The black kiss: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
The black kiss: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
The black kiss is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Bloch, Robert (1917–1994); Kuttner, Henry (1915–1958).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
"The black kiss by Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner" is a horror short story written in the early 20th century. Set on the California coast, it follows an artist haunted by planned, escalating sea-dreams tied to an ancestral legend, drawing him toward a supernatural act of possession. An artist, Graham Dean, inherits an old San Pedro house once occupied by Morella Godolfo, a figure of sinister local legend said to consort with unearthly sea-dwellers. As Graham’s seascape dreams intensify into vivid visions of green depths and shadowy swimmers, he learns from an occult-wise ally, Doctor Yamada, that such beings can steal human bodies through a kiss, and that Morella herself was once a sea-thing inhabiting a human shell. Lured to a coastal cave, Graham is kissed again and finds his mind trapped in the pale, scaly body of the creature, while his human body is taken by Morella. After swimming with the monsters to a wreck and witnessing their predation on drowning men, he returns to the cave, confronts his stolen human form, and restrains it as Yamada and Graham’s uncle arrive. In a final act of self-sacrifice, Graham ensures the sea-creature in his body cannot escape, dying as Yamada fires and as he himself delivers a fatal bite, breaking the possession and atoning for the black kiss.
Book and edition facts
- Title: The black kiss
- Author credits: Bloch, Robert (1917–1994); Kuttner, Henry (1915–1958)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Artists -- Fiction
- California -- Fiction
- Horror tales
- Short stories
Gutenberg collections
- Category: American Literature
- Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
- Category: Short Stories
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View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
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