Occult
Detectives
in the Wold Newton Universe
by Matthew
Baugh
Jules de Grandin Chronology
by Matthew
Baugh and Rick Lai
Few today remember Jules de
Grandin and his creator Seabury Quinn. This seems odd, for during
a twenty-six year period (1925-51), the de Grandin stories were
consistently the most popular feature of the magazine Weird
Tales. This is especially remarkable when you realize that
this was the same period that such great fantasy writers as
Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft were contributing some of
their best stories to the same magazine.
Jules de Grandin was one of the
smallest heroes in the fantasy literature of the time, standing
only about 5'3" with a slender build. His indomitable
spirit, combined with a knowledge of jujitsu, savate, fencing,
firearms, medicine, science and the occult combined to make his a
true nemesis of evil. Though not a sorcerer himself, de Grandin
could be counted on to find a counter to any kind of monster,
spirit or spell imaginable. He was assisted by the kindly Dr.
Samuel Trowbridge, who resembled nothing so much as Nigel Bruce's
version of Dr. Watson.
Nearly all of the stories
transpire in the fictional community of Harrisonville, New
Jersey. Like Sunnydale on the Buffy: the Vampire Slayer TV
series, Harrisonville is always being visited by monsters and
murderous individuals. Assisting De Grandin in his investigations
was Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Jeremiah Costello of the
Harrisonville Police Department. Other cases such as
”Satan’s Palimpsest” feature Captain Chenevert of
the New Jersey State Police.
Many of the de Grandin stories
involve non-supernatural adversaries including evil cultists, mad
scientists and serial killers. Some of De Grandin’s
adventures could easily have happened to Sir Denis Nayland Smith,
Doc Savage, The Shadow or the Spider. One de Grandin adventure,
“The Isle of Missing Ships,” may have heavily
influenced Ian Fleming’s Doctor No.
The major criticism of the de
Grandin stories by today standards is the their heavy reliance on
non-Caucasian villains. Evil people of Asian or African descent
were frequently battled by de Grandin. Perhaps the worse example
of racism in the de Grandin series happens in “Black
Moon” in which de Grandin solicits the help of unnamed
white-sheeted vigilantes (clearly the Ku Klux Klan) to lynch
black voodoo worshippers. Seabury Quinn probably regretted his
reliance on non-white villain villains. Even before World War II,
de Grandin did enlist the help of benevolent Asian and Arab
occultists in “The Devil’s Rosary,” “A Gamble
in Souls,” and “The Living Buddhess.” The creation
or a recurring character, the heroic Ram Chitra Das, in the
mid-forties may have been intended to compensate for the usage of
Indian villains in previous stories. After World War II, Quinn
wrote a de Grandin story that may have been an effort to atone
for the excesses of “Black Moon.” In “Three In
Chains,” de Grandin deals with a trio of benevolent ghosts,
two whites and one black, who had been the victims of a New
Jersey slave-owner. To grant the spirit eternal rest, de Grandin
arranges for their burial in the local Episcopal Church, but must
overcome racial prejudice to have a the remains of a black person
buried there.
Despite his shortcoming in terms
of racial prejudice in the bulk of the de Grandin series, Quinn
was always an advocate of religious tolerance in the 1920’s
and the 1930’s. During a period in which British mystery and
espionage fiction was best by a plethora of Jewish villains,
Quinn condemned anti-Semitism (see “The Dark Angel”)
and presented positive Jewish characters in his fiction.
The following rules were applied
when assigning chronological entries for these stories. A rather
loose rule was applied to the original publication dates of the
stories. Many of the stories are set in months that match the
month of the magazine. A few extend into the early days of the
month that followed the moth associated with the publication
date. By the rules of magazine publication, a magazine dated
October actually came out in September. The real-life rules of
magazine publication are ignored in this article. If a story was
published in the October 1928 issue of Weird Tales (such
as Quinn’s Restless Souls”), and was set in October and
early November of that year, the story was assigned to that time
period. However, there was a different rule for stories
indicating that significant time (e.g. months or a year) had
passed after the story’s main storyline. For example, some
stories had children being born to couple who married in their
respective conclusions. In those cases, the passage of time to
allow a significant event (such as the birth of a child) was
taken into account when chronologically placing the stories.
CHRONOLOGY
1209: Ramon Nazara y de Grandin
of Languedoc, ancestor of Jules de Grandin, witnesses Simon de
Montfort’s brutal conquest of Bezieres (mentioned in
“Fortune’s Fools”)
1213: Fighting alongside Raymond
of Toulouse and King Pedro of Aragon, Ramon fights against de
Montfort’s forces in the battle of Muret. The battle ends in
a total victory for de Montfort (mentioned in
“Fortune’s Fools”).
1214: “Fortune’s
Fools” (Weird Tales, 07/1938). Ramon battles
werewolves in Germany. It is prophesied that Ramon’s
descendents will be champions against supernatural entities.
1572: On the fateful night of
August 24 (the St. Bartholomew’s Massacre), a Huguenot
ancestor of Jules de Grandin successfully fights for his life in
Paris (mentioned in “The Curse of Everard Maundy,” and The
Devil’s Bride (chap. 18))
c. 1638: Swedish settlers arrive
in the area, which will eventually become Harrisonville, New
Jersey.
c. Early 1640’s, in his
late fifties, David Hume, English adventurer and buccaneer
settles in the Harrisonville area. Hume arrives with a satanic
talisman, the girdle of Melek Taos, that he had stolen from the
Yezidee cult in Kurdistan. The girdle becomes known as “the
Luck of the Humes,” and all female members will wear it when
they marry (mentioned in “The Devil’s Bride”). It
may be that the girdle is extremely unlucky for the future
inhabitants of Harrisonville. Although there is no positive
proof, the girdle may possess magical properties that attract
supernatural entities and psychotic killers to Harrisonville.
c. Early 1650’s: The first
known case of vampirism is reported in the Harrisonville
vicinity, A female vampire, Sarah, is imprisoned in a graveyard
by the Swedish settlers. Garlic is placed on her grave to prevent
her from rising (mentioned in “The Man Who Cast No
Shadow”).
1655: Dutch colonists conquer the Swedish
settlers.
1657: At the age of eighty-one,
David Hume dies in Harrisonville (mentioned in “The
Devil’s Bride”).
1660: The Dutch colonists are
conquered by the British. The town in which David Hume had died
becomes known as “Harrisons village” (mentioned in
“The Black Master”). The name later involves into
Harrisonville.
1670 or 1671: A church called
St. David’s is founded in Harrison (mentioned in “The
Black Master”).
1672: Kristina Beacon, a young
girl whose parents were executed for witchcraft in Portugal, is
brought to Harrison.
c. 1670’s: The Black
Master, an evil Turkish pirate, dies in Harrison. He is secretly
buried with a treasure in St David’s. It is feared that he
may somehow return to life, and mandrakes are put on his grave to
prevent his resurrection (mentioned in “The Black
Master”).
1692: At the time of the Salem
witch trials, Kristina Beacon is accused of witchcraft and
drowned by the inhabitants of Harrison (mentioned in
“Witch-House”).
1867: Jules de Grandin’s
grandfather, a lawyer-physician connected with the Prefect of
Police in Paris, notices that an actress, Madelon Larose, has
suddenly grown ten or twenty years older. She then regains her
youth after the death of her secretary (mentioned in “Clair
de Lune”).
c. 1868: Dr. Samuel Trowbridge
is born. There is contradictory information about
Trowbridge’s age. “The Curse of Everard Maundy”
implied that Trowbridge was forty-five in 1927 since some forty
years supposedly passed since an incident that transpired when
the doctor was four or five. “Lotte” suggest that
Trowbridge in his late fifties in 1946. However, references in
“The Bleeding Mummy,” “The Ghost-Helper,”
“The Brain-Thief” and “Hands of the Dead”
show that Trowbridge was active as a doctor during 1894-1900
(these references are noted later in this chronology).
c. 1870: Jules de Grandin is
born. He is the son of a Huguenot father and a Catholic mother
(she is described as “convent-bred”). He is named after
an uncle who was a close colleague of Darwin and Huxley (these
biographical details are mentioned in “The Curse of Everard
Maundy”).
c. 1873: When he is four or five
years old, young Samuel Trowbridge accidentally kills a kitten.
This incident is mentioned in “The Curse of Everard
Maundy” (“The truth is, I was remembering something
which happened when I was a lad four or five years
old…”).
c. 1873: Samuel Trowbridge, five
years old, is given a lamb for a pet by his parents during the
summer. Unlike the kitten, the lamb is well taken care of by
Trowbridge. Unfortunately, the lamb is killed for dinner in the
autumn (mentioned in The Devil’s Bride).
1879: Ferdinand de Lesseps
embarks on a unsuccessful attempt to build a Panama Canal.
c. 1886: Samuel Trowbridge is a
freshman at Amherst (based on remarks in “The
Devil-People”). A fellow freshman is Walker Swearingen
(mentioned in “The Silver Countess”). When Trowbridge
enters college, Richard Starkweather’s father is a junior
(mentioned in “The Devil-People”), and James Balderson
is a senior (mentioned in “Incense of Abomination”)
c. 1887: Now approximately
seventeen, Jules de Grandin takes at trip to Panama (probably
with his father) to visits the French engineers who are working
on the Panama Canal. In “Creeping Shadows,” de Grandin
claimed that he “was with de Lesseps when he strove to
consummate the wedding of the Atlantic with the Pacific.”
c. 1888: De Grandin tries to
become an artist by studying at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts
in the University of Paris (mentioned in “Creeping
Shadows”).
1889: The French Panama Canal
project ends in bankruptcy.
c. Abandoning his art studies,
1889 Jules de Grandin transfers to the Sorbonne in the University
of Paris. He falls in love with a young Catholic woman named
Heloise. Jules’ mother forbids any possibility of marriage.
This decision is somewhat ironic when we consider the Jules’
“convent-bred” mother could only be a Catholic. Jules
refuses to convert to Catholicism in order to marry his beloved.
Heloise becomes a Carmelite nun (mentioned in The Devils’
Bride).
1894: Samuel Trowbridge becomes
a doctor (Trowbridge claims to have been a doctor for almost
forty years in “The Bleeding Mummy” and “Hands of
the Dead”) Dr. Trowbridge is the doctor who presides at the
birth of Idris Breakstone (mentioned in “The
Ghost-Helper”).
1897: De Grandin receives a
medical degree from the University of Paris.
1898: While studying medical
techniques at the Imperial Hospital in St. Petersburg in Russia,
de Grandin hears rumors of a visitation of the Angel of Death to
a young duchess (mentioned in “Trespassing Souls).”
1899: Birth of Ram Chitra Das
(mentioned in “Kurban”).
1899-1903: After the
Spanish-American War (1898) does not result in independence for
the Philippines, a guerilla insurrection but the indigenous
inhabitants is combated by the American soldiers. Jeremiah
Costello, later of the Harrisonville police department, is
probably one of these soldiers. Costello’s service in the
Philippines is mentioned in “Stealthy Death” and
“Children of the Bat.”
1900. American soldiers are
dispatched to help put down the Boxer Rebellion in China.
Costello may have been one of these soldiers. His service in
China is cited in “Children of Ubasti.”
1900: Trowbridge is the doctor
who delivers Christopher Norton (mentioned in “The
Brain-Thief”).
c. 1902: Trowbridge becomes a
vestryman in St. Chrystosom’s Episcopal Church (mentioned in
“The Dark Angel”).
C. 1904: De Grandin receives a
degree from the University of Vienna. This is probably not a
medical degree since de Grandin utilizes the title of Professor
in “Terror on the Links.”
1905: De Grandin sees a
performance by youthful actress Madelon Larue in Paris. His
grandfather informs him that Madelon Larue looks exactly like
Madelon Larose of 1867 (mentioned in “Clair de Lune”).
De Grandin becomes a doctor in the French army and is posted to
the French Congo (this assertion based on the reference in The
Devil’s Bride (chap.2) that he was a military doctor
there over twenty years ago (“twenty years and more”)).
In the French Congo, de Grandin learns of the strange poison
called Bulala-Gwai (mentioned in The Devil’s Bride).
Although not confirmed by Seabury Quinn, it is possible that de
Grandin was connected with Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza’s 1905
mission to investigate charges of cruelty to natives brought
against French officials in the Congo.
1905-1906: During his service
with the French Army, de Grandin visits other area of Africa such
as the Belgian Congo (mentioned in “The Curse of Everard
Maundy,” and his knowledge of the Belgian Congo is
demonstrated in “Terror on the Links” and “Suicide
Chapel”). In Madagascar, de Grandin hers stories of a
bizarre vampire plant (mentioned in “The Black
Orchid”). In Senegal, de Grandin picks up a knife as a
souvenir (mentioned in “The Brain-Thief”).
1907: De Grandin is transferred
to the Caribbean by the French Army. He is “with the French
engineers when Diaz drove the railway across the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec.” Diaz was President Porfiro Diaz of Mexico.
Although work on this railway had been started in the late
1870’s, it finally opened in 1907. During his time in
Mexico, de Grandin learns of a Mayan cults that possesses a
strange poison (mentioned in “Creeping Shadows”). De
Grandin’s presence in Mexico was probably part of a
diplomatic mission.
1907-10: During his remaining
military service, de Grandin visits many places in the Caribbean.
He becomes familiar with Martinique and Haiti (mentioned in
“The Curse of Everard Maundy”). In Haiti, he learns the
secrets of many Voodoo practices (mentioned in “The
Devil-People,” and this knowledge would later be utilized in
“The Drums of Damballah,” “The
Corpse-Master,” “Black Moon” and
“Death’s Bookkeeper”). In French Guiana, de
Grandin investigates robberies where perpetrators use the drug datura
stratmonium (mentioned in “The Drums of
Damballah”). De Grandin even travels beyond the Caribbean to
Argentina. He witnesses a lurid “whipping dance” in a
Buenos Aires (mentioned in “The House of Golden
Masks”).
1910: Leaving the French Army,
Jules de Grandin becomes a member of “la faculte de
medicine legale” which assists in French police
investigations and leads to his association with the Surete. When
Madelon Larue’s masseuse dies, de Grandin assists the “judge
d’instruction” investigating the death. De Grandin
is unable to prove anything, but Larue flees to Buenos Aires
(mentioned in Clair de Lune”).
1910-1914: In Paris, de Grandin
assists in the arrest of Dr. Beneckendorff (mentioned in
“The Terror on the Links”). In Marseilles, de Grandin
participates in the case of a draper, formerly a resident of
Lyons, whose memories and behavior were altered as the result of
Asian mesmerism (mentioned in “The Brain Thief”). A
murder done by a Hindu with a needle is investigated by de
Grandin (mentioned in “The Heart of Siva”). He also
chases after a Hindu gang that uses a poison called chocta maut
(“little death”) (mentioned in “Incense of
Abomination”). De Grandin investigates a case where a chip
of a rafter from a house of great wickedness causes psychic
visions, and a similar case in which the visions are caused by
torture paraphernalia that once belonged to the Spanish
Inquisition of Toledo (both mentioned in “The Door to
Yesterday,” and the chip of a rafter story is repeated in
“Three in Chains”). He wears a shirt of chain mail when
battling the apaches (slang for French criminals) of his native
country (mentioned in “The Chosen of Vishnu”). During
these years, de Grandin becomes friendly with Inspector Georges
Jean Joseph-Marie Renouard of the Surete.
c. 1911: Jeremiah Costello and
Timothy O’Toole are policemen together in Harrisonville
(mentioned in “The Dark Angel”).
1914: Although he is only
fifteen years old, Ram Chitra Das joins an Indian regiment in
order to fight for the British in World War I (mentioned in
“Kurban”).
c. 1914-15: With the outbreak of
war, Jules de Grandin rejoins the French Army and is utilized as
an espionage operative. De Grandin is the leader of a firing
squad that executes a traitor (mentioned in “The Mansion of
Unholy Magic”). De Grandin helps catch the French traitor,
Dr. Pierre Sessiles. The traitor is sentenced to Devil’s
Island (he would eventually return to battle de Grandin in
“Death’s Bookkeeper.”
1915: Dr. Trowbridge takes a
vacation (mentioned in “The Tenants of Broussac”). He
won’t take another vacation for ten years. This trip may be
the Egyptian vacation mentioned in “Satan’s
Stepson.”
c. 1915-1916. On the orders of
his Allied Intelligence superiors, de Grandin poses as a French
renegade to seek service with the Maharajah of Dhittapur, who is
plotting in India against the British authorities. During this
time, he observes the sadistic behavior of the Maharajah’s
young son, Karowli Singh (mentioned in “The Chosen of
Vishnu”). During his stay in India, de Grandin follows the
trails of robbers (mentioned in “The House of Golden
Masks”). He also learns of the strangulation methods of the
Thags (or Thugs) and the practice of formally marrying young
girls to the idols of Indian gods (mentioned in The
Devil’s Bride). He learns how to handle a Gurkha
knife (seen in The Devil’s Bride) as well as a Pathan
throwing-knife (seen in “The Chosen of Vishnu”). He
also learns of the Indian demons called bhuts (mentioned in
“The Devil-People”). De Grandin also travels to
neighboring Burma where he not only tangles with Thags based
there (mentioned in “Flames of Vengeance”), but also
dodges the knives of Dakaits (“dacoits”) (mentioned in
“Stealthy Death”). De Grandin also visits the Malay
Peninsula and the Malay Archipelago (mentioned in “Malay
Horror”). There he comes into contact with rakhasas
(mentioned in “The Devil-People”). In “a stinking
trading town of Java,” de Grandin treats a “human
wreck” whose lips had been bitten off by a sadistic woman
(mentioned in “Daughter of the Moonlight”).
C. 1917-18: During missions to
Hungary, Rumania and Russia, de Grandin comes into contact with
“dracus” (Rumanian demons), werewolves and vampires
(mentioned in “The Devil-People). Near the Transylvanian
Alps, de Grandin visits the town of Kerovitch. There he discovers
blood-flowers, which can be used to transform human into
werewolves (mentioned in “The Blood Flower”). Years
later in “The Poltergeist,” de Grandin would be
informed that the word “Dracu” was written by an evil
spirit. He would then pointedly asked if there was any extra
letters. It is possible that de Grandin’s may have
encountered not only “dracus,” but also a Dracula
during his wartime missions to Eastern Europe.
1918: September-November.
“The Stone Image” (The Thrill Book, 05/01/1919)
The purchase of an apparently cursed Chinese idol by a wealthy
couple causes their cook, Nora MacGinnis, to resign. Although de
Grandin does not appear in this story, it features a doctor
called Dr. Towbridge (no “r” after the “T”)
who may be the same person as Dr. Trowbridge. The strongest
evidence for this identification is that Trowbridge has a
housekeeper/cook named Nora MacGinnis in the de Grandin stories.
We can assume that Nora went to work for Dr. Trowbridge after
terminating her service with the couple. The story takes place in
an unnamed town that could be Harrisonville.
1918: Early November. Shortly
before the signing of the European Armistice (November 11), Dr.
Sun Ah Poy, a pro-French Chinese merchant prince, is injured by a
mad elephant in Indochina. His injuries result in him becoming a
hunchback who insanely commits crimes (mentioned in “The
Lost Lady”). This origin story is very similar to that of
the hunchbacked Hanoi Shan, a supposedly real-life master
criminal whose criminal exploits in Paris during 1906-1908 as
told by H. Ashton Wolfe in Warped in the Making: Crimes of
Love and Hate (1928) and The Thrill of Evil (1930).
It could be speculated that Ashton-Wolfe really didn’t know
the origins of Hanoi Shan, later heard a garbled account of Sun
Ah Poy’s accident, and grafted the origin story on to Hanoi
Shan.
1919: De Grandin performs
plastic surgery on the faces of wounded French soldiers
(mentioned in “A House Without a Mirror”).
1920-21: De Grandin undertakes
various missions for French Intelligence in the Far East. He
infiltrates Tibetan monasteries where he witnesses the magic of
devil lamas (mentioned in “The Devil’s Rosary”).
During this mission, de Grandin was probably assisted by Dr. Feng
Yuin-han, who had known de Grandin at the Sorbonne (mentioned in
“The Devil’s Rosary”), and Dr. Wong Kim Tien (who
appears in “The Living Buddhess”). De Grandin also
visits the coast of Japan where there is thick quicksand
(mentioned in "Mephistopheles and Company, Ltd."). He
also learns a little jiu-jitsu in Japan (“Incense of
Abomination”). In Papua, New Guinea, he encounters
headhunters (mentioned in “The Devil’s Rosary”).
In Annam, Cambodia, de Grandin investigates the activities of
anti-French activists (mentioned in “The Lost Lady”)
1921: During de Grandin’s
mission to Cambodia, Inspector Renouard goes undercover among the
Riff rebels in Morocco (mentioned in “The Lost Lady”).
The Riffs had rebelled against the Spanish portion of Morocco in
1920, and the rebellion would extend to French Morocco in 1925
before ending in 1926.
1922: De Grandin has various
adventures in North Africa and the Middle East. In Tunis
(Tunisia), he disguises himself by shaving off his mustache in
order to investigate a possible uprising against the French. He
learns of the djinns who haunt the ruins of Carthage and the
cat-like ghouls of Ubasti (mentioned in “Children of
Ubasti;” battles with djinns are also cited in “The
Devil-People”). In the Djebel Druse (mountains in Syria), de
Grandin witnesses an incredible miracle involving a prisoner. The
miracle is performed by Dr. Hussein Obeyid, “one of the
world’s ten greatest philosophers” (mentioned in
“A Gamble in Souls”). Traveling across Deir-er-Zor,
Anah, and Baghdad (in Iraq), de Grandin arrives in Kurdistan
where he penetrates Mount Lalesh, the headquarters of the Yezidee
cultists (mentioned in The Devil’s Bride). During his
journeys in the Middle East, de Grandin comes into conflict with
efreets (mentioned in “The Devil-People”).
1923-1924: De Grandin teaches
courses at the Ecole de Medicine at the University of
Paris (mentioned in “Terror at the Links” and “the
Tenants of Broussac”). The Ecol de Medicine is called the Ecole
de Medical de Paris in “The Living Buddhess” He
also works for St. Lazaire Hospital during this period (mentioned
in “Terror on the Links”).
1924: De Grandin’s book, Accelerated
Evolution (mentioned in “Terror on the Links”), is
published in both French and English editions.
Early 1925: At the request of
the Surete, De Grandin travels to the United States to assist the
police of Harrisonville in an investigation. There is a sharp
increase in bizarre activity in Harrisonville in the 1920’s.
It may be due to the Spiritualist craze in the United States
following the end of World War I. De Grandin believes that
elemental and evil spirits can be drawn to séances. Perhaps the
séances enhance the power of the Luck of the Humes” in
Harrisonville to attract evil.
1925: Probably spring.
"Terror on the Links" (also known as “Horror on
the Links,” Weird Tales, 10/1925)
1925: Probably late spring or
early summer, "The Tenants of Broussac" (Weird Tales,
12/1925).
1925: Summer. "Isle of
Missing Ships" (Weird Tales, 02/1926).
1925-26: De Grandin (without
Trowbridge) has unrecorded adventures in Brazil (mentioned in
”The Vengeance of India”). These adventures took de
Grandin to the Amazon River (mentioned in “The Devil’s
Rosary”).
1926: March. "The Vengeance
of India" (Weird Tales, 04/1926).
1926: Probably March (two weeks
have passed since the previous adventure). “The Dead
Hand” (Weird Tales, 05/1926).
1926: Probably early April
(“springtime”). "The House of Horror" (Weird
Tales, 07/1926).
1926: Probably mid-April
(“early spring”). "Ancient Fires" (Weird
Tales, 09/1926).
1926: Probably late April
(“early spring”) "The Man Who Cast No Shadow"
(Weird Tales, 03/1927).
1926: Probably July
(“summer-evening”) "The Great God Pan" (Weird
Tales, 10/1926).
1926: October 18-19. “The
Grinning Mummy” (Weird Tales, 12/1926).
1926: Early December. “The
Doom of the House of Phipps” (originally published as
“The Curse of the House of Phipps,” Weird Tales,
01/1930). At the conclusion of this story, Edwin Phipps marries.
Sometime later, de Grandin and Trowbridge serve as godfathers to
Phipps’ son, then six month old. At least fifteen months
would have passed since Phipps’ marriage and the baptism of
his son. This fact would normally have led to the placement of
this story in December 1927, but de Grandin’s heavy
involvement in “The Jewel of the Seven Stones” in that
month causes the story to be assigned to 1926. In the original
pulp version of this story, Edwin was born in the 1890’s.
The revised version in The Phantom Fighter (Arkham House,
1966) and The Skeleton Closet of Jules de Grandin
(Paperback Library, 1976) moved Edwin’s birth into 1918.
Bootleggers in story were also transformed into counterfeiters in
the revised version.
1926: December 22-23. “The
Lost Lady” (Weird Tales, 01/1931). This story is
moved way out of publication order because The Devil’s
Bride, a novel whose references place it in 1931, indicates
there is a gap of years (chap. 7), between that adventure and
“The Lost Lady.” Inspector Georges Jean Joseph-Marie
Renouard of the Surete comes to live with de Grandin and
Trowbridge in “The Lost Lady” for a brief period. Both
“The Lost Lady” and “Satan’s Stepson”
(see the February entries) feature Inspector Renouard and his
nemesis, Dr. Sun Ah Poy.
1927: Probably January
(references to snow). “The Blood Flower” (Weird
Tales, 03/1927).
1927: Probably February
(“winter evening”). “The Veiled Prophetess” (Weird
Tales, 05/1927). This story may reference to Mrs. Norman from
“The Man Who Cast No Shadow.”
1927: Late February (references
to Washington’s birthday and St. Walburga’s feast
(February 25)). “Satan’s Stepson” (Weird Tales,
09/1931). Inspector Renouard reappears. His absence from the
adventures placed in the gap between “The Lost Lady”
and “Satan’s Stepson” is rationalized by the
theory that he must have gone to Washington D. C. to attempt to
arrange the extradition of Dr. Sun Ah Poy, who had been captured
in Harrisonville at the conclusion of the previous story. Despite
Renouard’s efforts, Dr. Sun had been tried in New Jersey,
judged insane, and confined to an asylum from which he escapes in
“Satan’s Stepson.”
1927: March. "The Curse of
Everard Maundy" (Weird Tales, 07/1927).
1927: May. “Creeping
Shadows” (Weird Tales, 08/1927).
1927: September. “The Jewel
of Seven Stones” (entry #1, chapters 1-3, Weird Tales, 04/1928).
There is a gap of two months in this story. The story resumes in
November.
1927: Probably October
(“early autumn”). “The White Lady of the
Orphanage” (Weird Tales, 09/1927). Willis Richards
from “The Dead Hand” hires de Grandin to investigate
this case.
1927: Probably November or
(references to “this fall,” “sleet” and
“icy old” weather). "The Poltergeist" (Weird
Tales, 10/1927). In the original pulp version, Julia Loudon,
twenty-nine years old, was born shortly before the
Spanish-American war. In the revised version of this story
printed in The Phantom Fighter (Arkham House, 1966) and The
Horror Chambers of Jules de Grandin (Paperback Library,
1977), Julia was born shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution
(1917). This chronological entry is based on the original version
of “The Poltergeist.” It should also be noted that
Seabury Quinn made the sexual themes of the story more explicit
when he revised it. The original Weird Tales version
contains no reference to “the women of ancient Lesbos.”
1927: Apparently Mid-November
(Mrs. Chetwynde has been ill for three months since mid-August).
"The Gods of East and West" (Weird Tales,
01/1928)
1927-1928: November to January.
“The Jewel of Seven Stones” (entry #2, chapters 4-7, Weird
Tales, 04/1928). The length of this story shifts it out of
publication order.
1928: January 17. Dr. Trowbridge
delivers the infant Norman Northrop (mentioned in “The Body
Snatchers”)
1928: Probably January.
"Mephistopheles and Company, Ltd." (Weird Tales,
02/1928).
1928: April. “The
Devil’s Rosary” (Weird Tales, 04/1929). A
reference to 1928 shifts this story out of the publication order.
1928: Probably June (Summer is
mentioned). "The Serpent Woman" (Weird Tales,
06/1928)
1928: September. “Body and
Soul” (Weird Tales, 09/1928).
1928: Early October. The
principal events of “The House Without as Mirror”
(entry #1) Weird Tales, 11/1929). There is a sequel
to these events in January 1929. The length of this story (there
is a gap of three months) shifted the story of publication
order).
1928: October 31-November 2
(story begins on Halloween) "Restless Souls" (Weird
Tales, 10/1928). In the origin al pulp version of the story
and the version reprinted in The Hellfire Files of Jules de
Grandin (Paperback Library, 1976), the tombstone for Alice
Heatherton gives her date of birth as 1906 and her year of death
as 1928, but the version in The Phantom Fighter gives
these dates respectively as 1926 or 1948.
1928: Late November
(Thanksgiving is mentioned) "The Chapel of Mystic
Horror" (Weird Tales, 12/1928).
1928: December 22-24. “The
Black Master” (Weird Tales, 01/1929).
1929: January. The conclusion of
“A House without a Mirror.” Bandages are removed from
the face of a girl on whom de Grandin performed plastic surgery.
The major events of this story happened in October 1928.
1929: February. “The
Devil-People” (Weird Tales, 02/1929).
1929: March. “The House of
Golden Masks” (Weird Tales, 06/1929).
1929: Probably spring. "The
Corpse-Master" (Weird Tales, 07/1929).
1929: Mid-August.
“Trespassing Souls” (Weird Tales, 09/1927).
1929: Probably early September
(Summer is mentioned). "The Silver Countess" (Weird
Tales, 10/1929)
1929 Probably October (the
“first formal affair of the autumn”). "Children of
Ubasti" (Weird Tales, 12/1929).
1929: December 31 to January 2:
1930. "The Drums of Damballah" (Weird Tales,
03/1930). De Grandin mentions “the apes of Tarzan” in
this adventure in a context that suggests that the French
occultist was co-existent with Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle
adventurer. De Grandin probably heard rumors of the mangani, the
apes that raised Tarzan, during his 1905-7 experiences in Africa.
1930: February. "The Dust
of Egypt" (Weird Tales, 04/1930)
1930: March. "The Brain
Thief" (Weird Tales, 05/1930).
1930: Probably March (An
apartment is claimed to be “as cold as ice”). “The
Priestess of the Ivory Feet” (Weird Tales, 06/1930).
1930: June. "The Bride of
Dewer" (Weird Tales, 07/1930). This story features
Dr. Armand Jacoby, who had appeared earlier in “The Silver
Countess.”
1930: July to August 1.
"Daughter of the Moonlight" (Weird Tales,
08/1930).
1930: September. “The
Druid’s Shadow” (Weird Tales, 10/1930).
1930: October. "Stealthy
Death" (Weird Tales, 11/1930).
1930: November 26 to early
December. "The Wolf of St. Bonnet" (Weird Tales,
12/1930). It has been five years since the death of Sarah
Humphreys in “The Terror on the Links.”
1930: December (the story ends
on New Year’s Eve). “The Ghost-Helper” (Weird
Tales, 02-03/1931).
1931: Probably January-March
(It’s snowing). The Devil’s Bride (serialized in
Weird Tales from 02/1931 until 07/1932) De Grandin
mentions that he has been living in the United States “for
upward of five years” (chap. 5). This statement is accurate
in that de Grandin had been residing in America since 1926.
Although he first came to Harrisonville in 1925 (in “Terror
on the Links”), it wasn’t until 1926 (“The
Vengeance of India”) that he settled in with Trowbridge).
Trowbridge later mentioned that he had known de Grandin for five
years (chap. 18), but he has really known the French sleuth for
six years. Since this statement was probably made in January, it
can be argued that Trowbridge hadn’t gotten use to the
transition to a new year. Officer Hornsby, who appeared earlier
in “The Lost Lady,” Satan’s Stepson and “The
Ghost-Helper,” is killed in The Devil’s Bride.
Dr. Donovan from “Children of Ubasti” reappears in The
Devil’s Bride. This novel also is the first
appearance of British agent Haddingway Ingraham Jameson Ingraham,
better known as Hiji.
After rescuing Alice Davisson
from the Satanists, De Grandin throws the “Luck of the
Humes” into the Atlantic Ocean. Despite this action,
Harrisonville continues to be a center of horrible crimes.
Perhaps the long presence of the talisman in Harrisonville has
left a psychic residue.
1931: Probably early September
(“late summer”). The principal events of “A Gamble
in Souls” (Weird Tales, 03/1933). There is a minor
sequel to this case in late September 1932.
1932: Probably February
(“mid-winter”). “The Bleeding Mummy” (Weird
Tales, 11/1932). Trowbridge claims to have been a doctor for
“almost forty years.” Based on this chronological
structure, he would have been a doctor for thirty-eight years.
c. 1932: February. The baptism
of Renouard de Grandin Davisson, and his twin brother Trowbridge
Ingraham Davisson (mentioned in the conclusion of The
Devil’s Bride).
1932: Late March. “The Dark
Angel” (Weird Tales, 08/1932).
1932: “The Heart of
Siva” (Weird Tales, 10/1932)
1932: Probably July
(“mid-summer heat”). “The Door to Yesterday”
(Weird Tales, 10/1932).
1932: Late September. At
“the final hop” at the Sedgemoor Country Club, de
Grandin and Trowbridge see Mr. And Mrs. Cardener (mentioned at
the conclusion of "A Gamble in Souls," see the earlier
entry for September 1931).
1932-33: Probably November to
February (It’s either the end of autumn or the beginning of
winter in the opening scenes. Later, a couple goes on a lengthy
honeymoon, and returns in “midwinter”). “The Thing
in the Fog” (Weird Tales, 03/1933).
1933: Late April (story ends on
April 30). "The Hand of Glory" (Weird Tales,
07/1933). In this story, a meteor known as the Magna Mater was
brought to Harrisonville. This was an incredibly powerful
talisman of black magic. Although de Grandin destroyed the Magna
Mater, it was used in a powerful rite of sorcery that could have
further cursed Harrisonville and left psychic residue that would
take decades to dissipate.
1933: Probably spring or early
summer. The events of “The Jest of Warburg Tantavul” (Weird
Tales, 09/1933) up until the marriage of the Tantavul heirs.
The events of this story continue in May 1934.
1933: “The Chosen of
Vishnu” Weird Tales, 08/1933)
1933: “Malay Horror” (Weird
Tales, 09/1933).
1933: Probably early October
(autumn) “The Mansion of Unholy Magic” (Weird Tales,
10/1933). At the conclusion of this case, de Grandin mentions his
intention to eventually track down a dangerous sorcerer, von
Meyer of Leipzig. If de Grandin even did this, it was an
unrecorded adventure.
1933: Probably October (it was
“intolerably hot” a month ago). “Red Gauntlets of
Czerni” (Weird Tales, 12/1933)
1934: Probably early January
(“early winter”) "The Red Blade of Hassan" (Weird
Tales, 01/1934).
1934: May to August. The events
of “The Jest of Warburg Tantavul” (Weird Tales,
09/1933) following on the birth of the Tantavul child. The
earlier portion of this story happened in the spring or summer of
1933.
1934: September (the story ends
with Trowbridge reading a newspaper dated “September
30”). “Hands of the Dead” (Weird Tales,
01/1935). The plot of this story is similar to “The Dead
Hand,” and both stories feature totally different villainous
hypnotists known as Professor Mysterio. Perhaps the second
Mysterio was a student of the first. Trowbridge mentions that he
has been a doctor for almost forty years. It is actually forty
years because references in “The Ghost-Helper” indicate
that he delivered a baby in 1894.
1935: “The Black
Orchid” (Weird Tales, 08/1935).
1935: April. “The
Dead-Alive Mummy” (Weird Tales, 10/1935). The plot of
this story is similar to the second half of an earlier story,
“The Bleeding Mummy,” and the plot of a later story,
“Lords of the Ghostlands.”
1935: Autumn. “A Rival From
the Grave” (Weird Tales, 01/1936).
1936: Late June (the story ends
on “the twenty-third of June”). “Witch House”
(Weird Tales, 11/1936).
1936: “Children of the
Bat” (Weird Tales, 01/1937).
1937: “Satan’s
Palimpsest” (Weird Tales, 09/1937).
1937: Probably summer
(rhododendrons are in bloom) “Flames of Vengeance” (Weird
Tales 12/1937).
1937: Probably August-September
(the story begins in summer and a month passes). “Frozen
Beauty” (Weird Tales, 12/1937)
1937: Late October to early
November (references to “autumn” and All Saint’s
Day (November 1)). “Pledged to the Dead” (Weird
Tales, 10/1937).
1937: Probably November (based
on the placement of the previous entry). “Living
Buddha” (Weird Tales, 11/1937).
1938: Probably February
(reference to “winter days”). “Incense of
Abomination” (Weird Tales, 03/1938).
1938: Late May. “Suicide
Chapel” (Weird Tales, 06/1938).
1938: August. “The Venomed
Breath of Vengeance (Weird Tales, 08/1938).
1938: August. “Black
Moon” (Weird Tales, 10/1938). Hiji from The
Devil’s Bride returns. He is now married with kids. No
longer associated with the British Frontier Police and British
army Intelligence, but is now working for His Majesty’s
Consular Service.
1939: Probably January (winter).
“The Poltergeist of Swan Upping” (Weird Tales,
02/1939). De Grandin consults Judge Keith Hilary
Puirsuivant’s The Unknown That Terrifies concerning
the use of silver against the supernatural. Puirsuivant
was the creation of fellow Weird Tales writer Manly Wade
Wellman, and the Judge’s book is mentioned in Wellman’s
“The Black Drama.” Wellman had references to de Grandin
and Trowbridge in the Puirsuivant stories as well as the tales
about fellow occult detective John Thunstone. There will be
references to Thunstone in later de Grandin stories. In fact,
Manly Wade Wellman himself would also be treated as a friend of
de Grandin and Trowbridge.
1939: February 11-12. “The
House Where Time Stood Still” (Weird Tales, 03/1939).
Hiji is in the adventure and still a consular official.
c. March. Hiji returns to
British West Central Africa to resume the role of captain of
Houssa policeman (this statement is based on the introduction to
“Stoneman’s Memorial”).
1939: Probably spring.
“Mansions in the Sky” (Weird Tales, 06-07/1939).
When Sergeant Costello arrests the crook at the story’s
conclusion, the policeman mentions that he hopes to see the felon
in the electric chair before the firecrackers pop. The fourth of
July is probably a few months ahead.
1939: Mid-June. “The House
of the Three Corpses” (Weird Tales, 08/1939). Dr.
Donovan from “Children of Ubasti” and The
Devil’s Bride reappears in this story.
1939: September. Hitler causes
World War II by invading Poland. De Grandin immediately travels
to France to become an intelligence officer. Hiji leaves his post
in British Central Africa to become a major in the British
Expeditionary Force in France (based on the introduction to
“Stoneman’s Memorial”).
1940: May. In the Dunkirk
retreat, Hiji’s right femur is shattered. This injury would
cause him to be reassigned to the British Consulate General at
New York. His wife remained in Britain as a member of the
Woman’s Territorial Auxiliary (based on the introduction to
“Stoneman’s Memorial”).
1940: June: Marshal Petain
concludes an armistice with the Nazis. Charles de Gaulle journeys
to London to organize the Free French. Stationed in Syria, De
Grandin denounces Petain’s Vichy regime leaves for Africa in
order to join a Free French garrison (based on the introduction
to “Stoneman’s Memorial”).
1940: September. A combined
invasion force consisting of Free French and British troops
unsuccessfully attacks the Vichy forces controlling Dakar in
French West Africa. Now a captain and military surgeon in the
Free French, de Grandin contracts a sever case of enteritis
(based on the introduction to “Stoneman’s
Memorial”).
1940:
Late September. "Some Day I'll Kill You!" (Strange Stories,
02/1941). In the course of this tale of
supernatural revenge beyond the grave, the ailing Mrs. Marilyn
Jeffers consults a bearded general practitioner with a
fondness for cigars. This man is identified as Dr.
Trowbridge. The evidence indicates that this is indeed
Dr. Samuel Trowbridge of Harrisonville. Although the town and
state in which this story is set are not
specifically identified, a reference to
Watertown implies that the story transpired somewhere in New
Jersey. Trowbridge's role in the story is minor.
Late 1940: Due to his illness as
well as the realization that de Grandin is more valuable as an
intelligence and liaison office, the Free French post de Grandin
to England (based on the introduction to “Stoneman’s
Memorial”).
Early 1942:
“Stoneman’s Memorial” (Weird Tales,
05/1942). The Free French transfer de Grandin back to the United
States. He immediately returns to Harrisonville where he is
reunited with Trowbridge, Hiji and Costello.
1943: De Grandin is promoted to
the rank of major in the Free French.
1944: Probably January or
February (reference to “zero weather”).
“Death’s Bookkeeper.” (Weird Tales,
07/1944). De Grandin reads a book on the power of suggestion by
Manly Wade Wellman in this story.
1944: Summer. “The Green
God’s Ring” (Weird Tales, 01/1945). De Grandin
consults John Thunstone’s The Darkness Out of the East for
information about the Hindu god Siva. None of Manly Wade
Wellman’s Thunstone stories mention this book.
Late 1944 or early 1945:
“Lords of the Ghostlands” (Weird Tales, 03/1945).
De Grandin calls John Thunstone in New York for help, but
discovers that his fellow occult detective has been called away
from New York.
c. 1945: Jeremiah Costello is
promoted from Detective-Sergeant to Detective-Lieutenant.
1945: “Kurban” (Weird
Tales, 01/1946). This the first appearance of Ram Chitra Das,
who reappears in “Catspaws” and “Eyes in the
Dark.”
1945: October. “The Man in
Crescent Terrace” (Weird Tales, 03/1946). De Grandin
mentions that his adversary, Grafton Loftus was once an associate
of Rowley Thorne, the archenemy of John Thunstone. De Grandin
also calls Manly Wade Wellman on the telephone to discuss
Egyptian magic.
1945: “Three in
Chains” (Weird Tales, 05/1946). A poem by Manly Wade
Wellman is mentioned.
Early 1946: Winter (snow is
mentioned). “Catspaws” (Weird Tales, 07/1946).
This story discusses the contacts between the Leopard Men of
Sierra Leone and the Thugs of India, a plot element that also
appears in The Devil’s Bride.
1946: “Lotte” (Weird
Tales, 09/1946).
1946: Mid-September. “Eyes
in the Dark” (Weird Tales, 11/1946).
1947: Probably July (the time is
summer, and August is mentioned as a month in the future).
“Clair de Lune: (Weird Tales, 11/1947).
1949: “Vampire Kith and
Kin” (Weird Tales, 09/1949).
1949: September.
“Conscience Maketh Cowards” (Weird Tales, 11/1949).
1950: “The Body
Snatchers” (Weird Tales, 11/1950).
1951: Probably March (snow
changes to rain). “The Ring of Bastet” (Weird Tales,
09/1951).
top
bottom
The Judge Pursuivant Chronology
by Matthew
Baugh
Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant
was the first of Manly Wade Wellman's occult detectives. After a
brief career in law, and a stint in Military Intelligence in the
Great War, Judge Pursuivant retired to devote himself to the
study of the occult. A massive man with a slow, genial manner,
Pursuivant was deceptively quick of mind and body. His most
potent weapon against the menaces he met was a sword cane with a
keen silver blade. The sword was one of several identical blades
said to have been forged by St. Dunstan (patron of silver-smiths
and noted as an enemy of the Devil. The blade was inscribed with
a Latin prayer taken from the biblical book of Judges: "Sic
pereant omnes inimici tui, Domine" or "Thus perish all
your enemies O Lord."
1891 Keith Hilary Pursuivant
born in Pursuivant Landing, KY.
1908 Bachelor's degree from
Yale.
1911 Law degree from Columbia.
1912 Admitted to the Virginia
bar.
1914 Elected to district court
judgeship.
1917-1919 Serves in the U.S.
Army Intelligence, gaining the rank of major.
1919 Retires from law.
1922 Ph.D. from Oxford
1938 "The Hairy Ones Shall
Dance" (Weird Tales - January, February & March
1938)
1938 "The Black Drama"
(Weird Tales - June, July & August 1938)
1940 "The Dreadful
Rabbits" (Weird Tales - July 1940)
1941 "The
Half-Haunted" (Weird Tales - September 1941)
top
bottom
John Thunstone Chronology
by Matthew
Baugh
John Thunstone was a tall man,
of immense strength and physical ability. He was also a renowned
scholar, especially of the occult, and a good friend of Jules de
Grandin and Judge Pursuivant. Like Pursuivant, he was a creation
of Manly Wade Wellman, and owed several attributes to the Judge,
including the identical silver-bladed sword cane he carried.
Thunstone's greatest enemy was a sorcerer/con man named Rowley
Thorne, who resembles the real diabolist Alistair Crowley more
than a little.
c. 1911 John Thunstone is born.
1943 "The Third Cry of
Legba" (Weird Tales - 11/1943)
1943 "The Golden
Goblins" (Weird Tales - 01/1944)
1943 "Hoofs" (Weird
Tales - 03/1944)
1944 "The Letters of Cold
Fire" (Weird Tales - 05/1944)
1944 "John Thunstone's
Inheritance" (Weird Tales - 07/1944)
1944 "Sorcery From
Thule" (Weird Tales - 09/1944)
1944 "Thorne on the
Threshold" (Weird Tales - 01/1945)
1944 "The Shonokins" (Weird
Tales - 05/1945)
1945 "Blood From a
Stone" (Weird Tales - 05/1945)
1945 "The Dai Sword" (Weird
Tales - 07/1945)
1945 "Twice Cursed" (Weird
Tales - 03/1946)
1946 "Shonokin Town" (Weird
Tales - 07/1946)
1947 "The Leonardo
Rondache" (Weird Tales - 03/1948)
1951 "The Last Grave of
Lill Warren" (Weird Tales - 05/1951)
c. 1962 "Rouse Him
Not" (Kadath#5, 1982)
1963 What Dreams May Come
(Doubleday, 1983) By the time of this story, Thunstone is getting
silver streaks in his hair. This also must occur after After
Dark, because that is the earliest point at which Thunstone
could have met Silver John.
1964 School of Darkness
top
bottom
Silver John Chronology
by Matthew
Baugh
The origins of the man known as
John are somewhat mysterious. Author Manly Wade Wellman tells us
that he was born in Moore County, NC., and raised by an "old
maid" aunt, but we never learn his last name. He is often
referred to as "Silver John" because of the guitar he
carries, strung with silver wires, and sometimes he is called
"John the Balladeer," though he refers to himself
simply as "John." He is about six feet tall, with a
lean build, broad shoulders, dark hair and a passing resemblance
to a young Johnny Cash. He is quiet, honest, sincere, and deeply
devoted to the lovely Evadare, who he marries at the end of the
story "Trill Coster's Burden."
John is also expert at
understanding the magical traditions of the mountain people of
the American South, where his adventures take place. In that
tradition he is called a "witch master," a person who
knows how to counter the malign supernatural forces that threaten
ordinary people. His stories are all chronicled by Manly Wade
Wellman, and appear in the collection John the Balladeer
and in six novels.
C. 1927 John is born in Moore
County, NC. The identity and fate of his parents is unknown but
he is raised by an aunt.
1942 John is fifteen when he is
given as a servant to Ranson Cuff by his aunt in payment of a
debt.
1944 "Frogfather" (Weird
Tales - 11/1946) By the end of the story young John is free
from his servitude to Cuff and has begun his wandering existence.
1945 "Sin's Doorway" (Weird
Tales - 01/1946) In this tale and in "Frogfather"
the character is not explicitly said to be John, but author
Wellman has said that he considered them stories of the young
John before he received his guitar.
c.1945 John learns to play the
guitar and eventually gains one with silver wires for strings.
(Date is conjecture based on the fact that John has the guitar
and is quite proficient with it by the events of "O Ugly
Bird").
c. 1949 "O Ugly Bird"
(Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction - 12/1951) Date
is conjecture based on the fact that John served a tour of duty
in the Korean War, and was probably out of the country in
1950-51.
1950-1951 John serves a tour of
duty in the Korean War. From the vignette "Nary Spell"
we learn that he was the foremost rifle shot in his regiment,
brigade and division.
1952 "The Desrick on
Yandro" (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction -
06/1952)
1953 "Vandy Vandy" (Magazine
of Fantasy and Science Fiction - 03/1953)
1953 "One Other" (Magazine
of Fantasy and Science Fiction - 08/1953)
1954 "Call Me From the
Valley" (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction -
03/1954)
1954 "The Little Black
Train" (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction -
08/1954)
1954 "Shiver in the
Pines" (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction -
02/1955)
1955 "Walk Like A
Mountain" (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction -
12/1951)
1956 "On the Hills and
Everywhere" (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- 01/1956)
1957 "Old Devlins Was
A-Waiting" (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction -
02/1957)
1958 "Nine Yards of Other
Cloth" (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction -
11/1958) In this story John first meets his true love, Evadare.
1958 "Trill Coster's
Burden" (Whispers II - 1979) Though the story was
written twenty one years after "Nine Yards of Other
Cloth" it immediately follows the events of that story. The
rest of the chronology assumes a similar delay between the events
of the stories and their publication dates, and is consistent
with John's apparent age in them. At the end of this story John
weds Evadare.
1958 "The Spring" (Shadows
2 - 1979)
1958 The Old Gods Waken
(Baen, 1979)
1959 "Owls Hoot in
Daytime" (Dark Forces 1980)
1960 After Dark (Baen,
1980) In this novel John is assisted by Jackson Warren,
Thunstone's ally from the story "Twice Cursed." Jackson
is about John's age, and is "...twelve or fifteen
years..." older than young Callie Gray, or about 32-35 years
old.
1961 "Can These Bones
Live?" (Sorcerer's Apprentice - 1981)
1961 "Nobody Ever Goes
There" (Weird Tales 3 - 1981)
1961 The Lost and the Lurking
(Baen, 1981)
1963 The Hanging Stones
(Baen, 1982) Esdras Hogue is in his forties and is older than
John. Judge Pursuivant plays an important part in the story, and
is "past eighty."
1964 The Voice of the
Mountain (Baen, 1984)
1967 "Where Did She
Wander?" (Whispers 4 - 1987)
top
bottom
Anton
Zarnak Chronology
by Matthew
Baugh
Probably the most mysterious
of all the occult detectives, Anton Zarnak was the hero of
Lin Carter's first attempt at a novel, Curse of the Black
Pharaoh. Years later Carter resurrected Zarnak, revising him
considerably for three short stories. Following Carter's
death, Robert Price and other contributors to "Crypt of
Cthulhu" magazine have added to the sorcerous
detective’s adventures. This sporadic publication
history has served to deepen the mystery around this occult
hero, who has been compared to Jules de Grandin, Professor
Van Helsing, and Marvel Comics' Dr. Strange. While it may not
be correct in all details, the following attempt at a
biographical timeline is consistent with the clues provided
by the stories. All of the Zarnak stories to date have
been collected in Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak,
Supernatural Sleuth edited by Robert Price and
printed by Marietta Publishing.
Zarnak is a slender man
whose black hair is adorned with a streak of silver which
runs from his temple to the base of his skull. His age and
origins are unguessable, though his heavy-lidded eyes and
exotic features have been described as Eurasian. By all
accounts, Zarnak is a genius. He has studied extensively at
the Sorbonne, speaks 11 languages fluently, and holds degrees
in medicine from Edinburgh University, in theology from Heidelberg,
in psychology from Vienna, and in metaphysics from Miskatonic
University. His apartment is sumptuously decorated in a
profusion of exotic rugs, and objets d'art from across
the world, and he has what is possibly the finest private
collection of occult tomes in existence.
Years ago, Zarnak was a
practicing physician with a wife and a baby son. Many of his
associates believe that it was the murder of his wife and
child by a werewolf that sparked his obsession with the
occult. Zarnak himself hints at a darker history. He is
intimately familiar with the ways of the dreaded Tcho Tcho
people of Asia, and claims to have been the high priest for
their twin gods, Zhar and Lloigor, at one point in his life.
The very name Zarnak, he says, is derived from the title
'Zhar-nak' or 'mouthpiece of Zhar.'
Despite this sinister
beginning, Zarnak is meant for a high destiny. His
studies in the far places of the world prepare him to become
the guardian of humanity against the occult forces that
threaten it. He becomes the latest in a series of
guardians to live in the strange house at number 13 China
Alley, the setting for most of his adventures. Through
the years we see him age and change. He grows in wisdom
but his struggles against the darkness also take their toll
on him. In the end he leaves the world, not through
death but with the assumption of a new struggle.
Unknown date
The man who will be known as Zarnak
is born, possibly somewhere in Asia.
Unknown date
As an adult the man becomes high
priest of the Tcho Tcho people and is given the title
'Zhar-nak.' (It is hinted that this may have been in the
distant past, before the Tcho Tcho's lapsed into their
current, depraved society.)
Unknown
Zhar-nak leaves the Tcho Tchos and
travels in Europe.
c. 1888-1895
Zhar-nak takes the name Anton Zarnak,
and earns degrees at Europe's finest universities.
c. 1896
Zarnak marries (his wife's name is
never given) and begins a medical practice in a Central
European country, possibly Transylvania. (Mentioned in
“Curse of the Black Pharaoh.”)
c. 1897
A baby boy is born to the Zarnaks.
(Mentioned in “Curse of the Black Pharaoh.”)
c. 1900
Zarnak's wife and young son are slain
by a werewolf. Zarnak finds and destroys the beast in turn,
and dedicates his life to protecting humanity from such
abominations. (Mentioned in “Curse of the Black
Pharaoh.”)
c. 1901-1922
Seeking deeper knowledge into the
occult, and methods to combat it, Zarnak travels to the 'far
and cold East'. (This reference is almost certainly to Tibet.)
There he is instructed by the masters of A'alshirie for
several decades. (Zarnak’s studies are mentioned
in “Curse of the Black Pharaoh.” The
A’alshirie reference comes from the stories of C.J.
Henderson, notably “Admission of Weakness.”)
1922
"Admission of Weakness" by
C.J. Henderson. Zarnak arrives at 13 China Alley to
replace the recently deceased Professor Guicet as a guardian
of the world against dark forces. He meets his servant, Akbar
Singh (also referred to as Akbar Ram Singh) for the first
time, but fails to win the brawny Hindu’s respect.
In this first adventure, Zarnak also foils an attempt to
raise the demon king Yama (or Yamoth.) He will keep the
demon’s wooden mask on his wall for the rest of his
adventures. Number 13 sits between Chinatown and the docks,
in the same locale frequented by Robert E. Howard's detective
Steve Harrison. Accounts vary as to whether this is in New
York City, San Francisco, or both.
(The date is given in the story.
In the Lin Carter stories Zarnak’s servant was a Sikh or
Rajput named Ram Singh. This name is probably
Carter’s tribute to the Spider stories. Richard
Wentworth aka the Spider also had a servant called ‘Ram
Singh.’ When Robert Price wrote “Dope War of
the Black Tong” he changed the name to Akbar Singh as a
tribute to the characters of Robert E. Howard. In
“Admission of Weakness” C.J. Henderson attempted to
resolve this discrepancy by making the name Akbar Ram Singh.
Between the different authors the details about the
character’s appearance (slender or brawny) and his
religion (Sikh of Hindu) became muddled. Henderson’s
story also gives a very different version of the first
meeting between Zarnak and Singh than Lin Carter had
suggested. For the purposes of this timeline we will
assume that Zarnak had two servants over the years. Akbar
Singh was the muscular Hindu who had been Professor
Guicet’s servant before Zarnak came to the house. He
remained in Zarnak’s service until his death. Eventually
a tall, lean Sikh named Ram Singh cane to replace Akbar as
Zarnak’s manservant.)
“To Cast Out Fear” by C. J.
Henderson. Inspector Legrasse of New Orleans seeks
Zarnak’s help in overcoming a supernatural menace.
(The story is set immediately following the events of
“Admission of weakness.” Inspector Legrasse
originally appeared in the story “The Call of
Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft.)
1927
“The Case of the Curiously
Competent Conjurer” by James Ambuehl and Simon
Bucher-Jones. Zarnak consults the spirit of Dr. Anton
Phibes, an old medical school colleague to solve an occult
mystery. (Dr. Phibes was portrayed by Vincent Price in
a series of movies. This adventure must come between
his seeming death in 1925, as seen in “The Abominable
Dr. Phibes” and his return to life in 1928 as seen in
“Dr. Phibes Rises Again.” Dr. Lancelot Spratt
from Richard Gordon’s “Doctor in the House”
series of novels is mentioned as are the events of the novel
(later a movie) The Hands of Orlac by Maurice
Renard.)
c.
1933
“Keeper of Beasts” by James
Chambers. (The date is conjecture based on the
statement that Archer Marlow had lost his fortune in the
stock market crash of 1929, spent several years in reckless
living, and finally committed suicide a year before the
events of the story.)
c. 1936
"The Best Solution" by John
L. French. Zarnak must consult Dr. Seward’s book The
Undead to deal with a vampire. (The date is
approximate. Lieutenant Thorner {Zarnak's ally on the
police force in "Admission of Weakness"} has
retired. Dr. Seward is on of the characters from the
novel Dracula. Zarnak also mentions two
vampires called Tepes and Ruthven. Vlad Tepes is the
historical character who provided the basis for Dracula and
Lord Ruthven is the vampire in john Polidori’s story The
Vampyre.
1937
"Soul of the Devil Bought"
by Robert M. Price. This is a sequel to Lin Carter's
Cthulhu mythos story "The Winfield Inheritance."
(The date is given.)
c.
1937
“In the House of the Never
Slumbering Demons” by Joseph S. Pulver Sr. Zarnak
meets John O’Dare and helps him return to the magical
world of Astdaparl. Unfortunately, Zarnak loses one of
his eyes in combat with other-dimensional demons. (The
date is speculative. John O’Dare is from an
unfinished story by Robert E. Howard. Jules de Grandin
is also mentioned in this story. Mention of O’Dare
and de Grandin suggests a date in the 1930’s. The
only other time Zarnak’s missing eye is mentioned is in
“Zarnak’s Guest” so this story must come
immediately before that one.)
c.
1938
“Zarnak’s Guest”
A young man named Htoo becomes Zarnak’s apprentice.
(The date is speculative, based on the fact that Akbar Singh
is still the Doctor’s servant. There is mention of
the Black Tong, so this story must pre-date “Dope War of
the Black Tong.” Since Htoo is never mentioned
anywhere else, I have placed this immediately before that
story.)
In
an unrecorded adventure Anton Zarnak has his destroyed eye
replaced. We don’t know whether the eye is healed
through magical means, or replaced with a magical artifact,
but in all later adventures the Doctor has two good eyes.
"Dope War of the Black
Tong" (collected in Disciples of Cthulhu, 1997)
(This story must take place in the 1930's for it features
Steve Harrison in his prime. Zarnak is presumed dead at the
end of this story, but eventually reappears.)
c. 1938-1940
This may encompass Zarnak's
activities during the period in which he is presumed dead. It
is interesting to speculate whether he is involved in undoing
some of the occult schemes of the Third Reich. It seems
likely that Zarnak’s apprentice, young Htoo takes over
his duties during his absence.
c. 1941
Around this time Zarnak sets up shop
in London where his landlady is Mrs. Hecht, '. . . perhaps
the greatest unconscious medium in Europe.'
c. 1941-1946
Zarnak consults frequently with
Scotland Yard, and is instrumental in defeating the
"Vampire of London," the "Myrdstone
Witches" and other occult menaces. (Mentioned in
“Curse of the Black Pharaoh.)
c. 1947-1950
This seems to be a period of relative
inactivity for Zarnak. (In "Curse of the Black
Pharaoh," Mrs. Hecht alludes to the fact that it has
been several years since Zarnak has been on a case.)
c. 1950
"Curse of the Black
Pharaoh" by Lin Carter. (This was Zarnak's first
published adventure, and is collected in The Nyarlathotep
Cycle, 1997.)
c. 1960
Under unknown circumstances Zarnak
moves back to Number 13 China Alley. (Presumably Htoo has
been killed or incapacitated since there is no further
mention of him in the series.)
1961
“The Pain We Desire” by
C.J. Henderson. Zarnak faces a street gang called the
Yellow Kings and the dread entity Nyarlathotep. This
story also reveals that the house at number 13 China Alley
shifts in space, sometimes appearing in New York and others
in San Francisco. (The date of “April 12,
1961” is given in the story. The Yellow
Kings are an illusion to the King in yellow, an alias for the
Lovecraftian entity Hastur. Both Hastur and
Nyarlathotep are prominent in the Cthulhu mythos.)
Shortly after this adventure Akbar
Singh dies and Zarnak leaves 13 China Alley. (In
“The Deep Cellars” Zarnak refers to the death of
Akbar “… some years ago.”)
1963
“The Deep Cellars” by
Pierre Comtois. Zarnak is called on to solve another
occult case and consults both Jules de Grandin and a
specialist named Dr. Stephen Strange. Zarnak is now
living in the penthouse suite of “The Towers” an
ill-omened high rise residence building in New York. (References
to Zarnak’s BMW roadster, the computer age, and the
death of Singh “…some years ago.” The
mention of Marvel Comics’ character Stephen Strange also
helps to date the story. Dr. Strange debuted in 1961.)
c. 1964
In an unrecorded adventure Zarnak
travels to northern India, where he saves a man named Ram
Singh from a were-tiger. In gratitude the fierce Rajput
pledges his life in service to him.
c. 1966
"Dead of Night" by Lin
Carter. (This story occurs long after the time of Steve
Harrison. Assuming Harrison retired in the mid-1950's, this
would be one of the earliest possible dates.)
c. 1967
"Perchance to Dream" by Lin
Carter. Zarnak's old friend, Jules de Grandin appears
in this story. (Dr. de Grandin would have been approximately
98 years old in 1967, so it seems unlikely that the story
could have occurred in any later year.)
1997
“A Wandering Blackness” by
James Chambers. (Zarnak is showing his age in this
story. He looks like a man of eighty, though he is
actually far older. References to voice mail and 401K
retirement plans place this story in the modern era. Though
written in 2002 it must come before the events of “The
Door.”
1998
“The Door” by C.J.
Henderson. Zarnak leaves this world to become the
guardian of a magical door to keeps an occult evil from
entering our world. This final adventure of Anton
Zarnak passes the torch of occult guardianship to Henderson’s
own character, Private Investigator Teddy London.
top
bottom
John Kirowan Chronology
by
Matthew Baugh
A biography of
Kirowan is difficult because his biographer, the prolific Robert
E. Howard, apparently liked his name and used it often in his
stories. As a result, it is unclear from one story to the
next whether the Kirowan involved is actually the noted occultist
and adventurer or someone else. This article takes a
somewhat different interpretation of the historical data than the
biographical sketch found in the excellent Encyclopedia
Cthulhiana. With such a mysterious individual such
controversies are inevitable.
John Kirowan
is a tall man, slender yet very strong, with dark eyes and hair
and a pale complexion. He is also a man who carries a grim
aura of sorrow around him. Those who know him best know it
stems from the tragedy that has haunted him for much of his adult
life. Even those who know him best, however, do not know
much about this enigmatic and driven man.
John was born
the younger son of a titled family from Galway Ireland. His
strange passion for dark secrets made him the black sheep of the
family and his only real tie to them seems to have been through
his twin sister Moira. She was a laughing gray-eyed girl
who was Kirowan's other half, bringing light and joy to his
brooding darkness. In "Dermod's Bane" he says she
is the one, "...whom I loved as I had never loved anyone
else..." and in "The Haunter of the Ring" he calls
her "...the only woman I ever loved."
As a young
man, Kirowan's interest in the occult brought him to Hungary
where he met a fellow dabbler named Yosef Vrolok. When
Kirowan refused to follow Vrolok into the darker rituals of
diabolism and the occult he earned the other man's hatred.
Vrolok sought his revenge by using his arts to seduce and debauch
Moira. She had presumably come to Hungary to persuade John
to abandon his occult studies but, under Vrolok's influence, she
turned against her beloved brother.
Kirowan tried
to kill Vrolok then, but was unable to prevail against the dark
powers he commanded. Vrolok then abandoned Moira and she
died shortly thereafter. The cause of her sudden and
unexpected death has not been revealed, but suicide following the
horrible shame of what had happened to her seems likely.
John was
desolated by the loss of his sister. His only consolation
came from his grim old grandmother who bade him go to the
family's ancestral homelands of Galway in Connaught. Her
hope was that the family's strong ties to the land would somehow
heal John's suffering heart.
It worked,
albeit in an unexpected way. John was assaulted and nearly
killed by what he believed to be the ghost of Dermod O'Connor, a
terrible enemy of his ancestors. He was saved by another
spectral presence, one he believed to be the shade of his beloved
Moira, an experience which gave him the will to live again.
Still craving
vengeance on Vrolok, Kirowan wandered the world seeking the
secrets of occult power in such far-flung places as Zimbabwe,
inner Mongolia, and the islands of the South Seas. What he
learned sickened his soul, and he renounced his study of the
occult forever.
Kirowan
returned to America, where he became a member of the Wanderer's
Club, a collection of eccentrics and explorers where he felt he
belonged more than in society at large. It has been largely
through his connections in the club that his recorded adventures
have taken place. Though he has forsaken the occult,
Kirowan has a deeper knowledge of it than most in the world, and
this expertise has helped to save many afflicted by dark forces.
It has even brought him full circle, to a poetic revenge of Yosef
Vrolok who, under the alias of Joseph Roelocke, had been playing
his games of manipulation in America.
1895
John and
Moira Kirowan are born. (Date is conjecture)
1913
John's
adventures in Hungary and his first meeting with Yosef Vrolok
(Date is conjecture, though the outbreak of the Great War
would have made Kirowan's studies in Hungary unlikely at any
time between 1914-1919)
1913
Moira
Kirowan's death and the events of "Dermod's
Bane" (Date is conjecture)
1913-1920
John
travels the world in search of occult secrets. (Date is
conjecture)
1920
Having
renounced the occult, John Kirowan settles in America and
joins the Wanderer's Club (Date is conjecture.
Kirowan's residence is also subject to some
uncertainty. The story "Dig Me No Grave" puts
him in the same city as occultist John Grimlan, and
"Dope War of the Black Tong" states that Grimlan
lived in the same city as Anton Zarnak. This would put
Kirowan in the same city as Zarnak, which is either San
Francisco or New York.)
1929
The events
of "The Children of the Night" Kirowan is
present at a gathering in Conrad's home when his friend
O'Donnell reverts to the barbaric personality of an earlier
incarnation named ‘Aryara, the Aryan' and attempts to
kill a fellow guest named Ketrick. (This comes some
time after the 1928 publication of H.P. Lovecraft's "The
Call of Cthulhu" as Conrad has a copy in his
collection. The inclusion of the character Taverel also
seems to place it sometime before Howard's story
"Taverel Manor" which is set in 1930. It is
interesting to note that, at this early point in his career
Kirowan scoffs at the existence of ancient cults still
existing. Perhaps he is faking his disbelief to try to
protect his friends from dangerous knowledge.)
1930
March 10 -
Kirowan is present with his friend Conrad at the strange and
horrible death of John Grimlan. "Dig Me No
Grave" (This date can be fixed with certainty, for
the dates of Grimlan's unnatural life were
3/10/1630-3/10/1930)
1934
The events of "The
Haunter of the Ring" and Kirowan's final meeting with
Vrolok. (This story features Kirowan's friend O'Donnel,
and I had originally thought that it must take place before
O'Donnel's tragic insanity in "The Children of the
Night". On closer reading though it seems that the
O'Donnel in "Children" is John O'Donnel while the
character in this story is Michael O'Donnel. Possibly
the men are brothers.)
top
bottom
Occult
Detectives was created for the sole purposes
of entertainment and information.
All rights
reserved. The text of this page is © 1999-2005 by the respective
authors, Matthew Baugh and Rick Lai. The design of this page is © 1999-2005 by Win
Eckert. No copying or reproduction of this article or any
portions thereof in any form whatsoever is permitted without
prior written permission and consent of the author.