{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Ep. 3: Sunday in the Dark with Georges \u2013 Melies\u2019 The House of the Devil","description":"Ep. 3 traces humanity\u2019s long fascination with horror and spectacle\u2014from ancient theatre, folklore, and public executions to phantasmagoria and magic lantern shows\u2014and argues that these pre-cinematic forms directly shaped early horror film, culminating in Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s\u2019 1896 short Le Manoir du Diable (The House of the Devil), often cited as the first horror film. Rooted in M\u00e9li\u00e8s\u2019 background as a stage magician and illusionist, the film draws on Faustian literature and theatrical trickery, using bats, demons, witches, skeletons, transformations, and magical effects to frighten audiences in a safe, entertaining context, much like earlier spectacles. While some scholars have interpreted the character of Mephistopheles as the first cinematic vampire due to bat imagery, hypnotic power, and defeat by a crucifix, the episode contends that the character is clearly a demon\u2014an agent of the devil\u2014consistent with Goethe and Marlowe\u2019s Faust and with the film\u2019s title, which explicitly references the devil. Nevertheless, because associations between bats and vampires already existed in popular culture before Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula (1897), and because M\u00e9li\u00e8s\u2019 film was screened in London while Stoker was active in theatre there, the episode suggests that The House of the Devil may have influenced Stoker\u2019s vampire mythology, even if it is not itself a vampire film, illustrating how early cinematic horror helped solidify tropes that later became central to the genre. Check out our website at https:\/\/www.rhapsodyin35mmpodcast.com\/ and subscribe so you don\u2019t miss a new posting. Please make sure to follow us on the social media platform of your choice (or all of them!) Rate and comment so more people can find us. See the blog post for credits: https:\/\/www.rhapsodyin35mmpodcast.com\/post\/ep-3-remixed-sunday-in-the-dark-with-georges-melies-the-house-of-the-devil Until next time! ","author_name":"Rhapsody in 35MM","author_url":"http:\/\/rhapsodyin35mmpodcast.com\/","html":"