Comments on: Fascination Led Me to Sensuality: Karen Heuler

By: Short Story Club: “Oh He Is” « Torque Control

Short Story Club: “Oh He Is” « Torque Control — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:01:32 +0000

[...] also Heuler’s own comments on her story in this interview. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Salon Fantastique: Down the WallSalon [...]

By: Karen Heuler

Karen Heuler — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:44:26 +0000

Thanks for your comments, Glenn. I know there are a number of interpretations to the tale–including emigration of the young people to another town over the mountains (where some place names are similar to Hamelin); or an illness such as a plague (though the timing is wrong) or St. Vitus’ Dance (which swept through Germany at roughly the same time); or a mass murderer; or the Children’s Crusade. I haven’t personally read that the Church conscripted and sold children, but the tale is of course illustrative of any force that can persuade and beguile and alter the lives of those affected, whether that force is a person or an institution or a state. What interested me most was not what the original tale meant (which is still being debated) but what draws us to the tale and what fundamental human aspect it contains.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:48:05 +0000

I really enjoyed your interview and Karen’s story. During your interview she commented that perhaps the children in the story were conscripted in the Children’s Crusade. I think it generally presumed that The Pied Piper was an allegory for the Children’s Crusade. What is not widely known is the true nature of that crusade.
The Church was bankrupt, largely as a result of previous crusades. They found a morally reprehensible solution to that financial crisis. They conscripted thousands of children and shipped them to the Arab world to be sold as sex slaves.
It’s one of those things that I really wish I didn’t know. However, I can say that reading Oh He Is and seeing it through the filter of that knowledge added layers of emotional depth to the experience.
I can’t help but wonder if Karen was aware of the true nature of the Children’s Crusade when she wrote the story

By: Marshall Payne

Marshall Payne — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:53:12 +0000

Thanks, Ruth. Glad you found the interview illuminating. I too wanted to hear Karen’s thoughts on “Oh He Is” as I found her story most interesting, as well.

By: R.J. Isle Burroughs

R.J. Isle Burroughs — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:40:59 +0000

Thanks, Marshall. Illuminating interview. The Pied Piper was one of my favorite fairy tales too except I always felt sad for the kid left behind.

Well, now that I know some background on the story the kid was pretty lucky.

I liked the beautiful way K. Heuler brings us closer to the haunting truth of what really happened to those children.