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Dr. Basil Willing #12
Mr Splitfoot
To wake the devil, Lucinda summoned the arch fiend with the ancient invocation, and from the secret room where her friend Vanya had agreed to hide came the eerie response. The rapping called up all the terror of the old tales, and the joke was going marvellously.
Until Lucinda realised that Vanya had never arrived at the old house . . .
Until Lucinda realised that Vanya had never arrived at the old house . . .
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1968
1 person is currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Helen McCloy
63 books38 followersHelen McCloy, born as Helen Worrell Clarkson McCloy (she also published as Helen Clarkson), was an American mystery writer, whose series character Dr. Basil Willing debuted in Dance of Death (1938). Willing believes that "every criminal leaves psychic fingerprints, and he can't wear gloves to hide them." He appeared in 13 of McCloy's novels and in several of her short stories. McCloy often used the theme of doppelganger, but in the end of the story she showed a psychological or realistic explanation for the seemingly supernatural events.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 5, 2021
In the middle of a snowstorm, in an old house in the Catskill mountains, Lucinda Swayne decides she's going to summon up Mister Splitfoot...the devil. Not for real, of course, but the teenage girl and her friend Vanya plan a diabolical practical joke to scare her father and stepmother. Lucinda knows there's something odd about the house--there's that room at the top of the stairs that's always locked and no one talks about. Haunted, of course. So, there's a nice atmosphere for conjuring demons. Vanya plans to hide in a place where "they may search...but they won't find me." And he'll produce ghostly knocking to indicate that Mister Splitfoot has arrived. But when the family, friends, and a couple of unexpected guests are gathered in the dining room and the eerie knocking begins, she doesn't realize that it's not Vanya making the noise. He calls just after the manifestation to tell her wasn't able to make it. So, who...or what made the noise?
Earlier that evening, Dr. Basil Willing and his wife were driving through the snowstorm in an attempt to reach the ski lodge where they had reservations. The car dies just a short distance from Crow's Flight, where the Swayne's make their home, and Gisela injures her foot on the way to the house. Frank and Serena take the stranded couple in for the night and add them to their somewhat crowded guest list. Over dinner, when the question arises as to why the Willings must sleep in the living room rather than the empty room at the top of the stairs, David Crowe (who has rented the house to the Swayne's) reveals that several unexplained deaths have occurred in that room--and since the last Crowe died there, the room has been kept locked.
After the strange knocking occurs and Lucinda faints dead away after Vanya's phone call and everyone but the men in the house have gone to bed, Willing, an eminent psychologist, suggests that the room should be opened and proved safe to normalize Lucinda's feelings. That suggestion morphs into a drawing of lots to see which of the men will spend the night in the "haunted room." The lot falls to David Crowe and armed with a book to keep him awake and a bell to ring in case of danger. The door is left open and the rest of the men camp out in a room in view of the stairs (to be available in case of need). Above, there are creaky floorboards that will reveal if anyone in the other bedrooms approaches the haunted room.
Willing, Swayne, and Bradford Alcott have just settled down to a game of cards when the bell rings erratically. When the men reach the room at the top of the stairs, they find Crowe dead. There's no obvious sign of violence and they neither saw nor heard anyone approach the room. The marks in the dusty floor are just as they left them when the three men left Crowe to his fate and the untouched snow surrounding the house show that no one came in from the outside. The local police and Dr. Willing have a seemingly impossible crime on their hands and the first order of business is to discover how an apparently healthy man met his death.
I am in two minds about McCloy's story. On the one hand, this is (in great part) an atmospheric mystery with elements of suspense and horror. The story of previous deaths and the scene in the dining room are very affecting. The locked room mystery (with the unusual twist of the door being wide open...) is quite well done with a solution that is excellent in its execution and its simplicity. But...the teenagers are a bit much. The opening scene where they refer to the adults as "They" and "Them"--always in capitals is very annoying and Vanya's references to Lucinda as "Worm" are pretty dire as well. I also find it bizarre that nearly the whole group--both adults and teens--talk like one of Basil Willing's psychology textbooks. Examining people's reactions with observations fitting in the case of Dr. Willing, but unlikely in the case of ordinary adults at a house party. If the general conversation and reactions of the majority of those in the house had been anything like normal throughout, then this would have been a very fine story indeed. ★★★ and 1/2 (rounded up here)
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
Earlier that evening, Dr. Basil Willing and his wife were driving through the snowstorm in an attempt to reach the ski lodge where they had reservations. The car dies just a short distance from Crow's Flight, where the Swayne's make their home, and Gisela injures her foot on the way to the house. Frank and Serena take the stranded couple in for the night and add them to their somewhat crowded guest list. Over dinner, when the question arises as to why the Willings must sleep in the living room rather than the empty room at the top of the stairs, David Crowe (who has rented the house to the Swayne's) reveals that several unexplained deaths have occurred in that room--and since the last Crowe died there, the room has been kept locked.
After the strange knocking occurs and Lucinda faints dead away after Vanya's phone call and everyone but the men in the house have gone to bed, Willing, an eminent psychologist, suggests that the room should be opened and proved safe to normalize Lucinda's feelings. That suggestion morphs into a drawing of lots to see which of the men will spend the night in the "haunted room." The lot falls to David Crowe and armed with a book to keep him awake and a bell to ring in case of danger. The door is left open and the rest of the men camp out in a room in view of the stairs (to be available in case of need). Above, there are creaky floorboards that will reveal if anyone in the other bedrooms approaches the haunted room.
Willing, Swayne, and Bradford Alcott have just settled down to a game of cards when the bell rings erratically. When the men reach the room at the top of the stairs, they find Crowe dead. There's no obvious sign of violence and they neither saw nor heard anyone approach the room. The marks in the dusty floor are just as they left them when the three men left Crowe to his fate and the untouched snow surrounding the house show that no one came in from the outside. The local police and Dr. Willing have a seemingly impossible crime on their hands and the first order of business is to discover how an apparently healthy man met his death.
I am in two minds about McCloy's story. On the one hand, this is (in great part) an atmospheric mystery with elements of suspense and horror. The story of previous deaths and the scene in the dining room are very affecting. The locked room mystery (with the unusual twist of the door being wide open...) is quite well done with a solution that is excellent in its execution and its simplicity. But...the teenagers are a bit much. The opening scene where they refer to the adults as "They" and "Them"--always in capitals is very annoying and Vanya's references to Lucinda as "Worm" are pretty dire as well. I also find it bizarre that nearly the whole group--both adults and teens--talk like one of Basil Willing's psychology textbooks. Examining people's reactions with observations fitting in the case of Dr. Willing, but unlikely in the case of ordinary adults at a house party. If the general conversation and reactions of the majority of those in the house had been anything like normal throughout, then this would have been a very fine story indeed. ★★★ and 1/2 (rounded up here)
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
May 20, 2012
Dr. Basil Willing and his wife are on holiday in the mountains. Mrs. Willing breaks her leg after skiing, and the two are stranded in the snow. They take shelter in an old pre-Civil War era home where a large group is staying.
The occupants and the owners are both present, as are a few teenagers and an elderly couple. Unfortunately for the Willings, the only vacant room for them to stay is a room that has been locked for decades due to the several deaths that occurred in there. They decide to open it, but that night, another death occurs.
The ending is a bit abrupt, but overall, this is a solid haunted house thriller with plenty of suspects to keep you guessing.
The occupants and the owners are both present, as are a few teenagers and an elderly couple. Unfortunately for the Willings, the only vacant room for them to stay is a room that has been locked for decades due to the several deaths that occurred in there. They decide to open it, but that night, another death occurs.
The ending is a bit abrupt, but overall, this is a solid haunted house thriller with plenty of suspects to keep you guessing.
August 20, 2022
I really wanted to like this, it being a locked-room mystery in a snow-bound house, with supernatural overtones. And the mystery itself is pretty good. But otherwise, the writing is poor: McCloy has a lot of arcane knowledge and strong opinions, and puts them in the minds and mouths of her characters rather randomly. This tends to ruin the creation of real characters and to make hash of the pacing. Lucinda is an interesting character, but she’s misused by the author: if the whole thing were narrated by her, it might’ve worked better. Oh well.
January 7, 2022
Suspenseful, if contrived, first half; then falls apart with too much focus on the teenaged characters and lame explanations for the various mysterious occurences. Killer is easy to spot.
December 30, 2021
There was a lot of unnecessary details at times, but overall this was an enjoyable read and a great mystery. I'm certainly going to read more from this author.
September 12, 2014
I used to read some of her shorter tales like her often anthologized Through A Glass Darkly. This is my first experience with her novel-length tale and she did not let me down. I think her opening chapter is quite strong and made this mystery literally unputdownable. All in all, this is one of those lesser known Golden Age classics every aficionado should not miss. It was selected by H.R.F. Keating ,the renowned British crime writer and critic to be listed as one of the best works quoted in his Crime and Mystery: 100 Best Books.
July 31, 2017
[Note: This is not Samantha Hunt’s 2016 novel by the same name]
Helen McCloy was a pulp fiction detective thriller writer who modeled her work after Agatha Christie. Her first novel was published in 1938 and they spilled out regularly for decades. Her 1969 novella Mister Splitfoot is the 12th of thirteen in her Dr. Basil Willing series. Willing is a forensic psychiatrist who regularly finds himself in unusual places where a crime may have been committed, and we watch him sift through the clues and get to the answer of “Whodunit;” always, of course, with the aid of his talented and ever-perspicacious wife Gisela.
In this case the venue is upstate New York and the Willings are driving through a blinding snowstorm when their car bogs down, They see the lights of a house and as they walk toward it Gisela twists her ankle. They must stay the night but when they knock on the door seeking sanctuary they discover that a house party is underway and only one bedroom is open—and that bedroom has been locked and unused for fifty years. They are relegated to the living room sofa.
The house, named Crow’s Flight, is owned by the Crowe family but has been rented to the Swayne family with an option to buy. The Crowes and the Swaynes, including fifteen year-old Lucinda Swayne, are the current occupants The house party, held to recognize the anticipated sale of the house to the Swaynes, also includes the Alcotts and their son Vanya, who are neighbors. While we are watching the action in the living room, the children—Lucinda and Vanya—are exploring the house. Lucinda finds an old unused attic that has been closed in as the house was renovated and expanded. This space allows her to hear all sorts of conversations, and to upset the adults with weird ghostly sounds, like rapping on the floor. She and Vanya cook up a scheme to scare the adults.
The story is loosely modeled on the lives of the three New York Fox sisters who inspired the rise of Spiritualism in the 1850s. They claimed, falsely, that they could communicate with the dead through an entity called “Mr. Splitfoot,” a common term for the devil in that region. Questions would be asked of the dead and the answers would be rapped back—three raps = yes, two raps = no, one rap = "Huh?" After a long career at séances and on the stage (including an appearance at Carnegie Hall), one sister admitted the hoax: the raps were actually the conscious snapping of toe, leg and knee tendons—a skill now lost to us that is a must-do on the list of lost talents to be revived.
The story behind the closed bedroom at Crow’s Flight is that three young people have died in it, each after staying only one night. First a young male traveler expired after one night in the room, then one of the sisters who was attracted to the young man moved into the room and died, and finally a second sister, also attracted to the traveler, moved in and died. Only the eldest sister survived, making her the default suspect. My theory is that the three fucked each other to death, but that fails because the deaths were not simultaneous. There are other ideas afoot, and McCloy will reveal them.
This is a nostalgic drawing room mystery common in the 1930s and early post-WWII period. It is now dated in both style and message, but it still entertains and has the advantage of a very short (160 page) read.
Agatha Christie should not be threatened. (Rap! Rap! Rap!)
Three Stars.
Helen McCloy was a pulp fiction detective thriller writer who modeled her work after Agatha Christie. Her first novel was published in 1938 and they spilled out regularly for decades. Her 1969 novella Mister Splitfoot is the 12th of thirteen in her Dr. Basil Willing series. Willing is a forensic psychiatrist who regularly finds himself in unusual places where a crime may have been committed, and we watch him sift through the clues and get to the answer of “Whodunit;” always, of course, with the aid of his talented and ever-perspicacious wife Gisela.
In this case the venue is upstate New York and the Willings are driving through a blinding snowstorm when their car bogs down, They see the lights of a house and as they walk toward it Gisela twists her ankle. They must stay the night but when they knock on the door seeking sanctuary they discover that a house party is underway and only one bedroom is open—and that bedroom has been locked and unused for fifty years. They are relegated to the living room sofa.
The house, named Crow’s Flight, is owned by the Crowe family but has been rented to the Swayne family with an option to buy. The Crowes and the Swaynes, including fifteen year-old Lucinda Swayne, are the current occupants The house party, held to recognize the anticipated sale of the house to the Swaynes, also includes the Alcotts and their son Vanya, who are neighbors. While we are watching the action in the living room, the children—Lucinda and Vanya—are exploring the house. Lucinda finds an old unused attic that has been closed in as the house was renovated and expanded. This space allows her to hear all sorts of conversations, and to upset the adults with weird ghostly sounds, like rapping on the floor. She and Vanya cook up a scheme to scare the adults.
The story is loosely modeled on the lives of the three New York Fox sisters who inspired the rise of Spiritualism in the 1850s. They claimed, falsely, that they could communicate with the dead through an entity called “Mr. Splitfoot,” a common term for the devil in that region. Questions would be asked of the dead and the answers would be rapped back—three raps = yes, two raps = no, one rap = "Huh?" After a long career at séances and on the stage (including an appearance at Carnegie Hall), one sister admitted the hoax: the raps were actually the conscious snapping of toe, leg and knee tendons—a skill now lost to us that is a must-do on the list of lost talents to be revived.
The story behind the closed bedroom at Crow’s Flight is that three young people have died in it, each after staying only one night. First a young male traveler expired after one night in the room, then one of the sisters who was attracted to the young man moved into the room and died, and finally a second sister, also attracted to the traveler, moved in and died. Only the eldest sister survived, making her the default suspect. My theory is that the three fucked each other to death, but that fails because the deaths were not simultaneous. There are other ideas afoot, and McCloy will reveal them.
This is a nostalgic drawing room mystery common in the 1930s and early post-WWII period. It is now dated in both style and message, but it still entertains and has the advantage of a very short (160 page) read.
Agatha Christie should not be threatened. (Rap! Rap! Rap!)
Three Stars.
August 12, 2017
A decent mystery - Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com
February 9, 2018
Very good book, a nice mystery and McCloy is back writing fine stories with fair endings.
Read
July 5, 2022Those pesky kids.
Read
September 18, 2022Atmospheric.
June 5, 2022
Basil Willing + A Haunted Room = Fun Reading
McCloy's amateur detective Basil Willing stumbles into a house where a seemingly supernatural murder takes place. This book takes place later in Willing's career and is entertaining. Only problem I had was that even I could figure out the solution well in advance (which I usually cannot accomplish no matter how many mysteries I read.) But I recommend it for lovers of "golden age" mysteries.
McCloy's amateur detective Basil Willing stumbles into a house where a seemingly supernatural murder takes place. This book takes place later in Willing's career and is entertaining. Only problem I had was that even I could figure out the solution well in advance (which I usually cannot accomplish no matter how many mysteries I read.) But I recommend it for lovers of "golden age" mysteries.
April 16, 2023
Hmm. Well, it was not what I expected. In fact, I think anybody reading the summary for this would feel the same. It is not a paranormal mystery as the description would suggest. It's instead simply a good old fashioned murder mystery with little to no supernatural influence in the slightest. The book itself was ok at best. It's something different at least.
McCloy's writing is very inconsistent. While she has moments of beauty in her story, I'd say about 75% of it is largely unnecessary and had me huffing in annoyance any time she went off on a long winded but pretty description of somebody's fashion choice or room decor, or whatever random thought seemed to come to mind. I believe she made many attempts to make her characters behave and converse naturally, but honestly it just came off as filler. And for a book that's only 160 pages, filler isn't something we really have time for when there's a murderer on the loose.
There are some positives for this book. There are some lovely descriptions of fashion of the 1960s, as well as some fascinating depictions of architecture and interior design of the times as well. While the characters themselves aren't the most exciting, they all have a very strong presence in the story. I wouldn't necessarily call this book a must read, but if you've got an hour or two to kill, give it a shot.
McCloy's writing is very inconsistent. While she has moments of beauty in her story, I'd say about 75% of it is largely unnecessary and had me huffing in annoyance any time she went off on a long winded but pretty description of somebody's fashion choice or room decor, or whatever random thought seemed to come to mind. I believe she made many attempts to make her characters behave and converse naturally, but honestly it just came off as filler. And for a book that's only 160 pages, filler isn't something we really have time for when there's a murderer on the loose.
There are some positives for this book. There are some lovely descriptions of fashion of the 1960s, as well as some fascinating depictions of architecture and interior design of the times as well. While the characters themselves aren't the most exciting, they all have a very strong presence in the story. I wouldn't necessarily call this book a must read, but if you've got an hour or two to kill, give it a shot.
Want to read
March 21, 2019Synopsis: the Willings take a skiing holiday; stranded, they are forced to stay overnight. A murder occurs. Is the house haunted?
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews