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The Smell of Evil, by Charles Birkin
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"Never fails to shock and surprise you . . . brimming with unexpected twists." - Sunday Express
"[N]ot for the squeamish. Be warned, if you are at all sensitive, leave him well alone. He deals unflinchingly with such subjects as murder, rape, concentration camps, patricide, mutilation and torture." - Hugh Lamb
"[M]ore than a definite touch of the great master, Edgar Allan Poe." - Dennis Wheatley
"Horror and fantasy stories . . . engagingly told." - Publishers Weekly
"Few writers of horror today approach the standards of Birkin." - Ulster Star
A sinister baron and his wife inflict unimaginable tortures on their young niece to compel her to sign over her fortune. - In the aftermath of World War II, a German woman's garden is lush and beautiful, for an appalling reason. - Missionaries in Africa get a gruesome surprise when their converts take a biblical text too literally. - A child's fantasy becomes a deadly game with a macabre ending for his adult playmate. The thirteen stories in The Smell of Evil (1965) reveal Sir Charles Birkin (1907-1985) at his diabolical best. Largely eschewing ghost stories and tales of the supernatural, Birkin pioneered a different type of modern horror fiction, describing in exquisitely polished prose the sufferings of ordinary, decent people who encounter inexplicable cruelty and evil in their everyday lives. An important and neglected figure in 20th century British horror fiction, Birkin returns to shock a new generation of readers in this edition, the first in more than 30 years, which features a new introduction by John Llewellyn Probert.
- Sales Rank: #689298 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-10-07
- Released on: 2013-10-07
- Format: Kindle eBook
Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
"The Fiendishness of It"
By Eclectic Reader
Charles Birkin's The Smell of Evil is a collection of horror stories. But there are very few tales of supernatural goings-on. Birkin's stories are full of monsters, but there are no blood-sucking vampires rising from their graves at night, no Satan worshipers or witchcraft, and no multi-tentacle bearing creatures from the deep sea or another universe threatening mankind. Birkin's stories can be considered contes cruels (cruel tales) and most of his monsters are mankind itself--the worst kind of monsters that can inhabit a story--because human monsters can be real and more hideous of a creation than the worst creature of the paranormal.
The thirteen stories that comprise The Smell of Evil have a diverse lot of settings, situations, and characters. One thing the stories all have in common is that they are very well written and usually involve ordinary characters who suddenly find themselves thrust into extraordinary situations. Running throughout the stories is the author's macabre sensibilities often laced with a bit of sardonic humor.
In the collection's title story, "The Smell of Evil," a writer on a retreat to "a tiny and unspoiled village on Cornwall's southern coast" stumbles upon a malicious plot to steal the fortune of a young, beautiful, crippled and speech-impaired French heiress. It is quite the nasty bit of goings-on. Two missionaries in Namavava working with native peoples who are "very poor linguists" discover the dangers of too literal of an interpretation of Biblical verse in "Text for Today." "The Godmothers" offers up a vicious little tale about a serial murder who is caring for his grandchild. Prize-winning roses and flowers are rooted in more than ordinary soil in "Green Fingers" and exposes readers to some very gruesome irony on numerous levels. A number of people learn an important maxim, even if it is too late, about the ills of drunkenness in "The Lesson" at the hands of an innocent child. Violent, callous murder in cold blood for the most calculated and twisted reason lies behind events in "The Interloper" with a mocking twist at the end.
"`Is There Anybody There?'" by many appearances is a traditional ghost story as two, long-time retired friends take up company in a cottage that is rumored to be "haunted." For one of the two, being left alone in the dwelling brings voices, visions, fears and threats, but the story's conclusion, although haunting and more than a bit tongue-in-cheek, leaves doubt as to whether or not there were ever ghosts involved. Likewise, in "The Cornered Beast" readers are likely to assume they have encountered a tale of a hideous, murdering creature until they reach the last paragraph of the story. Less doubtful, however, is "Little Boy Blue" in which an eight and a half year-old child creates "a dream friend"--one that is tired of being "lonely" and lethal tragedy ensues. "Ballet Nègre" also by all appearances contains supernatural elements as Londoners are enthralled by stunning performances of the "Ballet Nègre du Port-au-Prince" as they perform a variety of voodoo-inspired dances and a newspaper reviewer is determined to interview the star performers. The ending of the tale is one of Birkin's most grisly ones.
Although Birkin generally shies away from gore and the more outlandish and gruesome aspects of many horror writers does not mean that his stories cannot be shocking. In "`Dance Little Lady'" a drunken trio trying to escape arrest during a barroom brawl unknowingly take refuge in a morgue and Birkin's tale flirts with elements of necrophilia. "The Serum of Doctor White" has forces of medical science and those who would instead turn to "the power of prayer" doing battle for the health and life of a seven year old girl. Some of the terror of the story arrives from the fact that no one in the narrative could ever imagine or desire the girl to be harmed, but the girl's hideous fate is truly flabbergasting. It is, perhaps, the most the most agonizing story in the collection.
In spite of one callous, sometime brutal tale after another, The Smell of Evil ends on a snide, comic note with "The Cross." In spite of the humor of the piece, Birkin uses the story to make one final, mordant observation about the evolution of the human species.
The tales in The Smell of Evil are creative, striking, and oftentimes unique and reflect an exceptional talent and mind. For readers who enjoy a macabre thrill, Birkin's work is a real find. [The Valancourt re-issue includes an informative Introduction by John Llewellyn Probert.]
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Nice little collection of horror stories where just like in ...
By Dave Tennant
Nice little collection of horror stories where just like in real life, the monsters are more often man. Quite a range too, from stories set in the 19th to the 20th centuries and even a scifi story at the end.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Enjoyable with one story of sheer brilliance
By R T Twinem
An enjoyable book of short horror stories by Charles Birkin with one story of sheer brilliance. Hilde Berger is flattered and enjoys the attentions of Herr Major Karl Schultz but her real love is the garden as it flourishes and blooms and each year she wins many accolades and awards at the local flower show..."The garden, too, which was spacious, covering as it did more than an acre, was a credit to her industry. The closely weeded gravel walks enclosed oblong or triangular beds of roses, while during the summer months a hedge of sweet peas at the end of the main path of shaven grass shut off the vegetable section from view. On this July day both roses and sweet peas were at their peak." The good Major always arrives with his lorry and trusty "kapo" the latter ensuring that the garden always looks well and that the displays are immaculate. There is however a price to be paid and the realization when presented is both a joy and a horror to an unsuspecting reader.
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