The Snake's Pass (1890)
Bram Stoker
Arthur Severn, a young Englishman on holiday in the west of Ireland, is forced by a storm to stop for the night in a mysterious village, where he hears the legend of "The Snake's Pass." Long ago, it is said, St. Patrick battled the King of the Snakes, who hid his crown of gold and jewels in the hills near the village.
But it is not only legend that haunts the town. The figure of the demonic money-lender Black Murdock looms over the village, as he searches for the lost treasure while manipulating the townsfolk to his own evil ends.
Even more threatening than Murdock is the shifting bog, personified as a baneful "carpet of death," which will swallow up anything--and anyone--in its path. Art and his friend Dick will brave the dangers of the bog to seek out the treasure, but the sinister machinations of Murdock will lead to a deadly conclusion!
Featuring a slow accumulation of terror worthy of Le Fanu, The Snake's Pass was Bram Stoker's first novel. A clear precursor to Stoker's later works of horror, including Dracula, The Lair of the White Worm, and The Jewel of Seven Stars, The Snake's Pass was the only of Stoker's novels set in his native Ireland. This edition follows the text of the first edition published at New York in 1890.
Bram Stoker
Arthur Severn, a young Englishman on holiday in the west of Ireland, is forced by a storm to stop for the night in a mysterious village, where he hears the legend of "The Snake's Pass." Long ago, it is said, St. Patrick battled the King of the Snakes, who hid his crown of gold and jewels in the hills near the village.
But it is not only legend that haunts the town. The figure of the demonic money-lender Black Murdock looms over the village, as he searches for the lost treasure while manipulating the townsfolk to his own evil ends.
Even more threatening than Murdock is the shifting bog, personified as a baneful "carpet of death," which will swallow up anything--and anyone--in its path. Art and his friend Dick will brave the dangers of the bog to seek out the treasure, but the sinister machinations of Murdock will lead to a deadly conclusion!
Featuring a slow accumulation of terror worthy of Le Fanu, The Snake's Pass was Bram Stoker's first novel. A clear precursor to Stoker's later works of horror, including Dracula, The Lair of the White Worm, and The Jewel of Seven Stars, The Snake's Pass was the only of Stoker's novels set in his native Ireland. This edition follows the text of the first edition published at New York in 1890.
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Trade paper ISBN-13: 978-0976604853 List Price: $16.99 U.S. Pages: 224 Published: 2006 |
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Bram Stoker (1847-1912). Abraham “Bram” Stoker was born in Dublin, the third of seven children in a middle-class Protestant family. His father, Abraham Stoker, was a civil servant, and his mother, Charlotte Stoker, was a social activist. He was bedridden as a child but later went on to enroll at Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied mathematics and was known for his skills as a debater and athlete. After graduating from Trinity in 1870, he followed his father into civil service, working as a clerk at Dublin Castle. The next year, Stoker began working in his spare time as an unpaid theater critic for the Daily Mail, a position which brought him into contact with a number of writers and actors, including Henry Irving. His glowing reviews of Irving’s performances planted a seed of friendship between the two men, and in 1878, Stoker became Irving’s business manager, a position he held for twenty-seven years. In the same year, Stoker married Florence Balcombe, and the two welcomed a son, Noel, in 1879.
Assuming the position as Irving’s business manager required that Stoker move from his native Dublin to London, where he was responsible for running Irving’s Lyceum Theatre. During the next few years, the two men, along with partner Ellen Terry, developed the theater into one of the most popular and esteemed West End venues. Stoker oversaw a number of international tours as well as the daily operations of the theater. The Lyceum came to be seen primarily as a vehicle for Irving’s and Terry’s work, especially their acclaimed performances of Shakespeare. In part due to Stoker’s devoted management, Irving achieved the pinnacle of fame when he received the knighthood in 1895.
In 1872, Stoker published his first work of short fiction, “The Crystal Cup,” in London Society magazine, and in the 1880s and ’90s, he published a number of books, including a collection of fairy tales titled Under the Sunset (1882) and an adventure novel titled The Snake’s Pass (1890). However, it wasn’t until the publication of Dracula in 1897 that Stoker became a literary celebrity. Stoker went on to write ten more novels, including The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911), but these works did not significantly advance his literary reputation. Indeed, by the early twentieth century, he was perhaps best known as the author of a celebrity memoir, Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906).
- Contributed by Alexis Easley & Shannon Scott
Assuming the position as Irving’s business manager required that Stoker move from his native Dublin to London, where he was responsible for running Irving’s Lyceum Theatre. During the next few years, the two men, along with partner Ellen Terry, developed the theater into one of the most popular and esteemed West End venues. Stoker oversaw a number of international tours as well as the daily operations of the theater. The Lyceum came to be seen primarily as a vehicle for Irving’s and Terry’s work, especially their acclaimed performances of Shakespeare. In part due to Stoker’s devoted management, Irving achieved the pinnacle of fame when he received the knighthood in 1895.
In 1872, Stoker published his first work of short fiction, “The Crystal Cup,” in London Society magazine, and in the 1880s and ’90s, he published a number of books, including a collection of fairy tales titled Under the Sunset (1882) and an adventure novel titled The Snake’s Pass (1890). However, it wasn’t until the publication of Dracula in 1897 that Stoker became a literary celebrity. Stoker went on to write ten more novels, including The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911), but these works did not significantly advance his literary reputation. Indeed, by the early twentieth century, he was perhaps best known as the author of a celebrity memoir, Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906).
- Contributed by Alexis Easley & Shannon Scott