H. R. Wakefield in the Pulps

[dem bones]

After World War II, there would not be another collection of Wakefield's stories published in Britain during his lifetime. Our loss was America's gain - he'd been popular in the states since They Return At Evening - and August Derleth published a US edition of The Clock Strikes Twelve (Arkham House, 1961) and what turned out to be his last collection, Strayers from Sheol (Arkham House, 1961). Wakefield also had some joy with the stateside pulps.

H R Wakefield in Weird Tales:

Bill Wayne: A Black Solitude

• Ghost Hunt - March, 1948
  
• From The Vasty Deep - July, 1949
  
• Out Of The Wrack I Rise - November, 1949
  
• Woe Water - July, 1950
  
• The Third Shadow - November, 1950
  
• A Black Solitude - March, 1951
  

Ghost Hunt: Sequel to Wakefield's enduring classic, The Red Lodge. Radio presenter Tony Weldon broadcasts live from a reputedly spectre infested "death trap" of a Georgian mansion. As Psychic Investigator Professor Mignon roots about upstairs, the initially sceptical Weldon is made increasingly uncomfortable by what he takes to be a foul-smelling bat and a stain fast-spreading across the ceiling.

Vincent Napoli

'Out Of The Wrack I Rise': A Year to the day of his wife's death by drowning, conjurer Jerry 'Chu Chin' Pullin and "the big, bold strappy wench" who, as well as being his assistant, is also Mrs. Pullin mk. II, perform at the Blackton Empire. Before an indifferent, then hostile and, eventually, panicked crowd, they mess up every trick. Finally the safety curtain falls, crushing the skulls of both the amazing Chu Chin and the gal in the tight shorts.

The murdered wife, whose skeleton was dredged from the lake that morning, has had her revenge.

"Then he saw it climb up on the rocks and come toward him and it was something like a naked man, only there was a difference. For instance where the face should have been, he presently could see was the big ochre shell of a crab, and he could see the claws moving, and that was the worst of all ..."

From The Vasty Deep: Alistair Braydon and Sir Rex Beaumont are "beyond any arument, the two leading actors on the contemporary British stage". Braydon despises the fact that, at 36, Beaumont is three years younger and, of course, he's never forgiven him that knighthood. When they meet, quite by chance, in Biskra on the rim of the Sahara, Braydon bribes a fortune teller to inform his bitter rival that he only has a year to live as a 'joke'. Sir Rex, superstitious to a fault, falls to pieces and drifts into alcoholism, finally throwing himself off a ship in Southampton.

Braydon, to his credit - not that it will do him any good - is filled with remorse and self-loathing over the episode and himself turns to drink. After an astonishing, career-best performance in a West End production of Hamlet, he rushes from the stage, punches out his dresser and flees into Trafalgar Square.

Two days later off the coast of the Isle of Man, a prawn fisherman makes a grim discovery that puts him off crab for life.

H R Wakefield in Fantastic Universe:

• The Sepulchre of Jasper Sarasen - Aug/Sep 1953
  

"The Gothic story will survive as long as the darkness falls - and here is a tale that, for complete terror, should scare anybody's pants right off".

Nine names on the cover and not one of them his. Small wonder he was disillusioned with his work toward the end of his life, destroying his manuscripts because "they were of no interest to anyone."

Should have some notes for this and A Black Solitude later (half way through the latter, a haunted portrait story enlivened by an amusing cameo from top occult maverick and mountaineer 'Apuleius Charlton' - "As a sinister monster of depravity I found him sheer Disney ....."). Woe Water and The Third Shadow i can't help you with, you'll be delighted to hear.

[lobolover]

Im surprised they didnt do more of him. Was it him being reluctant, or....?

Also, technicaly, theres another colection of his work, publishedm posthumunously from his unpublished work, but its Ash Tree press, so it's just like not mentioning it at all to a general reader (or reader of any lesser rank for that matter)

[Swampirella]

Mar 13, 2009 20:26:57 GMT dem bones said:

After World War II, there would not be another collection of Wakefield's stories published in Britain during his lifetime. Our loss was America's gain - he'd been popular in the states since They Return At Evening - and August Derleth published a US edition of The Clock Strikes Twelve (Arkham House, 1961) and what turned out to be his last collection, Strayers from Sheol (Arkham House, 1961). Wakefield also had some joy with the stateside pulps.

H R Wakefield in Weird Tales:

Bill Wayne: A Black Solitude

• Ghost Hunt - March, 1948
  
• From The Vasty Deep - July, 1949
  
• Out Of The Wrack I Rise - November, 1949
  
• Woe Water - July, 1950
  
• The Third Shadow - November, 1950
  
• A Black Solitude - March, 1951
  

Ghost Hunt: Sequel to Wakefield's enduring classic, The Red Lodge. Radio presenter Tony Weldon broadcasts live from a reputedly spectre infested "death trap" of a Georgian mansion. As Psychic Investigator Professor Mignon roots about upstairs, the initially sceptical Weldon is made increasingly uncomfortable by what he takes to be a foul-smelling bat and a stain fast-spreading across the ceiling.

Vincent Napoli

'Out Of The Wrack I Rise': A Year to the day of his wife's death by drowning, conjurer Jerry 'Chu Chin' Pullin and "the big, bold strappy wench" who, as well as being his assistant, is also Mrs. Pullin mk. II, perform at the Blackton Empire. Before an indifferent, then hostile and, eventually, panicked crowd, they mess up every trick. Finally the safety curtain falls, crushing the skulls of both the amazing Chu Chin and the gal in the tight shorts.

The murdered wife, whose skeleton was dredged from the lake that morning, has had her revenge.

"Then he saw it climb up on the rocks and come toward him and it was something like a naked man, only there was a difference. For instance where the face should have been, he presently could see was the big ochre shell of a crab, and he could see the claws moving, and that was the worst of all ..."

From The Vasty Deep: Alistair Braydon and Sir Rex Beaumont are "beyond any arument, the two leading actors on the contemporary British stage". Braydon despises the fact that, at 36, Beaumont is three years younger and, of course, he's never forgiven him that knighthood. When they meet, quite by chance, in Biskra on the rim of the Sahara, Braydon bribes a fortune teller to inform his bitter rival that he only has a year to live as a 'joke'. Sir Rex, superstitious to a fault, falls to pieces and drifts into alcoholism, finally throwing himself off a ship in Southampton.

Braydon, to his credit - not that it will do him any good - is filled with remorse and self-loathing over the episode and himself turns to drink. After an astonishing, career-best performance in a West End production of Hamlet, he rushes from the stage, punches out his dresser and flees into Trafalgar Square.

Two days later off the coast of the Isle of Man, a prawn fisherman makes a grim discovery that puts him off crab for life.

H R Wakefield in Fantastic Universe:

• The Sepulchre of Jasper Sarasen - Aug/Sep 1953
  

"The Gothic story will survive as long as the darkness falls - and here is a tale that, for complete terror, should scare anybody's pants right off".

Nine names on the cover and not one of them his. Small wonder he was disillusioned with his work toward the end of his life, destroying his manuscripts because "they were of no interest to anyone."

Should have some notes for this and A Black Solitude later (half way through the latter, a haunted portrait story enlivened by an amusing cameo from top occult maverick and mountaineer 'Apuleius Charlton' - "As a sinister monster of depravity I found him sheer Disney ....."). Woe Water and The Third Shadow i can't help you with, you'll be delighted to hear.

Found and enjoyed "Out of the Wrack" last night. Not an original plot line, but capably handled, in my opinion.

[Michael Connolly]

Dec 13, 2016 18:45:17 GMT Swampirella said:

Mar 13, 2009 20:26:57 GMT dem bones said:

After World War II, there would not be another collection of Wakefield's stories published in Britain during his lifetime. Our loss was America's gain - he'd been popular in the states since They Return At Evening - and August Derleth published a US edition of The Clock Strikes Twelve (Arkham House, 1961) and what turned out to be his last collection, Strayers from Sheol (Arkham House, 1961). Wakefield also had some joy with the stateside pulps.

H R Wakefield in Weird Tales:

Bill Wayne: A Black Solitude

• Ghost Hunt - March, 1948
  
• From The Vasty Deep - July, 1949
  
• Out Of The Wrack I Rise - November, 1949
  
• Woe Water - July, 1950
  
• The Third Shadow - November, 1950
  
• A Black Solitude - March, 1951
  

Ghost Hunt: Sequel to Wakefield's enduring classic, The Red Lodge. Radio presenter Tony Weldon broadcasts live from a reputedly spectre infested "death trap" of a Georgian mansion. As Psychic Investigator Professor Mignon roots about upstairs, the initially sceptical Weldon is made increasingly uncomfortable by what he takes to be a foul-smelling bat and a stain fast-spreading across the ceiling.

Vincent Napoli

'Out Of The Wrack I Rise': A Year to the day of his wife's death by drowning, conjurer Jerry 'Chu Chin' Pullin and "the big, bold strappy wench" who, as well as being his assistant, is also Mrs. Pullin mk. II, perform at the Blackton Empire. Before an indifferent, then hostile and, eventually, panicked crowd, they mess up every trick. Finally the safety curtain falls, crushing the skulls of both the amazing Chu Chin and the gal in the tight shorts.

The murdered wife, whose skeleton was dredged from the lake that morning, has had her revenge.

"Then he saw it climb up on the rocks and come toward him and it was something like a naked man, only there was a difference. For instance where the face should have been, he presently could see was the big ochre shell of a crab, and he could see the claws moving, and that was the worst of all ..."

From The Vasty Deep: Alistair Braydon and Sir Rex Beaumont are "beyond any arument, the two leading actors on the contemporary British stage". Braydon despises the fact that, at 36, Beaumont is three years younger and, of course, he's never forgiven him that knighthood. When they meet, quite by chance, in Biskra on the rim of the Sahara, Braydon bribes a fortune teller to inform his bitter rival that he only has a year to live as a 'joke'. Sir Rex, superstitious to a fault, falls to pieces and drifts into alcoholism, finally throwing himself off a ship in Southampton.

Braydon, to his credit - not that it will do him any good - is filled with remorse and self-loathing over the episode and himself turns to drink. After an astonishing, career-best performance in a West End production of Hamlet, he rushes from the stage, punches out his dresser and flees into Trafalgar Square.

Two days later off the coast of the Isle of Man, a prawn fisherman makes a grim discovery that puts him off crab for life.

H R Wakefield in Fantastic Universe:

• The Sepulchre of Jasper Sarasen - Aug/Sep 1953
  

"The Gothic story will survive as long as the darkness falls - and here is a tale that, for complete terror, should scare anybody's pants right off".

Nine names on the cover and not one of them his. Small wonder he was disillusioned with his work toward the end of his life, destroying his manuscripts because "they were of no interest to anyone."

Should have some notes for this and A Black Solitude later (half way through the latter, a haunted portrait story enlivened by an amusing cameo from top occult maverick and mountaineer 'Apuleius Charlton' - "As a sinister monster of depravity I found him sheer Disney ....."). Woe Water and The Third Shadow i can't help you with, you'll be delighted to hear.

Found and enjoyed "Out of the Wrack" last night. Not an original plot line, but capably handled, in my opinion.

You can access pdfs of those six stories by Wakefield in Weird Tales from here: unz.org/Author/WakefieldHRussell/

[helrunar]

Fascinated to see that 1953 Fantastic Universe cover.  Prophetic of the ending of Planet of the Apes and I do wonder if it was a direct steal.  The original novel by a French author ended differently from the film.

cheers, H.

[Swampirella]

Dec 14, 2016 13:12:31 GMT Michael Connolly said:

Dec 13, 2016 18:45:17 GMT Swampirella said:

Found and enjoyed "Out of the Wrack" last night. Not an original plot line, but capably handled, in my opinion.

You can access pdfs of those six stories by Wakefield in Weird Tales from here: unz.org/Author/WakefieldHRussell/

Thank you; that's where I found OOTW The others didn't interest me, at least not at the moment. I have his "Best Ghost Stories" volume which for now is enough.