J. Sheridan Le Fanu & the Critics: Seen Through Other Eyes
If you read anything by Jack Sullivan or Mike Ashley you will see that today J. Sheridan Le Fanu has fans. Horror fans. He has Read More
Category: Occult Detectives
The Children of Dracula – Part Two: The Door of the Unreal
Hollywood changes everything. A series of successful films and the commonly-held view of things changes. ‘Vampires turning to ash in sunlight’ is a good example. Read More
The Children of Dracula – Part One: Brood of the Witch-Queen
In “The Supernatural Horror in Literature” H. P. Lovecraft selects three novels as the offspring of Bram Stoker’s Dracula: “…Dracula evoked many similar novels of Read More
The Vampire As Lothario
This post begins: I love vampires. I hate Anne Rice. Not the person Anne Rice. I don’t know her. But the institution of Anne Rice. Read More
“The Tomb of Sarah” and Seabury Quinn
This post begins: The Jules De Grandin stories by Seabury Quinn were not innovative so much as reactionary. Anyone familiar with the Horror and Mystery Read More
The Flaxman Low Twelve-Step Plot
Flaxman Low was one of the first “periodical” occult detectives. By that, I mean, a psychic investigator who was featured in a magazine as a Read More
Why Ghosts Must be Scary
Ghosts, as a monster of interest to horror fans, have fallen on hard times. Films, cartoons and comic books like Casper the Friendly Ghost and Read More
Can Occult Detectives Actually Be Scary 2?
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 Read More
Can Occult Detectives Actually Be Scary 1?
M. R. James, undoubtedly the finest ghost story writer in the English language, disparaged the occult detective story. This is very odd for James was Read More
Captain Meek & Doctor Bird
Part Sherlock Holmes, part Professor Challenger, Doctor Bird faced sixteen encounters with the strange and fantastic and inspired such characters as Doc Savage. Captain Sterner Read More