The feast of Bacchus : A study in dramatic atmosphere by Ernest G. Henham
"The Feast of Bacchus" by Ernest G. Henham is a novel written in the early 20th century. It is an atmospheric, genre-blending work in which a secluded English valley and its moated manor, the Strath, exert a palpable, almost theatrical influence over those who enter. Framed in “acts” and “scenes,” the story follows the reclusive rector-scholar Dr. Berry, the brash newcomer Henry Reed, and others drawn into the Strath’s orbit—among them society
beauty Maude Juxon, her incisive friend Flora Neill, the wild hill-girl Lone Nance, and the London rake Charles Conway—as questions of desire, marriage, and fate collide with a pervasive, mystical mood. The opening of the story first sets a light, satiric note on a summer river, where Maude Juxon and Flora Neill banter about flirtation (“the asymptote”) and debate love, marriage, and liberty. It then shifts to Dr. Berry, an erudite recluse in the moribund parish of Thorlund, whose daily walks in the abandoned garden of the Strath reveal a place with alternating “comedy” and “tragedy” in its very air. When the new owner Henry Reed arrives, the two explore a dust-sealed dining room seemingly frozen mid-feast and discover a grotesque theatrical mask; the garden’s intoxicating cheer turns to a darker pressure as night and storm approach. Reed vows to tame and profit from the property, while Berry warns that the place will break him; even the hired men feel the garden’s eerie gaiety as if tipsy. As thunder gathers, Berry, half-priest and half-chorus, performs a ritual at the sun-dial, meets the wind-drunk Lone Nance on the downs, and glimpses hints of a “white woman” at the manor. The next morning, Reed is found dead at the threshold, later shown to have been strangled. An interlude in London introduces Charles Conway—dissipated heir to Reed—who learns of the murder, stares uneasily at his family’s Comedy/Tragedy masks, and sets off by train toward the Strath, where the mystery awaits him. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Henham, Ernest G. (Ernest George), 1870-1948 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 16007022 |
| Title | The feast of Bacchus : A study in dramatic atmosphere |
| Original Publication | London: Brown, Langham & Co., Ltd., 1907. |
| Credits | an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PR: Language and Literatures: English literature |
| Subject | Horror tales |
| Subject | Gothic fiction |
| Subject | Paranormal fiction |
| Subject | Haunted houses -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78162 |
| Release Date | Mar 10, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 250 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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