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The Horla
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Plot Summary of The Horla
"THE HORLA (Le Horla) has been first published in 1887.

This eerie story describes the thoughts of a man convinced that an invisible creature is trying to take control of his mind. This creature would have come all the way from Brazil aboard a commercial boat and would have been attracted by the man's white house situated near the Seine river. A few days after the passage of the boat, our hero starts to feel unhappy without any good reasons at all and one morning, he notices that, while he was sleeping, someone has drunk the water on the night table. He leaves for Paris where his depressing thoughts soon disappear. When he comes back home, the nightmares reappear and the creature takes control of his body more and more often. Soon, he's unable to decide anymore to leave the region in order to escape from this invisible monster. "

Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Horla
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 60%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%




Tone of book - scarey (primal ax-wielding fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Horror story? Yes
Horror plotlets - the bodysnatchers are coming!

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male Alien
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - Invisibility
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
Earth setting: - 19th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - little dialog
Most similar books to The Horla
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
Crawlers by John Shirley
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
Stasis by Kelly Steed & Colleen Elliott
Stinger by Robert R. McCammon


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Guy de Maupassant Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Daniel Staebler  

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