The Horla [Hardcover]

Guy De Maupassant (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Thompson-Barlow Company Inc (1923)
• ASIN: B000J4J8MS
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely outstanding, May 29, 2002

By 

Mike (Cambridge, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LA Horla (Petits Classiques Larousse Texte Integral) (French Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's not for no reason that The Horla is widely regarded as the best horror story ever told. I advise anyone who contemplates reading this to pour themselves a good stiff gin before turning the pages!

The Horla is written in the style of a diary, and is set in a rural area of northern France, near the medieval city of Rouen. The author of the diary is a rich, reclusive gentleman who wants for nothing, and spends most his time and energy contemplating the great philosophical questions of life. He enjoys the simple pleasures of his existence - such as watching ships whizz along the Seine.

The story begins in a happy mood with the diarist full of life and complety content, but as the days pass by he becomes ill. At first he believes the ailment is physical, but it soon becomes apparent that the illness is mental. As strange things begin to happen around him - which can only be explained rationally by his own actions of which he is not aware - the reader is drawn into the mystery that forms the crux of the plot: is he really mad, or are supernatural forces at work?

Maupassant leaves us guessing all the way, and while initially it looks like a clear-cut case of madness, the diarist contemplates other, more terrifying explanations of the bizarre incidents that seem to take place in his house. The story ends in a shocking climax - which I won't spoil by revealing it here!

What makes The Horla the masterpiece that it is, is that it "works" on so many levels. The entries in the diary reveal that the author is completely clear-headed and lucid, and because he admits the possibility of being mad, this gives his later ideas of the supernatural the credibility they need to make the reader think twice about his condition. The horror builds gradually, and much of it is left unsaid. The reader is forced to employ a lot of imagination.

This a gem of a tale, and no self-respecting connoisseur of horror worth their salt should go without The Horla on their bookshelf!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Master of Horror and Terror, June 30, 2001

By 

Asmodeous (North Yorkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Le Horla (Pocket Classics) (French Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

We have all heard of Stephen King - but check out Guy De Maupassant. The Horla is probably the greatest short horror story ever written. If you like psychological horror and are looking for a new title or author then I strongly advise you to try the stories of Maupassant. Maupassant (who eventually went insane himsef) knows the real terrors that lurk around us...He's been there...
If you want the ultimate collection of his horror fiction then a 'must-buy' is The Divided Self by the same author.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story to read with your door closed, June 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Le Horla (Pocket Classics) (French Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the story of a strange creature that comes from some place and has some strange effects, but the most important thing in this book is the atmosphere that the author creates. Mauppassant's style is beautiful and precise. He has not a positive vision of the world, maybe because of this particular way of seeing this book is sometimes so terrible, and so beautiful at the same time. In addition to be greatly written, it is a good story: mysterious, but not silly or ridiculous. When I began reading I was fascinated, while the story goes on, I was more and more inside its universe of confusion, mystery and fear. Finally It touches me so deeply that I finish reading it with all my doors and windows closed. I was afraid, but I could not stop reading. Of course, I am not afraid anymore, I am glad for have reading this wonderful book.