A supernatural horror novel, set in Fontenay-aux-Roses in August 1831.
Dumas reports that he visited Fontenay-aux-Roses to go hunting, and
while there happened on the aftermath of a murder. The killer shows up
on the doorstep of the mayor, publicly confesses to murdering his wife,
and demands to be taken into custody. Dumas visits the crime scene with
the mayor and is subsequently invited to attend a dinner party.
According to the translator's notes, Dumas peopled his dinner party with
real individuals active in Parisian occult circles during the period.
The novel is structured as a debate between a rationalist doctor, who
denies the existence of supernatural forces, and the mayor and most of
his guests, who uphold the existence of the supernatural.
Each guest attempts, in turn, to convince the doctor of the existence of
the supernatural by recounting a ghost story taken from the guest's
personal experience. The stories could effectively stand alone, and are
vivid and often gruesome. [Hint: How long does a person remain conscious
after being guillotined?] They are set in diverse times and locales,
including two stories set in Paris during the terror, one in Scotland,
one in contemporary France, one in Switzerland, and one in the
Carpathian Mountains.
