Dark Matter: British Weird Fiction and the Substance of Horror, 1880-1927

240 Pages·2013·1.24 MB·English

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Dark Matter: British Weird Fiction and the Substance of Horror, 1880-1927
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4ns5q1fv
Author
Camara, Anthony Christopher
Publication Date
2013

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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Dark Matter: British Weird Fiction and the Substance of Horror, 1880-1927

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy
In English

by

Anthony Christopher Camara

2013
© Copyright by
Anthony Christopher Camara
2013
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Dark Matter: British Weird Fiction and the Substance of Horror, 1880-1927

by

Anthony Christopher Camara
Doctor of Philosophy in English
University of California, Los Angeles, 2013
Professor Joseph Bristow, Chair

This dissertation examines the origins of British weird horror fiction, an understudied
literary genre that had an extraordinary impact on later writers whose works appeared in popular
magazines such as The Argosy (1882-1978) and Weird Tales (1923-1954). By far the most
popular writer associated with the latter publication is H.P. Lovecraft, an American practitioner
of cosmic weird horror whose astounding fictions have become emblematic of the genre in the
mainstream imagination. This dissertation locates Lovecraft’s early modernist predecessors in
British authors Vernon Lee (Violet Paget), Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, and William
Hope Hodgson. By tracking the evolution of the genre through these authors’ works, this study
addresses the following question: “How does weird horror fiction distinguish itself from prior
supernatural traditions, in particular the Gothic romance and the Victorian ghost story?” The
chapters answer that inquiry by demonstrating that British weird horror fiction destabilizes
scientific and philosophical accounts of physical matter, as well as the materialistic theories of
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biological life and the cosmos that issue from such accounts. Accordingly, weird horror writers
devise characteristic strategies to “darken” matter, injecting it with incomprehensible, vitalistic
energies; hidden, metaphysical realities; and higher alien dimensions. And yet, the genre is
hardly mere anti-science; British weird horror draws from mathematics, chemistry, and biology
to launch its virtuoso speculations.
The first chapter examines Vernon Lee’s 1880 essay on the supernatural, “Faustus and
Helena,” and her short story, “Amour Dure” (1887). While Lee is not typically associated with
weird horror, this chapter demonstrates how her work marks the emergence of this genre. The
second chapter looks at Arthur Machen’s novella, “The Great God Pan” (1894), and his novel,
The Hill of Dreams (1907), which contest T.H. Huxley’s and Ernst Haeckel’s theories of
biological life. The third chapter analyzes the outdoor horror tales of Algernon Blackwood, in
particular “The Willows” (1907), which exemplifies the genre’s engagement with mathematics
and physics. The last chapter takes an in-depth look at some maritime short fiction by William
Hope Hodgson. These works pit the creative powers of ecology against Darwinism, and
therefore invite new critical approaches to weird horror that depart from familiar narratives of
evolution and degeneration.

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The dissertation of Anthony Christopher Camara is approved.
Helen Deutsch
Lowell Gallagher
Kathleen Komar
Joseph Bristow, Committee Chair

University of California, Los Angeles
2013

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For Diep

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………….vii
Vita……………………………………………………………………………………………….xi
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….1
I. Vernon Lee: Weird Psychological Aesthetics………………………………...........................44
II. Arthur Machen: Metaphysical Terrors……………………………………………………….71
III. Algernon Blackwood: The Cosmic Horror of Nature (and Matter) Unbound…………….110
IV. William Hope Hodgson: Vital Dark Matter……………………………………………….143
Coda: One More Night in the Witch House…………………………………………………....214
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………221

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Acknowledgments
No amount of words can adequately express the gratitude I feel toward my thesis chair,
Joseph Bristow. For the past seven years, I have had the honor and privilege of seeing
scholarship come alive in him. In that time, he has become a consummate role model to me in
matters of professional conduct and personal ethics. There is simply no way to repay all of the
time and effort that he put into teaching me how to better express myself in the written and
spoken word. And I would have never improved in these areas had Joe not always encouraged
me to pursue my own thoughts and interests. I believe that I pay him the ultimate compliment
when I say that his tutelage was intense, meticulous, and invigorating, but when I look back on
the experience, I still feel strongly that he let me find my own way for myself. He matched this
generous gift of intellectual freedom with the unstinting confidence and tremendous patience that
I could and would succeed. I count it among my life’s best fortunes that I was able to study with
Joe. In all of the best that I will do—in whatever it is that I will choose to do—I have no doubt
that his influence will shine through.
I thank my family members, Christine, Tony, Evelyn, and Nicholas, for the countless
ways in which they have supported me through the years, especially these last seven. I owe all
of my accomplishments, however modest they may be, to my wonderful family and the lessons
and love that they have shared with me through the years. I must offer special thanks to
Nicholas, a fellow connoisseur of the macabre in literature. As we hiked through the mountains
one rainy winter day three years ago, he advised me to play to my strengths, and suggested that I
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read H.P. Lovecraft’s Supernatural Horror in Literature. Need I say that on that day, a monster
was born?
I must thank the following individuals whose treasured friendships have sustained me
throughout the years: Steven Kwok, Ben Bendig, Nagayasu and Ai Nakanishi, Elizabeth Lizaola,
Consuelo Garcia, Chris and Amy Winchell, David Jacobs, David and Claire Yuan, Adam Small,
and Dustin Gonzales.
I offer my sincere thanks to my committee members, whose insights and advice have
been critical in the production of this document, as well as my scholarly development. Lowell
Gallagher’s influence on me extends further back than graduate school. One of Lowell’s
undergraduate seminars, on Lot’s Wife, helped me to realize that I wanted to study and teach
literature for the rest of my life. Since then, I have nourished my mind on the brilliant
conversations that I have had with Lowell, who never ceases to amaze me with the clarity and
sophistication of his thought. My gratitude goes out to Helen Deutsch, whose rich
correspondence always challenged me to think in new ways. I was never as eager to write as I
was after a meeting with Helen, to whom I owe many of my best insights. I also thank Eleanor
Kaufman, whose detailed written feedback on my Part II examinations enabled me to conceive
this dissertation. Lastly, special thanks is due to Kathleen Komar, who agreed to read my
dissertation on very short notice, and whose encouraging words of support were deeply
appreciated.
I am also beholden to the many individuals who helped to shape me into a strong
instructor. Chris Mott instilled a passion in me for teaching that I am fiercely proud of. Every
quarter, he finds new ways to impress me in his relentless drive for pedagogical innovation. To
become a stellar instructor, all one needs to do is watch Chris, and then try to keep up. I thank
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