The Dark House The Dark House
The story behind the story
One wintry night, bored and broke, I thought what can I do? That's when The Dark House was constructed. OK, so its foundations were a bit shaky at first, but once the breeze blocks were up there was no stopping me. Armed with my family's 3 volumes of the Reader's Digest Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary (3rd Edition, November 1976) , I got to work.
I needed to set the story in a time when people were generally sinister and strange happenings occurred. What better than the Gothic period, I thought, since these pages cover gothic/black metal music. When I looked up "Gothic" in my trusty dictionary it read:
adj. 1. Of, like, the Goths; hence (fig.) barbarous, rude, uncouth. 2. (archit.) Of the style of architecture prevalent in Western Europe from the 12th to the 16th century, including in England the Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular, characterized by ribbed vaults, pointed arches, clustered pillars, etc.; of the art of this period; (of script) of style used by Wulfila (see n. 2 below; ill. SCRIPT); (print.) black-letter. 3. ~ Revival, revival in England of Gothic architecture in the mid-18th and esp. the 19th c. ~ n. 1. Gothic architecture. 2. Extinct language of the Goths, one of the East GERMANIC group of languages, known from the 4th-c. translation of parts of the Bible made by Bishop Wulfila and from other scattered remnants. 3. (print.) Gothic type.
So here we had a word to describe or denote a tribe of people or language and a style of architecture and script existing in various time periods. But in my mind, the word "Gothic" conjured up pictures of blackness, creepy churches and immortal people poncing around in frilly shirts with a desire to suck the blood of other, (soon to be dead), people. I surmise that these images were planted into my head by watching old and more recent horror films ("Interview with the Vampire" is an example of the modern variety). However, I think I actually intended to refer to the true meaning of "Gothic" in the sense of the Gothic novel - click here for further information on Gothic novels. The time period for the purposes of my story starts at the beginning of the 19th century. However, as you've probably gathered, the story ends in your time, i.e. the current day.
Next I needed a place where all these strange happenings could occur. I ended up with 2 places, the American state of Virginia (in particular the province of Jamestown) and England, the latter place being where the Dark House is located. I wanted to refer to Virginia since I knew that there was a place called "Norfolk" in Virginia and as I live in the county of Norfolk in England, I thought it would make a neat link. Click here for further information on Norfolk. The relevant parts of the dictionary definition (which I used for the story) of "Virginia" read:
South Atlantic State of U.S., one of the original thirteen States of the Union (1788), and site of first English settlement (1607) in America; capital, Richmond; ... ~ tobacco, variety of tobacco grown in Virginia; any American tobacco ...
This got me thinking of English settlers in America, early tobacco plantations and the slaves used to tend the tobacco fields.
I then thought of "Jamestown", the dictionary entry for which read:
(-ms-). Ruined village in Virginia, U.S.A., site of first permanent English settlement in America (1607).
I think this is where my homework into history went a bit awry. You would have thought that the word "ruined" mentioned above would have led me to realise that Jamestown no longer exists other than as a tourist attraction - I have since discovered that many of the settlers of Jamestown died from either famine, disease or attack by Native Americans. Rebellion resulted in Jamestown being burned in 1676 and by 1699 Jamestown had been deserted. This means that when Isobel wrote to Nathaniel in January 1832, it would not have been possible for her to have been in Jamestown! Oops! I'm not going to let that spoil my story! The site where Jamestown once stood has been excavated and restored and is now part of the Colonial National Historical Park.
Anyway, next I needed some characters - this is where I spent a lot of time doing some hefty research into names, since I wanted names for the characters that discreetly gave something away about their personality. Volume 3 of my trusty dictionary came in very useful for researching names. Take the main character for instance, Nathaniel Raven - sounds biblical and sinister, I thought. I was right - the entry for "Nathaniel" in the dictionary reads:
(masc.). Heb., 'gift of God'.
(Abbreviations - Heb. = Hebrew)
So, is Nathaniel a "good guy" or a "bad guy"? Is he the hero in the story? You can decide that for yourself. One instance where the name Nathaniel does indicate heroism is on the "War of the Worlds" album - this also influenced my decision to pick that name for the main character. On the surname of "Raven" the dictionary said:
1. ON Hrafn or OE *Hraefn, 'raven' or nickname from the bird. 2.Occasionally sign-name.
(Abbreviations - ON = Old Norse, OE = Old English)
The bird the raven has always been significant in films - again, usually depicting that some dark presence is lurking or something sinister is about to happen.
Moving on to Nathaniel's girlfriend, Isobel Hampton - I put some thought into her name as well. The dictionary definition for "Isobel" is:
(fem.). Form of ELIZABETH (or Heb. name underlying jezebel, the meaning of which is uncertain).
(Abbreviations - Heb. = Hebrew)
Well I don't know what "Jezebel" means in Hebrew, but I know what it means in English slang!
The entry for "Elizabeth" in the dictionary reads:
(fem.). From Gk and Lat. forms of Heb. Elisheba, 'consecrated to God'.
(Abbreviations - Gk = Greek, Lat. = Latin, Heb. = Hebrew)
And we mustn't forget Isobel's father, George Hampton. The name "George" has always had English royalty connections, but in my trusty dictionary the meaning of the name "George" is:
(masc.). From Gk georgos, 'earth-worker', 'husbandman'; name of the patron saint of England.
(Abbreviations - Gk = Greek)
Still thinking about plantations, I selected the surname "Hampton", the dictionary definition of which reads:
From one of the many Hamptons, 'the village of proper' or 'chief manor of a large estate', 'village on flat land near a river' or 'high village'.
I don't suppose George Hampton Vlll would have got his hands dirty working on the plantation, since he was lord of the manor, but no doubt George Hampton l would have done, since he had to get the plantation idea off the ground.
By pure coincidence, Hampton is also the name of a city in Virginia - click here for further information. With the benefit of hindsight and knowing what I know now, I think I would have set the American side of the story in Hampton instead of Jamestown - Hampton appears to have been the second earliest English settlement site in America after Jamestown. The best part is that it actually still exists, unlike Jamestown! Had I set the story in Hampton, I could have also altered history slightly by saying that Hampton was named after George Hampton l , and not after Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton.
That just leaves us with Daisy, Isobel's maid. Daisy's name is just plain and simple. The dictionary definition is:
(fem.). The flower, OE daeges eage, 'day's eye', from its opening in the morning and also from its appearance (Weekley).
(Abbreviations - OE = Old English, Weekley = Ernest Weekley, An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 1921)
Well, the story on the story is nearly over. All that there remains for me to say is, if you had any difficulty working out who dunnit, just remember that where there is any doubt, the butler did it.
Last updated: 31.08.02
©2002 Dors Productions
