Spontaneous Human Combustion - in Fiction

In Fiction

Examples of spontaneous human combustion are somewhat common in fictional works from the 19th century onwards. It is used both as a central plot device and as an incidental occurrence. The second and third chapters of Charles Brockden Brown’s 1798 novel Wieland focus on the emigration of Wieland, a German, to colonial America. As part of his religious practices, he spends solitary hours in a temple constructed on his property. One night his family hears “a loud report, like the explosion of a mine.” Rushing to the temple, they find Wieland lying with his clothing burned off and delirious. He dies soon after. While the term “spontaneous human combustion” was not yet created, Brown includes a footnote at the end of chapter 2 that suggests the phenomenon and its existence in 18th century medical studies. The footnote reads:

“A case, in its symptoms exactly parallel to this, is published in one of the Journals of Florence. See, likewise, similar cases reported by Messrs. Merille and Muraire, in the Journal de Medicine, for February and May, 1783. The researches of Maffei and Fontana have thrown light upon this subject.”

Russian and Ukrainian author Nikolai Gogol includes SHC in three works, including his novel Dead Souls. Charles Dickens provides a very graphic depiction of the death of the shopkeeper Mr. Krook by spontaneous combustion in his novel Bleak House (1852). At the time, many readers considered spontaneous combustion highly dubious if not impossible, but Dickens nonetheless staunchly defended the plausibility of his account. Considering his prominence, Dickens’ portrayal likely renewed public interest and belief in the phenomenon.

Jules Verne describes in his novel Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen (1878) that when a fictional African “King of Kazounde” tasted a punch set aflame, “An act of spontaneous combustion had just taken place. The king had taken fire like a petroleum bonbon. This fire developed little heat, but it devoured nonetheless.” Verne had no doubt about SHC being the result of alcoholism: “In bodies so thoroughly alcoholized, combustion only produces a light and bluish flame, that water cannot extinguish. Even stifled outside, it would still continue to burn inwardly. When liquor has penetrated all the tissues, there exists no means of arresting the combustion.”

In the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, Spontaneous Human Combustion is included as the cause of death of one of the band’s numerous former drummers, leaving only “a little green globule on his drum seat”. The band’s current drummer later dies in the same way, in an on-stage explosion that leaves no remains. By way of explanation, lead singer David St. Hubbins claims that “dozens of people spontaneously combust each year, it’s just not really widely reported.”

The science fiction writer Bob Shaw’s 1984 novel Fire Pattern deals with spontaneous human combustion.

In Michael Scott’s novels, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, spontaneous human combustion is described as being caused by one using up all of one’s aura (magical energy).

In the CSI episode “Face Lift”, a pig carcass is wrapped in cloth, and a lit cigarette is placed on the cloth, to test the wick effect.