If there is a dark power which malevolently and treacherously places a thread within us, this unseen force may become our very selfs, and once we have surrendered our thoughts to the dark influences of the mind, all cheer and tranquility is lost. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann)
The above paragraph is from the 1816-1817 short story, "The Sandman" by the German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Olimpia, she was a robot woman who appeared human to the character Nathanael. "The Sandman" author, Hoffmann never referred to Olimpia as a robot, but she was indeed inhuman and meticulously manufactured and appeared real, especially to the Nathanael.
Nathanael forgets his love for Clara, the leading woman in "The Sandman." A savage hurricane lashes the ocean, its waves rear-up like black giants with white heads filled with the rage of combat. Through all the chaos, Olimpia has no eyes, just black caverns where the eyes should be. (Hoffmann)
"The Sandman" is a tale of love and horror, a graphic mind journey into the depths of bad dreams, brutal murders and the mystical doctrines of the Devil.
A man's head is shattered on pavement, and the brutally murdered man is either Nathanael or Lothar, Clara's brother. How would Clara's mind cope with life without her brother or the only man to arouse her loving gaze?
Is the Sandman a real beast who tears the eyes out of children, and brings their eyes to his hideous children to feed upon under the crescent moon?
"The Sandman" is one of over a dozen stories from the book; "Horror Stories: Classic Tales From Hoffmann To Hodgson." The stories where written in the 1800s.
Author James Hogg's 1827 story, "George Dobson's "Expedition To Hell" explores thoughts and dreams. Hogg claims dreams are the results of the soul having intercourse with the external world. "Expedition To Hell" poetically illustrates 'Ultimam Cogita,' consider the end or think of the last hour of life, vanish into the gloom and tread the dreary labyrinth as best you can.
I learned from "Berenice," the 1835 tale written by Edgar Allan Poe that I'm a monomaniac, meaning that I tend to fixate on a single subject to the point of insanity, like the focal character in the story, Egaeus.
All my passions are of the mind now, nothing is real. I'm a creature of chaos and the infinite imagination is my only link to serenity. The untapped reservoirs of ancient and new tales spawned on the printed page cater to my soul and justify some kind of reason for my existence.
The nearly 200 year old tales from the book "Horror Stories," spurned my imagination and enhanced my desire to seek out the works of writers long past. Long live the library!
Izzy Schurr, aka, me.
