The Morbid, Mysterious and Macabre in the Tales of Maupassant

Syllabus (Currently Unavailable)

Before Cthulhu, there was the Horla... Nineteenth-century author Guy de Maupassant is one of the best known and most prolific writers of short stories in the French canon. Many of his tales center on the morbid, the weird, and the supernatural, and present recurrent themes of fear, cruelty, and madness. Born a year after Poe's death, Maupassant is sometimes compared to the great American writer of terrifying tales who preceded him. In turn, Maupassant's own most celebrated horror story, "The Horla" is often cited as a source of inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu." This course will study approximately forty of Maupassant's most disturbing short stories and novellas.

Prof. Christopher Coski, Department of Modern Languages (coski@ohio.edu)

THIS COURSE FULFILLS GEN. ED. TIER II + ARTS & SCIENCES HUMANITIES REQUIREMENTS