Today’s post is brought to you by Iron Faerie Publishing up-coming anthology, Hallowed. This new collection has an unpublished Book Collector story in it by yours truly, “Big Man”. Perfect for this anthology because it is set at Halloween. The book goes live on October 31, of course. The Book Collector is my occult detective with a twist. The clock counts down as he races to find a stolen copy of the Mythos tome, The Book of the Black Sun. The book is rented by his boss, Telford, to rich people who want to delve into the arcane lore. But when the books don’t come back, Telford sends a goon. When the goons don’t come back, he sends the Book Collector. If the book can be retrieved in less than 24 hours, the fee is a cool million. But this time, the renter is a very short person disguised as a trick-or-treater!
In honor of this new volume of Halloween fun, we are going to take a look back at our favorite top ten ghostbreakers from the legendary Weird Tales. The Unique Magazine did not invent occult detectives (that was probably Samuel Warren back in 1830) but old WT did have at least ten of them. And at least two of them would be featured in a list of all-time greats. Can you guess who #1 is? Read on and see if you are right…
TEN – Professor Mignon
Professor Mignon was a one-shot character featured in H. Russell Wakefield’s “Ghost Hunt’ (Weird Tales, March 1948). A fraud, perhaps, but he finds the real deal in this haunted house. We get to listen in because the whole thing is part of an on-location radio show. Things don’t end well for the French detective. Wakefield may have been poking a little fun at Weird Tales history of ghostbreaking here. For more, go here.
NINE – Inspector Pierce Campbell
Inspector Pierce Campbell is a spook investigator of another sort, the Sax Rohmer variety. Campbell more than a little resembles Weyland Smith as his sidekick, the American Paul Innis, does Petrie. In “The Door into Infinity” (Weird Tales, August-September 1936) by Edmond Hamilton, these two fall foul of a cult of Mytos worshipers bent on bringing the end of the world. Murder attempts and strange practices ensue. For more, go here.
EIGHT – Dr. Dorp
Dr. Dorp has the distinction of being the first Weird Tales occult detective. His first appearance was in “The Phantom Wolfhound” (Weird Tales, June 1923) by Otis Adelbert Kline. That’s the fourth issue of the magazine. He had three adventures that included phantom hounds, Science Fiction slime monsters and a fake ghost that showed up with a radio. He runs the gamut from supernatural to SF to false monster. For more, go here.
SEVEN – Dr. John Dale
John Dale was one of Weird Tales vampire-hunters, but he did more than just stake vamps. After a four-parter called “The Vampire Master” by Hugh Davidson (Edmond Hamilton’s pseudonym), he appeared in another story about a haunted family called “The House of the Evil Eye”. Once the pseudonym’s owner got out, he dropped the character. For more, go here.
SIX – Etheridge & Peters
These five stories by Thorp McClusky feature the chief of police, Etheridge, and his best detective, Peters. They, too face off with a vamp in a two-parter but the other four stories all concern the same idea, mind-control. Mind-control from vampires, ghosts, hypnotism, weird science and finally, mold. (One of these stories did not appear in Weird Tales but in a Science Fiction magazine.) For more, go here.
FIVE – Pierre D’Artois
Pierre D’Artois was created by veteran Pulpster, E. Hoffman Price. He had seven adventures in Weird Tales and later the sister mag, Oriental Tales, which ultimately folded. While D’Artois was away in the other magazine, a more famous detective became very popular and forced him out. The fans of the other character were so abusive, Price quit the character. For more, go here.
FOUR – Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant
Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant was Manly Wade Wellman’s first occult detective. He would go on to create several others in other magazines. He would produce a more famous one for Weird Tales in the years to come. The Judge is special to me because he is physically the most like the author, stout, dark-haired and older. He appeared in four stories for WT and later in other publications and books. (See below). For more, go here.
THREE – Randolph Carter
H. P. Lovecraft’s Randolph Carter begins his journey as an investigator of the occult when he goes to the graveyard near Big Cypress Swamp. After that he is compelled to search further for lands in his dreams. Eventually, he will go on the ultimate quest for Unknown Kadath, making him both a ghostbreaker and a fantasy explorer. For more on the Dreamlands stories, go here.
TWO John Thunstone
John Thunstone was Manly Wade Wellman’s second detective, and his most famous until he created Silver John for Fantasy & Science Fiction a decade later. Thunstone had fifteen adventures in WT, with three more after. Thunstone’s greatest enemy was the Shonokins, who appeared in three stores (“The Pineys” did not include Thunstone and later in the Silver John novel, After Dark (1980).) If it wasn’t for Number One, Thunstone would have been the most famous WT ghostbreaker. The author was pals with the writer who created the biggest occult detective. They made reference to each other’s characters in their stories, creating a kind of The Ghostbreakers Mythos. For more on John Thunstone and werewolves, go here.
ONE – Jules de Grandin & Dr. Trowbridge
Jules de Grandin was the king of Pulp ghostbreakers, with ninety-three tales from 1925 to 1951. Seabury Quinn’s French detective lives in Harrisonville, NJ, a much haunted place with ghosts, ape monsters, vampires, werewolves and con men to contend with. De Grandin and his Watson, Dr. Trowbridge, were so famous they were parodied in another magazine. By the editor’s nephew! Can there be any doubt why H. Russell Wakefield made Professor Mignon French? For more, go here.
Honorable Mention – Ivan Brodsky
The eleven tales of the Surgeon of the Soul by Victor Rousseau appeared in the magazine in 1926-1927. I haven’t included him because these stories appeared earlier in 1909. They were reprints. As Mike Ashley tells us in the introduction to The Surgeon of Souls (2006) in 1926, these cases appear out-of-date but when you realize they were written fifteen years earlier, they are actually something new and innovative. This was lost on the readers of Weird Tales though since no one knew they were reprints.
Conclusion
Weird Tales went through many transitions over the four decades it ran. In the early years, it tried to find its feet with all kinds of stories. After 1940 and the death of Farnsworth Wright, it hovered between a true Horror and a light Science Fiction magazine under Dorothy McIlwraith. The occult detectives came along for that ride. The last ghostbreaker story to appear may be Jules de Grandin’s final show in “The Ring of Bastet” in September 1951 or August Derleth’s “The Black Island” in January 1952 if you consider this Mythos adventure a ghostbreaker story. Either way, the ghost chasers and spook busters were there to the end. The contents of Weird Tales after 1952 is largely reprints from the good ol’ days. The legacy of the men who keep the creatures of the night at bay went on after the Pulps ended, in comic books, cartoons and on TV and in films. Some writers, like Manly Wade Wellman, were only getting started. The ghostbreaker tradition lives on…
If you haven’t read the Book Collector stories…
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