1927 saw Seabury Quinn settle into his schedule of writing regular de Grandin tales. he would write seven for this year, about one story every one and half months. Quinn wasn’t getting covers for every story yet but that would come in time. The comments in the Eyrie were always complimentary, asking for more.
“Sacré nom d’un fromage vert!” de Grandin almost snarled. “Pitiable, do you say, Monsieur? Pardieu, it is damnable, nothing less!”
“The Man Who Cast No Shadow” originally appeared in Weird Tales, February 1927.
De Grandin and Trowbridge go to Mrs. Norman’s tea social and encounter Count Czerny. De Grandin insists that Trowbridge shake hands with the nobleman. Later the Frenchman asks his friend if he noticed anything odd. Trowbridge agrees though he is not sure what. It is the fact that the Count’s hand feels like it has no palm but two upper sides.
Two weeks later Trowbridge catches a glimpse of the Count in new York. He reports to de Grandin that he looks older.Mrs. Norman calls the doctor because one of her boarders has fallen ill. When the two doctors examine Guy Eckhart they find he has lost a lot of blood but has no wound except a bite mark on his chest. De Grandin spends some time with a local character named Indian John. He learns about an old Swedish church where a grave is covered with wild garlic. The gravestone says only SARAH and a warning not to disturb the garlick or she will return from her deathless sleep. They talk to the sexton of the church who informs them an old man had been asking about the grave. De Grandin goes to a Italian grocer to buy garlic but finds the entire stock bought by an old man matching the same description.
They return to Mrs. Norman’s for Eckhart has had another attack. This time one of the black servants has seen a woman biting his neck. They go to Sarah’s grave and drive a long wooden stake into her grave, drawing blood that he shows to Trowbridge. The next day Costello comes to de Grandin because Esther Norman, Mrs. N’s daughter has disappeared. Costello believes she may have run away for her own reasons. He recounts her movements before the disappearance. The last fact is an encounter with an old man outside the Italian grocery. This information sets de Grandin into a tizzy.
The three race off to an old house in Rupleysville. Entering the old place they find it empty until de Grandin discovers tracks. These lead to a cellar where they find esther naked, staked down and being bled into large bowls. They also encounter the Count who de Grandin reveals is actually Baron Lajos Czuczron of Transylvania. The vampire attacks the Frenchman who draws his sword cane and stabs him in the mouth, killing him. The men wrap up Miss Norman and take her home.
The next day de Grandin explains everything. While at Mrs. Norman’s party he had noticed the Count did not cast a reflection in the mirror. After shaking hands he is sure he is dealing with a vampire for both sides of his hands are hairy. He is not sure why the Count resurrected the other vampire Sarah, perhaps out of loneliness? He knows a stake will keep her in her grave so he and Trowbridge drove one in her grave. Later when Esther disappears de Grandin knows he must move fast for the vampire can exist for 100 years but has to renew his undead life with the blood of a virgin. With Indian John’s information he locates the house and knows where to find him.
Quinn’s first real vampire story. He deviated from Bram Stoker’s version of the lore and some readers were not happy with this for de Grandin kills the vampire with a sword. This story appeared four years before Bela Lugosi’s Dracula so Hollywood had yet to effect this much. The choice of Sarah for the other vampire can be traced to “A Tomb of Sarah” by F. G. Loring (Pall Mall magazine, December 1910) Quinn cribs the wording on her tomb and the rope around her neck. This tale was a marked improvement on the last three and was rewarded with a cover. See also my article “Seabury Quinn and ‘The Tomb of Sarah'”.
“In Transylvania, that devil-ridden land, the very soil does seem to favor the transformation of man into beast. There are springs from which the water, once drunk, will make its drinker into a savage beast, and there are flowers — cordieu, have I not seen them?
“The Blood-Flower” originally appeared in Weird Tales, March 1927.
De Grandin and Trowbridge are called in by the nurse Miss Ostrander because Trowbridge’s patient Mrs. Evander (who is being treated for leukemia) is acting strange, growling and barking when ever she hears a dog howling. Mrs, Evander tries to flee out the window but the men pull her down. De Grandin prescribes codeine to drug her during these spells.
When her husband Niles returns from a business trip he denies her the drugs and threatens to fire the nurse and Dr. Trowbridge. He insults de Grandin, calling him a foreigner. That night she flees when she hears the howling and the husband calls the French detective in desperation. De Grandin is not worried about her running about in the snow in her nightdress. He says she is wearing fur.
The next morning she comes home naked and confused. Her fingers are stained with blood which proves to be dog blood. The next night de Grandin and Trowbridge wait with the family. Mrs. Evander is drugged. The howling begins. Someone tries to sneak into the house and everyone sees a terrible wolflike face at the window. Trowbridge and Evander are frozen in fear but de Grandin draws a small stick and hits the monster in the face. De Grandin gives chase and fires many bullets into the fleeing beast, killing it. The thing turns into Uncle Friedrich, a family friend who had been living with them but had disappeared.
De Grandin discovers that Friedrich had received an order of strange red plants from Europe and had worn the blooms along with Mrs Evander. These are blood-flowers, and those who wear them will become werewolves. Uncle Friedrich was trying to turn Mrs E into a wolf so she would join him in a life of evil. De Grandin confesses Mrs. E’s troubles are not over. She will continue to become a werewolf. Her husband is so overwrought he promises to pay de Grandin fifty grand if he can save her.
The next night de Grandin and Trowbridge perform a kind of exorcism with mystical symbols and circles, during which Mr. E transforms and tries to bite them. They tie her arms and legs. The ceremony is successful and her evil is banished. When Mr. E says he will pay de Grandin laughs off his offer, telling him to love his wife always will be price enough.
Obviously written before the 1940 The Wolfman film, but it does feature all three kinds of werewolves in theory. (But not before Robert E. Howard’s “Wolfshead”) De Grandin discusses how some werewolves are wolves that turn into men, men who turn into wolves and half and half. De Grandin’s explanation for why silver bullets aren’t needed are famous: “What did thost old legend-mongers know of the power of modern fire arms? Parbleu, had the good St. George possessed a military rifle of today, he might have slain the dragon without approaching nearer than a mile! When I did shoot that wolfman, my friend, I had something more powerful than superstition in my hand. Morbleu, but I did shoot a hole in him large enough for him to have walked through!” Quinn has fun showing off his expert knowledge of exorcism ceremonies, many decades before The Exorcist would become a bestseller.
“These gods of ancient times, now — what were they but such forces? Nothing. Zeus, Apollo, Osiris, Ptah, Isis, Bast — such things are but names; they describe certain vaguely understood, but nonetheless potent forces. Pardieu, there is, no God but God, my friend; the rest are — who knows what?”
“The Veiled Prophetess” originally appeared in Weird Tales, May 1927.
Mrs. Pennemann comes to de Grandin and Trowbridge because her husband is under another woman’s spell. Trowbridge thinks it is not a medical issue or one for de Grandin but the facts prove otherwise. This other woman appears in their bedroom as a spirit to warn the wife off. She relates that while in New York City they visited a fortuneteller named Madame Naira the Veiled Priestess.
While there Benjamin Pennmann was goofing around and placed his school ring on a statue of Bast. That night his behavior changed. He stopped showing his pregnant wife affection, made excuses that he had to work late, etc. In actual fact he was running around with the prophetess. De Grandin and Trowbridge go to see the fortuneteller themselves, finding her place weirdly decked out in Egyptian artifacts. They are posing under pseudonyms but Nairi knows them and warns them off with a death-threat, then knocks them unconscious with chloroform in the incense. They find themselves on the street blocks away without their winter coats or hats. They have to buy second hand garments then take a cab home. De Grandin is quite upset by her first victory.
For a week he is about some mysterious adventure, but eventually takes Trowbridge to NYC to see the woman is the real Madame Nairi, riding in a car with Mr. Pennemann. A few nights pass until de Grandin finally gets a phone call he has been waiting for. It is Mrs. Pennemann. They go to her house and find the spirit woman has reappeared but is now trapped in a circle of holly. De Grandin has instructed the wfe in drugging her husband then trapping the spirit in the circle. Nairi relinquishes Pennemann’s ring when de Grandin threatens to leave her trapped until sunrise. The husband is released from his spell and the family is reunited. Pennemann will have no memory of his actions while under the spell.
On the way home de Grandin explains that he has been following Mr. Pennemann for a week so that he could identify the real Madame N. He knew she would be revisiting the Pennemann home in spirit form so created the barrier for Mrs. Pennemann to use. Trowbridge wonders why he did not allow the witch to stay in the circle until destroyed. De Grandin explains that her physical body would die without a soul in it but as a spirit she would have continued to torment the family.
I wonder if Quinn had thought to use Madame Nairi again though he never did. He always seemed more interested in occult facts than in characters. Like the previous tale Quinn shows an interest in magical circles. This story may have been inspired by Meade and Eustace’s “Madame Sara” of “The Sorceress in the Strand” (1902-3), which also features mind-control by a fortuneteller. A. Conan Doyle also had a hit with “The Parasite” (1894).
Next time, Quinn keeps writing the hits!
