Fog Country

Back on Episode 67 of the Paperback Warrior Podcast, we examined the life and literary works of a mysterious female pulp writer named Allison V. Harding. No one really knows her identity. It could have been Lamont Buchanan, a woman named Jean Milligan, or really Dorothy Mcllwraith. It's a mystery that will never truly be solved. But, regardless, Harding left behind a legacy of 33 tales of terror that helped elevate Weird Tales into the stratosphere of iconic magazine horror. 

In 2020, Armchair Fiction released a compilation of 16 stories culled from the pages of Weird Tales, Allison V. Harding: The Forgotten Queen of Horror. This book includes a story titled “Fog Country”, originally published in the magazine's July 1945 issue. 

“Fog Country” is told in first-person narration by Smith - “I'm known as Smith. Just Smith.” He has arrived back to the small town of Elbow Creek after several years of living afar. Smith describes this rural place as a type of mecca where evil forces flow, forces beyond understanding. He then documents for the reader a mysterious family known as the Hobells. They reside – or did at one point – in a robust mansion on top of the hill. They were the founders of Elbow Creek, but they were met with dysfunctional personalities. 

Smith describes the night when one of the Hobells, a troubled, fighting-man named Jess, engaged in a fight with his brother Tom. Tom's wife was murdered during the fight, but charges were never filed, and the two brothers remained bitter rivals...until the fog came.

Every so often, a thick, supernatural fog creeps in from the nearby sound to engulf the town and its residents. One night, the fog came and seemingly wiped out the Hobell family, evaporating Jess and the remaining family members. As the story hits the payoff pitch, readers realize that Smith is actually Jess's brother, Tom. He's returned to town and the mansion he now owns, free and clear of any rival family members. As he settles into the house, clearing debris and old memories, the fog begins to roll in again. Only this time...there may be a figure in the fog.

Like any good horror story, “Fog Country” relies on atmosphere as the main character. The house's isolation in the high forest, near the shore, is the perfect backdrop for Smith to meet his fate. The fog, described as thick and slimy, is the menace, although it's metaphorically just the town's buried secrets regarding this oddball founding family and the blight they've left on the township. The idea that Tom killed Jess isn't mentioned on paper, but it's an ambiguous delight that often made these old horror tales better – it's all in the imagination. You can make of it what you will.

You can read “Fog Country” in the Armchair Fiction omnibus, available HERE.    

Baxter #12 - Hell's Haunted Acres

Lawrence Treat (1903-1998) was one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America, and served as the association's president and director. He is considered the father of the police procedural by creating a group of detectives solving crimes as opposed to the traditional detective stories that featured a single character. His seven-decade career included 17 novels, over 300 short stories, and numerous appearances in anthologies and digests dedicated to the genre and craft. 

Treat's earliest appearances in the pulps were under his birth name, Lawrence Arthur Goldstone. Later, he changed his name and began appearing in Ace-High Detective Magazine, Detective Fiction Weekly, and Black Mask. Treat had a number of pulp characters appear in his stories, like Wee Willie Apple (Short Stories) and Edward Asa Scott (Dime Detective Magazine). Two of his characters, Bill Decker and Mitch Taylor, were often found in the pages of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. 

I wanted to read Treat's pulp stories starring a Southern private-detective, Paul W. “Galahad” Baxter, or just Baxter for short. According to Jess Nevins, Baxter appeared in Ten Detective Aces from 1939 through 1942, beginning with “Murder Isn't For Sissies” (May 1939). While Baxter works for a New York City agency, later stories relocate the character to Memphis and New Orleans. 

My first experience with the character, and subject of this review, is “Hell's Haunted Acres” (Nov. 1941), a “Smashing Baxter Novelet”. 

In the opening pages of the story, Baxter is sent to Mobile, Alabama by his boss Joe Cotton, the head of the Herald Square Agency. Baxter charges into a bank building to see his client, a big-business fellow named Hartswell. When Baxter briskly introduces himself, Hartswell says, “You're the boy that Cotton says is such a world-beater. Says you turn the city of N'Orleans inside out every Tuesday and Thursday, regular.” Baxter, as Bellem as ever, quips back, “Saturday's my night. What's the case?”

Baxter is sent by Hartswell to fictional Dog River, Alabama to protect a guy named Edward. Hartswell explains that Edward is his son, a big and powerful man with very little intelligence. Hartswell explains that years ago, Edward killed a man, forcing Hartswell to pay thousands of dollars to the man's widow to smooth things over so Edward wouldn't be prosecuted. The same thing has happened again. Edward killed Madie Allen's husband, one of the caretakers of the property that Edward lives on. Hartswell provides Baxter $10K to take care of Madie and pay off the rest of the people who supervise Edward.

It's a rather convoluted story, but one in which Baxter wisecracks, swings his fist, chases after Edward's gorgeous female friend, and ultimately solves the case. Treat's use of locale elevates the story, which incorporates snakes, an ominous swamp, and enough Southern stereotypes to top even Foghorn Leghorn. The mystery lies in whether or not Edward is really even alive, and the caretakers who are paid monthly to look after him. This includes the usual cast of suspects, which includes a herpetologist (who is fond of pythons), and a loud-mouthed bullhead named Scotty.

Baxter is the star of the show and proves it in the way he dispatches justice in unique and clever ways. The murder weapon is certainly a first for me, and the storytelling aspect of Baxter primarily chasing women was humorous for the small page count. I don't believe Baxter ever appeared in Treat's novels. That may be because he's so crass and obnoxious, yet, on a temporary basis enjoyable.  As a short pulp story character, Baxter is a fun waste of time. Read the story below or download HERE.

Flight from Nome

Frank Richardson Pierce (1887-1966) wrote over 1,500 stories for pulps and glossy magazines in his 50-year career. While using his own name, and that of Erle Stanly Pierce and Seth Ranger, Pierce worked as a photojournalist for Motorcycling and Bicycling Illustrated while traveling remote Alaskan villages in the early 20th century. His experience in the area had an impact on his writing, both as an adventure and western storyteller. I discovered an aviation story from the author, “Flight from Nome”, in the August 1947 issue of Adventure, featuring the frosty Alaskan climate.

The story provides a brief history lesson on the early-day travel in Alaska, both by ship and plane, while introducing the two main characters, Danny and Joe. They work for the fictional Alaska-Asiatic Airlines. Joe is the instrument pilot, a war veteran who is forced to co-pilot with a busher named Dan. Years ago, the duo formed a solid friendship and work partnership, a melding that led to Joe dating Danny's sister. But the years have taken their toll on the friendship and work environment, leading to Joe's animosity for Dan and his disgruntlement with being a co-pilot.

Danny is dating a woman named Maureen, but lately Joe has been flirting with her. Danny is upset with Joe, not only with his advancement on Maureen, but also with his dismissal of Joe's sister and their relationship. This tight tension has spread to the cockpit, leading to some uncomfortable chatter between the two. But the ultimate test of their loyalty to the profession is at hand. The two are flying a plane full of passengers, through the frigid night, to three destinations. It's an icy adventure that pushes the boundaries of their friendship, work ethic, and dedication to their trade. 

This story, really a novella, is a character study, not only of the two main stars but also of the passengers themselves. Each of them shares their life and lessons, living in such a barren place. My favorite is Old Man Kent, a former gold prospector who is suffering the early stages of Alzheimer's. He consistently talks for hours about his life, knowing friends like Jack London, Rex Beach, Soapy Smith, and Swiftwater Bill. Whether he actually met and had relationships with these legendary men is a mystery. The Kent character is like the living embodiment of a good pulp story, which I think was the point. There's also a Priest, a pregnant woman, and a nurse, among others, to share their experiences. Pierce also builds in some riveting flashback scenes of Joe earning his nickname “Lucky” in harrowing missions throughout the war. 

I haven't read much of Frank Richardson Pierce, but that all changes now that I've read this great aviation story. “Flight from Nome” is a fantastic literary telling of a majestic time and place in American history. Highly recommended.

Read or download the story HERE or read it below:

The Brotherhood of Blood

“The Brotherhood of Blood”, authored by Hugh B. Cave, was first published by Weird Tales in the May 1932 issue, alongside other notable frightening wordslingers like Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and Seabury Quinn. It was collected in Cave's first hardcover collection, Murgunstrumm and Others, in 1977. I reviewed the book's title story back in 2023 HERE.

Like “Murgunstrumm”, this story also features vampires and children of the night, only more situated in the throngs of love and rejection. It's a unique story, marked by jealousy and murder, that features Paul Munn, a narrator who tells us in the opening pages he is an aged vampire - if vampires ever really age. He stalks Cambridge, Mass., in an effort to find and drain the life's blood, from his nemesis, a medical student named Rojer Threng. 

Like the typical early 20th-century shorts and novels, the story begins in the present day while the narrator gets situated to tell us his personal experiences from the past. Munn takes the reader back to his college years, where he often shared his apartment with Threng. It was during this time that Threng was dating a woman named Margot, who eventually rejected him. One night, Margot goes to Munn's apartment for aid and is taken aback to see Threng there. 

Threng explains to Munn that there is something not quite right about Margot and her family lineage. Hundreds of years ago, a French village burned one of Margot's ancestors to death, accusing and condemning him for sorcery. That ancestor rose from his grave on his 28th birthday as a vampire. He then attacked and drained the lifeblood from another family member. Then that family member rises on the 28th birthday to kill another family member. This is a cycle. Margot has come to Munn's to warn him that she is on the cusp of her 28th birthday and fears that her mother will rise from the grave and kill her. 

Munn has fallen in love with Margot, but can't save her. Eventually, Margot succumbs to her mother's vampiric bite and dies. Yet, since Margot has no other family members, she warns Munn in her dying breath that when he turns 28, she will rise and attack him. After this statement, the story takes an unusual twist. When Munn turns 28, he does see Margot, but Threng has another plan fueled by his jealousy and rage. 

Obviously, “The Brotherhood of Blood” has an uneven sort of feel to the plot, mainly due to the vague nature of the family curse. The significance of the family killing each other may have been lost on me, but I did enjoy the Munn character and genuinely felt an emotional bond with him. His loss of Margot and the eventual reappearance were developed well. For a short story, Cave fully developed these characters, despite the page limitations. His ability to lift this ordinary college love triangle into a series of life and afterlife occurrences was remarkable. Maybe I just don't read Cave enough to fully appreciate his storytelling strengths. Based on “Murgunstrumm” and this delightful story, I need to pursue more of the author's work. Recommended!

The Dwellers Under the Tombs

There's three characters that appear occasionally in Robert E. Howard's horror stories: Conrad, Kirowan, and O'Donnel. Sometimes all three of these men are in the same stories, while others fragment the three. I covered one of these stories, “Dig Me No Grave” (Weird Tales, Feb. 1937), which featured both Kirowan and Conrad. I found another, “The Dwellers Under the Tombs”, that features both Conrad and O'Donnel. The story was originally titled “His Brother's Shoes”, and submitted to Weird Tales. It was rejected in 1932. It was later published for the first time in the fourth issue of Weinberg's Lost Fantasies in 1976 (alongside Warren Munn's “Tale of the Werewolf”).

In the story, O'Donnel is staying at his friend Conrad's house when a neighbor, Job Kiles, arrives screaming that he just saw his dead brother. It is revealed that Job's brother Jonas lived in an old house in the Dagoth Hills (unknown location). He recently died and is buried in the family's tomb, yet somehow is now alive as a vampire visiting Job. Obviously, the mystery is too inviting, and all three men journey to the tomb to see if Jonas is still lying at rest. What they find is surprising.

Howard is one of my favorite writers of all time (maybe the best), and even when he wasn't at his best, he's still better than the majority of his early 20th century contemporaries. This story may have been rejected for being a little too on the nose, leaving very little to the imagination. It may also have had too much “The Lurking Fear”, a Lovecraft classic first published by Weird Tales in 1928. 

Regardless of the original rejection, this ghoul story is ripe with atmosphere and incoming doom as the two men find themselves alone with the dead body of Job and a coffin that's empty. As they spiral deeper into the spiderweb of underground tunnels, they discover an ancient race that's inhabited the mountain. There is a tight tension as the duo read a diary entry from Jonas that explains his position and the concept of fooling his brother into thinking he was really dead (the reason for the story's original title). But is Jonas dead now? What are the yellow eyes that are peering from the hideous depths? Can O'Donnel, and Conrad, shoot themselves to freedom? 

Roy Thomas adapted this story as a Conan adventure in Savage Sword of Conan #224 (Aug. 1994). Howard loved his subterranean horror stories, evident in “The Children of the Night” and “Worms of the Earth”. This one is really a lot of fun and is highly recommended. 

Get the Del Rey omnibus of Howard's horror stories HERE. Get the 1978 paperback Black Canaan, which features this story and others, HERE. HorrorBabble also presents an excellent audio version of this for free HERE.

Doc Savage #32 - Dust of Death

Dust of Death was the lead story in the October 1935 issue of Doc Savage. It was authored by Harold A. Davis, filling in for the title's most prominent author, Lester Dent. The house name is Kenneth Robeson, the original magazine cover artist was Walter M. Baumhofer, and the Bantam paperback, published in 1969, features a James Bama cover. I'm reviewing the paperback, which I also supplemented with the Audible audio version narrated by Os Guinness.

The story begins with Long Tom being captured in the midst of a raging geopolitical war between the fictional countries of Santa Amaoza and Delezon. However, the real villain is the cloaked Inca in Gray, an instigator who is simply keeping both parties embroiled in the feud for personal gain. When one country begins an upheaval destined to end the conflict, the Inca in Gray arrives to boost the opponent's ranks. The villain's chief dispatcher is a mysterious “dust of death”, a fatal toxin sprinkled on victims and targets. 

Doc Savage, Ham, and Monk become engaged in the fight after learning of Long Tom's capture. Their participation involves the team's stratospheric dirigible, a type of aircraft that can reach the edge of space. It is aboard the craft that Doc fights a fierce opponent, the vehicle is destroyed, and both Ham and Monk parachute into captivity. Their proposed demise of being munched to death by army ants was very disturbing. 

Dust of Death was just an average Doc Savage adventure – nothing more, nothing less. The book is mostly known for providing the introduction of Ham's ape Chemistry, a series regular. Also, series enthusiast and contributor Will Murray stated this was the first Doc Savage story he had read. I enjoyed the warring sides, the introduction of nefarious arms dealers, demented dictators, and the mystery of the Inca in Gray. I had some suspicions about who the character really was, but I was ultimately surprised with the grand reveal.

Get Dust of Death HERE

Conan - Conan the Wanderer

Conan the Wanderer was first published by Lancer Books in 1968. The painted cover was created by John Duillo, who also created the cover for Conan of the Isles (bearded Conan!) and Conan the Freebooter (Conan is Tarzan!). The later Ace edition of the novel features a superior cover painted by Boris Vallejo. 

This collection is an odd one, featuring just four stories, one being the novella “The Flame Knife”, written by L. Sprague de Camp from a Robert E. Howard manuscript. It features two sole REH stories, “The Devil in Iron” and “Shadows in Zamboula”. The other story, “Black Tears”, is an original authored by both L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. 

The typical introduction by L. Sprague de Camp features the obligatory map and a history of the stories involved. He makes note that “The Flame Knife” was originally a 42,000-word novella of adventure in Afghanistan titled “Three-Bladed Doom”. The story failed to sell, so Howard shortened it to 24,000 words to no avail. de Camp also provides examples of heroic fantasy, citing works like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Fletcher Pratt's The Well of the Unicorn, and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. The introduction concludes with a brief bio of the Conan character.

“Black Tears” is the first story in the collection (full review HERE). This is penned by de Camp and Carter, and later was adapted by Roy Thomas and Ernie Chan for The Savage Sword of Conan #38. Additionally, the story is included in the Orbit Books omnibus The Conan Chronicles 2. “Black Tears” picks up after the events in “A Witch Shall Be Born”. Conan is the chief of the Zaugir, an outlaw band of Kozak horsemen. In a setup, a blood brother of the former Zuagir leader sells Conan out to the rival Turanians, who ambush the group. After the battle, Conan is drugged by the Zuagir and left to die in the desert. He eventually finds a city called Akhlat the Accursed. There's an old prophecy that a man will come to town and liberate the city from a vampiric force. 

Parts of this story reminded me of Robert E. Howard's “The Scarlet Citadel”, especially the inevitable boss fight in the city's underground tunnels. The stone statue part of the story was reminiscent of “Shadows in the Moonlight”, with a little bit of “Red Nails” thrown in with the inner-city stuff. I really enjoyed the story and found it to be a perfect companion to “A Witch Shall Be Born”. The descriptions of mountains, tunnels, and the “beast” were executed very well. I know some Conan fans really don't like Carter or de Camp's pastiche style, but as I've stated in numerous reviews, I find their work to be mostly enjoyable.  

Howard's “Shadows in Zamboula” is next (full review HERE). This was originally published by Weird Tales in November 1935 as “The Man-Eaters of Zamboula”. The story was later republished in the Gnome Press collection Conan the Barbarian. It was adapted into comics for Savage Sword of Conan #14. It is a simple formula with Conan investigating a town's mystery, this one being a mysterious inn owned by a man named Aram Baksh. Conan voluntarily checks in at the inn and discovers the secret of the old inn – the guests are on the menu for flesh-eating cannibals! Howard's writing is rich on atmosphere, violence, and Lovecraftish imagery. The theme of Conan accepting a challenge always includes a twist, and this one was no different. This was a fantastic story.

Next is another of Howard's stories, “The Devil in Iron” (reviewed HERE). This first appeared in the August 1934 issue of Weird Tales and was adapted to comics for the October 1976 issue of The Savage Sword of Conan. Like many of these Conan stories, this one features a setup as Conan is lured to an abandoned island by Turan's king. The bait is a young woman, the trap is a giant! Along with the monster and the maiden is a raiding party led by the king's henchman, Agha. The giant's colossal nature and threat didn't affect me much, and the overall adventure left something to be desired. I didn't care for this story that much.

"The Flame Knife" finishes the collection (full review HERE). As I mentioned earlier, this was originally a manuscript titled “Three-Bladed Doom” featuring an Afghanistan adventure. The original hero was Howard's lovable El Borak. There are two versions of this story, one printed in REH Lone Star Fictioneer in 1976 and another in the Zebra paperback Three-Bladed Doom in 1977. Both of these versions feature an ending rewritten by Byron Roark. de Camp decided to take Howard's original work and modify it to fit as a Conan-led story titled “The Flame Knife”. This was originally published in Tales of Conan in 1955. The novella was also published as its own book in 1981 by Ace. It was adapted into comic form in Savage Sword of Conan #31-32. 

In de Camp's novels and stories, Conan is a cookie-cutter hero who personifies all that is good. The bad guys are carbon-copy bad. Conan's characteristics are much different than Howard's more nihilistic approach. That difference in style and characterization weighs down “The Flame Knife”.

Conan is instructed by the king of Iranistan to lead a team of men to hunt and kill a bandit named Balash. The problem is that Conan is friends with the bandit, so he leads his team to warn Balash of the king's pursuit. There's a bloated, convoluted backstory on the Hidden Ones cult and how they feel Conan is instrumental in their affairs. They soon create an army and hunt Conan. 

This story, albeit an average read, feels like something Steve Perry would dredge up as a Tor full-length. Conan fights a giant snow-ape (depicted by Sanjulian on the Ace paperback cover) and ends a longtime rivalry with a foe that was originally introduced in “A Witch Shall Be Born”. Those are the real highlights of the novella, along with the conventional swordplay, typical crazy cults, cave creatures, and prison escapes. 

Overall, this is a really enjoyable collection of Conan adventures, highlighted by “Black Tears” and “Shadows in Zamboula”. If anything, these old Lancer and Ace paperback collections are worth having in any book collection. I see them often in used bookstores, and they make great travel companions for a quick read on the go. Get a copy of the book HERE.

Should a Tear Be Shed?

Charles Boeckman (1920-2015) authored stories for digests and pulps like Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Detective Tales, All-Story Detective, and Dime Mystery. While performing New Orleans jazz for 70 years, the multi-talented writer authored a number of novels with his wife Patti as well as penning sleaze paperbacks under the pseudonym of Alex Carter. Bold Venture Press has spotlighted the author and his literary work with several reprints, as well as his autobiography. I've read a lot of Boeckman over the years, but occasionally I drop in and out of his short stories for quick enjoyment.

“Should a Tear Be Shed?” was a short story published in January 1954 by Malcolm's, a short-lived detective and crime magazine published by mystery fan Malcolm Koch. 

This quick read is a success story that focuses on the rise of a tap dancer named Lawrence Terrace Jr., a young man that suffered a brain injury when a truck ran him over. When a shyster named Jess Norvell catches Lawrence dancing by a bar jukebox, he puts together a scheme. First, he befriends Lawrence, then has an insurance policy placed on the young man for $50,000 (double indemnity for an accident) with himself as beneficiary. The next logical step is to get Lawrence accidentally killed. 

Central to the story's plot is Jess' girlfriend, Candy, who does not endorse the scheme and repeatedly tries to warn Lawrence that Jess is using him for financial purposes. Like any good story of suspense, Boeckman intensifies the tension with multiple attempts at murder. It's an explosive, though not surprising, climax. I loved the story and read it twice.

The best way to read this story is by picking up the collection, Strictly Poison and Other Stories HERE.

Secret Agent X #01 - The Torture Trust

First published in Secret Agent X magazine in 1934, The Torture Trust introduced pulp readers to the mysterious figure known only as Secret Agent X. Conceived as a rival to The Shadow and The Spider, the series quickly carved its own niche with fast-paced plots, bizarre villains, and relentless atmosphere. Written under the house pseudonym Brant House (with the bulk of early entries by pulp veteran Paul Chadwick), the stories blended espionage, hard-boiled detective grit, and macabre menace.

The novel begins with a daring prison break setting habitual offender Jason Hertz free from confinement. His guardian angel facilitating this escape is a mysterious attorney named Gibbons who wants Hertz’s help. What would his agenda be?

Meanwhile, the police are dealing with a vexing series of torture-killings with prominent victims. The perps have been dubbed “The Torture Trust” by the news media and the cops are stumped. The killings, as described, are horrific and extreme — victims’ faces burned with acid. Stuff like that.

We then learn that Attorney Gibbons sprung Escapee Hertz from prison to have him get re-acquainted with a mobster Hertz once knew likely affiliated with The Torture Trust. You see, Gibbons is not an attorney at all, but the elusive vigilante crime fighter known only as Secret Agent X.

The reader is treated to a visit to X’s secret lair with his assortment of weapons and disguises. He’s only an “Agent” in the broadest sense that he has the unofficial sanction of the U.S. Department of Justice to fight the criminal hordes preying upon society. Officially within the government records, he is dead. His name and background? No one knows. His budget? Unlimited.

X has a sidekick/secretary named Betty Dale who handles a lot of his back office tasks - like dispersing money X steals from criminals to the poor and needy and being his date when he needs a cover. There’s also a police detective who hates X and his intrusions on police business with his unconventional interventions.

The debut novel is pretty standard - and enjoyable - pulp fare. Disguises and gaseous weapons, a kidnapped damsel in distress, a secret lair, and criminal masterminds deserving some rough justice. It’s not as unhinged as The Spider and the hero isn’t as impressive as Doc Savage, but if pulp heroes are your jam, you’ll enjoy this one plenty. Get it HERE. 

Paperback Warrior - Episode 124

This podcast episode features William R. Cox, a prolific author of over 1,000 pulp stories known for his crime-fiction, sports, and western novels. It also includes a review of a 1967 vintage suspense-thriller by John Farris. Listen today! Stream below or on YouTube HERE. Download the episode HERE.

Listen to "Episode 124: William R. Cox" on Spreaker.

The Lurking Fear

H.P. Lovecraft's serial “The Lurking Fear” was originally published between January and April 1923 in Home Brew. The stories appeared with interior illustrations by Clark Ashton Smith. The serial was reprinted as a novelette in the June 1928 issue of Weird Tales. Since that date, the story has appeared in numerous magazines and horror anthologies by publishers like Avon, Panther, Arkham House, and Del Rey. Now in the public domain, one can find numerous audio presentations of the book from free narrators like HorrorBabble, Gates of Imagination, and Voice Voyage. The story was also adapted into several film adaptations including Bleeders (1997), Dark Heritage (1989), Lurking Fear (1994), and The Lurking Fear (2023).

“The Lurking Fear” is a stand-alone story that doesn't fit Lovecraft's vast Cthulhu mythos. It begins with an unnamed narrator exploring Tempest Mountain, a supposedly cursed region in New York's Catskills. This narrator, a monster-hunter of sorts, and his two male companions, are responding to reports of creatures attacking people in the nearby area. Central to the narrator's investigation is a derelict mansion void of any residents. It is here that the trio take refuge to wait out the night. But, in the deep recesses of the dark, the narrator is awakened to see a large shadow on the chimney wall and the disappearance of his two companions. 

The narrator leaves the mansion and, after several days, returns to the mansion again with a journalist named Munroe. This time, the duo take shelter from a rainstorm in a nearby shack near the mansion's grounds. It  is here that Munroe is killed by a terrible mauling and the narrator searches for answers in a discarded diary the two had previously located.

In the story's second half, the narrator reveals the history of the mansion and a reclusive family known as the Martenses that turned to inbreeding in their rural isolation. Thinking he has found the answers to the creatures, and their mysterious attacks, the narrator returns to the property again and begins to dig up the grave of Jan Martense. Under the casket he locates a labyrinth of underground tunnels used by the creatures. But, like any good horror story, the clash between man and beast brings resolution.

“The Lurking Fear” has a disjointed presentation which Lovecraft himself was disappointed with. The  reason may have been the serial nature of the story and the need to expand it into several issues. Regardless, I enjoyed the aura of isolation, the unbridled tragedy affecting this early American family, and the narrator's gusto to confront the monstrosities despite the prior casualties that closely affected him. There's an atmosphere of foreboding that permeates the abandoned mansion and grounds. There's also this idea that death itself can reveal answers, apparent in the very physical need to look beneath the casket for answers. 

In terms of legacy, I can see shades of this story in film franchises like Hills Have Eyes and Wrong Turn, the classic 1981 film Hell Night, as well as stories by Stephen King like “Graveyard Shift”. Lovecraft, who remained an “unknown” in his lifetime, touched so many generations of horror fans. His influence on the genre is seemingly endless.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 123

In this episode, Eric explores the transition of vintage pulp stories and heroes from magazine format to mass market paperbacks in the 1960s and 1970s. He also celebrates GarbAugust by highlighting three of the worst books he’s ever read. Stream below, download HERE, or watch on YouTube HERE.

Listen to "Episode 123: Pulps in Paperback" on Spreaker.

Conan - Conan of Cimmeria

The tenth of the Lancer Conan paperbacks, Conan of Cimmeria, was published in 1969. The publisher reprinted it in 1970 through 1973. Ace took over the publication in 1977, after Lancer's bankruptcy. The paperback was also published by Sphere Books in England in 1974. The book's contents is disappointing considering that Robert E. Howard's sole work, “The Frost Giant's Daughter”, “Queen of the Black Coast”, and “The Vale of Lost Women” only make up three of the eight selections. The rest are written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter either together, solely, or with the aid of Howard's prior unpublished work. However, Frank Frazetta's cover painting is one of the most iconic of Conan culture.

The book begins with the obligatory map of the world of Conan in the Hyborian Age followed by an introduction authored by de Camp regarding Howard's short-lived life, the pseudo-history of Conan's world, and the fictional biography of the titular hero.

The highlight of the paperback is “The Frost-Giant's Daughter”. This was originally published with different characters as “The Gods of the North” (The Fantasy Fan #7, March 1934) after being rejected as a Conan story by Weird Tales. “The Frost-Giant's Daughter” version was first published in The Coming of Conan (Gnome Press, 1953). 

In the story, the hero has returned to his homeland in Cimmeria, but grows a hunger for battle. He decides to participate in a raid into Vanaheim with his old barbaric friends the Aesirs. As the narrative begins, Conan is the last remaining combatant of the Aesirs and an enemy named Heimdul is the sole member left of Vanaheim's fighting forces. They both lock into battle and Conan kills Heimdul, but collapses from exhaustion on the hard frozen ground. Conan awakens to feminine laughter and then sees a beautiful ivory-skinned woman in front of him. She's naked and barefoot, yet dancing on the snow. Lusting for this cold-weather maiden, Conan trails the woman for miles through the frozen wastelands. Growing tired, he suddenly realizes that the woman has led him to her two brothers, savage frost giants. 

“The Frost-Giant's Daughter” has a special kind of frosty ambiance and a dreamlike presentation that is unique for a Conan story. I'm surprised it wasn't picked up by one of the publishers of that era in its original form, yet I can foresee how they may have perceived Conan in this odd sort of icy trance. In the end, it all worked out for readers and fans as this story is one of Howard's finest stories. 

The other iconic Howard story in this paperback edition is “Queen of the Black Coast”. It was originally published in Weird Tales (May 1934) and then reprinted in Avon Fantasy Reader (#8, Nov. 1948). It's ranked in the higher echelons of Howard's Conan offerings for a reason. 

The story begins with Conan fleeing the law in Argos. Conan, in an effort to avoid his pursuers, demands passage on the Argus, a trading barge. When the Argus crew refuses to allow Conan to board, he threatens to kill the captain and his crew. Conan then befriends the ship's captain, a guy named Tito. 

The story's title comes to fruition when Belit arrives, a gorgeous female pirate commanding the Tigress. Her clashing with Conan's crew in Kush is a violent, epic struggle as the Argos crew is annihilated by Belit's black pirates. However, she finds Conan's fighting skills to be superb, peaking her interest in the adventurer. Belit is sexually attracted to Conan and soon the two become lovers as they ravage Stygian coastlines.

On the river Zarkheba, Conan and Belit discover an ancient tower in the jungle. After rotating the tower, they find a wealth of treasures, including a cursed necklace for Belit. Soon, subhuman creatures (hyena men?) and a winged demon appear to slaughter the Tigress's crew. The necklace creates madness for Belit and after Conan's lone departure to kill a monster, he returns to find her corpse hanging from the ship. 

“Queen of the Black Coast” presents something unusual for Conan – a true love. While readers don't partake in the relationship itself, they are there for the beginning. Belit's attraction to Conan is nearly hypnotic, submitting to the hero despite the number of crewmen she commands and the overall superiority of her ship. Conan instantly feels the attraction and is magnetized by this “She-Devil” as are readers.

The other sole Howard offering here is “The Vale of Lost Women”, estimated to have been written in 1933. It was never published in Howard's lifetime, only seeing a release much later in Magazine of Horror (Spring 1967). There was never any indication that the story was submitted to the pulps.

“The Vale of Lost Women” takes place after the events of “Queen of the Black Coast” and Belit's death. Conan has joined the Bamula tribe in the jungles of Kush, becoming their new tribal king. In an effort to propose a possible truce, Conan visits a rival tribe called The Bakalah. It is here that he meets a white female prisoner named Livia. He learns that both Livia, and her brother, are scientists from Ophir that were captured by Bakalah warriors. Livia's brother was tortured to death, and she's certainly next to die. 

Livia suggests to Conan that she is a virgin, and after he refuses to free her, she offers him her body. Conan then agrees to help her escape. Later that day, she sees Conan walking towards her carrying the bloody severed head of the Bakalah's tribal chief. In fear that Conan, now drenched in crimson, is coming for her, she escapes on horseback into the jungle. 

Livia falls from her horse and discovers she's in a beautiful valley that is home to a tribe of black lesbians! But, the lesbians are using poisonous orchids to create a hallucinogenic effect, placing Livia in a trance. She finds that these lesbians are sacrificing her on an alter to a giant black bat! Thankfully, Conan has trailed Livia and fights off the giant bat thing. Livia, fearing that Conan will attempt to claim her, becomes frightened. However, Conan simply advises her that he made a mistake in accepting her proposal to give herself to him. Arguably, he is suggesting there is no honor in that. Instead, he agrees to guide her to the Stygian border where she can eventually find passage to Ophir. 

There isn't much to Howard's story, which probably contributes to the possibility that it was never submitted for publication during the author's lifetime. The imagery of Conan slowly walking through carnage holding a severed head is memorable, but aside from that there isn't a whole lot to highlight. But, the story does present a rarely seen moment of the hero's life as the Bamula leader.

The best of the de Camp and Carter stories featured in the paperback is “Lair of the Ice Worm”, an original story published for the first time here. 

The story picks up after the events of "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" as a twenty-something Conan is trudging through the snowfall in Aesir. A short distance away, Conan sees a young woman being attacked by savage men resembling Neanderthals. Soon, Conan is slicing his way to the woman's rescue, but his horse is killed in the battle. In an eerie premonition, the girl warns Conan of something ominous called a Yakhmar, but Conan (and readers) isn't sure what that is.

Finding shelter in a cave, Conan makes love to the girl by the firelight. He awakens to discover the girl is no longer in the cave. With the icy conditions outside, Conan fears something may have happened to her. Outside, he follows a trail that leads to two skeletons, one of the girl and another of his horse. Both have been picked clean of all flesh and oddly enveloped in ice. Conan begins to think that this Yakhmar thing is actually a Remora, a giant vampire-like worm. Feeling responsible for the girl's death, Conan tracks the worm's trail to an icy cave. Will he escape this fiendish assault of Remora?

An eerie atmosphere and ambiance prevails throughout this short fantasy story. There's the obvious elements of horror, complete with a worm-like creature squirming under the icy tundra. The early battle with the savages was written well and contained the sweeping adventure that REH's Conan stories frequently possessed. As an aside, the brawny hero had no resistance in bedding down the beauty of the story, another obvious trope of Conan storytelling. 

Other stories in the paperback:

“The Curse of the Monolith” - an original de Camp & Carter story
“The Bloodstained God” - originally an unpublished Kirby O' Donnell story, reworked by Carter & de Camp
“The Castle of Terror” - originally an unfinished Howard manuscript, completed by Carter
“The Snout in the Dark” - originally an untitled fragment not finished or published, completed by Carter & de Camp.

The Phantom Coach

Amelia Edwards (1831-1892) was a British writer and artist that was deemed the “Godmother of Egyptology”. Her fascination with Egyptian culture led to a successful travelogue titled A Thousand Miles up the Nile. Her most famous novel is Barbara's History, published in 1864. However, she appears in several horror anthologies and digests with her frightening tale “The Phantom Coach”. The story first appeared in All the Year Round in 1864 as “Another Past Lodger Relates His Own Ghost Story” with the author unnamed. My version of the story is in The Phantom Coach: Thirteen Journeys into the Unknown edited by Peter C. Smith and published by William Kimber in 1979. 

The story's narrator is a young attorney named Murray. He is relaying an event that happened to him twenty years ago, an event he has never disclosed until now. Murray, newly married, is vacationing in the English countryside. He goes hunting (against his new bride's wishes) in the rural moors and forests during a snowstorm. After a few hours, he realizes he has become lost as the snowfall increases. Thankfully, Murray flags down an older gentleman in the wild. This stranger isn't helpful, and advises Murray that the nearest town is twenty miles away. Murray, desperate to live, sort of forces his will upon this old man, Jacob, and accompanies him back to the cottage where Jacob's master lives.

The master of the manor isn't thrilled to find Jacob has returned with an unwanted guest. After a bit of a verbal tussle, Murray sits with Jacob's master to have some dinner. It is during this conversation that the master advises Murray that he has been away from society and his colleagues in the scientific and technological industry. He wants to learn more about Murray's worldly experiences and, in doing so, he reveals to Murray that he has a fascination with the supernatural.  

Eventually the master encourages Murray to leave that very night to meet the mailman's coach that will be within five miles of the cottage. The mailman can then return Murray back to his wife at the Inn. But, this requires five miles through the dark snowfall on an abandoned coach road. On the journey, Jacob explains to Murray that a horrible accident happened on the old coach road nine years prior. He then leaves Murray with instructions on how to find the mailman's coach at a type of crossroads between the old road and the new one. To reveal any other details would ruin the thrill of this Victorian ghost story.

Amelia Edwards writes with a heavy handed descriptive approach that steers clear of an archaic prose. This is a smooth atmospheric tale that uses the dark moors, forest, and isolation to present a ghost story. Edwards has the ability to reveal very little about Jacob and the master, yet still somehow marries the two characters to the reader flawlessly. Every word they speak in this story hinges on some soon-to-be revelation that will affect the unfortunate protagonist. There's a great deal of mystery on just what awaits Murray on this old coach road. Once the terror reveals itself, Murray and readers are plucked from this out-of-the-way seclusion into a stuffy and cramped space saturated in doom and death. It's a wonderful scene switch that sets the story's finale. 

The Phantom Coach should be easily accessible as a free read. It is worth the effort to hunt it down. Recommended!

Buy an ebook version of the story plus others HERE.

School Mistress of the Mad

Bruno Fisher often used the name Russell Gray or Harrison Storm to write graphic horror stories in the early to mid 20th century. Many of these stories were published in pulp magazines like Terror Tales, Dime Mystery Magazine, Sinister Stories, and Spicy Horror Stories. I've read a number of these including "School Mistress of the Mad". It was originally published in the January-February 1939 issue of Terror Tales. 

Doom is the name of a town nestled in the mountains populated by an inferior race of idiots looked down upon by the good people of nearby Amton. Chet is on sabbatical from his city job chilling out in sleepy Amton when he meets a beautiful woman named Linda driving through town headed into Doom. Stopping to ask directions, she discloses that she’s been hired as the new schoolteacher for the Town of Doom. As she drives deeper into the mountains, Chet can’t get her off his mind.

Chet learns that Doom was settled during the American Revolutionary War by a family named Gring who have reproduced and lived there ever since with no contact from the outside world. Generations of inbreeding have made the Gring clan into beast-like idiots.

The idea of the Grings hiring a beautiful schoolteacher in an illiterate town without a school defies logic. Meanwhile, several young women from the town of Amton have become missing lately. Could the Grings be taking some illegal measures to increase Doom’s genetic diversity? Chet sets off to Doom to investigate and maybe save Linda from the hillbillies fifteen miles away.

The author does a great job of building the dread and suspense for the reader who’s left wondering how bad it could be in Doom. I’m happy to report that the Grings clan is worse than you could imagine. This story is chilling and frightening if you enjoy crazed hillbilly stories in the vein of Deliverance or The Hills Have Eyes. It’s hard to believe that the story 82 years-old and still packs such a visceral punch.

You can read this story and other Fischer horror tales in the collection Hostess in Hell and Other Stories. Get it HERE.

Dig Me No Grave

The February 1937 issue of Weird Tales featured Robert E. Howard's horror story “Dig Me No Grave”. The iconic Texas author was paid $100 for the story shortly before he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1936. The story was later published in The Dark Man and Others by Arkham House in 1963, Fawcett's Eight Strange Tales in 1972, and Zebra's Pigeons from Hell in 1976. My version is from the Baen 1996 paperback Beyond the Borders.

The story begins when John Kirowan is awakened from his sleep at midnight by his good friend John Conrad. Conrad is in a panic state as he explains that a man named John Grimlan has just died (what is it with all the “Johns”?). A conversation ensues between Kirowan and Conrad over Grimlan's bizarre life living in a world of mysticism and the occult.

Grimlan had lived abroad for many years and rumors circulated that his physical appearance seemingly never aged. Conrad explains that a Count had once stated that Grimlan is a very old man, yet his appearance is youthful. Years ago, Grimlan had asked Conrad to look after his body upon his death. He provided a sealed envelope containing specific instructions. Now, Conrad wants Kirowan's assistance in returning to Grimlan's house and following the instructions laid out. It's here that Grimlan's corpse lies undisturbed just hours since his death.

“Dig Me No Grave” possesses a vivid atmosphere and mood that is draped in this wickedly dark tapestry. Howard, this late in his writing career, had perfected the horror story and he puts his talent to work describing Grimlan's dark house on the hill, the bleak midnight hour, and offers a delightful buffet of descriptions about the evil forces at work within Grimlan's life. The central portion of the story's narrative is the bizarre instructions left behind by Grimlan, orders that the contents of his estate be left to...the Devil! Interesting enough, Howard includes Lovecraft's Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu references as well as his own Shuma-Gorath entity (first mentioned in Howard's “The Curse of the Golden Skull”) and Kathulos of Atlantis (found in the author's 1929 novella Skull-Face).

These two characters, Kirowan and Conrad, have been featured in other Howard stories, shorts like “The Children of the Night”, “The Haunter of the Ring”, and “The Thing on the Roof”. All of these have Cthulhu references.

“Dig Me No Grave” was adapted into comic form by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in Marvel's Journey Into Mystery in 1972.

Paperback Warrior Primer - Bill Gulick

Grover C. Gulick (1916-2013), known as Bill Gulick, wrote a ton of western stories in the pulp magazines in the 1940s and 1950s. His career is laced with both fiction and non-fiction, marked by winning two coveted Spur Awards, earning him a two-year presidency of Western Writers of America, and receiving accolades from the Cowboy Hall of Fame. I covered Gulick's life and career in a podcast HERE, but wanted to provide a visual text outlining his life and literary work.

Gulick was born in 1916 in Kansas City, Missouri. As a child, Gulick was an avid reader with weekly trips to the library. By the age of five he was reading Zane Grey and pulp western magazines. In high school he wrote a story modernizing Julius Caesar with a gritty underworld of Chicago gangsters. He graduated high school in 1934, a time when America had been thrust into the Great Depression. Gulick delivered newspapers, did collections on delinquent utility bills, and worked at a drug store to help the family make ends meet. 

Gulick enrolled at the University of Oklahoma, played baseball, and as a sophomore he entered a writing competition and saw his poem win top prize. During college, Gulick worked as a power line installer and also took a job selling appliances for Montgomery Ward. Both of these jobs expanded Gulick's world and allowed him to see a good portion of the Midwest. Hoping to achieve a career in writing, Gulick entered a Professional Writing School in 1940 and he sold his first story for $10 to a law officer magazine titled The Peace Officer. He then reached out to Popular Publications in New York about a western story he wrote. They published the short, “The Kid That Rode with Death”, in New Western Magazine and paid him $30. At this point Gulick considered himself to be a full-fledged professional writer. 

Gulick moved to Brownwood, Texas to be a caretaker for a couple's cabin on Lake Brownwood. It was here that he had the opportunity for solitude, a time he used to polish up on his writing and to get completely devoted to his style. He wanted to write for the slick magazines. He later spent a lot of time with pulp writer Foster Harris. It was Harris that encouraged Gulick to use his experiences installing power lines to write stories about hardened blue-collar working men. Harris explained that he used his own work experience in the oil fields to pen stories in Argosy, Blue Book, and Adventure. Gulick took the advice to heart and wrote a story titled “You Gotta Be Hard” about a lineman who saves a fellow worker from being electrocuted. He sold it to Adventure for $75 and it was published in their August 1942 issue. These stories are what Gulick refers to as his "high-line stories" about the dangerous industry and hardened men that worked on the power lines. That same year he had his story “The Saga of Mike Shannon” published in Liberty Magazine. The publisher paid him $350 for the story, which was his biggest payout to date. 

Gulick was classified as 4-F during World War 2 due to his bout with Polio years before the war started. In 1943, Gulick moved to New York City so he could be closer to the editors and publishers he was dealing with. By this point Gulick had sold stories to Big-Book Western, .44 Western, Ace-High Western, Texas Rangers, 10 Story Western, Liberty, and Adventure.  

Gulick became acquainted with Rogers Terrill who was working as an editor for Henry and Harry Steeger, the owners of Popular Publications. At the height of the pulp boom the Steegers had 33 magazines circulating. Each magazine sold on average 200,000 newsstand copies for a dime each, so the difference between showing a profit and incurring a loss was small. According to Gulick's autobiography, the Steegers were earning about $300 net profit per month on each magazine. Their top western writer was Walt Coburn. He had a story in just about every western magazine - either a 25,000 word novel, a 12,000 word novelette, or a 5,000 word short story. 

Rogers Terrill once sent Gulick a letter stating that his stories were good and that they would continue fetching on average of $280. He explained they were competent but not terribly original. He encouraged Gulick to stop writing run of the mill pot-boilers and to use his talent to write better work. Gulick went back to thinking of himself as more of a slick writer and found more stories being published in Liberty and Saturday Evening Post through the 1940s and 1950s. He was also published in Esquire, Blue Book, Collier's, and Nation's Business. By 1944, Gulick found that he had enough of New York and had met and introduced himself to enough publishers and editors. He first moved to Oklahoma before relocating to Tacoma, Washington. From there he continued to sell to Liberty magazine making $750 per story. The rejects from Liberty funneled down to the pulp magazines at less money. 

In 1946, Gulick discovered something really interesting about a Lone Ranger comic strip that was running in Seattle's Post-Intelligencer paper. The Lone Ranger story was plagiarized from a Gulick short published in 10 Story Western Magazine. He cut out the strips each day until he had the whole story and then mailed it to Popular Publications who agreed that it was plagiarism. Eventually, the Lone Ranger's legal firm settled with Gulick paying $250 both to him and Popular Publications. In a funny send off to the settlement, Gulick volunteered to write Lone Ranger stories but his request was ignored. 

Gulick met his wife while working as a house manager for a Tacoma Theater Company and the two moved to New York. After meeting with the editor of Saturday Evening Post, Erd Brandt, Gulick was pitched the idea of writing his first serial. Gulick knew that was huge money as Ernest Haycox and Luke Short had both earned upwards to $50,000 for a serial. Brandt wanted a historical Pacific Northwest setting for the serial. In his research, Gulick became fascinated with the history of the emigrants into the Washington and Idaho Territories from the Oregon Trail Days. Gulick used the concept to write an 80,000 word novel titled Bend of the Snake. It was Gulick's first full-length novel, however when he pitched it to the Post as a serial they rejected it for being too long. He submitted the novel to Doubleday but it was rejected for a lack of violence. Houghton Mifflin published the book in 1950 and Gulick received a $5,000 movie option. Universal-International bought the film rights, changed the title to Bend of the River, and cast James Stewart in the lead role. 

Gulick settled into writing more full-length novels including A Drum Calls West and A Thousand for the Cariboo. Around this same time an anthology of Gulick's mountain man western short stories was collected into an omnibus paperback titled The Mountain Men. 

In 1953. Gulick joined the Western Writers of America, the brainchild of author Nelson Nye. In 1955 Gulick ran for President of the organization, a position he held in 1956 and 1957. 

Up until the late mid-1950s, Gulick's novels were being published as hardcovers. But, Popular Library offered Gulick the opportunity to write paperback originals. The author wrote Showdown in the Sun, a paperback purchased by Famous Artists, a Hollywood Film company that paid $13,500 for the book. Gulick also began selling rights to his short stories to television shows. In 1961, Gulick sold his story "Where the Wind Blows Free" to Saturday Evening Post for $2500. Gulick wrote novels for Doubleday including They Came to a Valley, which won the Cowboy Hall of Fame Western Heritage Award as Best Western Historical Novel of the Year and Hallelujah Trail, which the Mirisch Brothers bought film rights for $85,000. The movie was released in 1964 and starred Burt Lancaster, Donald Pleasance, and Brian Keith. 

Gulick also flourished in the non-fiction realm as well. He wrote the books Snake River Country and Chief Joseph Country as non-fiction historical accounts. Gulick also wrote a western for Doubleday titled Trails West about a gold mine in Hells Canyon and anti-Chinese riots in the 1880s. The book, which was published in 1979, did well but hinted to Gulick that the western book market had dwindled significantly. 

In 1988, Gulilck's western trilogy was caught up in a publishing feud between Doubleday and Gulick. The publisher wanted each book to be trimmed from 100,000 words to 85,000. The publisher also disagreed with Gulick's overall title for the trilogy as Northwest Destiny. Doubleday published each of the books in 1988 - the first in May titled Distant Trails, the second in June titled Gathering Storm, and the third in July titled Lost Wallowa. The publisher sold 5,000 copies of each book to libraries without any promotion and then let the books go out of print. Gulick was able to have the rights reverted back to him from Doubleday. With permission, Berkley published the books in paperback format.

Bill Gulick died at the age of 97 in 2013 in Walla Walla, Washington. In his autobiography, his final conclusion stated this:

"What the world of writing will be in time to come, I cannot predict, other than to say it will change, as it has in my lifetime. Despite the proliferation in the methods of communication that has taken place during the last sixty-four years, the nation as a whole is no more literate now than it was then, when almost everybody who had gone to school at all could read at the fourth-grade level, whereas now we have students in college who cannot do as well. Back in the 1950s, when I complained to Carl Brandt, Sr. about the way the TV monster that had invaded our living rooms was threatening to replace my beloved Saturday Evening Post, he said, 'Don’t worry about it, Bill. What you should understand is that the American public has a great capacity for accepting a new medium of entertainment without forsaking the old.' In any event, it is time for a new generation of writers to replace mine. All I can say is, 'I wish you well'."

Gulick's last published short story was in 1982 and his last book was published in 2008.

You can obtain many of Bill Gulick's vintage books HERE.