A Malediction

This gem of a collection from Erckmann-Catrian, the pseudonym of collaborators Émile Erckmann (1822–1899) and Alexandre Chatrian (1826–1890), contains three haunting tales, all originally published in French in 1849 and united, as translator Stableford notes in his introduction, by a sense of “calculated implausibility.” In the melodrama of the title novelette, here translated into English for the first time, a man bears the burden of his mother’s deathbed request. “Rembrandt,” about a stolen painting, is notable for featuring the Dutch Golden Age painter as a character. The eerie “Red Wine and White Wine,” the shortest and strongest in the collection and the only explicitly fantastical tale, tells of a pair of traveling companions who consume red wine with phantasmagoric properties. Erckmann-Catrian’s prose is painterly and bold, combining elements of romanticism, decadence, and Gothicism. Stableford’s translations are fresh and engaging, and his helpful footnotes do much to put these tales into context. This powerful showcase of Erckmann-Catrian’s talents is a must-read for fans of classic supernatural literature. (May)