The Smoke Ghost by Fritz Leiber
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- Опубліковано 11 кві 2024
- Fritz Leiber (1910-1992) was an influential American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for his sword-and-sorcery stories and his novel "Conjure Wife" (1943). Leiber's works often combined elements of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, and he coined the term "sword and sorcery." He is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in modern speculative fiction.
"The Smoke Ghost" (1941) is a key example of urban weird fiction, blending horror, fantasy, and social commentary. The story explores themes of urban alienation and the horrors of modernity, as seen in other works like H.F. Arnold's "The Night Wire" (1926) and Leiber's "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" (1949). These stories tap into the sense of disconnection and vulnerability that people experience in the face of rapid urbanization and technological change.
Leiber's background in psychology and interest in Carl Jung's works are evident in "The Smoke Ghost." The titular entity can be interpreted as a manifestation of the Jungian Shadow archetype, representing the repressed aspects of the protagonist Catesby Wran's psyche and the collective unconscious of modern urban society. The climax of the story, in which Wran accepts the smoke ghost's dominion, can be seen as a twisted individuation process.
"The Smoke Ghost" shares similarities with M.R. James's ghost stories, featuring a protagonist haunted by a supernatural entity embodying his deepest fears and anxieties. Both Leiber and James suggest that even rational individuals are not immune to the lure of the supernatural. However, Leiber's story is firmly rooted in the modern urban landscape, reflecting the anxieties of a rapidly changing world.
Leiber's story also bears the influence of H.P. Lovecraft and cosmic horror. The smoke ghost can be seen as a manifestation of the cosmic horror lurking beneath the surface of modern urban life, defying easy categorization and understanding. The story's bleak ending echoes the cosmic pessimism in Lovecraft's work. However, Leiber brings the horror into the heart of the modern city, creating a kind of urban cosmic horror that transplants Lovecraftian themes into the gritty, mid-20th century metropolis.
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Yes! YES!! YESSSSS!!!! I love this story so much and I’ve been waiting for a good recording for years 😭 Thank you so much! It’s so unique and creepy!
Agreed
You hear enough of this genre and it seems like its exhausted. This story stands out as having a couple important original elements, which is very gratifying.
Anything Leiber is good. He did sword and sorcery to sci-fi to horror. Still a truly under-known author.
I love Jungian psychology & otherworldly/spiritual/fay/archetypal/natural weaving within stories. They help teach us about maneuvering through our lives’ ups & downs without having to expose or experience random “X” choice. Your story choices, knowledged expression, & research of the author are incredibly insightful & mind expanding. You work is always appreciated. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
There's something magical about these stories compared to modern ones, that and your voice just tops it off. Thanks mate, for many a calming evening
Could not have said it better. You need to trademark that comment! Modern stories, while obnoxiously long, rarely have anything close to the magic of these stories.
Very true 👍
I hope you don't get tired of hearing this, dear Tony, but I love your work. Thank you for providing such quality and life. ❤
My Friday afternoon fix! It is a weekly tradition while waiting on my daughter.
I love the image!
I wish you all a fantastic weekend!
Best Voice for Storytelling.
Yay! A new narration by Tony; and a Fritz Leiber story at that! Thank you, Tony.
Yeah!!! A new story to brighten up these windy, rainy days. Thank you Tony!
Same. It’s been raining for days here in New England.
My favourite Fritz Leiber story is Our Lady of Darkness, fantastic tale that I first read years ago. Last year I stumbled across (via Swan River Press) the Pale Brown Thing, an earlier and shorter version…. And bought a copy with my birthday money!
Loved this story too ! I am really getting into narrated tales, especially your channel . Keep up the excellent work.
I've got a version of that that also contains "Conjure, Wife". Brilliant stories.
I like how the author could connect the story to how work life is and will be in future. In the end we all give up and to save ourselves or say our job and make the monster aka our boss/ toxic work environment/ jobs we don't like etc our God. So so relatable.
I love listening to these ghost stories while I work. Helps me focus. Thank you for the narrations 😀
You can focus on anything while listening to these stories? You have my respect. I can't help but become engrossed entirely if I'm listening to good ol T.W. reading or Ian from horror babble. Both exceptional narrators.
From a quite terrible and desperately weak story teller I'm sure that's not exactly the highest of praise to these two but that will have to be the way things are.
Really brilliant story, really well read, thanks so much. Interesting exploration at the end too. I’m interested in Jung too. I thought the issues were so relevant to the current day. Not really a story for when one’s feeling particularly depressed about the state of the world!
My thanks, Tony, for the story and for your stunningly brilliant commentary.
I read this one when I was very young,
too young to fully unpack all that I could sense beneath the surface. I
believe it was in one of the many paperback anthologies I unearthed
from the depths of a second-hand store
and happily purchased for ten cents.
Hearing you read it today, along with your comments, closed the circle for me and let me fill in some gaps. I have
to say that your "ramblings" are a delight for me. The end of a good story
can sometimes be a bit jarring -- your comments are the perfect cure for that!
Yes!! I've been looking for Leiber stories everywhere! I haven't come across your channel before, so glad the algorithm pushed this to me. Subscribed.
Anything by Fritz Leiber is worth reading, and this was excellent!
Thank you for this 👍
Great story, great reading.
Leiber is one of the few authors, along with Ramsey Campbell and T.E.D. Klein, who have actually scared me.
His story "Horrible Imaginings" is amazing, I wish there was an audio recording of it somewhere.
BTW, even though you’ve heard this many times, it is your voice that lulls people into relaxation, regardless of story. You don’t need to do special “sleep” stories. Any of your stories will ease people into a lovely state where they can fall asleep. It’s just one of those voices.
Thank you 🙏
Very few stories chill me, but this is one of them....thank you
Creeeeeepy. Love this story, the vivid narration. Could see this tale growing, developing, emerging right before me. A true sleep-chaser. Thanks, Tony!
Fascinating story and creepy too. Thank you Tony your narration is first class as always
This is a superbly written story and one I asked for quite a while ago, you have not disappointed Tony, thank you
One of my very favourite stories! I've been hoping you'd do this one. These ghosts that creep closer and closer are the most unsettling. I don't know where I read it, but there's a book by John Buchan where a man has a recurring dream: every year, on his birthday, he dreams he's in a room, and he knows that on the other side of the door is another room, then another, down a long line of identical rooms. At the end of the line of rooms is a room with an ominous *something* in it, and every year, it comes one room closer. Until we reach the timeline of the story, when the something is in the *very next room*.
A little similar to the ‘Sweeper’ a simple story but in the same vein.
The Dancing Floor is the one you mean, I believe :)
@@YvonneWilson312 Yes, that's right - thanks! Now I remember where I read that account of the dream - it was in an introduction to a ghost story - maybe even this one, probably in one of Basil Davenport's anthologies, because he always wrote a little blurb before each story.
This was gnarly... thank you. Reminded me both of David Lynch and Ray Bradbury, such a distinctive writing style, gotta hear/read more of Leiber's works.
This one really gave me the creeps. Your rendition was perfect as usual.
Now I'm terrified, truly terrified. As an 11 yr old girl, I would ride the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad alone into and out of the city to meet my father several times a year. I did this until I was 17.
It ran for miles past exactly the type of dreary, gritty, abandoned looking city scape described here.
I was fascinated by it and would try to imagine the lives of so many grimy, poor, hopeless people living less than a dozen yards from an elevated railroad. I never saw a single human being behind the dirty glass in all those years.
That became more and more bizarre and creepy as the years went by.
I haven't thought of those rides in decades, until now. I wonder if there are human beings in those windows now? Did someone finally come home to plug in the electric percolator on the kitchen windowsill yet?
I swear I could smell their sweat, cigar, cigarette, liquor and stale beer odor inside the train, even with the windows closed to keep the smog and grit out even on the hottest days. I can taste that imagined (It must have been my imagination, right? Or maybe I fell asleep and dreamed the whole thing.) in the back of my throat from 1500 miles and a whole lifetime away now.
Lieber's genius never fails to stir my uneasinest feelings regarding the supposed reality of the world.
Perfect narration, as always. I take for granted that your timing, inflection, characterizations, mood and whatever else will be impeccable, every freaking time! I think you scare me, too. I'm an elderly woman....shame on you! I'm going to listen again right now. 😃
Can you narrate ine called "A Collapse of Horses". I think you'd like it.
Amazing - really creepy. Love it! Great reading - thanks so much.
Fritz Leiber is one of my favorite writers, and your narration makes this story so much creepier. Thank you!!
This story is a real treat and it's not even Halloween 🎃! The image of the ash mark on the forehead evokes images of Lent, when you are blessed by the priest. The mark from the soot creature is more of a brand, as it has now marked you as belonging to it.
I really enjoyed this story! Nicely read and loved your expert analysis! I got so much out of your explanations about Jung. This story was so chock full of interesting psychology! Now I know why you are a psychiatric nurse! Wow! You really dig deep into these stories, Mr. Scoprio - I can see why you are so good at extrapolating all the nuances of these paranormal tales. Well done! You outdid yourself!!
Tony, you may be tickled to know that I got you a new fan this weekend... I had to get an MRI and when the tech asked what I'd like to listen to on UA-cam during the procedure, you were the first thing that popped into mind. Your voice always calms me and I love your stories. She listened too and really enjoyed this story! Totally random, I know haha 😂
It is a great story, i read and listen to it over and over...
I remember reading this at school years ago.
Yippee, I've been waiting for another story from you, thank you Tony 🙏👏👏👏
Thanks Tony,
Great production, and such pertinent commentary/thoughts on the subject.
The premise reminds me of Stephen King's original "It"
I remember one of his characters early on putting his literal finger on it when he said, "It's this shitty town! It's Derry"
The general malicious spirit of Derry had manifested in It.
👍🙏
Oh yeah.....this story is excellent.
Tony, your recordings are truly a work of art.
I never heard of this story until today. I am so glad I tuned in!
Thank You!
That is genuinely one of the scariest stories I've ever heard
Such a chilling story . Beautiful adaptation! Also a wonderful analysis.
Excellent, as always!
Scary and profound. I appreciate your thoughtful commentary.
Outstanding as always, thank you for providing moments of escape into another reality 😊
The first part was beautifully written
Great Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Perfect Narration ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️
This was super duper! Some elements reminded me of the Slender Man.
as a kid in 60s, i followed his fafhrd grey mouser series avidly. never picked up on leiber's (i pronounced it LYE-ber; is it in fact LEE-ber?) uncanny leanings. now i supposed i relied upon his action as an antidote to my morbid, supernatural, leanings. i concur that your voice is perfect for these tales.
+@sleethmitchell Now I’m
unsure . Leeber. But maybe L ai ber
The correct pronunciation is "Lyeber". I pronounced it as "Leiber" until i saw an interview with him where he corrected the interviewer on it. It's somewhere here on UA-cam.
@@richardferguson6893 Thank you
@@ClassicGhost You're welcome. You did a brilliant job on this; it's one of my favourites.
!!!!!!!!!!
42:54 You keep mentioning that -- but I have to admit, that the stories in your videos are never interrupted... 1-2 adds at the start, sometimes 1 at the end, but luckily none in between.
p.s.: I hope your Mum (and family in general) is doing fine -- best wishes (from Austria)!
🙏🙏
👍
I think the Smoke Ghost is a manifestation of Rand's guilt. He's a business man in the Industrial Revolution who seems a little more aware of the exploitation that it takes to keep him at the top.
His regression is not repression but his mind trying to grasp at the last shreds of decency by reminding him of how he felt being exploited by his mother and how despite his impressive gifts it would have never been enough because she was insatiable like the Ghost and Society.
Then as he capitulates to the Ghost and what he must do to keep its favor the narrative turns to show his son. Perhaps the Ghost prodding Rand to "do it for him", perhaps to say this is what his son will inherit and continue the cycle.
Everybody dies, don’t they?
If they don’t pay me the two bits I’m owed.
As a negro "A NEGRO" 😂 thanks to the author for the inclusion .🎉
Mae enw'r awdur wedi'i gamsillafu ar y ddelwedd.
Whatever the currency is in your own country??? I'm sorry but that's really bizarre to say that after giving the price in dollars. Have we suddenly changed from pound stirling to dollars in England and no-one's told me? LOL!
Just 75% of listeners are American
@@ClassicGhost Okay. There's lots of reasons why I'd disagree about saying dollars but I won't argue with you Tony, as it's obviously up to you. Anyway, I forgot to add that I really enjoyed the story. I haven't read that one as I tend to be conversant with just his Sci-fi so it's great to hear more from him. Cheers. :)
It's Fritz LY-ber, not LEE-ber.
I now know . I normally look up words that I’m uncertain of the pronunciation, however I was certain but I was wrong. many apologies.
Tony, please don’t stop giving us those snippets of your life at the end of each story. We love them. They are what singles you out from other narrators. I am very angry at those who’ve said they don’t like it, and who have almost subliminally stopped you from giving us a good chat at the end story. I miss it…and even when you do a little bit now, & then, one can see it is seriously curtailed. We WANT to hear about your wife, daughter, and the dogs …and what you’ve been up to. Please feel free to ramble on to your heart’s content. ❤
Yes. I haven’t positively decided not to do it but i am conscious now of critical ears ready to snipe and criticise at things which are my personal family life
You can immediately tell that this was written by a man of a certain time period. “She daydreamed about most of the men in the office to fill up her empty mind.” Geez
Thanks Tony! Reminds me of F Scott Fitz’s Valley of Ashes in G Gatsby (Gatsby Catesby), and TS Elliot’s Hollow Men & Wasteland. Cheers!
Great to see you
@@ClassicGhost Tx, brudda, u 2