Review: Schalken the Painter

Schalken the Painter by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another superbly chilling tale from Fanu, who I am quickly becoming a big fan of. I found that several volumes of his short stories are available from Project Gutenberg, so am aiming to read one every night before bed (possibly ill advised due to the potential occurence of strange dreams or even nightmares) but they aren't quite the sort of tales that drive you utterly hair ripping insane - more of a hair standing on end style of thing.

This tale concerns a young painter who is hopelessly in love with his master's niece, who is his ward. A ghastly visitation from a mysterious and shrouded strange who also seems to be incredibly rich (he carries around gold ingots of immense value) begins the downfall of the poor young lady and Schalken's dreams of marital bliss are snatched away from beneath his eyes.

The mysterious stranger is tall, dark, but not conventionally handsome - having a blue and blackened face which is quite literally rotting, and a horrible malodorous presence. It is later discovered that he was a reanimated corpse, Schalken being led to his vault by none other than the ghost of the gorgeous and delightful young female who he had hoped to ensnare. He then paints a picture of this occurrence, which is that which is described in the opening paragraphs.

Delightfully creepy and unsettling stuff.

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