As it's National Poetry Day, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on Byron. The celebrity cult of Lord Byron began while he was still alive, boomed when he died, and still continues today. He remains an object of fascination, scandal, and appeal. I've been interested in him since I first read about him in a "Famous People" encyclopaedia. It was a children's book, so it did not explore the more infamous aspects of his life. But it was enough to inspire me to delve further into research on the man and the myth - including the puzzle of the mirror . Ultimately, Byron went on to become a major inspiration for my first published book Day's Dying Glory , right down to its title. His early poems (generally my favourite ones) feature heavily in the book, and I enjoyed weaving in lines and references which Byron-fans would spot where others might not even notice them. Poets and poetry have inspired hundreds of writers. It is fascinating that language can be so power...
One of the problems – or, perhaps, the best things – about Gothic Horror is that it does tend to be sad. Usually, there are at least one or two characters who don’t deserve whatever is happening to them, or who have done something which is being punished in a way which does not in any way fit the crime. M.R. James’s writing is perhaps a constant reiteration of the old proverb, “curiosity killed the cat”, but curiosity in itself isn’t a bad thing; while Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula finds himself in the initial dangerous situation through no fault of his own.
Perhaps the saddest story in this anthology is The Lady Who Dances in the Ashes, which was first published by Sley House in Tales of Sley House 2022. Here is the story of a man who is facing professional and financial ruin as a result of suggesting that mental health patients can be treated in the community rather than institutionalised. He is one of the most sympathetic narrators you will find in the book, but he badly misjudges a situation which leads to tragedy.
As well as being the most tragic stories in the book, it is also the most akin to M.R. James’s writing. A truly malevolent ghost, bent on revenge for something which happened hundreds of years ago, seeks out to punish those who live beneath a specific roof. It does not matter that they are not the same people against whom they swore revenge. This is something I find genuinely terrifying in the supernatural: that a person could be targeted through no fault of their own by a presence which is too strong for them to overcome. I blame the story The Demon Dog for the fear I feel in this regard: the baby had done nothing wrong, people! It was just a baby!
When you have a story where the innocent are being targeted, you have this constant sense of dread – as though it does not matter what you do, terrible things are still going to happen. Hedgwick Grange came from this idea: a place where even the innocent can suffer for the sins of those who have lived in the house before. It was a setting which I enjoyed creating: even more remote than Broughley Abbey and with a gloriously sinister history. I am a firm believer that setting is the most important foundation stone for a Gothic Horror story. Once you have the setting, the people who live in and visit the house will soon make themselves known to you.
[You can find Judith's other blogs in this series here]
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