“The Empire of the Dead” The Paris Catacombs “The Empire of the Dead”

A brief history of the Catacombs November 9th 1785 further use of the old cemetery was prohibited. The disused limestone quarries under the City of Paris were chosen to house the remains. The transfer of bodies began on April 7th 1786 and continued until 1788.

Cataphiles Illegal explorers. A world beneath the streets. How do cataphiles navigate? Ideal setting for a horror film!

My Project

Inscriptions "Le trépas vient tout guérir Mais ne bougeons d’om nous sommes Plutôt souffrir que mourir C’est la devise des hommes". Lafontaine. "Death comes to heal everything But we 're moving on Rather suffer than die This is the motto of men. " Lafountaine (French fabulist and poet)

"Croyez que chaque jour est pour vous le dernier" Horace "Believe that every day that has dawned is your last" Horace (Latin lyric poet)

“Au son de la trompette les morts ressusciteront” “The sound of the trumpet raised the dead” (Possibly an adaptation from a biblical quote)

Spring in the Paris Catacombs Richard LeGallienne-1913

Edgar Allan Poe And the Gothic Short Story

The Cask of Amontillado “My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so.”

Other Poe Stories: The Black Cat The Fall of the House of Usher The Tell Tale Heart The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Raven (poem)

My Project Shifts What makes a good Gothic short story? What sort of content should it include? Why do we still read Gothic short stories today? Could I write my own?

Meeting With Dr Hazel Wilkinson Something unknown or unfinished A monoperspective with an unreliable narrator Both comical and sinister Leaving the reader unsatisfied

My Short Story Centred in the Parisian Catacombs Inclusion of Memento Mori Monoperspective The Supernatural Beneath the City of Lights

The Wellcome Collection

Vivid descriptions of the tunnels and bones No way out Two separate worlds of the living and the dead A maze of horror, surrounded by death Lost in the catacombs Gothic/Horror genre Trapped for eternity Told from a spirit’s perspective Out of sight out of mind A world beneath the world Feelings of terror and unease Darkness Short Story Seeing the unseen “We are the innocents” Hellish connotations 1786-1986 200 years Associations of death and evil Spirits from the cemetery of the innocents Theme of heat Beneath the city of lights Héloïse: Old French name meaning healthy Irony of “health” in a long dead spirit Sounds like “hell” The closer death is the colder it becomes Fits in with underground setting

“Cheek to cheek with a sniggering skull” Literary Analysis Irony that the skull has no flesh on its cheek. Repetition creates a disjointed rhythm, highlights the contrast between the living and the dead. “Cheek to cheek with a sniggering skull” Sibilance is almost onomatopoeic, mirroring the creepy laugh of the skull. Romantic image, contrasts with macabre content. Similar to some of Le Gallienne’s descriptions. Personification of the skull, adds to eerie tone and Gothic style.

Gothic Clichés “The snapping of their jaws invaded my ears.” “I blindly continued through the dark abyss of the catacombs” Gothic Clichés “The rows of skulls continued to stare. The intricately placed bones taunted me with their smiles,” “I looked down at my hands to see the skin tinged blue and a ghostly pallor creeping through my fingers.”

Direct Influence of the Catacombs “Another sign, this one set into a wall of skulls. “The sound of the trumpet raised the dead.” Allusions to damp Inclusion of the engravings “Carved in harsh letters above my head read: “HALT! THIS IS THE EMPIRE OF THE DEAD.” “I staggered forwards and the whiff of musty damp and something undefinable crawled through my nose” Direct Influence of the Catacombs “Behind iron bars I saw more bones. Not carefully stacked into designs like those surrounding me, but piled haphazardly on top of each other.” Descriptions of the bones Allusions to smell

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Week Goals Problems that may be encountered Solutions Evaluation 3: 10th August- 16th August Begin to write the short story on Wednesday Send an email by the end of the week to my proposed expert suggesting a phone call or meeting Watch the documentary “Filthy Cities” and write a blog post about the content As with before I am on holiday and don’t have the best internet access I didn’t get much work done last week as I had a friend staying with me and this week I also have somebody coming to visit I have been finding it difficult to get the story started I will continue using my phone to do research I am going to do my best to plan my time effectively so that I can still have fun with my friend I believe that by just sitting down and writing I will be able to get past this bit of “writers block” and I can always edit the story once I have begun to write I sent an email to my proposed expert requesting a possible meeting but as of yet have heard nothing back. I was also unable to watch the documentary as it couldn’t be accessed from France. I will find it when I get back to England.

What Went Wrong? Not a great deal of literature directly linked to the Catacombs Expanded the project Difficulty in finding experts Looked into different areas of expertise Trouble finding academic opinions Widened research to include online resources

In Conclusion Access to new resources and research methods The discovery of a new avenue of literature Improvement in my creative writing skills

Thank You