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The stories collected in Victor-Emile Michelet’s Superhuman
Tales (1900) reveal his determined and constant ambition to push various
envelopes in horror, fantasy and supernatural, which gives them a unique,
particular edge.
Michelet makes considerable efforts to distance his work from the conventional
formulae. His tales draw energy and charm from the earnest esotericism
of their central motifs, and poignantly exploit the author’s fascination
with death. Filled with the ironic spirit of the contes cruels, which
dominated upmarket short fiction during the fin-de-siècle, they
are visionary fantasies with a peculiar obliquity that is the hallmark
of his work.
Michelet took his fantasy and symbolism seriously, especially when their
extrapolation led him by convoluted paths to the strange conclusions displayed
in this collection.
CONTENTS: Contes Surhumains (1900)
Introduction
Amour in Error
The Isle of Joy
The Distress of Hercules
Sardanapalus
The Mystery of an Incarnation
Among all Gazes
The Redemptrix
Amorous Magic
The Disquieting Rose
The Day of Glorification
The Death of Lovers
Incantation by the Ten Divine Names
Holwennioul
Introduction and Notes by Brian Stableford
Cover by Mike Hoffman
Published by Black Coat Press in September 2018
ISBN: 978-1-61227-795-0
