Subterranean Press just published this third volume of Seabury Quinn’s COMPLETE TALES OF JULES DE GRANDIN. This 500-page volume includes the only novel in the series, The Devil’s Bride. Seabury Quinn’s stories were a staple of Weird Tales during the 1920s and 1930s. These tales with supernatural elements were very popular with the Weird Tales readership. If you’re in the mood for classic detective fiction with a ghost or ghoul or mummy, Seabury Quinn’s entertaining stories will fit the bill. My review of Horror on the Links (Volume One) can be found here. My review of The Devil’s Rosary (Volume Two) can be found here. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction – George A. Vanderburgh and Robert E. Weinberg vii
Jules de Grandin: “The Pillar of Weird Tales – Darrell Schweitzer xiii
1931
The Lost Lady (Weird Tales, January 1931) 1
The Ghost Helper (Weird Tales, February-March 1931) 34
Satan’s Stepson (Weird Tales, September 1931) 53
1932
The Devil’s Bride (Weird Tales, February-July 1932) 103
The Dark Angel (Weird Tales, August 1932) 253
The Heart of Siva (Weird Tales, October 1932) 284
The Bleeding Mummy (Weird Tales, November 1932) 316
The Door to Yesterday (Weird Tales, December 1932) 340
1933
A Gamble in Souls (Weird Tales, January 1933) 373
The Thing in the Fog (Weird Tales, March 1933) 404
The Hand of Glory (Weird Tales, July 1933) 441
After reading Lovecraft in the ’70s, I picked up some of Quinn’s books in paperback and read one that I recall. I don’t have the books anymore, but after your previous reviews I did buy THE DEVIL’S ROSARY. Of course, I haven’t started them yet, but they are on the Kindle for whenever the urge strikes me.
Jeff, I read Seabury Quinn back in the 1970s, too. Yes, some of these stories from the 1920s and 1930s are dated, but they are great fun if taken in moderation!
I’ve read about seventy of the de Grandin stories and have enjoyed them all. Quinn had a talent of incorporating the most outre (and often controversial; i.e., incest and cannibalism) plot points in his tales. It is no wonder that he was the popular author in the weird tales stable — more so than Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, or Robert E. Howard — and his name on the cover or a cover illustration from one of his stories would guarantee increased sales.
Jerry, you’re right about Seabury Quinn being WEIRD TALES most popular writer. A Seabury Quinn story in an issue generated more sales.
most popular
(I hate it when I press “post” before proofing my comments.)
More dark kinda-like-Lovecraft stuff. You sure do love it. Not for me. The world is dark enough without adding this stuff to my consciousness.
Rick, Seabury Quinn isn’t as dark as Lovecraft, but the occasional zombie will pop up.
Never read any of these that I recall. I did read a story of his called Roads years ago but can’t remember anything about it. I tend to have a problem with some of these old pulp writers. I have never been able to get thru Clark Ashton Smith for one.
Steve, Clark Ashton Smith wrote in a very baroque style that turns some readers off.
Again, same with me – as soon as I found something “supernatural” and obviously impossible my mathematical and physics instincts made me shy away.
So I concentrated on SF – even if that was also quite illogical often in the early years.
Remember we had discussions on what was possible at all and not against basic laws of physics in our fan group (early 1960s) – one of the guys later went as an “engineer” to NASA!