THE DEEP ONES: "Laura Silver Bell" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

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THE DEEP ONES: "Laura Silver Bell" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

2gwendetenebre
Apr 12, 2023, 10:33 am

I think I enjoyed this Le Fanu tale just as much as "Carmilla", especially for its more wildly folkish aspects. The appearances of the devil (one assumes) in his various guises were each very nicely handled. Bringing in the unsettling faerie component at the end fit the spectral goings-on perfectly and presented a wholly unexpected and intriguing turn of events. I especially liked the character of Mother Clarke, who despite dabbling in the "black art", was still presented as a cagey witch-like "sage femme" and capable midwife. The latter would only be natural, owing to her familiarity with herbs and folk remedies. I'm sure "man in black" saw her as a bit of a personal challenge. I really appreciated the presentation of the Northumbian dialect too. It was fairly easy to understand and gave the tale a lot of extra flavor. This was included in the Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology collection, which I strongly recommend.

3RandyStafford
Apr 13, 2023, 6:35 pm

I particularly liked that Mall went way above and beyond issuing the traditional three warnings to Laura that I would expect.

I also liked the mocking aspect the "lord" assumed when he Laura was giving birth. He's concerned -- if not for Laura then his offspring -- but Laura certainly doesn't seem to be the object of traditional devotion on his part.

4housefulofpaper
Apr 13, 2023, 7:23 pm

I enjoyed this story too. It wrongfoots the reader. You expect the main character to be the titular Laura, and presumably would like to see her escape from the situation she's ended up in, but she doesn't; and the story is actually, in the end, more like a traditional folk tale with a moral about the dangers of dabbling with magic ("If ye had not been at ill work tonight, he could not hev fetched ye.") and with Mall Carke rather than Laura being the focus of the tale. Although it does end with the unsettling suggestion that Laura will live on forever in her squalid and threatening fairyland.

5papijoe
Apr 18, 2023, 8:39 am

>4 housefulofpaper: In addition to the warnings about the practice of “hard” witchcraft, like many stories of the time there is the passing reference to the spiritual perils faced by the unbaptized. I was musing on how much free advertising this sacrament gets in horror fiction, kind of like product placement in modern film.
I don’t get the impression Le Fanu was a strict believer in his family’s Anglican faith, but he seems to take a dim view of Farmer Lee’s theology regarding adult baptism.
That’s a whole nother discussion but it reminded me that someone (I think it was Steiner) said that spiritually children are protected by their parent’s aura up to a certain age (night terrors are said to be evidence of this vulnerability). When my kids were little, my daughter asked why fairy tale heroines were always motherless. At the time I explained that a lot more women died in childbirth (hence the wicked stepmother trope), but I wonder if there is another larger significance in light of these fairy abduction stories.