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Murgunstrumm and Others
Winner of the 1978 World Fantasy Award For Best Collection
Long before he became the author of polished romances for the slick magazines, of best-seller novels and firsthand-researched travel books -- Hugh B. Cave wrote some of the most grisly and chilling horror stories ever to appear in the pulps. Crawling forth from the Depression years -- from the haunted pages of Strange Tales , Weird Tales , Ghost Stories , Spicy Mystery Stories , Black Book Detective Magazine , Thrilling Mysteries , and elsewhere.
Be warned. This is a collection of Horror Tales.
Murgunstrumm and Others abounds with haunted houses, ravenous vampires, slobbering monsters, fiends human and inhuman, nights dark and stormy, corpses fresh and rotting. These stories exemplify the gothic horror thrillers of the 1930s -- no-holds-barred lurid chillers of violent action and scream-in-the-night terror. Like a vintage horror movie, Murgunstrumm and Others is an experience to be savoured best on a stormy, lonely night.
Contents
Murgunstrumm
The Watcher in the Green Room
The Prophecy
The Strange Death of Ivan Gromleigh
The Affair of the Clutching Hand
The Strange Case of Number 7
The Isle of Dark Magic
The Whisperers
Horror in Wax
Prey of the Nightborn
Maxon's Mistress
Dead Man's Belt
Boomerang
The Crawling Curse
Purr of a Cat
Tomorrow is Forever
The Ghoul Gallery
The Cult of the White Ape
The Brotherhood of Blood
The Door of Doom
The Death Watch
The Caverns of Time
Many Happy Returns
Ladies in Waiting
The Grisly Death
Stragella
Long before he became the author of polished romances for the slick magazines, of best-seller novels and firsthand-researched travel books -- Hugh B. Cave wrote some of the most grisly and chilling horror stories ever to appear in the pulps. Crawling forth from the Depression years -- from the haunted pages of Strange Tales , Weird Tales , Ghost Stories , Spicy Mystery Stories , Black Book Detective Magazine , Thrilling Mysteries , and elsewhere.
Be warned. This is a collection of Horror Tales.
Murgunstrumm and Others abounds with haunted houses, ravenous vampires, slobbering monsters, fiends human and inhuman, nights dark and stormy, corpses fresh and rotting. These stories exemplify the gothic horror thrillers of the 1930s -- no-holds-barred lurid chillers of violent action and scream-in-the-night terror. Like a vintage horror movie, Murgunstrumm and Others is an experience to be savoured best on a stormy, lonely night.
Contents
Murgunstrumm
The Watcher in the Green Room
The Prophecy
The Strange Death of Ivan Gromleigh
The Affair of the Clutching Hand
The Strange Case of Number 7
The Isle of Dark Magic
The Whisperers
Horror in Wax
Prey of the Nightborn
Maxon's Mistress
Dead Man's Belt
Boomerang
The Crawling Curse
Purr of a Cat
Tomorrow is Forever
The Ghoul Gallery
The Cult of the White Ape
The Brotherhood of Blood
The Door of Doom
The Death Watch
The Caverns of Time
Many Happy Returns
Ladies in Waiting
The Grisly Death
Stragella
641 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
25 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Hugh B. Cave
248 books34 followersHugh Barnett Cave was a prolific writer of pulp fiction who also excelled in other genres.
Sources differ as to when Cave sold his first story: some say it was while he still attended Brookline High School, others cite "Island Ordeal", written at age 19 in 1929 while still working for the vanity press.
In his early career he contributed to such pulp magazines as Astounding, Black Mask, and Weird Tales. By his own estimate, in the 1930s alone, he published roughly 800 short stories in nearly 100 periodicals under a number of pseudonyms. Of particular interest during this time was his series featuring an independent gentleman of courageous action and questionable morals called simply The Eel. These adventures appeared in the late 1930s and early 40s under the pen name Justin Case. Cave was also one of the most successful contributors to the weird menace or "shudder pulps" of the 1930s.
In 1943, drawing on his experience as a war reporter, he authored one of his most highly regarded novels, Long Were the Nights, telling of the first PT boats at Guadalcanal. He also wrote a number of other books on the war in the Pacific during this period.
During his post-war sojourn in Haiti, he became so familiar with the religion of Voodoo that he published Haiti: High Road to Adventure, a nonfiction work critically acclaimed as the "best report on voodoo in English." His Caribbean experiences led to his best-selling Voodoo-themed novel, The Cross On The Drum (1959), an interracial story in which a white Christian missionary falls in love with a black Voodoo priest's sister.
During this midpoint in his career Cave advanced his writing to the "slick" magazines, including Collier's, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, and the Saturday Evening Post. It was in this latter publication, in 1959, that "The Mission," his most popular short story, appeared—subsequently issued in hardcover by Doubleday, reprinted in textbooks, and translated into a number of languages.
But his career took a dip in the early 1970s. According to The Guardian, with the golden era of pulp fiction now in the past, Cave's "only regular market was writing romance for women's magazines." He was rediscovered, however, by Karl Edward Wagner, who published Murgunstrumm and Others, a horror story collection that won Cave the 1978 World Fantasy Award. Other collections followed and Cave also published new horror fiction.
His later career included the publication in the late 1970s and early 1980s of four successful fantasy novels: Legion of the Dead (1979), The Nebulon Horror (1980), The Evil (1981), and Shades of Evil (1982). Two other notable late works are Lucifer's Eye (1991) and The Mountains of Madness (2004). Moreover, Cave took naturally to the Internet, championing the e-book to such an extent that electronic versions of his stories can readily be purchased online.
Over his entire career he wrote more than 1,000 short stories in nearly all genres (though he is best remembered for his horror and crime pieces), approximately forty novels, and a notable body of nonfiction. He received the Phoenix Award as well as lifetime achievement awards from the International Horror Guild, the Horror Writers Association, and the World Fantasy Convention. (From Wikipedia.)
Used the pseudonyms John Starr and Justin Case
Sources differ as to when Cave sold his first story: some say it was while he still attended Brookline High School, others cite "Island Ordeal", written at age 19 in 1929 while still working for the vanity press.
In his early career he contributed to such pulp magazines as Astounding, Black Mask, and Weird Tales. By his own estimate, in the 1930s alone, he published roughly 800 short stories in nearly 100 periodicals under a number of pseudonyms. Of particular interest during this time was his series featuring an independent gentleman of courageous action and questionable morals called simply The Eel. These adventures appeared in the late 1930s and early 40s under the pen name Justin Case. Cave was also one of the most successful contributors to the weird menace or "shudder pulps" of the 1930s.
In 1943, drawing on his experience as a war reporter, he authored one of his most highly regarded novels, Long Were the Nights, telling of the first PT boats at Guadalcanal. He also wrote a number of other books on the war in the Pacific during this period.
During his post-war sojourn in Haiti, he became so familiar with the religion of Voodoo that he published Haiti: High Road to Adventure, a nonfiction work critically acclaimed as the "best report on voodoo in English." His Caribbean experiences led to his best-selling Voodoo-themed novel, The Cross On The Drum (1959), an interracial story in which a white Christian missionary falls in love with a black Voodoo priest's sister.
During this midpoint in his career Cave advanced his writing to the "slick" magazines, including Collier's, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, and the Saturday Evening Post. It was in this latter publication, in 1959, that "The Mission," his most popular short story, appeared—subsequently issued in hardcover by Doubleday, reprinted in textbooks, and translated into a number of languages.
But his career took a dip in the early 1970s. According to The Guardian, with the golden era of pulp fiction now in the past, Cave's "only regular market was writing romance for women's magazines." He was rediscovered, however, by Karl Edward Wagner, who published Murgunstrumm and Others, a horror story collection that won Cave the 1978 World Fantasy Award. Other collections followed and Cave also published new horror fiction.
His later career included the publication in the late 1970s and early 1980s of four successful fantasy novels: Legion of the Dead (1979), The Nebulon Horror (1980), The Evil (1981), and Shades of Evil (1982). Two other notable late works are Lucifer's Eye (1991) and The Mountains of Madness (2004). Moreover, Cave took naturally to the Internet, championing the e-book to such an extent that electronic versions of his stories can readily be purchased online.
Over his entire career he wrote more than 1,000 short stories in nearly all genres (though he is best remembered for his horror and crime pieces), approximately forty novels, and a notable body of nonfiction. He received the Phoenix Award as well as lifetime achievement awards from the International Horror Guild, the Horror Writers Association, and the World Fantasy Convention. (From Wikipedia.)
Used the pseudonyms John Starr and Justin Case
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 24, 2020
This collection is a bold endeavor that spans over 4 decades of material from the great Hugh B. Cave, one of the most prolific writers from the pulp era and beyond. Though it is estimated that Cave wrote over 800 stories in almost every conceivable genre, the focus here is on horror. For bigtime fans, the original Carcosa publication from 1977 is an absolute must-have, since it also features the incredibly spine-chilling illustrations from perhaps the greatest illustrator of spooky tales, Lee Brown Coye. The e-book available for Kindle sadly does not have any illustrations, but for those unwilling to heft out the pretty penny for a hard-copy, I still recommend the electronic version for its healthy helping of horror classics guaranteed to keep you occupied this Halloween season.
Without a doubt, this is a classic of the genre, but it is far from a perfect collection. Cave tended to recycle bits of stories in mixed-and-matched ways, which will lead to you feeling like you have read these somewhere before. Most of the tales are about vampires or crazy revenge plots, and there is only so much originality you can display by rehashing the same material.
But is it scary? Yes! And for those of you really interested in the content of this book, I am attempting to provide a short synopsis and honest review of each of the 26 stories in this giant tome. So stick around...
"Murgunstrumm"--I am largely not frightened by vampire stories as a rule, but this 1934 novella is one of the most scary that I've read in the subgenre. It builds tension and gloomy atmosphere exquistely with a claustrophobic setting for the final showdown in an isolated old pub in the woods. The titular Serbian bloodsucker is suitably chilling with his shuffling limp and malignant grin. In all, I was genuinely creeped out by this rather traditional vampire tale, and this story alone makes this collection worthwhile.
"The Watcher in the Green Room"--One of Cave's more famous tales with a nod to Poe, but overall unremarkable.
"The Prophecy"--Four young white hipsters decide on a late night trek to the slums in order to experience the charms of an unusual charismatic religious service. This could be possibly an early critcism of "cultural appropriation." Or it could be a racist warning away of Caucasian kids from hanging out in jazz clubs or other traditionally predominantly black venues of the time. However you interpret it, the story is a bit disjointed with an ending that comes out of nowhere like a sucker punch.
"The Strange Death of Ivan Gromleigh"--One of the scarier stories in the collection, this 1937 pulp feels a lot more contemporary if only for the overt sexual content and the implications of what the fiend may do to his female victims in this precurosr to the modern slasher subgenre. This is the first of many stories in this omnibus where the author seems a bit too preoccupied with a particular facet of female endowments, which in this case distracts from an otherwise interesting 20th Century take on the "Jekyll and Hyde" motif.
"The Affair of the Clutching Hand"--One of Hugh Cave's early efforts for the pulps, this is presented as a kind of murder mystery with a scifi twist. Cave's stories from this period featured a lot of sceintific types searching for a secret of immortality or returning people back to life, and this is one of the more effective. It is marred by more blatant racism, this time against "Orientals" and typical of this time period.
"The Strange Case of No. 7"--Another Radium-Age science fiction story, this 1930 yarn about a man who develops a method of killing someone but keeping their mind alive and alert has a similar structure to another of his more known shorts, "The Murder Machine." In both tales, a mad scientist creates a device to enact an elavorate revenge scheme because of unrequited love. Killing a person's body while preserving their mind intact makes a great premise for a "buried alive" torture horror, but the potential is wasted in this very creaky chiller that doesn't have the same punch that Cave's work would become known for in just a few more years.
"The Isle of Dark Magic"--Another crazy person is bent on uncovering the secret of life and death, this time to resurrect a deceased lover in the jungles of an isolated island in Oceania. This one is part of the Cthulhu mythos. Unsettling, but not very terrifying.
"The Whisperers"--Insanely creepy cosmic horror about an unknown force in a dark cellar that can change people--literally. If you have a fear of basements, read with caution!
"Horror in Wax"--An excellent reworking of "A Cask of Amontillado," this is a very tense read even though the reader always can guess what's coming.
"Prey of the Nightborn"--A pretty standard take about sexy vampires who fight over the soul of one hapless schmuck. More obsessive rambling about boobies points to Cave's serious breast fetish in addition to his penchant for the macabre.
"Maxon's Mistress"--To say much about this story would be to spoil it. There is a scene here that would be very stereotypical in modern slashers. Legal complications should have long interfered with what one of the characters does in this story, but depiste some flaws like this, it is a creepy short read.
"Dead Man's Belt"--Set entirely in a junkyard, a ghost returns from the grave for revenge. Like in "The Prophecy," there is so much slang and colloquialism written in eye-dialect to capture the pronunciation of the uneducated that it makes for a very hard read. If you have the patience to get through it, there is a rather satisfactorily gruesome end.
"Boomerang"--A great story with nothing supernatural involved, being more typical of detective pulps at the time, though this one was written for a 1939 issue of "Argosy." It is set in Borneo, inspired by the writings of Hugh Cave's contemporary and friend, Carl Jacobi.
"The Crawling Curse"--Another supernatural revenge tale involving marital infidelity and another animated body-part, this time set in steamy Indonesia. Very spooky. A minor character appears in this story named Captain Fournier, a powerful and noble moniker if you ask me.
"Purr of a Cat"--One of Cave's later pulps from 1942, filled with more breast obsession (I counted seven references just in this story) and another sexy vamp. Meh.
"Tomorrow is Forever"--This is a very short tale but an effective one about a lone German soldier who stumbles into a happy village where no one acknowledges him. A poignant literary monument to one of the great travesties of World War II that few Americans remember--the Nazi destruction of the village of Lidice.
"The Ghoul Gallery"--One of the best of the bunch! This 1932 tale is definitely a staple for any literary fan of scary stories. It is about an ancient curse onto a noble family that leads to members being mysteriously strangled in an upper room of their giant mansion by an assailant who is missing a thumb. Very atmospheric, it is hampered only by one flaw involving an oath that every male descendent takes to keep the curse a secret from subsequent generations lest they live their whole lives in fear. Considering the main characters can read all about the curse and this supposed oath in great detail in a volume of the family history located in the library, I would say the oath isn't very effective in keeping secrets...
"The Cult of the White Ape"--A drunken planter is abusive to his wife and the natives of the sacred land where he plans to start a rubber plantation. He gets his comeuppance in a weird and disjointed tale about "were-apes" that ends up making little sense in the end.
"The Brotherhood of Blood"--I found this one to be the worst of the collection because it was so ridiculous and nonsensical in its execution. A supposed expert in the supernatural tries to protect the last member of an ancient family where all heirs are doomed to become vampires on their 28th birthday. For being such an expert, the main character does pretty much jack about the situation, and then things get even sillier from there.
"The Door of Doom"--Haunted house stories don't get any more cliche--or better--than this! From the establishing description of a giant mansion with its towers looming over the moors, to the endless corridors leading to unused rooms and secret passages, this chiller is a perfect little read for an October night. It is a 1936 "old-dark-house" thriller that features four WWI vets who reunite at a spooky mansion for drinks and a little exploration, tended by a mysterious Chinese servant who warns them to not open a certain door. And of course, they do...
"The Death Watch"--Another Cthulhu mythos story and another attempt to raise someone from the dead. A Florida man learns how to build a radio that sends signals to the beyond. Not very engaging until the final few pages, which are creepy, but we have seen the same thing happen in other stories.
"The Caverns of Time"--There's a lot of whipping and bondage and weird wife-swapping going on in this odd 1943 short set in rural Appalachia. That's about all I can tell you. It makes little sense as to what the protagonist is even doing in the mountains in the first place, what the local yokels are up to with all their cult kinkiness, and whether or not any of it is real. It's unsettling yet stupid at the same time.
"Many Happy Returns"--A very clever and very short creeper from 1966 about a newlywed couple stopping at an old rest-stop for the night during a roadtrip. The house is run by an elderly couple who are oddly interested in birthdays...
"Ladies In Waiting"--This short from 1975 is the latest story to be written before the collection was published. It is unfortunately one of the worst despite Cave's years of writing experience at this point. There seems to be nothing here but a mishmash of multiple horror tropes shoehorned into a very generic "you-can-never-leave-the-house" plot with no real point.
"The Grisly Death"--At the dawn of the Golden Age of science fiction, Hugh Cave brought us this 1934 pulp novella that's got it all. An escaped lunatic out for vengeance, a deformed henchman, an old dark house with a horrific laboratory, a damsel in distress, hard-boiled detectives, evil dogs, surgical torture, and brutal cannibalistic murders. It's kind of gory for the time, but still feels very old-school. I loved it.
"Stragella"--Vampires at sea! This is another one of Cave's more famous tales, and is a great way to end this doorstopper of a book. Congratulations!
Without a doubt, this is a classic of the genre, but it is far from a perfect collection. Cave tended to recycle bits of stories in mixed-and-matched ways, which will lead to you feeling like you have read these somewhere before. Most of the tales are about vampires or crazy revenge plots, and there is only so much originality you can display by rehashing the same material.
But is it scary? Yes! And for those of you really interested in the content of this book, I am attempting to provide a short synopsis and honest review of each of the 26 stories in this giant tome. So stick around...
"Murgunstrumm"--I am largely not frightened by vampire stories as a rule, but this 1934 novella is one of the most scary that I've read in the subgenre. It builds tension and gloomy atmosphere exquistely with a claustrophobic setting for the final showdown in an isolated old pub in the woods. The titular Serbian bloodsucker is suitably chilling with his shuffling limp and malignant grin. In all, I was genuinely creeped out by this rather traditional vampire tale, and this story alone makes this collection worthwhile.
"The Watcher in the Green Room"--One of Cave's more famous tales with a nod to Poe, but overall unremarkable.
"The Prophecy"--Four young white hipsters decide on a late night trek to the slums in order to experience the charms of an unusual charismatic religious service. This could be possibly an early critcism of "cultural appropriation." Or it could be a racist warning away of Caucasian kids from hanging out in jazz clubs or other traditionally predominantly black venues of the time. However you interpret it, the story is a bit disjointed with an ending that comes out of nowhere like a sucker punch.
"The Strange Death of Ivan Gromleigh"--One of the scarier stories in the collection, this 1937 pulp feels a lot more contemporary if only for the overt sexual content and the implications of what the fiend may do to his female victims in this precurosr to the modern slasher subgenre. This is the first of many stories in this omnibus where the author seems a bit too preoccupied with a particular facet of female endowments, which in this case distracts from an otherwise interesting 20th Century take on the "Jekyll and Hyde" motif.
"The Affair of the Clutching Hand"--One of Hugh Cave's early efforts for the pulps, this is presented as a kind of murder mystery with a scifi twist. Cave's stories from this period featured a lot of sceintific types searching for a secret of immortality or returning people back to life, and this is one of the more effective. It is marred by more blatant racism, this time against "Orientals" and typical of this time period.
"The Strange Case of No. 7"--Another Radium-Age science fiction story, this 1930 yarn about a man who develops a method of killing someone but keeping their mind alive and alert has a similar structure to another of his more known shorts, "The Murder Machine." In both tales, a mad scientist creates a device to enact an elavorate revenge scheme because of unrequited love. Killing a person's body while preserving their mind intact makes a great premise for a "buried alive" torture horror, but the potential is wasted in this very creaky chiller that doesn't have the same punch that Cave's work would become known for in just a few more years.
"The Isle of Dark Magic"--Another crazy person is bent on uncovering the secret of life and death, this time to resurrect a deceased lover in the jungles of an isolated island in Oceania. This one is part of the Cthulhu mythos. Unsettling, but not very terrifying.
"The Whisperers"--Insanely creepy cosmic horror about an unknown force in a dark cellar that can change people--literally. If you have a fear of basements, read with caution!
"Horror in Wax"--An excellent reworking of "A Cask of Amontillado," this is a very tense read even though the reader always can guess what's coming.
"Prey of the Nightborn"--A pretty standard take about sexy vampires who fight over the soul of one hapless schmuck. More obsessive rambling about boobies points to Cave's serious breast fetish in addition to his penchant for the macabre.
"Maxon's Mistress"--To say much about this story would be to spoil it. There is a scene here that would be very stereotypical in modern slashers. Legal complications should have long interfered with what one of the characters does in this story, but depiste some flaws like this, it is a creepy short read.
"Dead Man's Belt"--Set entirely in a junkyard, a ghost returns from the grave for revenge. Like in "The Prophecy," there is so much slang and colloquialism written in eye-dialect to capture the pronunciation of the uneducated that it makes for a very hard read. If you have the patience to get through it, there is a rather satisfactorily gruesome end.
"Boomerang"--A great story with nothing supernatural involved, being more typical of detective pulps at the time, though this one was written for a 1939 issue of "Argosy." It is set in Borneo, inspired by the writings of Hugh Cave's contemporary and friend, Carl Jacobi.
"The Crawling Curse"--Another supernatural revenge tale involving marital infidelity and another animated body-part, this time set in steamy Indonesia. Very spooky. A minor character appears in this story named Captain Fournier, a powerful and noble moniker if you ask me.
"Purr of a Cat"--One of Cave's later pulps from 1942, filled with more breast obsession (I counted seven references just in this story) and another sexy vamp. Meh.
"Tomorrow is Forever"--This is a very short tale but an effective one about a lone German soldier who stumbles into a happy village where no one acknowledges him. A poignant literary monument to one of the great travesties of World War II that few Americans remember--the Nazi destruction of the village of Lidice.
"The Ghoul Gallery"--One of the best of the bunch! This 1932 tale is definitely a staple for any literary fan of scary stories. It is about an ancient curse onto a noble family that leads to members being mysteriously strangled in an upper room of their giant mansion by an assailant who is missing a thumb. Very atmospheric, it is hampered only by one flaw involving an oath that every male descendent takes to keep the curse a secret from subsequent generations lest they live their whole lives in fear. Considering the main characters can read all about the curse and this supposed oath in great detail in a volume of the family history located in the library, I would say the oath isn't very effective in keeping secrets...
"The Cult of the White Ape"--A drunken planter is abusive to his wife and the natives of the sacred land where he plans to start a rubber plantation. He gets his comeuppance in a weird and disjointed tale about "were-apes" that ends up making little sense in the end.
"The Brotherhood of Blood"--I found this one to be the worst of the collection because it was so ridiculous and nonsensical in its execution. A supposed expert in the supernatural tries to protect the last member of an ancient family where all heirs are doomed to become vampires on their 28th birthday. For being such an expert, the main character does pretty much jack about the situation, and then things get even sillier from there.
"The Door of Doom"--Haunted house stories don't get any more cliche--or better--than this! From the establishing description of a giant mansion with its towers looming over the moors, to the endless corridors leading to unused rooms and secret passages, this chiller is a perfect little read for an October night. It is a 1936 "old-dark-house" thriller that features four WWI vets who reunite at a spooky mansion for drinks and a little exploration, tended by a mysterious Chinese servant who warns them to not open a certain door. And of course, they do...
"The Death Watch"--Another Cthulhu mythos story and another attempt to raise someone from the dead. A Florida man learns how to build a radio that sends signals to the beyond. Not very engaging until the final few pages, which are creepy, but we have seen the same thing happen in other stories.
"The Caverns of Time"--There's a lot of whipping and bondage and weird wife-swapping going on in this odd 1943 short set in rural Appalachia. That's about all I can tell you. It makes little sense as to what the protagonist is even doing in the mountains in the first place, what the local yokels are up to with all their cult kinkiness, and whether or not any of it is real. It's unsettling yet stupid at the same time.
"Many Happy Returns"--A very clever and very short creeper from 1966 about a newlywed couple stopping at an old rest-stop for the night during a roadtrip. The house is run by an elderly couple who are oddly interested in birthdays...
"Ladies In Waiting"--This short from 1975 is the latest story to be written before the collection was published. It is unfortunately one of the worst despite Cave's years of writing experience at this point. There seems to be nothing here but a mishmash of multiple horror tropes shoehorned into a very generic "you-can-never-leave-the-house" plot with no real point.
"The Grisly Death"--At the dawn of the Golden Age of science fiction, Hugh Cave brought us this 1934 pulp novella that's got it all. An escaped lunatic out for vengeance, a deformed henchman, an old dark house with a horrific laboratory, a damsel in distress, hard-boiled detectives, evil dogs, surgical torture, and brutal cannibalistic murders. It's kind of gory for the time, but still feels very old-school. I loved it.
"Stragella"--Vampires at sea! This is another one of Cave's more famous tales, and is a great way to end this doorstopper of a book. Congratulations!
June 2, 2011
More pulp horror from the 30's. This is a companion collection to DEATH STALKS THE NIGHT, also by Hugh B. Cave. Unlike that collection, these stories have more supernatural elements to them, rather than the "weird menace" variety. Compiled by Karl Edward Wagner, nearly every story in this collection was published in the early 1930's, mostly in WEIRD TALES. Cave's yarns have a style unto their own. No archaic language, no dense prose, no cosmic mythos, just white hot tales that deliver the goods in pure pulp glory. H.P. Lovecraft he ain't. Cave had a long career well beyond these stories from his youth. As Cave puts it in his intro; "...one had to make a typewriter smoke in order to keep eating." If you're a fan of the "weird fantasy" era of pulps, you should enjoy this collection.
March 2, 2013
This collection of 26 horror stories by pulp-master Hugh B. Cave is too large for its own good. There are enough good-to-excellent stories here to fill out a full 5-star collection. But the overall rating gets dragged down by a comparable number of mediocre-to-dreadful efforts. Cave’s tales are full of genre standards: monsters, ghosts, vampires, shapeshifters, murder, madness, and the returning dead (or body parts thereof!). Even the best stories may not be original or innovative, but they are lurid, compulsively readable, and move at a breathless pace.
Here are my candidates for the 5-star collection within:
"Murgunstrumm." A man escapes from an asylum and brings the doctors who committed him to a remote inn, inhabited by vampires to prove that he and his fiancee are not insane. (Gaudy, fast-moving and entertaining. Like Dashiell Hammett writing a vampire tale.)
"The Whisperers." Man is beset by evil whispers in his basement urging him to kill his wife.
"Horror in Wax." After discovering the affair between his wife and a young artist, a wealthy patron devises a scheme to torment the young man beyond endurance. (An old-fashioned revenge tale very reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe. A trifle predictable as a result, but still very well done.)
"Maxon's Mistress." An old friend accidentally discovers the former surgeon Peter Maxon who long ago abandoned a promising career and disappeared to live under an assumed name, and why.
"Boomerang." A group of expats in the far east listen to an unpleasant man's tale of how a clever but unscrupulous man framed another and drove him away from a profitable diamond concession. (Nice, short, effective revenge tale. Reminded me of Guy Boothby's exotic tales of adventure and skullduggery.)
"The Crawling Curse." Another far eastern story. Vesker kills a half-breed official to be with his wife, but the new couple are pursued by the dead man's dismembered arm. (Fast-moving, tight, exciting writing.)
"The Purr of a Cat." An artist picks up a beautiful hitchhiker in a rainstorm and ends up staying with her in her ramshackle house. Their passionate, consuming affair leaves the man lethargic and strangely drained...
"The Ghoul Gallery." A young nobleman faces madness and death resulting from an old family curse. (One of the best stories in the book. An excellent example of a classic-style ghost story.)
"The Cult of the White Ape." Betts, a cruel, drunken lout comes to the Congo to plant rubber plants, where he beats the natives and his wife mercilessly. (Involves native shape-shifters.)
"The Death Watch." Man calls back his wife's dead brother using sophisticated radio-gear and black magic, not realizing the brother's thirst for revenge.
"Ladies in Waiting." A man tries to keep his wife from a haunted house where he suspects she had an erotic experience before, but then finds himself mesmerized by seemingly tantalizing spirit.
"Stragella." Two shipwreck victims adrift at sea clamber aboard a derelict ship, but it is inhabited by three vampires who use the ship as a base and feed on the prisoners living on a nearby prison island.
Here are my candidates for the 5-star collection within:
"Murgunstrumm." A man escapes from an asylum and brings the doctors who committed him to a remote inn, inhabited by vampires to prove that he and his fiancee are not insane. (Gaudy, fast-moving and entertaining. Like Dashiell Hammett writing a vampire tale.)
"The Whisperers." Man is beset by evil whispers in his basement urging him to kill his wife.
"Horror in Wax." After discovering the affair between his wife and a young artist, a wealthy patron devises a scheme to torment the young man beyond endurance. (An old-fashioned revenge tale very reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe. A trifle predictable as a result, but still very well done.)
"Maxon's Mistress." An old friend accidentally discovers the former surgeon Peter Maxon who long ago abandoned a promising career and disappeared to live under an assumed name, and why.
"Boomerang." A group of expats in the far east listen to an unpleasant man's tale of how a clever but unscrupulous man framed another and drove him away from a profitable diamond concession. (Nice, short, effective revenge tale. Reminded me of Guy Boothby's exotic tales of adventure and skullduggery.)
"The Crawling Curse." Another far eastern story. Vesker kills a half-breed official to be with his wife, but the new couple are pursued by the dead man's dismembered arm. (Fast-moving, tight, exciting writing.)
"The Purr of a Cat." An artist picks up a beautiful hitchhiker in a rainstorm and ends up staying with her in her ramshackle house. Their passionate, consuming affair leaves the man lethargic and strangely drained...
"The Ghoul Gallery." A young nobleman faces madness and death resulting from an old family curse. (One of the best stories in the book. An excellent example of a classic-style ghost story.)
"The Cult of the White Ape." Betts, a cruel, drunken lout comes to the Congo to plant rubber plants, where he beats the natives and his wife mercilessly. (Involves native shape-shifters.)
"The Death Watch." Man calls back his wife's dead brother using sophisticated radio-gear and black magic, not realizing the brother's thirst for revenge.
"Ladies in Waiting." A man tries to keep his wife from a haunted house where he suspects she had an erotic experience before, but then finds himself mesmerized by seemingly tantalizing spirit.
"Stragella." Two shipwreck victims adrift at sea clamber aboard a derelict ship, but it is inhabited by three vampires who use the ship as a base and feed on the prisoners living on a nearby prison island.
July 29, 2010
I'm not sure whether the dreamlike state these stories achieve is always intentional, but this is probably the most nightmarish collection of pulp fiction I've ever read. Cave's grotesque imagination often seems to overwhelm his control of the plot. Things disjoint. Stories seem to jump from moment to moment like a skipping record. But the imagery is ferocious, the tales merciless, and unlike many single author collections, this one does not exhaust by the end - the stories gain a cumulative power. Lee Brown Coye's illustrations are primitive, sexual, and weird - they come from a pulp magazine painted on a cave wall. He's the anti-Virgil Finlay. They only add to the surrealism of the collection, however, with the weird lattice patterns that prove that Coye is indeed in control of what he was doing, even if, at this point, Cave sometimes wasn't. Well worth the money - a Halloween classic.
May 3, 2015
This is a giant collection of Cave's pulp horror work from the 30s-50s (mostly from Weird Tales). I read it bit by bit over a span of about 6 months. It really is pretty amazing. There's nothing here that's particularly original (vampires, werewolves, mad scientists, voodoo cults, haunted houses, shapely ladies, lots of darkness, jungles, beaches, basements) but every minute of it seems completely convincing. The aura of menace is unrelenting and the stories move fast; he doesn't tease you with a bunch of atmosphere and stuff, he just grabs you and hurls you off the cliff. It's refreshing.
Favorite stories: "Boomerang," "The Cult of the White Ape," "Murgunstrumm," "The Purr of a cat," and, especially, "Stragella" (I'm always a sucker for a ghost ship).
Can also see the influence of these on Karl Edward Wagner (whose Carcosa press put this out).
Favorite stories: "Boomerang," "The Cult of the White Ape," "Murgunstrumm," "The Purr of a cat," and, especially, "Stragella" (I'm always a sucker for a ghost ship).
Can also see the influence of these on Karl Edward Wagner (whose Carcosa press put this out).
February 15, 2023
Ein kurzweiliger Schmöker für zwischendurch.
Paul hat schlimmes durchgemacht und ist in einer Irrenanstalt gelandet. Aus dieser flieht er. Denn er möchte beweisen das er nicht verrückt ist und gleichzeitig seine Verlobte finden.
Diese beiden waren vor einiger Zeit im „Gray Toad Inn“ . Dort sollen Vampire hausen, die ihre Opfer nach dem Tod schlimm verstümmeln.
So endet dieses Buch mit einem blutigem Finale und einem Happy End.
Erstmals erschien es 1933 und ich denke für diese Zeit war es ein grausiger Schmaus. Denn der Autor schafft um das Treiben der Vampire eine ziemlich düstere und skurrile Atmosphäre.
Für heutige Verhältnisse und auch für Dracula oder auch andere Vampirromane Kenner ist nicht viel neues dabei.
Murgunstrumm war allerdings ein sehr ungewöhnlicher und skurriler Charakter der Spaß gemacht hat.
Paul hat schlimmes durchgemacht und ist in einer Irrenanstalt gelandet. Aus dieser flieht er. Denn er möchte beweisen das er nicht verrückt ist und gleichzeitig seine Verlobte finden.
Diese beiden waren vor einiger Zeit im „Gray Toad Inn“ . Dort sollen Vampire hausen, die ihre Opfer nach dem Tod schlimm verstümmeln.
So endet dieses Buch mit einem blutigem Finale und einem Happy End.
Erstmals erschien es 1933 und ich denke für diese Zeit war es ein grausiger Schmaus. Denn der Autor schafft um das Treiben der Vampire eine ziemlich düstere und skurrile Atmosphäre.
Für heutige Verhältnisse und auch für Dracula oder auch andere Vampirromane Kenner ist nicht viel neues dabei.
Murgunstrumm war allerdings ein sehr ungewöhnlicher und skurriler Charakter der Spaß gemacht hat.
October 31, 2016
I enjoyed this Karl Edward Wagner-curated collection - although I question the inclusion of some of the stories. Murgunstrumm & Others is a survey of Cave's short fiction from the early to mid 30's, having originally appeared between the covers of such "shudder pulps" as Weird Tales, Strange Tales, and Astounding. As such they have a flavour unique to the genre and period - a mixture of gore, simmering eroticism, and some genuine chills. Few did it better - or more prolifically - than Cave. The good stories, such as The Isle of Dark Magic, The Cult of the White Ape, The Door of Doom and the oft reprinted Stragella, are very good indeed, but some of the rest are just unremarkable filler. 3 & half stars.
January 7, 2016
I would say that Hugh B. Cave was not a great innovator, but a solid and capable writer in the terse pulp fiction style. His fiction consists of vampires, voluptuous women, men of action, and the mad. His writing reminds one of pulp era tales of the criminal underworld, with quick paced action, smoking revolvers, and fists connecting squarely with jaws, but his antagonists tend to the supernatural and science fictional rather than your run-of-the-mill gangsters and gun molls. All in all an enjoyable collection of pulp horror tales.
August 24, 2023
Began reading this during Covid Lockdown and the first story "Murgunstrumm" is a show stopper. So very different than almost anything else I've read and CREEPY and satisfying. However nearly each subsequent short story diminished my opinion of this collection. Too many of these stories were samey and repetitive in theme style and substance. By the time I got to Dead Man's Belt (with its outrageously racist depiction of Black people) it was fully beginning to feel like a chore reading this.
I've had it bookmarked at The Cult Of The White Ape for months now and have decided to delete it and be free. I am grateful to have gotten to read a digital copy of this long out of print book because it's truly fascinating as a voice and echoing from the past. Maybe the stress of lockdown has partially and unfairly affected my engagement with it but I'm done.
Good riddance.
I've had it bookmarked at The Cult Of The White Ape for months now and have decided to delete it and be free. I am grateful to have gotten to read a digital copy of this long out of print book because it's truly fascinating as a voice and echoing from the past. Maybe the stress of lockdown has partially and unfairly affected my engagement with it but I'm done.
Good riddance.
April 7, 2019
Most of these stories are worth 4 stars but the title story didn't. And don't get me started on 'The Grisly Death', which was awful and should be named 'The Scowling Death' on account of 'scowl' and 'scowling' appearing roughly every two sentences: 'She pointed again, and the young man stared, scowling.'; '“As a personal favor to me,” Hurley scowled.'; 'He scowled, muttered aloud his personal opinion of curiosityseekers'; '“What happened?” Simms scowled.'; 'He paced to the door, aware that Sanderson, behind him, was scowling.'; 'His scowl increased as he considered the viciousness of Sanderson’s watch-dogs.' Etcetera etcetera etscowlingcetera.
August 1, 2017
I couldn't finish this. Possibly one of the worst horror story collections I've read in long time. Murgunstrumm starts the collection of to a good start, but having listened up to Dead Man's Belt, I haven't heard anything else worth the listen or read.
October 22, 2024
The Best of Pulp Horror
Hugh B. Cave was a prominent writer for the early pulps, known for his stories featuring monsters and sensual women. His writing is characterized by its strength, vivid descriptions, and chilling atmosphere, showcasing his dark imagination.
It's important to note that Cave's works reflect the attitudes of his era, and some of his stories include disturbing elements of racism.
Hugh B. Cave was a prominent writer for the early pulps, known for his stories featuring monsters and sensual women. His writing is characterized by its strength, vivid descriptions, and chilling atmosphere, showcasing his dark imagination.
It's important to note that Cave's works reflect the attitudes of his era, and some of his stories include disturbing elements of racism.
September 4, 2024
✔️ The Death Watch by Hugh B. Cave, 09/03/2024
September 25, 2021
An okay compilation of stories from the pulps, not the best nor the worst. It is a mixed bag with some real standouts. As to the production, there are abrupt transition between stories, sometimes with no pause, so the stories run into each other. There are also too many odd mispronunciations. The narration is a bit wooden.
Murgunstrumm. 4 stars. Originally published in the January 1933 issue of STRANGE TALES OF MYSTERY AND TERROR. It begins with an escape from an insane asylum and ends with a vampire encounter at a roadhouse on a lonely road. An interesting cast of characters includes escapees from the insane asylum, a chauffeur, doctors, even a pseudo Van Helsing, and of course the grotesque Murgunstrumm. At roughly 3.5 hours this novella holds the attention throughout.
The Watcher in the Green Room. 3 stars. A drunken man, whose wife has disappeared, descends into madness. Or did his beliefs create a monster? Has the bureau become something else? Reminiscent of Poe.
Prophecy. 1 star. October 1934, Black Book Detective. This is not so much a detective story as it is a weird tale. Two white couples decide to visit a makeshift 'church' above a lunchroom in the negro part of town. What happens is more like a seance than a church service. The area is shady and they are warned by one of their friends that nothing good can come of this.
The Strange Death of Ivan Gromleigh. 3 stars. An inventive story about art, dual nature, and endless references to breasts. A string of artists are employed to illustrate an unusual work by a psychiatrist who believes men have dual natures, one of which is bestial. Odin, the latest in the string of artists, has a cringing wife whose great breasts are continually referenced.
The Affair of the Clutching Hand. 2 stars. It does not go well for a scientist who is trying to cheat death.
The Strange Case of No. 7. 2 stars. A man wants to experience death and return to tell about it.
The Isle of Dark Magic. 3 stars. With hints of the Cthulhu mythos, this is a tale of a young man who is a would be necromancer. He has gone off to a sparsely inhabited south seas island to perfect his diabolical plan.
The Whisperers. (Also known as The Isle of Whisperers). 2 stars. This is a really creepy story about a couple on their honeymoon who find a house they decide to buy and fix up. The house is known to be haunted, but it turns out to be more than just a pesky ghost. What is originally thought to be rats in the cellar turns out to be the whispers of something much darker.
Horror in Wax. 2 stars. A twisted tale of revenge upon an adulterous couple. Rather predictable.
Prey of the Nightborn. 2 stars. A mediocre vampire tale with, you guessed it, breasts.
Maxon's Mistress. 2 stars. A doctor suffers a terrible accident involving his arms. A tale of murder and revenge or guilt and madness.
Dead Man's Belt, 1 star. While the denouement is satisfying the rape and caricature of African Americans makes it untenable.
Boomerang, 2 stars. A predictable story of revenge.
The Crawling Curse. 2 stars. Gruesome tale of supernatural revenge involving a ghostly arm, and a mother's wrath.
Purr Of A Cat, 1 star. The male equivalent of a romance novel with a tad of the supernatural thrown in and lots of breasts.
Tomorrow is Forever. 3 stars. An interesting, though predictable after life story of a soldier.
The Ghoul Gallery. 2.5 stars. A creepy portrait, an old curse, and a woman saves the day.
The Cult of the White Ape. 3 stars. A tale of the danger of hubris and magic and mysticism in darkest Africa.
The Brotherhood of Blood. 3 stars. In the style of Interview With A Vampire, though written long before it; the story of how a brother of the blood was made.
The Door of Doom. 2 stars. A mystery in a creepy house where people disappear. There is an ancient Chinese servant and a locked door.
The Death Watch. 3 stars. A nice edition to the Cthulhu Mythos involving contacting the dead through radio waves.
The Caverns of Time. 1 star. Lunatic hillbillies and sadism. Another guy enamored by breasts.
Many Happy Returns. 4 stars. A creepy, fun story about newlyweds who stay the night at an inn run by an extremely old couple who wants to tell their fortunes by their birthdates.
Ladies in Waiting. 1 star. A weird seduction by monstrous creatures.
The Grisly Death. 1 star. A gruesome murder scene, a murder investigation, a mad taxidermist. Peopled with evil asylum escapees and dirty foreigners adds to the unpleasantness of this story.
Stragella. 4 stars. An original take on the vampire tale while still being recognizable as being about vampires. As if being stranded at sea isn't bad enough, how about finding a derelict ship laden with vines with strangely scented flowers, a deck littered with bones that reanimate, bats, and gypsies. This is a story that keeps interest alive to the end.
Murgunstrumm. 4 stars. Originally published in the January 1933 issue of STRANGE TALES OF MYSTERY AND TERROR. It begins with an escape from an insane asylum and ends with a vampire encounter at a roadhouse on a lonely road. An interesting cast of characters includes escapees from the insane asylum, a chauffeur, doctors, even a pseudo Van Helsing, and of course the grotesque Murgunstrumm. At roughly 3.5 hours this novella holds the attention throughout.
The Watcher in the Green Room. 3 stars. A drunken man, whose wife has disappeared, descends into madness. Or did his beliefs create a monster? Has the bureau become something else? Reminiscent of Poe.
Prophecy. 1 star. October 1934, Black Book Detective. This is not so much a detective story as it is a weird tale. Two white couples decide to visit a makeshift 'church' above a lunchroom in the negro part of town. What happens is more like a seance than a church service. The area is shady and they are warned by one of their friends that nothing good can come of this.
The Strange Death of Ivan Gromleigh. 3 stars. An inventive story about art, dual nature, and endless references to breasts. A string of artists are employed to illustrate an unusual work by a psychiatrist who believes men have dual natures, one of which is bestial. Odin, the latest in the string of artists, has a cringing wife whose great breasts are continually referenced.
The Affair of the Clutching Hand. 2 stars. It does not go well for a scientist who is trying to cheat death.
The Strange Case of No. 7. 2 stars. A man wants to experience death and return to tell about it.
The Isle of Dark Magic. 3 stars. With hints of the Cthulhu mythos, this is a tale of a young man who is a would be necromancer. He has gone off to a sparsely inhabited south seas island to perfect his diabolical plan.
The Whisperers. (Also known as The Isle of Whisperers). 2 stars. This is a really creepy story about a couple on their honeymoon who find a house they decide to buy and fix up. The house is known to be haunted, but it turns out to be more than just a pesky ghost. What is originally thought to be rats in the cellar turns out to be the whispers of something much darker.
Horror in Wax. 2 stars. A twisted tale of revenge upon an adulterous couple. Rather predictable.
Prey of the Nightborn. 2 stars. A mediocre vampire tale with, you guessed it, breasts.
Maxon's Mistress. 2 stars. A doctor suffers a terrible accident involving his arms. A tale of murder and revenge or guilt and madness.
Dead Man's Belt, 1 star. While the denouement is satisfying the rape and caricature of African Americans makes it untenable.
Boomerang, 2 stars. A predictable story of revenge.
The Crawling Curse. 2 stars. Gruesome tale of supernatural revenge involving a ghostly arm, and a mother's wrath.
Purr Of A Cat, 1 star. The male equivalent of a romance novel with a tad of the supernatural thrown in and lots of breasts.
Tomorrow is Forever. 3 stars. An interesting, though predictable after life story of a soldier.
The Ghoul Gallery. 2.5 stars. A creepy portrait, an old curse, and a woman saves the day.
The Cult of the White Ape. 3 stars. A tale of the danger of hubris and magic and mysticism in darkest Africa.
The Brotherhood of Blood. 3 stars. In the style of Interview With A Vampire, though written long before it; the story of how a brother of the blood was made.
The Door of Doom. 2 stars. A mystery in a creepy house where people disappear. There is an ancient Chinese servant and a locked door.
The Death Watch. 3 stars. A nice edition to the Cthulhu Mythos involving contacting the dead through radio waves.
The Caverns of Time. 1 star. Lunatic hillbillies and sadism. Another guy enamored by breasts.
Many Happy Returns. 4 stars. A creepy, fun story about newlyweds who stay the night at an inn run by an extremely old couple who wants to tell their fortunes by their birthdates.
Ladies in Waiting. 1 star. A weird seduction by monstrous creatures.
The Grisly Death. 1 star. A gruesome murder scene, a murder investigation, a mad taxidermist. Peopled with evil asylum escapees and dirty foreigners adds to the unpleasantness of this story.
Stragella. 4 stars. An original take on the vampire tale while still being recognizable as being about vampires. As if being stranded at sea isn't bad enough, how about finding a derelict ship laden with vines with strangely scented flowers, a deck littered with bones that reanimate, bats, and gypsies. This is a story that keeps interest alive to the end.
December 1, 2015
Pulp fiction, through and through. While I can appreciate the cultural context for these stories, the collection as a whole felt a bit uneven. Perhaps the sheer volume of the content was a bit much to listen to all in one go (and the narrator was ok, as opposed to excellent), but the tales that really resonated with me were eventually crowded out by a desire to finally finish the book. Still, these often achieve a unique kind of weirdness.
April 17, 2017
I finally got around to reading all these stories. The pulp area was an amazing time for treasures like these and Cave never fails to disappoint. Lee Brown Coye's added illustrations are stellar to the added weird theme of this book. KEW was instrumental to bringing Cave back into the limelight when this book was published and this is a volume not to be missed.
August 1, 2015
a nice collection of gruesome horrors by a classic pulp author Hugh B Cave. Illustrated by Coye.
December 2, 2016
Some good stuff here-old-fashioned.
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