Horror Story Review: Metzengerstein by Edgar Allan Poe

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Like the Capulets and the Montagues, the neighboring Metzengersteins and Berlifitzings have been at each other’s throats as long as anyone can remember. No one is sure why, but it’s thought that it has to do with an ancient prophecy: “A lofty name shall have a fearful fall when, as the rider over his horse, the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the immortality of Berlifitzing.” Both are wealthy aristocratic families in Hungary with German-sounding names who live in chateaux. William, Count Berlifitzing, is an old man who doesn’t let anything stand in the way of his love of hunting and spending time with his horses. Frederick, Baron Metzengerstein, has lost both parents at the tender at of fifteen and inherited untold riches. Four day after young Frederick comes into this money, there’s a terrible fire in the Berlifitzing stables. While the stables burn, the baron sits in old unused chamber of the family chateau studying an old tapestry that depict a family victory over the Berlifitzings. In one section, an oddly colored horse stands before his vanquished Saracen rider, a Berlifitzing ancestor. The horse’s head is bowed, perhaps in sympathy. Frederick looks away. When he looks back, the horse’s head appears to have moved. It’s facing up, directly at him. He receives with equanimity the news the Count has died in the stable fire trying to rescue his horses. His servants also let him know a strange-colored horse has been found. The Berlifitzings deny it’s one of theirs, despite the brand on its forehead, W. V. B. The Baron can claim ownership of it as a stray. And so he does. This is a gothic story of vengeance and chickens (…or horses?) coming home to roost, and, mutual self-destruction. While the story stops short of explicitly blaming Frederick for the fire in the Berlifitzing stables, it seems the neighbor assumes that’s the case. One impediment for most mono-lingual modern readers will be the Latin epigraph and the use of a bit of French in the opening paragraph. The epigraph is “Pestis eram vivus—moriens tua mors ero, which is something like “I was a plaque while living—dying I will be your death.” It’s from Martin Luther, but I have no idea what the context is. This was the first story of author Edgar Allan Poe’s to be published. He’s had poetry printed, but this was his first short story. The tone of the story is heavy and unpleasant, but again, like so much of Poe, one makes one’s own hell. Interestingly, Rudyard Kipling claimed this story inspired his story “The Phantom Rickshaw,” another heavy and unpleasant story about ghostly vengeance. There is some discussion as to whether this is satire, whether Poe is poking fun at the gothic tradition, with some of its exaggeration. There is also some discussion as to whether this is a cathartic tale with Poe’s foster father depicted as the old Count. I wonder at times if people are looking for master’s thesis topics. Yeah, you’re right. Not something I’ll ever have to worry about. This story is available from Project Gutenberg ______ Title: “Metzengerstein” Author: Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) First published: Saturday CourierJan. 14, 1832 Source: ISFDB