• Dr. Bhagwan S. Lokde

Literature in English is implicit with the use of horror and supernatural elements. Almost all genres of literature contain these elements to produce a specific effect. Easterine Kire’s use of supernatural is far better than any other Indian fiction writer in English. Her most of the novels deal with the themes of the forest life, tribal communities and their rituals, customs, traditions, beliefs in the ghosts, spirits, tiger-spirits, witchcraft and supernatural beings. They mainly concentrate on the tribal life in the distant forests, away from the learned and so called sophisticated society. The simple life in the forests is always at the threshold of either natural disasters or the supernatural threats. There are many instances of the use of supernatural in the novels of Easterine Kire. The titles of the novels such as When the River Sleeps, and Son of the Thundercloud, reflect the thematic concerns. The novel When the River Sleeps (2014) won the Hindu Prize for Fiction in 2016. It is a powerful narrative which exposes lives of the tribal communities of Nagaland on the one hand and their beliefs in the myths, spirits, witchcrafts and supernatural powers on the other. The novel puts forth the journey of the lone hunter Vilie who sets out to find the river of his dreams i.e. the ‘Sleeping River’. His journey is full of hurdles both man made and supernatural. In his quest, the protagonist has to overcome the unquiet spirits, vengeful sorceresses and demons of the forest as well as the men armed with guns. The sojourn of Vilie takes the readers into the deep forests and remote mountains of Nagaland. The description of the land with natural beauty and bounty of the forests and the supernatural enchantment opens the treasure of the wonders.

Supernatural, tiger-spirits, the seer, Angami, Zeliang, Dilhoma, Rarhuria, Sleeping River, spirit widow-women

"Journey into the Supernatural: A Brief Study of When the River Sleeps", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 10, page no.76-82, October-2020, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2010526.pdf

"Journey into the Supernatural: A Brief Study of When the River Sleeps", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 10, page no. pp76-82, October-2020, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2010526.pdf