Day Keene - League of the Grateful Dead

[severance]

Day Keene - League of the Grateful Dead and Other Stories

Day Keene in the Detective Pulps, Vol. #1. Ramble House TPb, 2010.

Admittedly seven of the eight stories in this volume are solid crime fare, but the first and earliest story, which gives the collection its title, could almost be described as a bonkers 'weird menace' entry - which is why I've made this entry.

League of the Grateful Dead appeared in the February 1941 issue of Dime Mystery Magazine and chronicles the discovery of two recently mummified corpses around the streets of Chicago. One of them so recent that a lit cigarette was still in its mouth. The odd thing was that both mummies had been seen alive minutes before and, according to the Department of Health, both men were already listed as dead!

In a bar, a journalist called Tim Murphy is waiting for Doc Meredith, a former surgeon whose life fell apart after a series of deaths on his operating table. Murphy is hoping that Meredith can shed some light on the story but, before the Doc arrives, a lady of the night comes into the bar - with an incredible story for him. Her story involves a believed charlatan calling himself Satan, who advertises in local papers that he can bring the recently deceased back to life. After the conclusion of her story, she proceeds to mummify right before his disbelieving eyes.

Who is Satan? Does he really have the power of life and Death? Can Doc Meredith stay sober long enough to figure it all out?

Incidentally, a member of a San Francisco band called The Warlocks was so inspired by this story that he changed the name of the band. The man was Jerry Garcia - the band became The Grateful Dead.

[dem bones]

Thanks Sev, I really have to read the title story, and luckily League Of The Grateful Dead is also available in Otto Penzler paving slab of a Zombies anthology which should be easier for non-online shoppers to get hold of. Dime Mystery Magazine were usually good for a shudder pulp or two as they included several of the weird menace crowd among their contributors - Arthur Leo Zagat Wyatt Blassingame, John H. Knox, Francis James, and very occasional weird menace man Cornell Woolrich among them.

By the way, a duller version has it that Garcia, taking rare time out from one of his 36 hour guitar solos, grabbed a dictionary, shut his eyes, and put together the first two words he underlined with his finger. I think we can safely discard that blatant myth and stick with the Day Keene story.