Thorp McClusky (1906-1975) was of that breed of Weird Tales writer who gained a small audience during the time of the magazine’s publication, but fell into obscurity after 1954. Like Carl Jacobi, Grey La Spina and Dorothy Quick, McClusky was anthologized after the Pulps were gone but remains little known except by a cult following. This is probably largely due to McClusky not writing novels that could cement his works in the age of the paperback.
Thorp McClusky was a Pulpster who wrote for the Westerns, Mystery and primarily is remembered as a Horror writer. He worked as the editor of Motor, as well as writing books for children and about chiropractics. He studied music at Syracuse University. After his Pulp career, he lived and died in New Jersey. That he is remembered at all today is partly due to his straight forward storytelling. Though he never created a memorable horror icon, he told his stories economically and in a way horror fans enjoy.
Of McClusky’s two dozen fantastic stories, all but seven appearing in “The Unique Magazine”. Amongst the weird appearances there is one series, five stories revolving around two investigators, Commissioner Etheridge and Police Detective Peters, two city crime fighters who have no reason to come face-to-face with terror. They do so, and with pluck and the occasional drink of whiskey to calm their nerves, they meet it head-on.
“The Loot of the Vampire” was a two-parter (June and July 1936) in Weird Tales and perhaps is McClusky’s closest attempt at a novel. A jeweller named Eichelmann is murdered and a precious pearl necklace is stolen. At first the cops think it was Eichelmann’s assistant, Segel, but when the dead man’s body disappears from the morgue then turns up quite alive, Eichelmann kicks the police out of his shop. Later the dead-alive man is found again, quite dead with a silver knife in his heart. The coroner is stumped because the body clearly shows that the man had been dead for thirty-six hours.