The blood fetish is a short story, which is written by Morley Roberts in 1908.
The gothic genre was quite popular around the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and they were known for including horrific and supernatural elements. Gothic novels often takes place in creepy environments, as old castles, dark forests and abandoned houses.
It is clear to see how The blood fetish fits into this genre, as it deals with superstition, living severed hands, mystery and gloomy environment.
The setting in the start is in Africa, where Simcox Smith and Winslow had setup a camp, where Simcox Smith was laying sick. The start is also characteristic for a gothic story, which this is, as we are introduced to “creeping shadows”, “dark trees” and all this creates this gloomy setting already from the start. Later on, the story takes place in England at Haylings house, Simcox Smith’s rival. This place is also quite creepy, as it is filled with skulls and jars containing body parts. This setting fits quite well with the time the story is written, the gothic genre was popular around this time.
The narrator in the story is an all-knowing third person, as we follow the story through several persons, and we step into their mind.
In the story we follow three characters, Simcox Smith, Winslow and Hayling. Simcox Smith is an anthropologist, but with a fascination for the supernatural, and he is very determined to convince others that the supernatural exists, especially Hayling. Then we have Winslow, who is a doctor and a friend of Simcox, Winslow helps him out with his sickness and demands. He does not really believe in the supernatural, and he tries to talk some sense into Simcox when he talks about the package to Hayling, but mostly because he thinks of it as a bit silly, since he does not believe in it.
At last we have Hayling who also is an anthropologist, but opposite Simcox, Haylings does not believe in the supernatural, actually he is so much