It's time to peek inside the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

In my last post, about actors who were genuinely hypnotized during their movie performances, I said I was reading an anthology of stories that were (very loosely) inspired by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a silent movie classic. The film is mostly about a mad doctor with a hypno-slave (technically a somnambulist) whom he stores in a box except when he takes him out to kill someone. In case you don't know, "somnambulist" is a fancy word for sleepwalker; and Dr. Caligari seems to have laid a trance on top of Cesare's sleepwalking to make him a mindless slave. I find this especially funny because I used to sleepwalk. A lot.

Anyway, you'll find the movie embedded at the bottom of this post if you're curious, but right now I want to talk about that anthology.

I waited to post about The Madness of Dr. Caligari because I wanted to finish reading it and then decide whether it was worth recommending to you. Well, it is worth recommending, and you don't need to know any more about the movie than what I said above before you read it. Since the book is an anthology, the stories vary in quality; and not all of them deal with actual hypnosis or mind control - but several do, and a few of them are erotic enough (or nearly) to qualify for the EMCSA. Here are a few of my favorites - plus a few you should avoid:

• "The Words Between" by Ramsey Campbell - Campbell is one of the best horror writers active today (and he's also a huge Lovecraft fan), so even though this story isn't technically about MC, it's worth reading just for the thrills and chills.
• "Take a Walk in the Night, My Love" by Damien Angelica Walters - This is one of the stories that would fit nicely on the EMCSA if the sex was just a little more explicit. It includes genuine MC and a couple of neat twists that will give you a tingle.
• "Conversion" by Robert Levy - a cruel and offensive story about gay conversion therapy gone wrong. Avoid.
• "A Rebellious House" by Maura McHugh - McHugh is an excellent writer, and this story will push the buttons of anyone who (like me) gets off on the idea of catatonia and human puppets. It has a whiff of Lovecraft, too.
• "The Projection Booth" by Nathan Carson - This story takes its inspiration from a very kinky, very loose remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari that was released in 2005. Seriously messed up, but in a good way.
• "Bellmer's Bride or, The Game of the Doll" by Cody Goodfellow - Goodfellow is the second coming of Philip K. Dick, which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. This time, it's a great thing that makes his story the best in the anthology. It's all about kinky Nazis getting their due via tailor-made hypno-lovedolls; and the climax features all the brainwashing classics like flashing lights, subliminal commands, and programming through sex. Last but not least, this story really is explicit enough for the EMCSA.
• "The Righteousness of Conical Men" by Michael Cisco - Cisco is an alien being who writes for other alien beings. Mere humans can never hope to understand him. Don't bother trying.
• "That Nature Which Peers out in Sleep" by Molly Tanzer - Another tale that would fit nicely on the EMCSA. It's a classic "boy meets girl" story, only this boy is a closeted sub with a hypno fetish, and the girl he meets is more than happy to be his Domme. 
• "To See, to Be Seen" by John Langan - No actual hypnotism or MC here, just a very well written story that starts as a supernatural suspense tale and then warps into full-on Clive Barker-style horror.

Now, while I'm on the subject of horror, allow me a brief tangent so I can give a deeply heartfelt shout-out to the recently released Hereditary. This movie's destined to become a classic, right up there with The Exorcist, The Shining, and Rosemary's Baby. Don't miss it - and don't let yourself be spoiled by a single detail before you go. The less you know, the harder your head will explode when the twists come.

Now back to Caligari. Here's the promised movie, which runs a little over an hour. I don't know if you'll be interested in watching it, and I don't know what you'll think of it if you do watch it. Maybe if you liked Metropolis, with all its zany overacting and wild sets, you'll like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari too. Then again, maybe you won't. Personally, I found the weirdness growing on me until I ended up sitting through the whole thing. Your own mileage may vary. But even if you don't check out the movie, at least buy the book. It's definitely worth  $6.99.