The Dream Killer of Paris by Fabrice Bourland Page A

spirits killed him to punish him for revealing the mysteries of the secret sciences to the general public.’
    ‘Ethereal spirits?’
    ‘That’s what the book is about actually. The main character, Gabalis, is a Hermetic philosopher and he explains to his follower Rosicrucian theories on the existence and powers of sylphs, gnomes and other elemental spirits that fill the atmosphere. According to him, it is possible for man to enter into contact with these entities, which are invisible to the naked eye, and, in certain conditions, bondwith their females. The possibility of this kind of union has allegedly been proven since the dawn of time, and most of humanity’s heroes through the ages (Solomon, Zoroaster, Achilles, Hercules, Aeneas, Plato, Merlin and so on) are actually the offspring of these unusual love affairs. As you can imagine, after its publication the book was banned. The Church also banned the author from the pulpit because it couldn’t establish whether the Abbé was just having some fun or whether he was actually serious.’
    Superintendent Fourier burst out laughing. ‘Well, maybe Brindillac was trying to create one of these carnal unions then! If that’s the case, I take my hat off to him. What energy at his age!’
    ‘I don’t know why the Marquis was interested in Le Comte de Gabalis actually. To the best of my knowledge, he had no particular liking for light-hearted books.’
    I lit a cigarette to distract myself from the damned car’s suspension. Next to me, Dupuytren appeared to be quietly enjoying my ordeal.
    Fortunately, the signposts which were lit up every now and then by the Torpedo’s headlights told us that we would soon be in Paris.
    ‘You seem to know a lot about this book yourself, Monsieur Lacroix.’
    ‘Let’s just say that it’s one of the set texts for the apprentice Surrealist. Traditionally, the elemental entities in question are related to the incubi and succubi which have always tormented sleepers. I’ve devoted a chapter to them in the book I’m writing on the representation of dreams in our society.’
    ‘Incubi? Succubi? What are they?’
    ‘Nocturnal creatures,’ I explained. ‘The ancient treatises on demonology are riddled with tales of men and women who were victims of their attacks at night while they were asleep 11 . But I admit that I don’t quite see the connection with the Surrealists.’
    ‘Well, succubi were the subject of numerous discussions at group meetings a few years ago. Some members have written very eloquently on this theme 12 . In a report about sexuality, published in 1928 in La Révolution surréaliste , some even considered carnal relations with a succubus to be one of the most intense pleasures known to man.’
    ‘Were they speaking from first-hand knowledge?’
    ‘To be frank, Monsieur Singleton, succubi were really a literary creation and none of them seriously believed in the existence of immaterial unions. Breton, for example, reduced the subject to a simple psychological phenomenon.’
    ‘Your friend Pierre Ducros, had he read Le Comte de Gabalis? ’
    ‘I can’t be sure but it seems likely that he did.’
    By the light of the streetlamps I recognised the familiar outlines of Haussmann buildings and boulevards. My ordeal was nearly at an end.
    ‘To return to the Surrealists,’ I began, just as we drove on to a long paved stretch of Avenue d’Italie, crushing my hopes, ‘you mentioned the époque des sommeils this afternoon. I recall Breton referring to it at the beginning of Nadja . What is it?’
    ‘Have you read Nadja ? My word, you’re the first Englishman I’ve met to do so.’
    ‘I’m not English, I’m Canadian. From Halifax in Nova Scotia.’
    ‘Maybe so, but that doesn’t alter the scale of the achievement. As for the époque des sommeils , it was one of the most exciting periods! Right at the beginning of the movement, when most of the members were about twentyfive, they carried out a crucial experiment which