The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the Middle Ages in Germany. The humanoid-shaped mandrake root or Mandragora officinarum was widely believed to be produced by the semen of hanged men under the gallows. Alchemists claimed that hanged men ejaculated after their necks were broken and that the earth absorbed their final “strengths”. In some versions, it is blood instead of semen. The root itself was used in love philtres and potions while its fruit was supposed to facilitate pregnancy. Witches who “made love” to the mandrake root were said to produce offspring that had no feelings of real love and had no soul.

Inspired by medieval beliefs in the occult properties of the mandrake root (alraune), which was thought to grow under gallows from the fallen semen of hanged men, an arrogant student, Frank Braun, persuades his vicious uncle, Jacob ten Brinken, to create a child through artificial insemination using sperm from a condemned man and a prostitute as the mother. The child, Alraune, grows into an extremely beautiful but thoroughly perverse young woman with a mysterious power to subject others and to bring riches and ruination. First published in German in 1911.

Pages: 277

Binding Type: Paperback Perfect Bound

Interior Color: Black & White

Dimensions: US Trade (6 x 9 in / 152 x 229 mm)

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