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Celebrated writers never fail to captivate and intrigue us. They share their innermost thoughts by crafting characters and universes that we cherish, making us feel intimately connected to them. Yet, the authors themselves often remain enigmatic and elusive.
Delving into the true nature of these literary giants reveals a startling reality: the most imaginative minds often harbor the most unconventional ideas, leading them to act and believe in extraordinary ways.
10. William S. Burroughs Accidentally Killed His Wife
In his era, William S. Burroughs stood out as one of the most contentious figures. As a beat generation author, he delved into postmodernist themes and writing styles. His renowned work, Naked Lunch, has oscillated between being banned and permitted since its release in 1959.
Burroughs, a prolific drug user, harbored staunch and often conservative views on reproduction and women's rights. Despite being married and having a son, he was openly and actively homosexual. His mental health was frequently under scrutiny, with revelations of childhood sexual abuse and an incident where he severed part of his finger in response to his first serious romantic relationship.
The most shocking aspect of Burroughs's life is the 1951 incident where he fatally shot his wife. There's no evidence suggesting prior violence towards Joan Vollmer. The tragedy unfolded on September 6, 1951, during an alcohol-induced game of William Tell with friends.
Following Burroughs's directions, Vollmer positioned herself 3 meters (9 ft) away, balancing a glass on her head. Intending to shoot the glass, Burroughs accidentally hit Vollmer in the head at her hairline, leading to her death at the age of 28.
Despite Burroughs's claims of being deeply distressed (with both him and his friends asserting the gun discharged by accident), he later suggested the incident propelled his writing career. He attributed the killing to an external, controlling force that sought to dominate him.
Many view this as a tacit acknowledgment of guilt. A Mexican court convicted Burroughs of manslaughter in absentia after he fled while on bail. He was given a two-year suspended sentence.
9. Edgar Allan Poe Wed His 13-Year-Old Cousin
Edgar Allan Poe is celebrated today as one of the greatest gothic authors in history. Yet, during his lifetime, he faced immense hardship. His father left the family when Poe was just one year old, his mother passed away when he was two, and he was later rejected by his adoptive parents.
His literary works faced harsh criticism, he struggled with alcoholism, and his industry adversaries made it challenging for him to publish. Despite these struggles, Poe found love and married Virginia Eliza Clemm on September 22, 1835. He was 26, and she was 13.
Poe and Clemm shared a happy marriage for 11 years until her sudden death on January 30, 1847, at the age of 24. Clemm had battled tuberculosis for five years, a condition that caused her to cough up blood and suffer from lung hemorrhages.
Modern critics interpret the recurring themes of deceased and spectral women in Poe’s works, such as in “Annabel Lee” (1849), as reflections of his enduring grief over his wife’s death. The imagery of blood and bleeding bodies, prominent in works like “The Masque of the Red Death” (1842), is seen as a direct influence of Clemm’s illness.
Clemm was initially buried in a cemetery near the home she shared with Poe. Later, her remains were moved and interred alongside Poe and her mother (Poe’s aunt) at Westminster Church in Baltimore, where a memorial stands in their honor to this day.
8. Charles Dickens Experimented with Hypnotism
Charles Dickens stands as one of the most celebrated Victorian authors, with none of his novels or short stories ever going out of print. His works often explore the Victorian class hierarchy, the plight of the impoverished, and the rapid industrialization of British urban centers during his era.
Dickens also harbored a deep fascination with the supernatural, a theme reflected in his writings. This is evident in the spectral figures of A Christmas Carol (1843) and his many short stories featuring otherworldly entities.
Beyond his literary pursuits, Dickens was an active member of the Ghost Club, a society originating at Cambridge University that later relocated to London to investigate hauntings and supernatural phenomena. Dickens also professed extensive knowledge and skill in the practice of hypnosis.
He frequently attended performances by John Elliotson, a renowned hypnotist and controversial Victorian-era doctor. Elliotson asserted that conditions like cancer could be treated through hypnosis (then referred to as mesmerism). Motivated by these demonstrations, Dickens began studying and practicing hypnosis on his friends and family.
In 1844, Dickens reportedly alleviated the anxiety and facial spasms of Augusta de la Rue. Later, in 1849, he is said to have treated John Leech, the illustrator of A Christmas Carol, for concussion symptoms. Dickens also regularly hypnotized his wife, Catherine, who suffered from hypochondria, to address her various imagined ailments.
Dickens and Elliotson weren’t entirely misguided in their belief in hypnosis as a medical tool. Research has shown that hypnosis can benefit some surgical patients, though anesthesia remains the preferred option for both patients and doctors.
7. Elizabeth Barrett Browning Struggled with Drug Addiction
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a renowned poet and political commentator in Victorian England. She endured numerous challenges, including a domineering father who prohibited her from marrying, a chronic lung ailment, and a spinal injury sustained at 15 while saddling a horse.
Due to her delicate health, Browning spent much of her early adulthood bedridden in her father’s home. During this period, she immersed herself in extensive reading, research, and self-education, even mastering Hebrew by studying the Bible.
Her seclusion also provided ample time for writing, enabling Browning to create some of the most celebrated romantic poetry in British literature. Her works are often regarded as being on par with those of William Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson in terms of quality and impact.
Browning’s injuries granted her consistent access to opium (a precursor to morphine), a common remedy for various ailments in Victorian medicine. Browning referred to opium as her “elixir,” claiming it relaxed her and enhanced her writing. She also admitted she felt dependent on it.
During her years of daily opium use, Browning became increasingly isolated. She focused intensely on her work and political pursuits, neglecting other aspects of her life, including her inability to leave her bed. Her husband, Robert, frequently criticized her drug use and urged her to quit.
Browning eventually overcame her addiction after moving to Italy with Robert, distancing herself from her father and family home. Given her father’s controlling behavior and her improved health after leaving, it is speculated that Browning’s opium dependency stemmed from depression caused by her oppressive home environment.
6. Ernest Hemingway Mastered the Art of Bullfighting
Ernest Hemingway is celebrated as one of the most influential American authors of the 20th century, writing passionately about his interests: war, fishing, boxing, drinking, and bullfighting. These themes mirror various facets of his own life.
Known for his heavy drinking, Hemingway also drove ambulances in Italy during World War I, boxed as an amateur for prize money, and famously caught a 530-kilogram (1,175 lb) marlin during a 1935 sailing trip on the Pilar.
While many assume his bullfighting references were merely observational, unlike his other themes rooted in personal experience, this changed in the 1920s. During a trip to Pamplona, Spain, with his wife Hadley, Hemingway watched bullfights, hoping they would instill masculinity in their unborn son.
Captivated by the spectacle, Hemingway spent increasing time in Pamplona, befriending bullfighters and even participating in amateur bullfights. This fascination influenced his fiction, prominently featuring in works like The Sun Also Rises (1926).
Hemingway also drew from his experiences to write Death in the Afternoon (1932), a book now regarded as the definitive guide to competitive bullfighting. After his suicide in 1961, among the items found in his home were two tickets to a bullfight in Pamplona.
5. Vernon Sullivan Was Actually a White Frenchman
Vernon Sullivan is renowned for penning one of the most swiftly banned books in history, both in terms of its rapid writing and immediate controversy. The novel, I Spit on Your Graves, released in 1946, sparked outrage for its depiction of teenage sexuality, rape, violence, and its critical portrayal of African Americans and American pop culture.
The narrative centers on Lee Anderson, a black man posing as white, who grooms, rapes, and kills two young white girls to avenge his brother’s wrongful execution for a similar crime. In the story, Anderson’s true race is depicted as monstrous. A preface claims the novel was written by Vernon Sullivan, an African American fearful of racial prejudice in America.
In truth, Vernon Sullivan was a pseudonym for Boris Vian, a white Frenchman who had never visited America. Vian wrote the novel on a bet, claiming he could produce a scandalous bestseller in under 15 days. He succeeded. The book, completed in two weeks, became a sensation, topping bestseller lists due to its shocking content. The revelation of Vian’s true identity further fueled its notoriety, exposing the novel’s supposed authenticity as a fabrication.
Just as characters in the story saw Anderson differently after his race was revealed, readers pointed out errors in the novel that proved it couldn’t have been written by an American. While these inaccuracies, like a car trip from Mexico to Canada taking only hours, are valid, they don’t negate the fact that Vian’s deception was initially successful.
4. Enid Blyton Despised Children
Enid Blyton was a prolific and beloved children’s author of the 20th century, publishing approximately 7,500 books, many of which remain timeless classics. Her works, primarily written between the 1930s and 1950s in England, often contain elements now deemed racist and sexist, which are typically excused as reflections of her era.
Despite this, modern publishers frequently revise her stories to remove such content for today’s young readers. This practice has sparked mixed reactions, largely because Blyton is nostalgically revered as one of Britain’s greatest children’s authors. This admiration persists despite her well-documented disdain for real children and her harsh treatment of her own daughters, which many fans overlook.
Neighbors near Blyton’s Beaconsfield home recalled her yelling at local children for being too loud. They also noted that Blyton, after her divorce, barred her children from seeing their father after he remarried and showed blatant favoritism toward one daughter over the other.
In her autobiography, Imogen, the younger daughter who endured the harshest treatment, described her mother as “arrogant, insecure, and devoid of maternal instinct.” Imogen also wrote, “[Enid Blyton’s] outlook on life was immature, and she could be as spiteful as a teenager.”
Imogen shared a memory of being confined to a room with her sister, the door slightly ajar so they could observe their mother hosting a tea party for her young admirers. Despite being in the same house, the daughters were forbidden from participating. Surprisingly, even those aware of Blyton’s true nature still cherish her books, a testament to their enduring popularity and success.
3. Arthur Conan Doyle Was a Firm Believer in Fairies
Arthur Conan Doyle is a legendary figure in literature, best known for creating Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most iconic detective. Beyond his detective stories, Doyle was a prolific historical fiction writer, a practicing optometrist, and a staunch advocate of Victorian spiritualism, which centered on the belief in supernatural phenomena.
This fascination, though uncommon, wasn’t unheard of in the Victorian era. Innovations like cameras, X-rays, and phonographs reshaped perceptions of reality, sparking debates about unexplained phenomena. For Doyle, however, spiritualism transcended mere curiosity. It evolved into an obsession and, ultimately, a source of embarrassment.
Doyle’s dedication to spiritualism intensified after the deaths of his son Kingsley and brother Innes from influenza following World War I. Seeking to communicate with them, he began attending séances. His encounter with Harry Houdini deepened his fascination, as he became convinced of Houdini’s psychic abilities.
In 1917, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, aged 16 and 9, captured a series of photos depicting themselves with fairies in the woods near their Cottingley, England, home. Doyle discovered these images in 1920 while writing The Coming of the Fairies, a book arguing for the existence of fairies, published in 1922.
Doyle, along with many others who saw the photos, believed they provided undeniable proof of fairies. He faced widespread mockery for defending their authenticity as evidence of the spiritual realm. His credibility suffered further when Elsie admitted in 1983 that the photos were staged, leading many to question his sanity.
2. Stephen King Fears the Number 13
Stephen King is the most renowned and prolific horror author in the United States today. With over 260 works published, more than 350 million copies sold globally, and a consistent output of bestsellers at a rate of nearly one book annually, his influence is unparalleled.
As the mastermind behind classics like The Shining (1977), Cujo (1981), Pet Sematary (1983), IT (1986), and Misery (1987), King has earned the title of modern horror’s godfather, excelling in both psychological and supernatural terror. While many assume his affinity for the macabre means he is unshakable, King revealed in 1984 that he harbors a deep fear of the number 13.
The fear of the number 13 (known as triskaidekaphobia) can trigger physical reactions like panic attacks and affects roughly 10 percent of Americans. For King, this phobia presents in peculiar ways. For instance, he combines the last two steps of a 13-step staircase into one, effectively taking only 12 steps. He also avoids stopping on pages where the digits add up to 13, such as 94, 193, or 382.
King is particularly terrified of what he refers to as “triple-whammy years,” when Friday the 13th occurs three times. The fear intensifies when these dates are spaced 13 days apart. In 1984, one such year, King expressed heightened anxiety, noting he had been married for 13 years, had a 13-year-old daughter, and had published exactly 13 books.
Fortunately for King, many hotels omit a 13th floor, airlines often skip labeling a 13th seat, and in France, it’s common to hire a professional 14th guest to avoid seating 13 people at a table.
1. Lewis Carroll Might Have Attempted to Wed the Real Alice
Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was a celebrated poet and author, best known for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871). These works follow a young girl’s adventures in a fantastical world where logic is turned upside down.
While Carroll’s stories are cherished as Victorian and children’s literature classics, his personal life has sparked controversy. Some have speculated about his possible inappropriate interest in children. Although no evidence of physical abuse exists, friends questioned him about his extensive collection of photographs featuring unclothed young girls.
Carroll was notably awkward around adults, preferring the companionship of young children, especially girls. He never married, a fact that has fueled suspicions among historians and the public.
In 1855, Carroll formed a close and creatively fruitful friendship with the Liddell family after Dean Henry Liddell assumed leadership of Christ Church in Oxford. His youngest daughter, Alice, aged three at the time, became the muse and namesake for the Alice books, as well as the object of Carroll’s alleged affection.
Some historians believe Carroll proposed to Alice in 1863 when she was 11. Her parents rejected the proposal, and Carroll’s relationship with the Liddells abruptly ended that year. Notably, pages from Carroll’s diary covering this period were later removed.
Despite being barred from spending time alone with any of the Liddell children afterward, Carroll was allowed to gift Alice a manuscript of what would later become Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. He presented it to her as a Christmas gift in 1864.
