Entranced by Eyes of Evil: Tales of Mesmerism and Mystery

Animal Magnetism — Mesmerism — Hypnosis

More than one name has been applied to the phenomenon of one person putting another into a deep trance–and into a deep state of submission. But how far does this power truly go? Can a devious hypnotist entrance an unknowing subject from across a room? Can a mesmerized person be compelled to commit murder? Can a hypnotic spell extend beyond death? In the 1800s, such questions had no certain answers, and the extreme possibilities were explored by fiction writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Louisa May Alcott, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Ambrose Bierce. These and fourteen more authors spin tales about unbounded hypnotism in Entranced by Eyes of Evil: Tales of Mesmerism and Mystery. 

Listen to Three of the Stories from the Book

You might start with “The Facts in M. Valdemar’s Case,” by Edgar Allan Poe.

I read two more stories — the anonymous “Curious Mesmeric Experiences in California” and Arthur Lucas’s “Selenitha” — at the Brom Bones Books YouTube channel. While there, please enjoy some of the other videos and consider subscribing.

If you’re a fan of audio books, you can listen to or download me reading selections from my books at the Shall I Read You a Story? page. It’s free!

Phantom Traditions Library

Entranced by Eyes of Evil is the first volume in the Phantom Traditions Library, a series of anthologies featuring unusual and forgotten genres of fiction that flourished in the 1800s.

The other volumes are:

• Echoing Ghost Stories: Literary Reflections of Oral Tradition
• Ghostly Clients & Demonic Culprits: The Roots of Occult Detective Fiction

Future anthologies will feature distinctive sub-genres of ghost stories, tales about voyages to the moon, and more!

Go to the Catalog of Books.