observations of the strange life he finds there. He determines to send his journal back to the surface world via the repaired cask but resigns himself to living out his life in his adopted environment.
In “The House of Sounds,” the narrator is invited to the family home of his friend Haco Harfager. Located on the island of Rayba, north of Zetland, it is an amazing circular structure of brass, constantly buffeted by deafening waves from the surrounding sea. The narrator learns that the house is a fantastic machine of vengeance, designed to destroy the last remnants of the Harfagers at the end of five hundred years, a time that has arrived. As the house self-destructs, the terror-stricken narrator manages to escape, but Harfager and his family perish. Three other tales in the collection—“The Globe of Goldfish,” “The Bell of St. Sépulcre,” and “Many a Tear”—cannot be classified as fantasy, though they do include gothic elements.