#bangsian fantasy

[adventures-of-the-blackgang]

(poster advertising release of book) A House-Boat on the Styx an 1895 fantasy novel written by John Kendrick Bangs

[ranmagender]

The Fate series would technically count as Bangsian fantasy

[suspeccoll]

John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922) wrote The Enchanted Type-Writer in 1899, popularizing a unique genre that eventually was named Bangsian Fantasy in his honor. 

Bangsian fantasy is known for imagining the afterlives of famous literary or historical figures. In this volume of short stories, the narrator tells his stories through a magical typewriter that allows him to communicate with a newspaper reporter in Hades--perfect for (fantasy) fiction Friday! 

--Natalia

[uncgarchives]

For this week’s Whodunit Wednesday, we’re featuring a mystery by John Kendrick Bangs,  Mrs. Raffles: Being the Adventures of an Amateur Crackswoman. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1905.

Bangs is best known for the genre named for him, Bangsian fantasy, where deceased and/or historical individuals have further adventures in the afterlife.

In this book,  Mrs. Raffles, who is the widow of the deceased A. J. Raffles (former gentleman, amateur cricket player, and thief), continues the family legacy of crime first begun in Britain but now in America.  This collection of stories are narrated by her cohort, Harry "Bunny" Manders, previously the devoted friend and sidekick of A.J. Raffles, in a similar style as the original stories by E.W. Hornung.

E.W. Hornung was the brother-in-law to none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Hornung’s inspiration for Raffles was their mutual friend Oscar Wilde. Since Raffles was a “gentleman thief”, you could say he was an early prototype to today’s anti-hero.

This book is part of the Robbie Emily Dunn Collection of American Detective Fiction at #UNCG!

[patternsinnoise]

Gate Crashers

by Cameron Summers

This one is old, heavy-handed, and clumsy.  Real heavy on the blasphemy, and I’m not sure where the zipper thing came from.  If you still like it, feel free to reblog, just leave the attribution in place, please.  I’m trying to make money off my writing eventually, and being recognized helps.

The two angels stood at the ramparts, watching as the hordes of the damned pounded on the gates. No longer encased by flesh, they could muster little force; but they were persistent and had little better to do.

“I understand things are bad,” the first angel said, scratching between his wings with his spear of fire, “but do they have to wail and gnash their teeth so close to the gate?”

“You know the Big Man upstairs is getting senile. There’s just no place else to stand.”

The first angel shook his head.

“Pete says there’s cracks around the gates, you know,” the second said.

“Really? Amazing.”

“Not really. Anything will show signs of wear after an eon or so.”

They watched.

The damned had begun to acquire tools for their work. Some had rigged up cannons, and fired at the walls, the crass iron slamming into the masonry and shattering. Some had built battering rams.  Where they had gotten the materials was anyone's guess. Others had torn apart angels who had wandered outside the walls, tearing off their wings and stealing their spears, swords and guns.

Every moment of their existence was spent tearing at the wall.

“Mad, aren’t they? Too clever, too vicious, and too determined. No wonder they aren’t allowed in.”

The first shook his head.

“I feel bad for them,” he said.

The second shrugged.

An old man wandered past, wearing a dirty red bath robe. His beard reached down to his sternum, and the dome of his bald head had a zipper running from between his eyes to some undetermined point on his back.

The old man sucked on his teeth and looked over the battlements.

“Nice to see you up and about, sir,” the first angel said.

“Eh?”

“Nice to see you up and about!”

“Eh.”

“Can we get you anything, sir?” the second asked.

“Who are you? Why am I here?”

Sighing, the second angel threw an arm around the old man’s shoulders, and began to lead him away.

“I’m just an attendant, sir. Let’s get you back to bed, how’s that sound?”

As his companion left, the first Angel walked down to the gates. There were indeed cracks around the gold-and-silver gates. The stone had begun to chip, and one gate hung slightly askew, a hinge having come loose.

“Let us in!” they cried out.

“I…I can’t,” the first angel said.

“Let us in, or we’ll break the gates down!” one shrieked.

“We’re not allowed…” the angel said.

“Who prevents you? What law? What rule? What authority?” a multitude of voices asked, each voice lending a word or question to the whole. “The Word,” the Angel said.

They resumed pounding on the gates, roaring with wrath and thundering blasphemy.

The Angel saw one pin on the hinges coming loose. He stood there, considering. He could gently tap it back into place, and put it out of mind; he could pull it free and let the damned storm the barbican of heaven.

Instead, he chose to watch as it slid out, and struck the ground, bouncing once…twice…thrice.

The legions of the damned waited, as if holding their breath, and surged forward. The horde of teeming humanity stormed forward, screaming defiance at the spirits who would judge them.

The Angel knelt as if in prayer, as if asking for absolution. He lay down his spear.

Forgiveness came, forgiveness of a sort, a white-hot tongue of fire, like the Spirit, pierced his heart.

[dchan87]

I had no idea Bangsian fantasy could be so trippy.

[straycatreadsthat]

A House-boat on the Styx: FINAL THOUGHTS.

Glad it finally included a women's chapter (albeit only one, and the ending one at that), especially since they brought up the fact that the house-boat is totally a boys' club. I was sad to see it captured by pirates, an event made easier by the fact that unsuspecting ladies were populating the boat at that time, but it was an amusing ending to an entertaining novella.

Although House-boat was mostly a parody, used to ridicule certain people and the parts they played in history, there were certainly some interesting religious and philosophical topics. For example, the fact that Hades is not the only afterlife implies that there is a "Beyond" and that the shades who stay in the Styx are more attached to mortal life than those who choose "true death." Christian ideas were prevalent, considering that Adam and Noah were both characters, but Eastern ideas were not disregarded. 

Mostly, this novella was fun and distracting, and I would definitely recommend it for a light read.