Hanns Heinz Ewers

The Profile

Born in Düsseldorf in 1871, Hanns Heinz Ewers was a German writer of decadent and fantastic literature, author of Alraune and The Spider; he traveled widely, was detained in the United States at the outbreak of World War I, and died in Berlin in 1943.

Ewers is associated with the late 19th/early 20th-century revival of horror and fantastic literature in Germany and Austria. He wrote essays on Edgar Allan Poe (1905), admired Wilde and Baudelaire, created the Frank Braun figure in a series of novels (including The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Alraune, Vampir), collaborated on the screenplay for The Student of Prague, and had an ambiguous relationship with National Socialism (including a hagiographic work on Horst Wessel and later rejection by the regime). Recent Italian editions and translations (Edizioni Hypnos; translator/preface by Alessandro Fambrini) are noted in the reviews.

Three DeBaser reviews praise Ewers as a central figure in early 20th-century German/Austrian fantastic and decadent literature. Key themes noted are occultism, decadent eroticism, the femme fatale figure and ties to Poe and Wilde. Alraune and The Spider are highlighted as essential works; recent Italian editions and translations (Edizioni Hypnos, Alessandro Fambrini) are commended.