The Voodoo Master / The Red Blot

by Walter B. Gibson

The Knight of Darkness returns in two more classic pulp thrillers including:
"The Voodoo Master," voted the favorite novel in a 1937 Shadow Magazine readers' poll, and again acclaimed as one of the top Shadow novels by pulp fans nearly a half century later! Walter Gibson's 1936 novel introduces The Shadow's arch-foe Dr. Rodil Mocquino, the master of black magic who returned in two subsequent novels and several Golden Age comic book stories.
In "The Red Blot" (1933), Lamont Cranston first meets Commissioner Weston (setting up the friendship that would be featured in the famous radio series) and investigates a series of crimes orchestrated by a malevolent mastermind who leaves a bloody mark as his calling card.

The trade paperback also features the original pulp covers by George Rozen, all the interior illustrations by Tom Lovell, and historical commentary by Anthony Tollin, co-author of The Shadow Scrapbook.

Genres: Pulp, Mystery, Fiction, Crime

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2006

About the author

Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897-December 6, 1985) was an American author and professional magician best known for his work on the pulp fiction character The Shadow. Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote "more than 300 novel-length" Shadow stories, writing up to "10,000 words a day" to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Blot” was good, but not one of the stronger entries in the series (3-stars). “Voodoo” on the other hand was voted the all-time favorite in 1937 by the original magazine’s readers. No wonder, it’s a 5-star Shadow adventure with supernatural elements, mystery, lots of action, twists, and plenty of ink for The Shadow’s supporting cast of Harry Vincent, Hawkeye, Cliff Marsland, Burbank, and Rutledge Mann.

[John Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red Blot is standard. Voodoo Master is a bit more colorful and more of what you expect. Only problem is I've read some 12 Spider pulps before tackling The Shadow. The Spider is everything you expect The Shadow to be but it never is.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The climax of The Voodoo Master is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to love these stories. I think ive always wanted to love the shadow. The truth is he’s rarely a main character in his own stories and his powers are so vague that it’s tough to really understand how he works as a hero. I like the look, I like the laugh, I like that he has a whole shadow network of people working for him. But I just found these stories super dull. Worse theyre written in old pulp fashion and just SUPER dense and wordy for not that much pay off.

[David Grossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voodoo Master was awesome. Shadow has the fighting skills, but he prevails by his wits.
Happy Birthday Walter B Gibson.

[Luis Soler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Story was highly entertaining. I had found my self in a reading rut and this book brought me out of it. Its the typical comicbooky hero story but the villain had real depth. I would recommend.

[Chb4usc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent THE SHADOW novel...one of the best of the series. Usual pulp derring-do! Non-stop action. Great description of THE SHADOW and Moquino...the evil VOODOO MASTER!

[Jemir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sometimes joke that the reason Batman (An unapologetic pulp conductor in the characters' earliest days) made it beyond the "niche" threshold that the pulp genre is sometimes viewed by wider audiences, out of the 1930's/40's and thrives today comes down to two main things in my mind. The creation of Robin (we take for granted that there was a time when kid/teen side kicks weren't - in some opinions - par for the course and/or overused) and - though Dick Tracy may have been the first with one - an expansive, revolving and evolving, rogues gallery filled with characters that were interesting in their own right.

Which brings us to this collection reprinting two tales featuring the legendary Shadow. With stories written with an eye to detail, vivid descriptions and involving prose that those that think they know of the pulp genres' narrative short comings may find surprising (especially considering when the stories were written).

The Red Blot deals with The Shadow and hard nosed Detective Joe Cardona tracking down a group of criminals, led by a "Moriarty-esque" figure, that seem to specialize in escaping from inescapable situations (bank heists where the banks are surrounded by Police, daring robberies committed in the open) leaving only a paper with a red blot to antagonize investigators and the general public.

The second story ("The Voodoo Master") involves an antagonist that may be a mystic zealot with an army of the undead or a con man with a wool over the eyes of our protagonist. Both stories deliver on the action (and suspense in the case of "Voodoo") and brings the streets and back alleys of fictional New York to life on the printed page.

[John Botkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been reading The Shadow pulps in chronological order, but I found the Voodoo Master on audio and have been listening in the car. There was a really interesting shift between the early pulps and this one. Walter Gibson (writing as Maxwell Grant) gave us much more insight into the Shadow’s thinking and tactics. The earlier pulps present him as very mysterious, almost otherworldly. Here he's more humanized and Gibson actually gets into more of how he carries out his missions. The plot itself is really well done with several ups and downs and unexpected turns. Typical of Gibson, there was one really interesting twist at the end. It’s the kind that makes the Shadow one of the best pulp characters – clearly setting the tone for more modern heroes, like Batman. But it’s hard to beat the original!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of solid adventure stories. If you like Batman stories, you should enjoy these. The production values for this series of reprints is impressive. Each volume contains the original illustrations, and has an essay or two giving a bit of background for each story.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third volume of Nostalgia Ventures' reprint series includes two very strong Shadow tales. "The Voodoo Master" is considered the classic here, but I found "The Red Blot" just as enjoyable. Top-notch hero pulp from the 1930s.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended for anyone who enjoys classic pulp adventure stories. The Voodoo Master was the best of the the two.