The Sin-Eater

Fiona Macleod, "The Sin-Eater" in The Sin-Eater and Other Tales (1895).

The notion of a sin-eater, a person that through funerary ritual can take on the sins of the deceased, is ripe for a weird tale, and Fiona Macleod certainly delivers one here. From the melancholy setting, to the down trodden characters, to the unsettling superstitions that folks believe in (sort of), this story drips with sadness and frightful gloom. These eerie elements working together result in a haunting story of madness and the supernatural (maybe). 

The characters have their doubts that the sin-eating practice has merit. Nonetheless, they partake in the ritual, and Neil Ross even tries to manipulate it for his own revengeful ends. Well, things don't work out quite as expected. Curses are nasty things!  



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