The Horror on the Links

The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin #1

by Seabury Quinn, George A. Vanderburgh (Introduction), Robert Weinberg (Introduction)

Seabury Quinn's short stories were featured in well more than half of the pulp magazine Weird Tales's original publication run. His most famous character, the supernatural French detective Dr. Jules de Grandin, investigated cases involving monsters, devil worshippers, serial killers, and spirits from beyond the grave, often set in the small town of Harrisonville, New Jersey. In de Grandin there are familiar shades of both Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, and alongside his assistant, Dr. Samuel Trowbridge, de Grandin's knack for solving mysteries--and his outbursts of peculiar French-isms (grand Dieu!)--captivated readers for nearly three decades. Collected for the first time in trade editions, The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, presents all ninety-three published works featuring the supernatural detective. Presented in chronological order over five volumes, this is the definitive collection of an iconic pulp hero.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Pulp, Classics

512 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2017

About the author

Best know as an American pulp author for Weird Tales, for which he wrote a series of stories about occult detective Jules de Grandin. He was the author of non-fiction legal and medical texts and editor of Casket & Sunnyside, a trade journal for mortuary jurisprudence. He also published fiction for Embalming Magazine, another mortuary periodical.

Reviews

[Karl]

Contents:
vii -A. Vanderburgh and Robert E. Weinberg

1925

001 - "The Horror on the Links" (Weird Tales, October 1925)
019 - "The Tenants of Broussac" (Weird Tales, December 1925)

1926

045 - "The Isle of Missing Ships" (Weird Tales, February 1926)
078 - "The Vengeance of India" (Weird Tales, April 1926)
092 - "The Dead Hand" (Weird Tales, May 1926)
103 - "The House of Horror" (Weird Tales, July 1926)
121 - "Ancient Fires" (Weird Tales, September 1926)
142 - "The Great God Pan" (Weird Tales, October 1926)
154 - "The Grinning Mummy" (Weird Tales, December 1926)

1927

174 - "The Man Who Cast No Shadow" (Weird Tales, February 1927)
195 - "The Blood-Flower" (Weird Tales, March 1927)
215 - "The Veiled Prophetess" (Weird Tales, May 1927)
233 - "The Curse of Everard Maundy" (Weird Tales, July 1927)
258 - "Creeping Shadows" (Weird Tales, August 1927)
275 - "The White Lady of the Orphanage" (Weird Tales, September 1927)
294 - "The Poltergeist" (Weird Tales, October 1927)

1928

314 - "The Gods of East and West" (Weird Tales, January 1928)
339 - "Mephistopheles and Company, Ltd." (Weird Tales, February 1928)
364 - "The Jewel of Seven Stones" (Weird Tales, April 1928)
393 - "The Serpent Woman" (Weird Tales, June 1928)
414 - "Body and Soul" (Weird Tales, September 1928)
437 - "Restless Souls" (Weird Tales, October 1928)
463 - "The Chapel of Mystic Horror" (Weird Tales, December 1928)

[Nancy Oakes]

On the less-serious reading side, I find myself in complete agreement with George A. Vanderburgh and Robert Weinberg who say in their introduction to this book that the tales in this book "might not be great literature, but they don't pretend to be." They also remark that the stories found here are "good fun" which is absolutely the case. The Horror on the Links is the first book in a proposed five-volume set, and if the remaining four installments are even half as much fun as this one, then I'm in for a seriously good time. Let's just say that I enjoyed this series opener so much that I already have volume two, and I've pre-ordered volume three which is supposed to be out in March. I love good old pulp fiction, I love occult-detective stories, and I love weird tales, so I'm absolutely in my element here. Ahhhhhhh.

Vanderburgh and Weinberg refer to Jules de Grandin as "the occult Hercule Poirot," and it's really difficult not to make the comparison while reading, waxed moustaches and all. They also say that he shares "more than a passing resemblance" to Sherlock Holmes, with a "Dr. Watson-like sidekick, Dr. Trowbridge. As a detective who sees himself as "a scientist; no more", Grandin is not at all quick to dismiss the possibility that there may be more going on than science alone can explain.

And indeed, in the scope of the twenty-three stories included here ranging (in order of publication in Weird Tales) from 1925 to 1928, some of the answers to these puzzling tales are definitely of this world while some are to be found in the darker realm of the occult. The real-world solutions are actually far more frightening than the supernatural ones, for example, after "The White Lady of the Orphanage" (September 1927), I had to put the book down for a while, and I posted somewhere that this was one of the most gruesome stories I'd ever encountered. Eek and Ick.

My personal favorite is "The Isle of Missing Ships," which is a straight-up pulp fiction story with no foot in the occult world; it is also the only one that does not follow the formula/pattern by which a solution is discovered which is found in all of the other entries in this volume; and then there's "The Chapel of Mystic Horror," because who in their right mind can pass up a story about an old abbey transported from Europe to America, former home of the Knights Templar?

No story synopses here -- to tell is to spoil and I don't want to do that. My advice: sit back, relax, and enjoy these wonderful weird tales of yesteryear and appreciate them for what they are -- delicious pulpy goodness. My hat is off to the team of Vanderburgh and Weinberg for making these old stories available once again -- I had the time of my life reading this book.

http://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2017...

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jules de Grandin was a pulp occult detective, similar to a Hammer Films version of Sherlock Holmes. Serving as his Watson (and the person that de Grandin can explain things to the audience through) is Dr. Trowbridge. Every adventure that de Grandin and Trowbridge get themselves into has a 50/50 chance of either being a real occult happening or just a hypnotist/mad scientist/criminal taking advantage of vulnerable and/or gullible people by faking or reproducing strange phenomena.

I think these adventures are a lot of fun, but there is something for a potential reader to keep in mind. The stories in this volume were written in the 1920s, and are quite sexist and unbelievably racist (and, as a big fan of Howard and Lovecraft, that's really saying something!). If you are already into old pulps, then you are probably used to tales like these and can enjoy them for what they are and for when they were written. If you are just getting into classic pulp tales and/or are sensitive to issues like these, then you might want to move on to something else.

[Squire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seabury Quinn is a pulp fiction horror writer whose contemporaries (Lovecfaft, Howard, Smith, Bloch, Derelith and Wellman) are more well-known. But Quinn's occult detective Jules de Grandin and his comrade, Dr. Samuel Trowbridge, made an appearance in 62 of the 96 issues of Weird Tales (1925-1951) and was quite a popular draw for it's readers.

But there's a reason Quinn has fallen into near obscurity. His tales of the French physician, soldier, and intelligence officer are of pure pulp formula: narrated by Dr. Trowbridge, a strange situation is presented, de Gardin investigates, makes deductions that he keeps to himself, runs off to New York (or elsewhere) for consultations, returns to wage a final apocalyptic battle and spends the last 3-5 pages of each story explaining to his bewildered companion what just happened (though the modern reader won't need such a post mortem in most cases). It's the same for every story--the best of which have de Grandin and Trowbridge together for almost all the story and not much needs to be explained at the end.

There's also the dated language which today would be considered racist and bigoted; but, taking into account the time period, it came off as simply elitist to me. Quinn was a lawyer who quit his job to become a full-time writer and he certainly was successful--he published over 500 stories in his lifetime. His writing, while quite good at times, screamed "look how smart I am you little people. Aren't I clever?" at me.

Then there's De Grandin himself. He's pompous, self-righteous, conceited, and unable to let anyone help him with his ideas until he is ready to implement them--and that's to his friends. He is insulting to Trowbridge, telling him several times he doesn't know if he is foolish or just stupid. But to the rest of the world he is exotic, charming, effeminate and debonair. Not an easy character to cozy to.

But if you strip all this aside, what you find is a remarkable imagination at work and some truly striking stories (which probably could have been better told with a POV change). The House of Horror, The Jewel of Seven Stones and Restless Souls were my favorites of this anthology.

The editor admits that these stories are not easy to take one right after the other, and he's right. The formulaic nature of the stories works against them and makes the whole experience repetitive. But I'll take a few months off before tackling the second volume which is due out in September.

Recommended for complete-ist fans of pulp fiction horror tales.

[Michelle B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I give it 3.5 stars. I found the lead character Jules de Grandin totally insufferable. But then I have the same opinion of Sherlock Holmes. Both are a couple of freeloaders who accidentally solve a case now and then. Dr Towbridge is much denser than Dr Watson (in the books anyway). This is essentially "men's literature." You get lots of damsels in distress, many naked or as near-naked as Quinn could manage. It goes with the territory. Quinn is a good writer though, not great, but good enough for what he's turning out. He's never boring and he never reaches beyond what he's capable of.

[Doug Bolden · Rating 3 out of 5]

One should take it as a warning when the introductory essay, written by literally one of Quinn/de Grandin's biggest fans and editorial contributors, instructs you to not read them back to back [not more than one a week is the instruction given] and then spends the remaining wordcount explaining why Quinn is forgotten in this era of the Lovecraft/Weird-ascendancy with the fervor of a medieval apologist: Quinn wrote pulp (but at least he knew it), Quinn slammed out too huge a body of fiction to actually vary his plots much (but at least he made it exciting and, hey, it paid the bills), Quinn had no sense of character development or even a good grasp of time passing in his stories (but at least...ok, he has no good explanation for this one, just admits it), and Quinn had no real qualms with working in naked (white) women into every damned story (but hey, topless women on the cover sold issues of Weird Tales). It is a look into a time period now largely remembered for the aforementioned Lovecraft* but which was driven by the pragmatic side of writing in a way nearly forgotten by the end of the 20th century and since.**

I initially ignored the warnings. The first story (the eponymous "Horror on the Links") was pretty middlin' but that's nothing new in pulp detectives where you save your good stuff until after you are sure you are going to write a second one (and more) but nearly out the gate there are interesting, varied stories involving ghost snakes and and ghost hands and cannibal islanders and other naughty foreigners. The first third of the book is a great set of pulp that has rickety moments and throws plenty of red flags but still hums along under its own power.

You have stories that shine like "The Great God Pan," which is a strange romp about a nerd's attempt to sequester a group of beautiful women by having them believe in a return of ancient deities, and "The House of Horror," which is a precursor to a Human Centipede type of body horror and which taps in nicely into the Weird Menace subgenre. Sure, you have middlin' tales with some bad takes such as "Ancient Fires" (with the ludicrous insertion of old world style gypsies into New England just so it can play off the pulp trope of gypsy criminals for no reason related to the plot) and "Vengeance of India" (which is very pro-colonial and includes de Grandin bragging about using one of the "Hindoos" religious beliefs to torture him) but it was something like 2-for-1 on the good vs meh side and so I kept plowing through story after story.

It was around "The Grinning Mummy" when the love affair started to wane. Quinn's grasp of exciting prose begins to dip with stories getting longer and plot points getting repeated (again you have foreigners attacking white folks because of things white folks did but being the villains nevertheless). The next two stories return to classic monster types and "The Blood Flower" has a fun take on werewolves (including a scene where de Grandin shoots down a werewolf and points out that silver bullets aren't needed with good engineering and modern firearms in hand). Still, the stories felt more padded and more repeated. By this point, Quinn had given up explaining why de Grandin was staying in a middle sized town in New Jersey and just ran with it.

In fact, of the middle third the only real stand outs are "The Curse of Everard Maundy" and "The White Lady of the Orphanage" which are quite good and interesting (but do not make up for "The Creeping Shadows" being yet another repeat of "Vengeance of India" or having several stories which could be summed up with "white women are beset, de Grandin gets his jimmies up and kills a bad'un").

The stories tend to decline in quality and interest throughout this section, while increasing in length, for the rest of this section. Every good element of them is bathed in formulaic prose and surrounded by the sense of having to slog through the contents.

The final third opens much as the second closed with stories like "The Gods of the East and West" and "Mephistopheles and Company, Ltd." being very nearly good but retelling the same sort of story structure you have now read several times (and with some villains being basically revisited from earlier stories). Then you hit the absolute nadir of the entire collection, "The Jewel of Seven Stones," and it was this point I was not sure I could continue.

First off, there is the the weird morality of these stories. de Grandin has time and again chosen a somewhat sadistic path while being the "good guy". In one story, victims of cruel experimentation are left to die because he feels it would be better than having their families find out they have been disfigured and are no longer beautiful. He has chosen to enact deadly violence on some of the villains because of their slights against a friend of a friend or against a pretty (white) woman. In this case, we see the worst take on this possible. A friend of Townbridge gets a hold of two sarcophagi to prove some odd theory about history. When they open up the first one, they find a beautiful woman inside who, after a few seconds, wastes away to dust. Upon finding out that the other sarcophagus contains an even more beautiful woman who is (also???) slated to fade to dust if it is opened before a certain time period, his immediate response is, "Let's pop this baby open because I have to see how hot this chick must be!" He basically is down with killing a woman as long as that means he can take a look at her for a few seconds.***

Not only does it have that terrible response to finding out about a curse, and not only does it never mention the first woman again or what her part was in all of this (I sincerely think Quinn wrote her in just to establish what would happen and then ceased to care about her), but it soon after drops the worst prose in the entire collection—

"Except for two tiny studs of hand-beaten gold which held the robe together over the shoulders and the narrow double border of horizontal purple lines at the bottom of the cape, marking her status as a Roman citizen, her gown was without ornament of any sort, and no jewelry adorned her chaste loveliness save the golden threads with which her white-kid sandals were embroidered and a single strand of small gold disks, joined by minute links and having seven tiny pendants of polished carnelians, which encircled her throat and lay lightly against the gentle swell of her white bosom."

—and then ends with some weird smug explanation that negates a good portion of the story.

However, after this low point the collection almost immediately rebounds. "The Serpent Woman" yet again starts with a distraught woman just happening upon de Grandin's path and starts out following the same beats that several stories have followed (including a foreign baddie), but Quinn tweaks it up a little. Especially in the role of our good detective (who actually makes a reasoned decision about guilt by the end instead of just killing the culprit). Then "Body and Soul" and "Restless Souls" continue to improve upon the formula. The latter, especially, is interesting in the way that it kind of just retreads previous plot points but does it better and with more interest. The detective continues to feel more like a proper hero-detective. If anything, it is Townbridge that irks at this point because he has become little more than an arch-Scully (mostly hanging about to tell the reader than everything has a reasonable explanation and then to be proved wrong while doing very little to help with anything).

The collection ends with one of the longer stories that brings up the now tired yarn about how evil the Knights Templar were and bites a bit of M.R. James imagery on the way down—and has yet another beset white woman—but it does it with actual glee and invoke a sense of actual horror. It is good pulp. It feels very much like Quinn had started to like his characters, again, and was once more trying to make them work. Despite the introduction's claim that de Grandin never really changes, I would say that he did. He becomes an actual pulp hero—though a prissy, sometimes nonsensical one.

It feels good to be done with this collection, but it feels better that a good half of the stories are actually worth reading. Some are actually quite good and one could imagine a "best of" collection (even a couple of volumes worth, overall) being a serious contender for one of the better collections of early 20th century pulp/weird. The problem with these "complete" collections is that you have to wade through all the rest, and it flavors in the highlights with negative qualities (later good stories repeat elements from earlier bad stories, etc). And sure, you could say, "Doug, this was a different time," to shush up my complaints about certain world-views, but to that I would say that you only read collections like this partially for the anthropological sense and even outside of that there is only so many times you can read about foreign folks assaulting our Christian white women before it gets a bit...tired. Even in the context of the time.

One final note, there are a few typos and oddities in the text. Nothing super serious, but just FYI.

====
* Lovecraft was published in Weird Tales prior to the first de Grandin story, though the de Grandin stories tended to hit big before Lovecraft had moved on into his more "golden days" of writing.

** I'm sure that Brian Keene would like to disagree with me.

*** Said de Grandin also speaks this line in another story, "Mademoiselle, you are beautiful. There is no reason for you to wish to die." Presumably beautiful women only need to die if de Grandin is in a rush to male-gaze the ever loving hell out of them.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large collection of stories about Jules de Grandin, known as the Supernatural Sherlock Holmes. After the first couple of stories, it settles down to a formula. de Grandin and his Watson, Dr. Trowbridge, would be minding their own business in New Jersey, when the paranormal rears its head. Trowbridge never knows what is going on, but de Grandin figures things out. They encounter vampires, werewolves, mummies, ghosts, and more!

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[Dean Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read a lot of pulp over the years. I like pulp and don't mind the purple prose or the normally predictable tales. I have read some Seabury Quinn over the years so I was excited to get this.
Unfortunately, the stories told here were just bad and not entertaining in the least.
I did not find the main protagonists( Jules de Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge- a shitty half-baked Holmes and Watson imitation...and I've been entertained by Imitations of Holmes, and this was just not a good imitation.) in the stories to be likable or even interesting. The stories told were meandering and not that great.
This is a pile of crap.

[curleduptoes]

"I am Dr. Jules de Grandin of France, and I assume authority over this case now!"

This is how Jules, the occult detective introduces himself in most cases, along with his doctor friend Trowbridge. I am still reading the Volume, but I had to write an update midway since it has become really tough to tolerate his arrogance. Of course he capably solves cases and helps his clients but not before blowing his own trumpet. His rude responses to the clients as well as to Dr. Trowbridge have become pretty annoying, plus, he is not a good decision maker. He is also cruel, self centered while feeling smug all through the way. Calling Americans inept, foul and whatnot, seems to be his hobby. He thinks of himself above ALL. Ugh.

I had to pour my heart out because I listen to him boasting every morning and evening while commuting to and from the office. Some venting should help.

The pairing is definitely done as per Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson's but temperamentally he is not like Sherlock, nor is Trowbridge like Watson. Anyway. Waiting for the volume to finish because some stories are really interesting.

[Robert Hobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressive collection of shorts from the pulp era. Easy reads that are fun and engaging from beginning to end. Seabury Quinn is not only a great author name, it's his real name.

[Tenebrous Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not going to put on like I don't understand why H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard are more highly-regarded than Seabury Quinn by today's genre critics. That having been said, these stories are a hell of a lot of fun, and there's a value all its own to a ripping yarn crammed full of bizarre details. Quinn layers on at least two extra outrageous plot twists into each of these tales, all of which are well-served by their brevity. It's easy to see why these energetic and oddly optimistic stories were among Weird Tales' most popular entries.

Covered in more detail in an episode of the Bad Books for Bad People podcast: http://badbooksbadpeople.com/mini-epi...

[Kat Rocha · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the preface says, don't read them all in one go. you'll get overwhelmed... but the adventures of deGrandin are amazing and deserve to be on the shelf next to Conan's adventures and Lovecraft's writtings.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jules de Grandin is, truly, a bubbly French (not Belgian!) Hercule Poirot, solving occult mysteries with aplomb at the side of his Captain Hastings/John Watson pal. More affable than many of his fellow Golden Age detectives (occult or otherwise), one of the best things about de Grandin's adventures is the cheer and enthusiasm with which he approaches each case. The stories haven't all aged well (though they are mostly anti-Semitism-free), but they were never meant to be great literature - they're fun, slightly campy tales, and in that regard they hold up very well...even if (or perhaps especially if) you read them while recovering from surgery.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first volume of short stories first seen in Tales Of The Weird. Circa 1920s.
This was a $2 deal on Amazon.
Some of the stories were good. Some only ok.

De Grandin is arrogant & full of himself. Physically described with hands & feet as "womanish". He's like a Hercule Poirot wannabe. Complete with the twirling moustache!
Dr Trowbridge is his dumber friend. Lord knows what they see in each other.

Historical horror.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories are a bit of a slog, but the majority were very entertaining.

Great if you want Sherlock Holmes with more supernatural elements.

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Horror on the Links
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Tenants of Broussac
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Isle of Missing Ships
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Vengeance of India
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Dead Hand
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The House of Horror
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

Ancient Fires
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Great God Pan
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Grinning Mummy
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Man Who Cast No Shadow
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...

The Blood-Flower
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Veiled Prophetess
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Curse of Everard Maundy
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...

Creeping Shadows
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The White Lady of the Orphanage
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Poltergeist
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Gods of East and West
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

Mephistopheles and Company, Ltd.
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Jewel of Seven Stones
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Serpent Woman
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

Body and Soul
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...

Restless Souls
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...

The Chapel of Mystic Horror
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...

[JoeK · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long haul, but I'm finally done. I took the advice of the editors and didn't sit down and read the whole thing through in one go. Judging by my personal log, I've read about one story per month for the past two years, something like a reader of Weird Tales would have experienced in real life. Although Seabury Quinn didn't have a story in every issue, or at least, not a Jules de Grandin story. Having that gap didn't really endear the characters or the format to me, but slow reading probably prevented me from throwing the book at the wall.

While there are aspects I enjoyed, I can't see myself reading another four volumes of these mysteries. As other reviewers have pointed out, this series is very formulaic. After twenty-three adventures with de Grandin, Samuel Trowbridge is still flabbergasted and astonished by events and de Grandin's supernatural explanations -- every -- single -- time. Even though he's right there, recording events in great detail, witnessing bizarre occult events, Trowbridge is a clean slate who's never seen anything odd in his life by the next installment. None of the characters develop in any significant way through the series. De Grandin is abrasive and smug, and to "friend Trowbridge" he seems especially abusive. I have heard people speculate that the two were the first gay couple in the pulps, but I can't see it. In fact, I can't see why Trowbridge continues to let de Grandin stay in his home, eating his food, drinking his liquor, and driving him around on adventures.

I found that Quinn had an amazing vocabulary and wrote really well. The adventures were almost evenly split between true occult detective stories, and just humans behaving badly but hiding their nefarious schemes with occult trappings. I think two or three had no occult associations at all. There was also a wide variety of occult backstory and creatures/legends from all over the world.

Unfortunately the bad outweighs the good. If I ever read another story in the series, it would be the last one to see if anything of the formula changed in the 25 years that they appeared.

[D J Rout · Rating 5 out of 5]

At last we have a complete collection of Jules de Grandin stories available to the public who aren't willing, or able, to lash out $1500-odd on a hardcover collection.

I came across my first Jules de Grandin story, 'The House of Horror', in an audio version of The Pan Book of Horror Stories in 1991, and the scene of horror in it was at once so vivid and horrifying I determined to track down more stories by the same author. Unfortunately, I thought that was David Case, so that delayed me finding the real author for a few years.

Anyway, 'The House of Horror' is in this volume and I'm pleased to say it has lost none of its impact. If anything, more empathy for the victims on my side means it has more horror in it than it did in the last millennium, which is all to the good.

Not all the stories have some aspect of horror or the supernatural, and some, such as 'The Serpent Woman' are mysteries which at least sow light on the 1920's. The stories are presented in publication order, so it's possible to see the characters grow and change as the stories go on. Whether they improve I leave up to the reader to judge. Some people may find de Grandin's French oaths a tad ludicrous—for example, one is Nom du fromage vert. Name of green cheese? But perhaps that's a real French exclamation.

There's a pretty good introduction that makes an interesting case for why Seabury Quinn is not included with H P Lovecraft and Robert E Howard as ne of the great writers to come out of Weird Tales magazine. With any luck, this and the other four volumes will get that changed.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor of the occult, the bizarre, and the outré…

This beautiful book contains 22 stories of Dr. Jules de Grandin, published in Weird Tales Magazine from 1925-1928. It is volume one in a series that promises to reprint all of the tales Seabury Quinn wrote featuring the little blonde Frenchman with his vast knowledge and experience with the unknown.

Jules de Grandin resides for the most part with his friend and biographer Dr. Samuel Trowbridge in Harrisonville, New Jersey. Dr. Trowbridge and Grandin travel widely, and some of their adventures occur in other countries.

Across these 22 stories our heroic duo battles demons, ghosts, vampires, and such creatures. There is almost always a lovely woman who is in danger of losing both body and soul.

Jules de Grandin, much like Sherlock Holmes has supreme faith in his own abilities and knowledge. He comes across as pompous and self-promoting. He has little use for those who cannot see what he sees. He is often short with Dr. Trowbridge to the point of insult, as Holmes was with Dr. Watson. In the end, he will always return to his friendship with Trowbridge and give an explanation of his thought process and how he succeeded in saving the day.

In these first 22 stories, I give Best in Book to “The Gods of East and West.” The story I liked the least was “The Dead Hand.”

Fans of Holmes, Carnacki the Ghost Finder, John the Balladeer, John Thunstone, etc should be able to enjoy these tales with much delight! I give the volume five stars plus!

Quoth the Raven…

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

My-my! These must have been the wet dreams of pulp lovers. You have a parody of a Frenchman, as sought after by the ignoramus, to make the tales more exotic. You have a Dr. Watson working as the faithful narrator for a hero who is a combination of all penny dreadful and subsequent detectives (including those dealing with paranormal). And you have stories. By God! What stories. This volume contains twenty three stories, and they cover the whole gamut of pulp villains. Vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters of other varieties, giant snakes, reincarnation, curses imported from Asia and Africa, half-breed people, Germans, sadists, cultists, Egyptian man and goddesses...!
In short, if you can take yourself to the level of America between the two wars, and appreciate what the great unwashed used to consume as entertainment, then you are in for a tremendous ride.
I am, however, already afraid of the other volumes that I have purchased, and which I have to read because they had cost me too much.
Your call.

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Neither fish nor foul, these tales don't succeed in the horror titillation sense--nor the anticipatory mystery sense--due to poor structure and tension. Quinn should give us something up front to worry about, but we spend the first fifteen minutes of each tale floundering about trying to discover the story goal. This is common for pulp. Too much of the author's thought process remains apparent when you only do two drafts.

After five hours and five stories, I'm abandoning ship. If I managed to finish all twenty-five hours, I'd guess this at three stars. I'm not saying it's crap, some people like nifty adventurelets that aren't very deep. I prefer novels over shorts, and Cthulhu over Holmes, so I'm not quite the target audience here.

[Anne Wingate · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Old Story Still Works

I was a little dubious about the book before I began reading it. I need not have worried. It consists of excellent short stories, mildly horrific, but with good triumphing. If I had more stories in the series I would go right on reading. I recommend it for most people.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jules de Grandin, the French love child of Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes; and his sidekick Dr. Trowbridge can't seem to go anywhere in Harrisonville New Jersey without stumbling upon some strange mystery that if not outright supernatural at least has the appearance of the supernatural. This selection gets better as it goes along as the quirky characters have a chance to grow on you. Grandin, whose arrogance knows no bounds, wears purple lizard skin slippers with his purple pajamas and is always needing either food or drink. Though Trowbridge has seen many inexplicable things during his friendship with Grandin, he never seems to believe that anything is supernatural until it slaps him in the face. He is in a constant state of incredulity. It doesn't help that Grandin never takes the time to explain to him what is going on or what the actual plan is. These two characters play well off of each other.
This series was the most popular series in Weird Tales magazine and it is easy to see why. Yes it is formulaic; there is always a scantily clad (if not nude) damsel in distress and Grandin is always throwing out his French expressions. It is simply pulp fun. It is surprising that these tales aren't more well known.
After reading some of the reviews I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised, and that I did not have any problem reading multiple stories in a row.
The narration is very good.
1) The Horror on the Links. 3 stars. In this story which introduces Jules de Grandin, he is introduced to Dr. Trowbridge as they investigate an unusual assault and a murder which both take place on the same night on a golf course. It is reminiscent of The Island of Dr. Moreau with some unique twists of its' own. Also the fictitious town of Harrisonville, New Jersey where Trowbridge lives is introduced. De Grandin is a supernatural investigator as well as a doctor and a well known scholar at the Sorbonne. Dr. Trowbridge is a medical doctor who he teams up with to solve unusual crimes or occurrences. Originally published in Weird Tales in October 1925.
2) The Tenants of Broussac. 3 stars. A manor house has difficulty keeping tenants as they all seem to suffer some tragedy. The latest inhabitants have a daughter who is plagued with sleepiness and strange abrasions on her body. Throw in a curse and a weird nonnative snake that has been seen near the house and it adds up to de Grandin's kind of investigation. Originally published in Weird Tales December 1925.
3) The Isle of Missing Ships. 3 stars. On their return trip from France Dr. Trowbridge and de Grandin meet up unexpectedly on their ship. De Grandin has been hired by Lloyds of London to investigate a series of missing ships. When they near Malaysia their ship becomes one of the missing ships. They have a very unpleasant experience while stranded on one of the islands. First published in Weird Tales, February 1926.
4) The Vengeance of India. 2.5 stars. A very short story about a young woman who dies mysteriously and piques de Grandin's curiosity. The mystery is traced back to an incident that took place in India. First published in Weird Tales April 1926.
5) The Dead Hand. 4 stars. De Grandin has been staying with Dr. Trowbridge for two weeks by this time and has become very accustomed to his housekeeper's cooking and to solving unusual crimes. This one involves a floating, not corporeal hand which has taken to burglary. Originally published in Weird Tales, May 1926.
6) The House of Horror. 3.5 stars. Lost on a stormy night while attempting a house call, Dr. Trowbridge and Dr. Grandin come upon an unusual house. Dr. Trowbridge is driving and has gotten lost, so they decide to stop for aid and to ask to stay the night. This is quite a twisted tale that lives up to its' title of 'A House of Horrors'. Originally published in Weird Tales July 1926.
7) Ancient Fires. 3.5 stars. The ancient fires of the title refers to a love affair that ended badly due to the families' distaste for miscegenation. It is also an opportunity to expose de Grandin's romanticism and the fact that he has a love from his past that did not go well. On the face of it the story is a creepy ghost story that takes place in a haunted house. Add to that gypsies and a lunatic asylum and you wind up with a unique weird tale. Originally published in Weird Tales September 1926.
8) The Great God Pan. 3 stars. Dr. Trowbridge and de Grandin are out tramping about for no explicable reason when it gets late and they grow tired. Of course de Grandin does not want to sleep rough, so when they come across a so-called school for young rich ladies he wrangles them sleeping quarters out of the elements. The school is strange in that they worship beauty and the God Pan. De Grandin notices peculiarities about the school and takes action. Originally published in Weird Tales October 1926.
9) The Grinning Mummy. 3.5 stars. An archaeologist who lives in Harrisonville gets an odd threat in the guise of a tombstone ordered with his name and death date on it. Nevertheless he decides to unwrap his latest acquisition. It does not go well for him. Originally published in Weird Tales December 1926.
10) The Man Who Cast No Shadow. 3.5 stars. This story follows the usual formula in that Dr. Trowbridge is called in to examine someone; something uncanny is happening and de Grandin uses his deductive reasoning to solve the mystery while those around him are baffled. This case happens to involve vampires, as well as the usual damsel in distress who generally ends up scantily clothed at some point. The story flows well, and the descriptions of characters are nicely done. Of interest to anyone interested in early vampire tales and the take authors had on the vampyre. Originally published in Weird Tales February 1927.
11) The Blood Flower. 3.5 stars. A strange plant from Transylvania, a sick woman who can't seem to resist the calling of hounds, an irate husband, and a missing uncle; are the conundrum facing Jules de Grandin and his clueless (about the occult) partner Dr. Trowbridge. Originally published in Weird Tales March 1927.
12) The Veiled Prophetess. 3.5 stars. Has de Grandin met his match when science versus the occult? A young bride comes to ask for de Grandin's help when a corrupt fortune teller seems to be enthralling her husband. It's nice to see de Grandin take a miss step while trying to solve a case as it humanizes him. Now if Dr. Trowbridge could only get a little more worldly. Originally published in Weird Tales May 1927.
13) The Curse of Everard Maundy. 3.5 stars.This one is a little more complicated than the average de Grandin tale. It starts with a series of suicides, moves on to an itinerant preacher, which leads to some kind of voodoo queen. De Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge encounter many inexplicable acts, including the walking dead, before de Grandin can solve the mystery and put a halt to the unaccounted for suicides. This story was originally published in Weird Tales July 1927.
14) Creeping Shadows. 3 stars. A dead man is found who looks like he has been dead for a week when in fact he had only died that morning. The policemen who had seen the dead man earlier that day are being harassed so they seek the expertise of Jules de Grandin. The creeping shadows are assassins who have come from south of the border, as well as a clay bust de Grandin whips up and has dragged slowly in front of a window as a decoy. Not one of Seabury's best as it is easy to figure out the mystery. First published in Weird Tales August 1927.
15) 'The White Lady of the Orphanage'. This is really a macabre story, and the darkest in the series so far. (This is the 15th story in the series). Willis Richards, the nabob from “The Dead Hand” (5th in the series) returns recommending de Grandin to investigate a problem at an orphanage where he is president of the trustees. This is interesting because Richards was loathe to pay the reward that de Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge had earned. This leads de Grandin to ask for a large reward when they solve the case. Children are disappearing from the orphanage and everyone wants the story kept quiet so the police have not been informed. What enfolds is a gruesome tale that takes a few days for de Grandin to solve even though there are very few suspects. Originally published in Weird Tales September 1927.
16) The Poltergeist. 3 stars. A young woman seems to be possessed by something that means her harm. This is manifest by her acting strangely with no memory of it, objects moving around, and weird voices around her. Once de Grandin has all the clues known to him, he readily solves the mystery. The story follows the de Grandin pattern; in that it is formulaic. There is a damsel in distress who is rescued. At some point the damsel is scantily clothed if not outright nude, which was an effective way to get a story on the cover of Weird Tales. De Grandin is knowledgeable on all subjects of the supernatural and has seen much in his lifetime. He often uses hypnotism in his rescue stratagem. He is a man of science as well as a medical doctor, though while living in the U.S. he cannot practice medicine so it is helpful for him to have Dr. Trowbridge in tow. Originally published in Weird Tales October 1927.
17) The Gods of East and West. 2 stars. De Grandin tags along with Dr. Trowbridge to check on a patient who has an inexplicable withering condition and discovers that she has a rather hideous Indian (Hindustan) statue in a prominent place in the house. This arouses de Grandin's suspicions. He is also interested when he learns that the lady of the house is partially Native American, which leads to his decision to pit west against east. Unfortunately this is portrayed as a battle between the 'Noble Savage' (Native Americans/West) versus the 'Ignoble Savage'.(India/East). Originally published in Weird Tales January 1928.
18) Mephistopheles and Company Ltd. 3.5 stars. Is the friendless German woman that de Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge encounter late one night while strolling in the park pursued by the devil or is it an elaborate hoax by a group of con-men and con-women? There is a lot of action going on this time out, with de Grandin kick boxing and packing his pistol. There are also a lot of strange occurrences that de Grandin scoffs at which is out of character for him. In the end he takes out the bad guys in an incredibly original way. Originally published in Weird Tales February 1928.
19) The Jewel of Seven Stones. 2 stars. Not one of Quinn's best as it is a little too like Snow White in that a beautiful young woman is put to sleep and then later awakens to her true love. Her necklace of seven stones counts down her life span as they are slowly destroyed. Originally published in Weird Tales April 1928.
20) The Serpent Woman. 2.5 stars. While out driving de Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge come across a distraught woman attempting to jump off of a bridge. It seems there is a missing baby and the police want to blame the mother because it's the easiest answer even though there is no evidence except for some large snake tracks.. De Grandin comes up with a clever way to capture the culprit. Originally published in Weird Tales June 1928.
21) Body and Soul. 3 stars. Something strange looking chases a young man through the park and straight to the safety of Dr. Trowbridge's house. After a long, exhausting day of work Trowbridge is hardly in the mood to take in a guest until a hideous face is seen looking in his window. On the same night a man is murdered and de Grandin is called in to check out the case. De Grandin does conveniently figure out the mystery of what is going on by reading through the dead man's papers. Then he ends the day as usual, drinking Trowbridge's cognac. This story does have a supernatural bent to it. Originally published in Weird Tales September 1928.
22) Restless Souls. 2.5 stars. A vampire love story unlike the modern take on this genre in that the vampires accept that they have damned souls. Nevertheless, Jules de Grandin, the hopeless romantic, does what he can to keep the young lovers together for as long as he can. Originally published in Weird Tales October 1928.
23) The Chapel of Mystic Horror. 3 stars. Jules de Grandin and Dr. Trowbridge are invited to a Thanksgiving house party. The house in question is a Cyprian villa that was brought over to Harrisonville, New Jersey, where Grandin and Trowbridge are constantly running into supernatural or perceived supernatural mysteries. The supernatural elements in this outing are ghosts of blasphemous Templar renegade priests. Grandin uses religion and science to foil these miscreants and save the latest damsel in distress, who is always either scantily clad or nude. This series is quirky and fun and improves as the series goes along. Originally published in Weird Tales December 1928.

[Steve Rainwater · Rating 3 out of 5]

French investigator and his American assistant solve weird cases.

Pulp era stories from the pages of Weird Tales. These stories were the X-Files of the 1930s. French Professor Jules de Grandin of the Service de Sûreté and his American companion Dr. Trowbridge investigate cases involving science, superstition, religion, and the paranormal. As often as not, they reveal the seemingly paranormal to be nothing but the scams of mortal men. But occasionally they run into actual paranormal things like mummies, werewolves, vampires, and occult curses. And they encounter a fair number of horror-type scenarios - serial killers, mad doctors, strange murder plots. Whether they face conventional or paranormal dangers, de Grandin always brings science to bear against their enemies; finding ingenious ways to kill a vampire without the use of a wooden stake or trap a killer by use of some clever chemistry.

These volumes present the Jules de Grandin stories in the order they were originally published in Weird Tales and it's worth mentioning that a few of the earliest ones are pretty bad. "The Dead Hand" is unbelievably silly. But the writing and plotting improves as stories progress and nearly all of them are fun reads.

A few stories exhibit the common, unintended racism that's found in writing from that era but, on a hopeful note, they lack the usual sexism of the pulps. In fact, de Grandin is way ahead of his time on that score. In many of the stories, every other male in sight wants to write off a female victim as "hysterical" or insane but de Grandin is always willing to listen to their stories and stand up for them when no else believes them.

The de Grandin stories are often compared to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tales but a more apt comparison would be Doyle's paranormal series of Professor Challenger stories. Professor Challenger wins on the quality of the writing but de Grandin wins on sheer the volume of tales.

If you enjoy pulp stories and old tales of the paranormal, I recommend this series. I liked it well enough that I've ordered the second volume.

[David Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of supernatural adventure pulp stories, all feature Jules De Grandin, supernatural detective. Think Sherlock Holmes for ghost stories, and you get the idea (Though the main character is French). A Dr. Trowbridge plays the Watson to this Holmes, though he is more a narrator than a full-fledged character, De Grandin is doing all the work. The tales feature a range of your standard ghosts and ghouls. A few were quite creatively presented and characterized, others fell a little flat. Similarly, some tales really stuck out, while others were fairly forgettable, though none weren't fun to read. These tales are straight pulp adventure, designed only to entertain, and they do that. De Grandin also comes up with some creative ways to fight the beasties of the night, sometimes with magic charms, other times with modern science (of the 1920s). But the book does fall short in a few places. The Trowbridge character is basically a non-entity, and has an annoying habit of not believing De Grandin regarding the supernatural even after he's experienced it time and time again. De Grandin gets a little more development, but it's more hinted at then explored, so he often comes off as an archetype. And you never really get the impression that he's in any serious danger, which takes some of the punch out of the tale. There are also some old attitudes in this book some modern readers might not like, but with the exception of one story they are minor, and irrelevant to the plots. Would probably give it a 3.5 if I could, but it was a fun, light read, so 4 stars.

[Doc Ezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diving into a new author from the heyday of pulp fiction is always a mixed bag. The demands of monthly (or sometimes weekly) publication leads to an inevitable unevenness in quality, but as they say, quantity has a quality all its own. I picked up the complete Jules de Grandin stories when all six volumes were on sale some time ago, and “occult detective cross between Poirot and something out of Arkham” sounded right up my alley.

The stories are solid, pulp occult action tales, most doling out some piece of mythological lore or historical “fact,” to explain the mysteries that de Grandin and his trusty friend Trowbridge unravel. Most feature a lissome heroine or damsel in distress so that the pulp magazine cover artist had an easy hook to put Quinn’s work front and center of the issue. This awareness of both his audience and his market demonstrates why, despite falling into relative obscurity compared to the Lovecrafts of the era, Quinn was one of the most successful and prolific authors of weird fiction in his day.

There’s definitely some problematic cultural biases on display, but I’ve got to say they seem remarkably less common than in some of the other pulp authors of their day. Evil spirits are as often of European descent as “savages” from some other continent, which is a refreshing change from stories written by his peers.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes vs the supernatural.

Jules de Grandin is a French occult detective whose character traits are clearly based on Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. He is head strong and arrogant, yet very likable. His use of “modern” technology to fight ghosts, vampires, and werewolves makes for fun stories. A downside to these stories is de Grandin’s “investigations.” Whereas Holmes and Poirot are shown to act strangely during investigations their reasons are clearly explained by the end. The reader realizes why Holmes intentionally fell over or why he kept continuously smoking and pacing in one room in particular. De Grandin does most of this off screen and then solves the case. When de Grandin explains how he solved the case he relays information the reader would not have access to.

One other slightly annoying detail about these stories is that de Grandin’s Dr Watson counter part Dr. Trowbridge never learns. He always questions the existence of the supernatural despite his constant interactions with it.

These stories despite their faults make for fun reading. De Grandin is extremely likable and the threats he faces are always unique. On top of this it is interesting to see what were considered the best stories in Weird Tales at the time. While writers like H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith are considered the best Weird Tales writers today, it was not the case when Weird Tales was being published. If not for the commercial success of Seabury Quinn who knows if these other writers would have been discovered.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic pulp

This is undoubtedly classic pulp, written long before Ghostbusters ever came on the scene. Already met Carnacki and Flaxman Low, they're nothing like Jules De Grandin and his companion, Dr. Trowbridge an never ending skeptic. They're nothing like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. And Jules De Grandin is certainly not Hercule Periot. Even though Jules De Grandin had called a psychic Periot. But he isn't. What he is is a detective who cows police, villains, and thingies with his wit and dry humor. He solves cases but does not always save everybody. Won't tell you which one. Just have to read them yourselves. Even though you'll find most of the stories not entirely PC. Like the author, they're products of the time. No need to judge them with 21st century eyes. Back in those days, Jules De Grandin stories were popular. Seabury Quinn was not afraid tackle subject matter outside mainstream. He was ahead of his time in most of the stories. They may not be art but what the hell? These adventures are the stuff dreams were made on.