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Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts
Stories of adventure, crooks, spies and a mine of information about Black Magic by the Prince of Thriller Writers:
The Case of the Thing That Whimpered
The Case of the Long-dead Lord
The Case of the Red-Headed Woman
The Case of the Haunted Chateau
A Life for a Life; In the Fog; The Snake
Vodoo
Black Magic
Orchids on Monday
The Case of the Thing That Whimpered
The Case of the Long-dead Lord
The Case of the Red-Headed Woman
The Case of the Haunted Chateau
A Life for a Life; In the Fog; The Snake
Vodoo
Black Magic
Orchids on Monday
320 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1943
About the author
Dennis Wheatley
380 books258 followersDennis Yates Wheatley was an English author. His prolific output of stylish thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors in the 1950s and 1960s.
His first book, Three Inquisitive People, was not immediately published; but his first published novel, The Forbidden Territory, was an immediate success when published in 1933, being reprinted seven times in seven weeks.
He wrote adventure stories, with many books in a series of linked works. His plots covered the French Revolution (Roger Brook Series), Satanism (Duc de Richleau), World War II (Gregory Sallust) and espionage (Julian Day).
In the thirties, he conceived a series of whodunit mysteries, presented as case files, with testimonies, letters, pieces of evidence such as hairs or pills. The reader had to go through the evidence to solve the mystery before unsealing the last pages of the file, which gave the answer. Four of these 'Crime Dossiers' were published: Murder Off Miami, Who Killed Robert Prentice, The Malinsay Massacre, and Herewith The Clues.
In the 1960s his publishers were selling a million copies of his books per year. A small number of his books were made into films by Hammer, of which the best known is The Devil Rides Out (book 1934, film 1968). His writing is very descriptive and in many works he manages to introduce his characters into real events while meeting real people. For example, in the Roger Brook series the main character involves himself with Napoleon, and Joséphine whilst being a spy for the Prime Minister William Pitt. Similarly, in the Gregory Sallust series, Sallust shares an evening meal with Hermann Göring.
He also wrote non-fiction works, including accounts of the Russian Revolution and King Charles II, and his autobiography. He was considered an authority on the supernatural, satanism, the practice of exorcism, and black magic, to all of which he was hostile. During his study of the paranormal, though, he joined the Ghost Club.
From 1974 through 1977 he edited a series of 45 paperback reprints for the British publisher Sphere under the heading "The Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult", selecting the titles and writing short introductions for each book. This series included both occult-themed novels by the likes of Bram Stoker and Aleister Crowley and non-fiction works on magic, occultism, and divination by authors such as the Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, the historian Maurice Magre, the magician Isaac Bonewits, and the palm-reader Cheiro.
Two weeks before his death in November 1977, Wheatley received conditional absolution from his old friend Cyril ‘Bobby’ Eastaugh, the Bishop of Peterborough.
His estate library was sold in a catalogue sale by Basil Blackwell's in the 1970s, indicating a thoroughly well-read individual with wide-ranging interests particularly in historical fiction and Europe. His influence has declined, partly due to difficulties in reprinting his works owing to copyright problems.
Fifty-two of Wheatley's novels were published posthumously in a set by Heron Books UK. More recently, in April 2008 Dennis Wheatley's literary estate was acquired by media company Chorion.
He invented a number of board games including Invasion.
-Wikipedia
His first book, Three Inquisitive People, was not immediately published; but his first published novel, The Forbidden Territory, was an immediate success when published in 1933, being reprinted seven times in seven weeks.
He wrote adventure stories, with many books in a series of linked works. His plots covered the French Revolution (Roger Brook Series), Satanism (Duc de Richleau), World War II (Gregory Sallust) and espionage (Julian Day).
In the thirties, he conceived a series of whodunit mysteries, presented as case files, with testimonies, letters, pieces of evidence such as hairs or pills. The reader had to go through the evidence to solve the mystery before unsealing the last pages of the file, which gave the answer. Four of these 'Crime Dossiers' were published: Murder Off Miami, Who Killed Robert Prentice, The Malinsay Massacre, and Herewith The Clues.
In the 1960s his publishers were selling a million copies of his books per year. A small number of his books were made into films by Hammer, of which the best known is The Devil Rides Out (book 1934, film 1968). His writing is very descriptive and in many works he manages to introduce his characters into real events while meeting real people. For example, in the Roger Brook series the main character involves himself with Napoleon, and Joséphine whilst being a spy for the Prime Minister William Pitt. Similarly, in the Gregory Sallust series, Sallust shares an evening meal with Hermann Göring.
He also wrote non-fiction works, including accounts of the Russian Revolution and King Charles II, and his autobiography. He was considered an authority on the supernatural, satanism, the practice of exorcism, and black magic, to all of which he was hostile. During his study of the paranormal, though, he joined the Ghost Club.
From 1974 through 1977 he edited a series of 45 paperback reprints for the British publisher Sphere under the heading "The Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult", selecting the titles and writing short introductions for each book. This series included both occult-themed novels by the likes of Bram Stoker and Aleister Crowley and non-fiction works on magic, occultism, and divination by authors such as the Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, the historian Maurice Magre, the magician Isaac Bonewits, and the palm-reader Cheiro.
Two weeks before his death in November 1977, Wheatley received conditional absolution from his old friend Cyril ‘Bobby’ Eastaugh, the Bishop of Peterborough.
His estate library was sold in a catalogue sale by Basil Blackwell's in the 1970s, indicating a thoroughly well-read individual with wide-ranging interests particularly in historical fiction and Europe. His influence has declined, partly due to difficulties in reprinting his works owing to copyright problems.
Fifty-two of Wheatley's novels were published posthumously in a set by Heron Books UK. More recently, in April 2008 Dennis Wheatley's literary estate was acquired by media company Chorion.
He invented a number of board games including Invasion.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 12, 2026
This is a mix of short stories by the thriller writer Dennis Wheatley, mainly on occult subjects, but also including some crime and war thrillers and some true stories, such as the history of Charles II and the defence of Tsaritsyn (later named Stalingrad) by Joseph Stalin. There is also some factual information about Voodoo and Black Magic. The sub-title couldn't summarise it better:
"Stories of adventure, crooks, spies and a mine of information about black magic by the Prince of Thriller Writers"
In one story he writes "It was the bat that started it; you know how they flit in on a summer's night through the open windows, absolutely silently, before you are aware of them." Actually, no, I don't! I seem to have missed something in life!
When referring to supernatural matters, Dennis Wheatley says "dagos always believe in that sort of thing." Today he rightly wouldn't get away with either of the two contemptuous slurs in that one clause - the insulting name for persons of a particular ethnicity and the suggestion that all persons of that ethnicity are overly credulous. But he did write this short story in 1932 when social mores were quite different, so perhaps we can forgive him.
Despite the dated morals and ethics the author displays, I found this an engrossing book, introducing me to so many different types of writing and teaching me many different things, including areas of history I have not heard covered before. As long as you don't get offended easily I recommend this book for some interesting reading.
"Stories of adventure, crooks, spies and a mine of information about black magic by the Prince of Thriller Writers"
In one story he writes "It was the bat that started it; you know how they flit in on a summer's night through the open windows, absolutely silently, before you are aware of them." Actually, no, I don't! I seem to have missed something in life!
When referring to supernatural matters, Dennis Wheatley says "dagos always believe in that sort of thing." Today he rightly wouldn't get away with either of the two contemptuous slurs in that one clause - the insulting name for persons of a particular ethnicity and the suggestion that all persons of that ethnicity are overly credulous. But he did write this short story in 1932 when social mores were quite different, so perhaps we can forgive him.
Despite the dated morals and ethics the author displays, I found this an engrossing book, introducing me to so many different types of writing and teaching me many different things, including areas of history I have not heard covered before. As long as you don't get offended easily I recommend this book for some interesting reading.
December 6, 2021
I usually like short story collections ..in general they take up little of my time when I'm pushed but want to read something in testing times and often a decent tale can be told in few words.
This is in honesty a bit of a mixed bag but to be fair some of the introductions the author puts forth before the bits of prose do at times hint at the fact that the author isn't too sure the story best befits him.
It is a mixed bag there's the occult things that are arguably Wheatley's strong point that generally work well in here and would make dark campfire tales😈...there's also romantic fiction and even a few history bits selected from other tomes of Wheatley which I expect he introduced to snare readers into his other works.
Anyhow as such a disjointed read with still stuff to enjoy..his attitudes haven't dated well but this book I thought was still less problematic than some of his which I suspect have been either 'cancelled' or teeter on the cliff of woke at this point...I found my breath not taken away as much as with other books of his.
This is in honesty a bit of a mixed bag but to be fair some of the introductions the author puts forth before the bits of prose do at times hint at the fact that the author isn't too sure the story best befits him.
It is a mixed bag there's the occult things that are arguably Wheatley's strong point that generally work well in here and would make dark campfire tales😈...there's also romantic fiction and even a few history bits selected from other tomes of Wheatley which I expect he introduced to snare readers into his other works.
Anyhow as such a disjointed read with still stuff to enjoy..his attitudes haven't dated well but this book I thought was still less problematic than some of his which I suspect have been either 'cancelled' or teeter on the cliff of woke at this point...I found my breath not taken away as much as with other books of his.
November 1, 2021
The cover and title of this book is a bit misleading unfortunately. While there are stories of ghosts and the occult, they are in the minority as most of this book is Wheatley's early and all-together mundane short stories. As you can imagine this made for a slightly disappointing Halloween read!
Nevertheless as with most collections are good and some are bad. Quite bafflingly, the author chose to include a few chapters of his history books (which I skipped). I wouldn't recommend this as an introduction to the author.
A lot of these stories were written in the 30s and 40s so be aware that there's some very outdated casual racism and sexism in here.
Nevertheless as with most collections are good and some are bad. Quite bafflingly, the author chose to include a few chapters of his history books (which I skipped). I wouldn't recommend this as an introduction to the author.
A lot of these stories were written in the 30s and 40s so be aware that there's some very outdated casual racism and sexism in here.
January 21, 2022
Some of the ideas behind the stories are cool, but it has NOT aged well at all.
March 20, 2015
Wheatley's reputation is better than this book although maybe we are spoiled by today's special effects. I have read this aloud to older children and although they listened no one asked for more. My ISBN number matches this edition but mine is actually Hardcover and I picked it up in the Discarded Books For Sale Bin at my local public library.
September 3, 2024
More ghost stories and less war stories plz xx
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews