![]() The world of which Erckmann–Chatrian wrote has long since vanished a world of noblemen and peasants, enchanted castles and mysterious woods, haunted by witches, monsters, curses, and spells. In The Invisible Eye, Hugh Lamb has collected together the finest weird tales by Erckmann–Chatrian, adding several stories to those which he assembled for the Millington volume (the fate of which he discusses in the appendix to the present work). After their deaths, however, they slipped into obscurity and apart from the odd tale reprinted in anthologies, and the ill-fated collection of their weird tales published by Millington in 1981, their work has remained difficult to find. At the height of their powers they were known as 'the twins', and their works proved popular in England, where they began appearing (in translation) as early as 1865. It is high time that they were made more accessible than they are.'Įmile Erckmann (1822–99) and Louis Alexandre Chatrian (1826–90) began their writing partnership in the 1840s, and continued working together-producing plays, novels, and short stories-until the year before Chatrian's death. ![]() ![]() The blend of French with German in them, comparable to the French–Irish blend in Le Fanu, has produced some quite first-rate romances of this kind. ![]() Lovecraft spoke highly of the weird tales of Erckmann–Chatrian, James writing (in 'Some Remarks on Ghost Stories') that 'I should feel myself ungrateful if I did not pay a tribute to the supernatural tales of Erckmann–Chatrian. ![]()
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