[Ads-l] fantastic -- SFF sense (UNCLASSIFIED)

Thu May 23 19:27:44 UTC 2019

> Arabella Kenealy's short stories under the title of "Belinda's Beaux." They are very unequal in merit. Some of the adventures of Lord Sytret are ludicrously far-fetched;
while under the heading of "Probabilities" are two fantastic stories
of such powerful realism and such hideous possibility that they
challenge comparison with Mr. Wells's most scientific horrors.

Appears Lord Syfret was a "supernatural detective"
https://brombonesbooks.com/occult-detectives-ghost-hunters-in-fact-and-fiction/the-chronological-bibliography-of-early-occult-detectives/
Lord Syfret appeared in Arabella Kenealy’s series of short stories
titled Some of Lord Syfret’s Experiences, run in Ludgate Magazine.
Though I am unsure of the order or specific dates, the stories include
“Stronheim’s Extremity,” “In a Terrible Grip,” “The Wolf and the
Stork,” “The Villa of Simpkins,” “Prince Ranjichatterjee’s Vengeance,”
“A Beautiful Vampire,” and “An Expiation.” One newspaper notice says
that “In a Terrible Grip” was the second story when it appeared in the
July issue of Ludgate, and another notice shows the series was still
running in the September issue. While it is tempting to assume Ludgate
released the stories on a monthly schedule, I have not found evidence
to confirm this. The following year, all seven of Syfret’s stories
reappeared in Kenealy’s collection Belinda’s Beaux and Other Stories
(London: Bliss, Sands & Co., 1897) and, much later, in Supernatural
Detectives 3: Flaxman Low/Lord Syfret (Greenville, OH: Coachwhip,
2011). Syfret investigates supernatural mysteries as a
specialist-detective.

A rather different view of that book from "Country Life Illustrated,
Volume 2" 1896
https://books.google.com/books?id=vUVOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=%22Belinda%27s+Beaux.%22&source=bl&ots=umig8YDOSU&sig=ACfU3U1iF8fe3uwNeZ3NoOAnKlQfGzWXHw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivn8e7rrLiAhUJZd8KHcF4BB0Q6AEwBXoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Belinda's%20Beaux.%22&f=false
"A series of seven stories is introduced under the heading "Some
Experiences of Lord Syfret," and these are all of striking merit,
save, perhaps, that entitled "A Beautiful Vampire." Of the pieces
entitled "Probabililties" we find ourselves unable to speak with
commendation. They are tracts, so to speak, dealing with the ghastly
subjects, and endeavouring to emphasise the horros of vivesection and
the necessity of resisting the cold-blooded tendencies of science.
They remind us in one and the same breath of the tirades of the
anti-Pasteurists and the grim descriptions of Edgar Allen Poe.

Nothing fantastic, though.

On Thu, May 23, 2019 at 1:55 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks Jesse and Bill. Below is a reviewer in 1897 describing a "blend
> of science and fiction" "two fantastic stories" which are comparable
> to "Mr. Wells's most scientific horrors".
>
> Jesse's concise definition of fantastic says: "having the quality of
> fantasy", and the definition for fantasy says: "a genre of fiction
> which contains elements of magic or the supernatural, frequently set
> in a world other than our own".
>
> This implies fantastic literature should have "elements of magic or
> the supernatural".
>
> Sadly, the "two fantastic stories" referred to below have a "powerful
> realism" and may not contain anything supernatural. (I am not sure
> because I have not read the stories.)
>
> Date: March 27, 1897
> Newspaper: The Pall Mall Gazette
> Newspaper Location: London, Greater London, England
> Article: The Bran-Pie of Current Literature: New Novels
> Start Page 1, Quote Page 2, Column 1
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> A blend of science and fiction---a rather incongruous mixture---has
> undoubtedly tickled the public taste of late. A compound of these
> lines, very skilfully mixed and artistically coloured, is to be found
> in a volume of Miss (or is it Dr.?) Arabella Kenealy's short stories
> under the title of "Belinda's Beaux." They are very unequal in merit.
> Some of the adventures of Lord Sytret are ludicrously far-fetched;
> while under the heading of "Probabilities" are two fantastic stories
> of such powerful realism and such hideous possibility that they
> challenge comparison with Mr. Wells's most scientific horrors.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 6:45 PM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 04:23:30PM -0400, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
> > > Bill Mullins wrote:
> > > > The OED SF project has an entry for "fantastic" (adj) in the SF/F sense, earliest cite 1934
> > > >
> > > > _Science Fiction Digest_ Feb 1933 p 18 col 2
> > > > "We are considering enlarging the field of our service, thereby covering the so-called 'fantastic' magazines."
> > > > http://www.fanac.org/fanzines/SF_Digest_2/SF_Digest_0106-18.jpeg
> > >
> > > Bill: What is the desired definition of "fantastic" in the SFF domain?
> > > Currently, attempting to access webpages on jessesword.com generates
> > > errors (for me).
> >
> > Sorry about that. I've fixed the server problem.
> >
> > _fantastic_ adj. is at https://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/1055
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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