Weekly Witch Hunt: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus & Futility, or The Wreck of the Titan

We decide what artistic endeavour passed approval to earn the Scorcher label from the past seven days & what also had the dishonour of being that week's Torture...

It is normal for me to indulge in some festive themed entertainment in the month of December.  Christmas carols and songs will be played ad nauseam; Films about or set at Christmas will be given a viewing and books about the happiest time of the year will be read.
One such book makes it into our Scorcher list this week, while a short story about something totally not related to the birth of Christ is the subject of Torture.

The Scorcher

L. Frank Baum is most famous for giving the world his tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the many adventures set in the legendary Land of Oz.  This other lesser known work of Baum's called The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a little gem.
This is a fantastical imagining of Santa growing from a child into a man amongst fairies and other mythical forest creatures.  While Baum does incorporate a few Christmas themes, he doesn't stick rigidly to all the common conceptions of Santa lore.  Some of his ideas do seem a little out of place; such as Santa's location, but overall he strings this fairy tale together nicely.
It is a refreshing perspective and offers up a different perspective as to how Santa Claus came into being.  I can see this story becoming a seasonal staple of mine along with my all-time favourite Christmas story (and many other peoples too): Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol.
What this tale truly deserves is a good cinematic adaptation to bring it the wider attention it warrants.

The Torture

Like many people the tragedy that befell the Titanic on its maiden voyage has always piqued my interest.  Imagine how I felt upon learning that an author had penned a short story fourteen years prior to the Titanic's doomed voyage; which seemed to predict the coming event.
Morgan Robertson was that very author and his novella goes by the title of Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan.  Originally it was just Futility but in 1912 the story was reissued under the longer title after people had started to recognise the similarities from Robertson's fictional tale and the real life sinking of the Titanic.
Robertson's ship even bears the name Titan, which is eerily close to the Titanic.  The Titan strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic and in the same month of April.  Whereas the Titanic had just over two thirds of the passengers and crew lost at sea; the Titan loses nearly everyone with very few survivors.  One of the reasons being the lack of lifeboats, again mirroring the Titanic.
Now all this sounds fascinating and makes you wonder at the power of Robertson's coincidental foresight.  The reality though is not as exciting as imagined.  The actual description of the ship and the subsequent sinking all take place in quick succession.  Yes what is depicted does closely resemble what happened to the Titanic; but it is only a small part of the tale being told.
The main crux of the novella is a rescue attempt and one man's story of redemption.  This in itself makes for a decent read; but if like me you come to this expecting to find the main theme being about an unsinkable ship dropping to the bottom of the ocean; then you too will be sadly disappointed.