Thread by @RomGothSam

Tomorrow's there's an online class on

The Russian Gothic Fantastic

If you'd like to come and you haven't already got a link, just write a little message below.

The classes are at 10 am and 7 pm BST

#RomancingTheGothic

(Can anyone name the stories the pictures reference?)

If you're not very familiar with Russian Gothic and would like some quick things to read, listen to or watch... here's a thread of links!

1) SHAMELESS self promotion
Check out the blog for translations of two very Gothic Russian poems in translation
romancingthegothic.wordpress.com/blog-2/

2) I promise it's not all self-promotion but... there's a little more.

Here's a read-along video of Pushkin's 'The Undertaker'. A spooky tale of the returning dead... or is it?

3) Last bit of self-promo. I also did a translation and read-along of a rarely found unfinished short story by Lermontov. I'll be talking about it tomorrow!

4) So, let's start with some Pushkin! One of his most famous Gothic/Fantastic works is 'Queen of Spades'. Have a look at this short silent film version for an idea of the plot!

5) There was a 1949 English language version. You can see the trailer here and see if you want to track it down!

6) You can read Pushkin's Queen of Spades online here

online-literature.com/alexander-push…

7) You can also listen online here (there are other options if you don't like these voices)

8) Nikolai Gogol was a master of the fantastic and there are so many great stories to choose from. One of my favourites (although not super Gothic) is The Nose. This animation is pretty Gothic though!

9) Gutenberg has a not very up-to-date but still very readable collection of his short stories for free.

'The Mantle' (usually 'The Overcoat') is one of his greatest shorts.

Vii is one of the most obviously supernatural

gutenberg.org/files/36238/36…

9) There's an animation of Vii here (you can turn on English subtitles). SUPER creepy. And nicely short!

10) Here's another silent movie version. This time of Gogol's The Portrait which has some of the best 'terrifying haunted portrait' descriptions you'll ever read. The film does a good job. 15 mins!

11) Some lesser known stories and writers are also worth a look. Zagoskin's 'Evening in Khopr' is an excellent read. There's an online copy of one of the stories here in translation. 'Unexpected Guests'

shortstories.fandom.com/wiki/The_Unexp…

12) The Red Flower by Garshin is a tale of madness and a desperate struggle against evil. Or is it?

en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Red_Flo…

13) The Black Monk by Chekhov is a fairly late and entirely masterful example. This is a trailer for a stage version (English subtitles) and it gives you a feel for it -

14) You can read a version of The Black Monk here. Recommend!

gutenberg.org/files/55307/55…