Customer Reviews

The Third Cry to Legba and Other Invocations : The Selected Stories of Manly Wade Wellman (Vol. 1)

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Wellman's weird short fiction can be found in an amazing number of horror anthologies, but most of his books are out of print. This is a shame, because Wellman's fiction deserves a much wider audiance. After I became interested in Wellman through his Silver John stories, I looked around for more of his work, but it was hard to find. Thankfully, Night Shade Books has remedied that. This first volume collects Wellman's John Thunstone and Lee Cobbett stories, which read like supernatural film noir--all of which I completely enjoyed. Wellman really knew how to tell a story; his writing flows with beautiful simplicity. If any of these stories seem a bit familiar, it's because they've influenced a lot of other writers over the last half century. As the publisher's description accurately states, these stories could easily be seen as a template for "The X-Files." A striking, full-page illustration accompanies each of the 21 tales in this volume. A genuine treat for horror enthusiasts.

All of Wellman's excellent John Thunstone short stories, with his four Lee Cobbett stories rounding out the collection. Many of the Thunstone tales feature either the evil Rowley Thorne, deliberately based on Aleister Crowley, or the Shonokins, a strange and evil group. Judge Pursuivant shows up in "Chastel", an excellent vampire tale in which Cobbett plays only a minor role. "Twice Cursed" is the longest story, and most unusual. Thunstone tries to help two men with the same name who get involved in a "Dark College". No duds in this collection.

This first volume in Night Shade Press' five volume series dedicated to collecting all of Wellman's works comes out strong. This volume collects all of the John Thunstone and Lee Cobbet stories that Wellman wrote. Wellman is best known for his Silver John stories (and those are collected in volume 5); at least that is where I first encountered Wellman. The Lee Cobbet stories are more in the vein of Silver John, and they represent about a third of the stories. You get the feeling that, unlike Silver John, Cobbet really lacks a plan and is in genuine danger, not necessarily because of the danger of the adversary (and they are formidable), but due to his finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. To me, he is a slightly more relatable character (compare him to Howard's Solomon Kane). In other words, if I was in Wellman story I would be more likely to react like Cobbet (vs. Thunstone or Silver John). I'm just not that noble or cool a guy. The John Thunstone stories were a very pleasant surprise. What I mean is that my experience with Wellman was with the Wellman who integrated the Appalachian folklore into a rural protagonist while simultaneously interweaving Lovecraftian themes. Thunstone is an entirely urban character (lives in and is based out of NYC). And his archnemesis, Rowley Thorne, is perhaps the best villain in all of weird fiction. I kept asking myself how I missed this one. (Wellman apparently modeled him off of Aleister Crowley.) The conflicts between him and Thorne are written with electric charges; it is quite simply the best weird fiction has to offer and drove home to me why Wellman has such a high reputation in the field of weird fiction. That alone sent me off to find the Thunstone based novels. There are also other brilliant story lines (e.g., the Shonokins) and the character of Thunstone is as fascinating as any in weird fiction, complete with his flaws, virtues, and principles. However, it is the Thunstone-Thorne dichotomy that completely blew me away. This volume is highly recommended and I applaud Night Shade for presenting us with this book.

Today, after reading this old favourite a second time, I was thrilled afresh about the simplicity & power of words written by this old master. His stories involving the adventures of John Thunstone and Lee Cobbett may be called formulaic & predictable, the antagonists might be the familiar villains (vampires, witches, sorcerors, demons, etc.), but every story had that solid weight of authenticity (lent by the southern folklore & mythology, undoubtedly) which is missed by so many of the modern practitioners. If you still have not read this book, at least try to get hold of the stories in some other versions (since this Hard Cover printed by Night Shade Books seem to have gone out-of-print), and enjoy them over dark evenings and darker nights.

Wellman was a prolific pulp writer of the Weird Tales tradition in the 1930's and continued writing through the 60's. He tips his hat to Lovecraft but his style is all his own and his voice is unique. Rather than the eerie backwaters of New England and the ancient countryside of Old England, Wellman's tales take place on his own turf, the South (with a capital "S"--he makes it clear that he ain't no damn Yankee). Borrowing from folk tales, ghost stories, mountain lore and Indian legends, his descriptions of Southern culture, landscapes, personalities and decadence are wonderful. His stories aren't only creepy, they're entertaining and often humorous. Though less well-known than many of his contemporaries he rates alongside Ambrose Bierce, Fritz Leiber, Arthur Machen, Howard Philips Lovecraft and Rod Serling in the annals of creepy fiction (if some of the stories seem half-familiar it's likely because Serling adapted several for "Twilight Zone" episodes). Until this five-volume set from the tiny San Francisco publisher Night Shade Books, many of his stories hadn't seen print for half a century. I was in hog heaven when I found this series, knowing that I had weeks of thoroughly enjoyable reading to look forward to. I had been collecting and searching for Wellman stories--ANYthing by Wellman--for several years at used book stores and on the internet, feeling lucky to come across a crumbling yellowed paperback from the '50s and sometimes buying anthologies simply because they contained a story or two of his. If you're as addicted to this literary genre as I am (honest Ma, it's an English class assignment) you won't be content with this single selection, you won't rest until you've got all five volumes of the series. Don't be afraid to spend a few bucks, they're already collectible. Thank you Night Shade Books, and keep 'em coming!

This book does not need a review. What a quality piece of work, distinguished especially by the deft editorial work of one John Pelan. Bravo!