The life-eater

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

76539

Title

The life-eater

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

In the Louisiana swamplands, a terrifying, formless wraith stalks the village of La Foubelle, draining the vitality of its inhabitants. Doctor Hugo Lamontaine, a rogue occultist, investigates the supernatural plague alongside the village schoolmaster. As deaths mount, Lamontaine uncovers a sinister human mastermind behind the horror. Combining folklore, gothic atmosphere, and a battle against dark forces, this tale offers a thrilling ride through fear, superstition, and the desperate struggle to save a community from a life-eating entity.

Summary up to 500 words

In Harold Ward's *The Life-Eater*, a terrifying horror descends upon the quiet Louisiana village of La Foubelle. A formless, black wraith known locally as *la maladie sans maladie* stalks the swamp's edge, striking down villagers young and old. The creature leaves victims shriveled and deflated, their skin puckered into a thousand wrinkles, while others suffer for days before succumbing to the drain of their vitality. Doctor Hugo Lamontaine, a red-bearded physician and renowned occultist, arrives to investigate. He identifies the horror not as a ghost, but as a malignant elemental spirit from beyond the veil, jealous of evolved mankind and feeding on human life force like a vampire. Lamontaine discovers that the spirit requires a medium to cross the veil. He identifies Aaron Kronk, a mesmeric sorcerer who recently lost a fortune to Lamontaine, as the conduit. Kronk, now wealthy through a rice corporation's plans to drain the swamp, uses his powers to lure villagers out so he can claim the land. Realizing Kronk's diabolical motive, Lamontaine devises a desperate plan to trap the entity. He convinces the village schoolmaster, Noel Pelletier, who loves a dying pupil, to expose himself to the spirit. Lamontaine prepares Pelletier with a potion to lower his vitality, making him an easier target, while fortifying the house with iron bands, which elemental spirits fear. That night, the wraith enters through the window, drawn by the weakened schoolmaster. Just as the spirit begins to drain the boy, a gunshot from outside crashes the window shut, locking the spirit inside. The creature attacks the schoolmaster, but Lamontaine, armed with an iron pentagon, engages the entity. The creature shrieks and flees the iron, but Lamontaine is thrown against the spirit, which pierces him. However, the iron of the pentagon kills the wraith. Lamontaine then confronts Aaron Kronk, who attempts to flee. Kronk is shot and killed by Constable Pierre Le Front. It is revealed that Kronk orchestrated the deaths to clear the swamp for development. The horror ends, the schoolmaster survives, and the village is saved from the diabolical scheme.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Local file path

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Categories

• Short Stories
• Horror
• Louisiana Fiction
• Swamps Fiction