I want to look at two stories that could argue either side of this debate: can occult detective stories actually be frightening? Ultimately, each reader must decide for themselves. Do you feel cheated when the culprit turns out to be Principal Dingwall in a rubber mask? Here’s a couple of examples that may change your mind.The first story is H. Russell Wakefield’s “Ghost Hunt” (Weird Tales, March 1948). August Derleth called Wakefield “the last major representative of a ghost story tradition that began with Sheridan Le Fanu and reached its peak with Montague Rhodes James”. Where else but Weird Tales should “Ghost Hunt” appear? Ironically, WT published several famous ghostbreakers including Seabury Quinn’s Jules de Grandin, Manly Wade Wellman’s John Thunstone and E. Hoffmann Price’s Peter D’Artois. The ghost chaser in Wakefield’s tale is Professor Mignon, a French psychic who comes off pompous and phony. (I don’t know if Wakefield meant to poke fun at Weird Tales‘ biggest draw, Jules de Grandin, by making his occult detective French.
If you’d like to read the rest, please check out Monster 2: From the Pages of Dark Worlds Quarterly.