Drolls From Shadowland

In Short

This collection of short stories, or "drolls," reimagines traditional Cornish folklore through a lens of existential melancholy and sharp, satirical bite. Each tale focuses on a protagonist who encounters the uncanny—a humpbacked spirit, a magic-bearing witch, or the manifestation of their own hidden grief—and makes a fateful choice. Whether a miner bartering his blood for gold or a student wishing to become a tree, the characters inevitably find that their desires are hollow. It is a work of dark, atmospheric prose that lingers on the moral contradictions of the human heart.

The Story

The collection opens in the depths of a Cornish mine, where a poverty-stricken miner named Joel, desperate to escape his bondage, encounters a humpbacked creature. Driven by greed, Joel strikes a bargain: he will trade his blood for gold. As he coins his life force into sovereigns, his strength evaporates, and the creature—who is revealed to be a soul-stealer—waits to claim him.

From this bleak beginning, the book moves through various encounters between the human and the otherworldly. We follow a young man who desires the forbidden knowledge of birds, only to find their "secret" language is merely mundane chatter about nests and food. We see a clerk named Preston, weary of his neglectful life, taking an "unexpected journey" across a dark river where his own memories project themselves like phantoms, forcing him to confront his failures as a husband and father.

Other tales delve into the consequences of vanity and pride. We watch an arrogant king rebuked by a stranger for his lack of charity, and a jealous man, Elijah, who seeks out a legendary "fogou"—a subterranean cave—to summon Hate against a romantic rival. He dies alone in the darkness, his life wasted by his own vengeful obsession. In another story, a character named Ruth observes her village’s "haunted house," using it as a mirror for her own life’s transitions, eventually meeting her own death with quiet resignation.

The collection frequently examines the nature of the soul itself. One narrative follows a young man who pledges his soul to his beloved in a crystal ball, only to have her discard it in the mud when it no longer amuses her. He discovers he can continue living without it, eventually becoming a bishop who is praised for his piety even as his internal emptiness remains hidden. Throughout, the settings shift from the rugged, wind-swept Cornish moors and cliffs to the claustrophobic, dusty offices of city life. The arcs consistently lead to a moment of revelation, often occurring at the very end of life, where the protagonists finally grasp the futility of their earthly pursuits. The ending of the collection is characteristically somber, leaving these figures to face the final, silent judgment of their own choices.

How It Unfolds

The miner’s bargain Joel toils beneath the ocean, cursing his poverty until he cracks open a rock to reveal a glowing cavern. He trades his own blood to a sinister humpback for gold coins, only to find the cost is his life.

The bird-talker’s realization A young man enters an ancient stone structure to learn the secrets of the birds from a witch. Upon gaining the ability to understand them, he is crushed to realize their speech is entirely devoid of wisdom or wonder.

The clerk’s final crossing Preston, overwhelmed by the failures of his domestic life, drifts on a river where his memories appear as a cinematic projection. He is forced to confront the faces of those he has neglected before reaching the unknown sea.

The seeker of the Beloved The narrator searches for a perfect, elusive "Her" in the market-place, among friends, and finally in a study filled with the world’s greatest books. He concludes that he will only meet this figure when he is in his coffin.

The transformation of the student A man envying the tranquility of nature wishes to become an elm tree. He experiences the simple, drowsy existence he craved, but his human restlessness and regret remain rooted in him as long as his discarded books lie nearby.

The doom of the envious Elijah, consumed by hatred for a rival, seeks out an ancient ritual site to curse his enemy. He disappears, and his discovery months later as a corpse suggests the malevolent forces he sought claimed him instead.

The pawned soul A young man gives his soul to his lover for safekeeping, only for her to toss it away like a trinket. He learns to navigate the world without it, ending his life as a respected, hollowed-out bishop.

The People

Joel is a man defined by the "yoke of Poverty," a character whose greed blinds him to the predatory nature of the spirit he encounters. He is a victim of his own desperation, physically and spiritually diminished by his pursuit of material wealth.

Preston, the weary clerk, is a man haunted by the distance between his past innocence and his present neglect of his family. He lacks the malice of others, yet his life is marred by a passive, selfish detachment that leaves him isolated even in the presence of his loved ones.

Elijah Trevorrow serves as a study in the corrosive power of envy. His desire to destroy his rival, 'Miah Laity, consumes his humanity until he becomes a shell, his only company the "gashly" shadows of a legendary cave. He fails to destroy his enemy, only succeeding in destroying himself.

Ruth represents a more grounded, though still melancholy, perspective. As she matures from a curious girl to a dying woman, she uses the village’s legends to process her own mortality. She finds no magical escape from the "Shadow," but she possesses a dignity in her acceptance that many of the other characters lack.

Finally, the unnamed young man in the "Comedy of a Soul" is the ultimate skeptic. Having lost his soul to the caprice of a lover, he adapts to its absence with a cynical cheerfulness, highlighting the book's argument that a life can be deemed successful by society while being entirely void of substance.

In Its Own Voice

"The yoke of Poverty galled him exceedingly, and he hated his taskmistress with a most rancorous hatred."

This introduction establishes the desperate, claustrophobic atmosphere that drives the miner Joel to strike his fatal bargain.

"He’d been thinking, ‘fore ‘a cud onderstaand them, that what they’d be talkin’ about to ayche awther wed be somethin’ cureyus an’ mighty cliver, all sorts o’ strange owld saycrets, s’pose."

This passage captures the narrator’s reflection on the young man’s disappointment upon learning that the language of birds is merely mundane chatter.

"I’ll have my revenge on un, ef I haang for it!"

Elijah’s growled threat marks the turning point in his descent into the darkness of the fogou and his ultimate demise.

What It's Really About

The central theme is the disparity between what humans desire and the reality of what they find. The stories argue that the "supernatural" is rarely an external force of magic but rather a manifestation of inner states—greed, envy, regret, and spiritual hollowness. There is a persistent tension between the desire for transcendence and the inescapable gravity of earthly, often monotonous, life. The book questions whether humanity is truly capable of recognizing beauty or wisdom, or if we are merely "puppets of memory" trapped by our own shortsighted choices. Ultimately, it suggests that the things we think will save us—wealth, knowledge, or revenge—are the very things that alienate us from the peace we claim to seek.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the atmospheric gloom of Victorian gothic tales and the stark, moral weight of folklore will find this collection compelling. The prose is precise and evocative, particularly when describing the stark Cornish landscape or the psychological decay of its inhabitants. However, readers should be prepared for the dense, phonetically rendered Cornish dialect, which requires patience and a rhythmic ear.

The book is not a light fantasy; it is a somber meditation on the human condition that avoids easy resolutions. It does not promise happy endings, but rather offers a clear-eyed look at the ways people destroy themselves through their own misguided ambitions. It is remarkably honest about the period's anxieties, reflecting a world where the old superstitions still hold sway over the minds of those living in a rapidly modernizing society. If you are looking for a book that feels like a whisper in a dark room—haunting, slightly unsettling, and deeply concerned with the state of the soul—this collection will stay with you long after the final page. Its lack of moralizing, despite its philosophical themes, makes it feel surprisingly modern and refreshingly unpretentious.