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Post by helrunar on Sept 24, 2016 15:14:23 GMT
Your synopsis, as always, dear Lord Demonik, is the very stuff of genius.
I looked earlier this year for a nice de Grandin collection but couldn't find one. The stories I have read to date have been a mixed bag, but this one sounds like a prize.
Thanks,
H.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 25, 2016 6:20:44 GMT
Your synopsis, as always, dear Lord Demonik, is the very stuff of genius. I looked earlier this year for a nice de Grandin collection but couldn't find one. The stories I have read to date have been a mixed bag, but this one sounds like a prize. Thanks, H. "Mixed bag" is fair. Am particularly fond of the prohibition era de Grandin's, after which the going gets very uneven, and reading two on the spin is only recommended to those with the discernment of a vacuum cleaner (some contributors to this thread might argue that reading two in one lifetime is two too many). For this reader, The Devil-People finds the great Mr. Quinn at his best and worst. That, to quote E. F. Bleiler, the absurd denouement is "ethnolographically accurate" comes as little consolation to those who've braved the preceding twenty-odd pages in the expectation of a vaguely sensible resolution, although to be fair, the brutal, one-sided confrontation between the Police and the Rakshasha makes for great entertainment. As does; An eerie mystery about a botanical monstrosity - a tale of Jules de GrandinSeabury Quinn - The Black Orchid: ( Weird Tales, Aug. 1935) Vincent Napoli Oscar Sorenson, much travelled soldier of fortune, and his niece, Joyce, are afflicted by a deadly blood disorder of Madagascan origin, legacy of his crass and ill-advised desertion of wife, Mamba, a powerful 'Priestess of the black orchid' and merciless enemy. As he sailed away for escapades new, Mamba bestowed her solemn curse on both Sorenson and the one he holds dearest, who, at this point, had yet to be born. The curse strikes when the lovely Joyce reaches her twentieth year. Young Dr. Traherne can only look on helplessly as she and her uncle wither away before his eyes. Not a minute to soon, he mentions the matter to de Grandin and Trowbridge, and we are off on another exciting if slightly creaky adventure (how come it never entered de Grandin's head that the sinister black butler might be a ... plant?)
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Post by mcannon on Sept 25, 2016 8:06:22 GMT
Dem:- >> Am particularly fond of the prohibition era de Grandin's, after which the going gets very uneven>>
de Grandin's repeated cursings of "Your most stupid Volstead Act!" are always a highlight of those early-period stories. It doesn't seem to stop him from obtaining - and imbibing - vast quantities of alcohol, and despite being a conservative old fuddy-duddy, Friend Trowbridge isn't adverse to a tipple, either. Hmmm - I wonder if there's a potential PhD in "Reflections of mainstream social attitudes towards Prohibition in popular fiction of the period"?
> and reading two on the spin is only recommended to those with the discernment of a vacuum cleaner (some contributors to this thread might argue that reading two in one lifetime is two too many). >
Mon Diable! The curses of a thousand blue goats upon them! I've always found that that a break of a month or two between stories is more than enough to refresh my appetite for the de Grandin stories. In fact despite having a complete collection for the last few years I've still only read about half of them, as I find myself often re-reading the first 20 or so stories over the course of a couple of years.
Mark
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Post by helrunar on Sept 25, 2016 13:30:11 GMT
Thanks for that, Lord Demonik. At least some of the plot in "The Black Orchid" sounds very similar to one of the episodes in the Sax Rohmer classic, Brood of the Witch-Queen, which I think you'd really enjoy if you've never gotten around to it in your copious reading of our genre.
I read two de Grandin stories on a bus trip last Fall. I enjoyed them for what they were.
H.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 25, 2016 14:59:42 GMT
de Grandin's repeated cursings of "Your most stupid Volstead Act!" are always a highlight of those early-period stories. It doesn't seem to stop him from obtaining - and imbibing - vast quantities of alcohol, and despite being a conservative old fuddy-duddy, Friend Trowbridge isn't adverse to a tipple, either. Hmmm - I wonder if there's a potential PhD in "Reflections of mainstream social attitudes towards Prohibition in popular fiction of the period"? Good man, Mark! It's worth remembering that Sergeant Costello is also staunchly anti-prohibition. "Have I not heard him say more than once that legging of the boot is more a work of Christian charity than a crime?" In The Devil-People, his strong-arm squad turn a blind eye to the conspicuous boozing at the La Pontoufle Dorée club and throughout the series, Costello is never known to decline an invitation from de Grandin and Trowbridge to join them over a bottle of whiskey (Haig seems to be a favourite) and wine. I'm sure Quinn got the audience onside with these very regular endorsements for illicit consumption. Mon Diable! The curses of a thousand blue goats upon them! I've always found that that a break of a month or two between stories is more than enough to refresh my appetite for the de Grandin stories. In fact despite having a complete collection for the last few years I've still only read about half of them, as I find myself often re-reading the first 20 or so stories over the course of a couple of years. I think the biggest mistake you can make with the de Grandin stories is to crash through them, which is why the collections can be hard going. The adventures were almost certainly written on the fly with next month's magazine publication in mind, and it shows. For me, they work best (?) in Weird Tales, Startling Mystery Stories, and shared anthologies where they gain through being interspersed with works by other authors. Thanks for that, Lord Demonik. At least some of the plot in "The Black Orchid" sounds very similar to one of the episodes in the Sax Rohmer classic, Brood of the Witch-Queen, which I think you'd really enjoy if you've never gotten around to it in your copious reading of our genre. I read two de Grandin stories on a bus trip last Fall. I enjoyed them for what they were. Thank for the recommendation, Steve. Brood Of The Witch Queen, is nearing the top of the to read pile so am sure to get around to it sooner or later! H.
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Post by ripper on Sept 26, 2016 12:17:52 GMT
Given the amount of alcohol consumed by characters, including policemen, in the De Grandin stories written during the prohibition era, I wonder if Quinn was ever leaned on to tone it down or cut it out altogether.
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Post by andydecker on Sept 26, 2016 18:45:22 GMT
Given the amount of alcohol consumed by characters, including policemen, in the De Grandin stories written during the prohibition era, I wonder if Quinn was ever leaned on to tone it down or cut it out altogether.
I don't think so. Sex was the bogeyman, but the dismissal of the prohibition was so widespread. Though I am sure they are such stories, I have yet to encounter a story of the time where the merits of prohibition were preached. What an idiotic idea.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 26, 2016 19:37:36 GMT
Given the amount of alcohol consumed by characters, including policemen, in the De Grandin stories written during the prohibition era, I wonder if Quinn was ever leaned on to tone it down or cut it out altogether.
I don't think so. Sex was the bogeyman, but the dismissal of the prohibition was so widespread. Though I am sure they are such stories, I have yet to encounter a story of the time where the merits of prohibition were preached. What an idiotic idea. Very much the sex, according to his friend Mary E. Counselman, ( Weird Tales Collector #6, 1980). "You wouldn't believe the trouble that Seabury Quinn got in with his de Grandin novels. Then along came Brundage and used nudes; not only nudes but sadism and other things that were just considered out-and-out taboos by other pulp magazines, but we were allowed to use them in Weird Tales. Farnsworth Wright and Dorothy McIlwraith were very broad-minded about things like that."If it never quite achieved the same level of notoriety as C. M. Eddy/ H. P. Lovecraft's The Loved Dead, Quinn's The Jest Of Warburg Tantavul came under attack in Author & Journalist magazine for daring to build a story around the incest theme.
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Post by ripper on Sept 27, 2016 14:25:37 GMT
Yes, I suppose that the widespread hostility to prohibition, plus the great difficulty in enforcing the laws, would have severely weakened any crusade against the depiction of alcohol consumption in the media, even if one had been launched.
The Jest of Warberg Tantavul is one of the relatively few De Grandin stories I have managed to read. The incest implication did shock me as I was just not expecting anything like that to be depicted at that time.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 30, 2016 5:40:26 GMT
de Grandin's repeated cursings of "Your most stupid Volstead Act!" are always a highlight of those early-period stories. It doesn't seem to stop him from obtaining - and imbibing - vast quantities of alcohol, and despite being a conservative old fuddy-duddy, Friend Trowbridge isn't adverse to a tipple, either. Hmmm - I wonder if there's a potential PhD in "Reflections of mainstream social attitudes towards Prohibition in popular fiction of the period"? Mark Such a paper would be the poorer should it overlook this sequence from The Devil's Bride, perhaps the author's most passionate anti-prohibition rant of all. Whereupon Donovan is interrupted mid-flow by the howls of yet another casualty of the demon rotgut, climbing the bars of her cell like a monkey, and screaming that his stretcher-case is the bride of Satan.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 1, 2016 18:26:14 GMT
Ned Hadley John York Cabot - The Last Case Of Jules de Granjerque: ( Fantastic Adventures, April 1943). Sacre nom d'un nom d'un nom! What is he thinking of, this oh so stupid-headed Monsieur Cabot? Jules de Granjerque and his colleague, Dr. Throwbunk, investigate the alleged supernatural disturbances at Masterton Mansion. Ghastly groans, rattling chains, a sheeted apparition .... Morbleu, but solving this so-called "haunting" will be the merest formality for our dapper little French occult sleuth! Has he not demonstrated over and over that there are no such thing as "ghosts"? "In the Case of the Horned Satan, for example, did I not prove that the Horned Satan was nothing more or less than a hat-rack with antlers?" Have a care, friend de Granjerque. Complacency comes before crushing humiliation and long term psychiatric treatment!
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Post by dem bones on Oct 3, 2016 6:20:09 GMT
Their hunters became the hunted - and died horriblyHannes Bok Gans T. Field (Manly Wade Wellman) - The Deadly Rabbits: ( Weird Tales, July 1940). "The rabbit's a great figure in folklore. A witch named Julian Cox was tried in England in the 1660's, for turning into a rabbit. And Jules de Grandin once told me that southern French will turn back from a day's work because a hare hopped across their trail - bad luck, like a black cat." It's an old custom among the people of Crispenville that they are always greet a hare or rabbit "as though he were a Christian man." Judge Pursuivant, who is fascinated by, and respectful of, all things folklore, pays a visit to friend Ransome, who is convalescing at Morgan Pitts' place in Hungry Hill, Crispenville , after suffering a nervous breakdown. Ransome, is all for smashing the superstition, defying the law and bagging him a few bunnies for a stew. Pursuivant requests that Ransome keep his powder dry until he's examined the local records. Ransome promises he will. The oldest historical document pertaining to Crispinville as a formal community dates from 1735, when the colonists bought the land from the Native Americans in exchange for some cheap cloth, guns and New England whiskey. As part of the deal, King Mosh, the Algonquin chief, insisted the white man respect their tradition of "greeting the hare," that creature being sacred to his people. One Captain Scadlock was fearsomely opposed to such childish nonsense, but was overruled by the Rev. Mr. Horton. The custom, he assured the chief, would be respectfully observed. A year later, Scadlock is found dead in a cave, his flesh cut to ribbons. He'd been shooting rabbit. King Mosh and his people take the blame and are massacred as one. Pitts interrupts Pursuivant's research to inform him that Ransome has not returned home. No sooner had the Judge left for town than he'd broken his word, loaded his guns, and set out hunting ... The illustration will give you a good idea of what happens next. At close of the story, the Judge consults Dr. Samuel Trowbridge, "de Grandin's friend and fellow-scholar of the occult," for further information regarding Algonquin totems.
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Post by ropardoe on Oct 3, 2016 8:21:39 GMT
Their hunters became the hunted - and died horriblyHannes Bok Gans T. Field (Manly Wade Wellman) - The Deadly Rabbits: ( Weird Tales, July 1940). "The rabbit's a great figure in folklore. A witch named Julian Cox was tried in England in the 1660's, for turning into a rabbit. And Jules de Grandin once told me that southern French will turn back from a day's work because a hare hopped across their trail - bad luck, like a black cat." Brilliant - echoes of everything from "The Ash-Tree" to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, by way of one of my all-time favourite films - Night of the Lepus!
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Post by dem bones on Oct 3, 2016 16:08:15 GMT
Brilliant - echoes of everything from "The Ash-Tree" to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, by way of one of my all-time favourite films - Night of the Lepus! You might like to read it, Ro. I'm not much cop at this kind of thing, but the episode in the public records building strikes me as a bit ... borderline Jamesian. All that's lacking is a cobwebbed, buck-toothed entity reading over the Judge's shoulder. The Dreadful Rabbits
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Post by dem bones on Oct 27, 2016 9:47:53 GMT
A. R. Tilburne, Repayment, Weird Tales, Jan. 1943. Re 'Gans T. Field/ Manly Wade Wellman's The Dreadful Rabbits (July, 1940). In the September 1941 issue of Weird Tales, 'Gans T. Field' was back with The Half-Haunted, another case for Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant, and another mention of " the occult Hercule Piorot " (© Robert Weinberg). "New Year's Eve found him at Harrisonville, where de Grandin and Trowbridge wanted his word on translating certain old Dutch documents better left untranslated." Seabury Quinn returned the compliment in the aptly titled Repayment, name-dropping both 'Gans T. Field' and his wife, 'Mrs Fran Field,' aka Frances Garfield, who also contributed several stories to Weird Tales. Lords Of The Ghostlands (Weird Tales, March, 1945) finds Jules de Grandin locked in battle with the Infernal Tribunal of Old Egypt over the soul of a martyred Priestess of Isis. It's a tricky business and, in need of all expert guidance he can muster, the Frenchman turns to another of Manly's psychic sleuths. We have the word of Dr. Trowbridge that "All day he was as busy and bustling as a bluebottle. Calling on the telephone repeatedly, swearing poisonously improbable French oaths when he found our friend John Thurstone had been called away from New York on a case ...." Have sometimes questioned how much thought Kurt Singer put into his anthology selections, but the fact he included Lords of The Ghostlands, Catspaw and The Half-Haunted in The Second Kurt Singer Ghost Omnibus suggests the answer is far more than I ever credited him with.
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