What do you think?
Rate this book
Silver John
Who Fears the Devil?
There's a traveling man the Carolina mountain folk call Silver John for the silver strings strung on his guitar. In his wanderings John encounters a parade of benighted forest creatures, mountain spirits, and shapeless horrors from the void of history with only his enduring spirit, playful wit, and the magic of his guitar to preserve him. Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John is one of the most beloved figures in fantasy, a true American folk hero of the literary age. For the first time the Planet Stories edition of Who Fears the Devil? collects all of John's adventures published throughout Wellman's life, including two stories about John before he got his silver-stringed guitar that have never previously appeared in a Silver John collection. Lost, out of print, or buried in expensive hardcover editions, the seminal, unforgettable tales of Who Fears the Devil? stand ready for a new generation ready to continue the folk tradition of Silver John!
197 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
29 people are currently reading
1440 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
November 8, 2019
With this innovative and unique cycle of stories, Manly Wade Wellman became the first writer to use the legends and lore of the Appalachians to craft a body of weird tales. Wellman--already established as a successful author of genre fiction--traveled to North Carolina to teach writing at Chapel Hill, and fell in love with the music and culture of the Smokies. He bought himself a mountain cabin, and soon began to write stories about John the Balladeer--itinerant musician and collector of songs--who wars against the forces of evil, armed with his silver-stringed guitar.
There are not many big scares in these stories; still, Wellman has a knack--similar to Le Fanu's--of choosing the precise detail to deeply unsettle his reader. Besides, whatever these tales lack in scare-power, they more than make up for both in ghostly and in Appalachian atmosphere. Wellman's feel for the mountain "hants" and his knowledge of the people--their fierce pride and essential generosity--give these tales a weight that they might not otherwise possess. In addition, Wellman has an instinctive understanding of the black-and-white--almost Manichean--Christianity that informs their beliefs.
Come to think of it, any open-minded Evangelical Christian who likes a good ghost story could not choose a better collection than this book by Wellman, either for themselves or for their older children. His hero Silver John is both gentle and fierce, his tales are invariably moral, and good inevitably triumphs--but never meretriciously--in the end.
July 22, 2011
***10 Mostly Important Facts about Who Fears the Devil***
1. Manly Wade Wellman is the greatest
2. Who Fears the Devils includes all 30 short stories and vignettes featuring Wellman’s most enduring character, Silver John.
3. All of the stories take place in the portion of the Appalachian Mountains in or around North Carolina and are set during the late 1950’s (though no exact date is ever given).
4. Silver John is a traveling singer who carries a guitar with silver strings and has a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of folklore and local legends and the folk songs that have been made up about them. He uses his knowledge and musical talent to earn his way. John is a veteran of the Korean War and follows a personal philosophy based largely on early Christian teaching. While John has no magical ability, his intelligence, bravery and integrity serve him well.
5. One of the truly entertaining aspects of the Silver John stories is that they deal exclusively with American folk lore from the Appalachian Mountains. Therefore, it is likely most (if not all) of the supernatural “entities” and "creatures" will be entirely new to the reader. For example: there’s the Ugly Bird, the Behinder, the Flat, the Skim, the Culverin, the Bammat, the Toller and the southern take on the male witch known as the hoodoo man.
6. Each of the Silver John stories have a similar set up (and thus, in my opinion, are better enjoyed in groups of 2 or 3 rather than all at once). John will come across a small town of group of people who will be suffering some calamity (usually of a supernatural nature) and John, through his courage, quick thinking and knowledge of local folk lore will find a way to help. Many of the “evil” things in the stories hate, hate, hate silver and so John’s guitar comes in very handy from time to time.
7. The writing...the writing...the writing. It’s priceless and unlike anything I have ever read in its blend of warmth, intelligence and homespun diction. Reading these stories is best described as the equivalent of listening to wise local story-teller spin yarns from the rocking chair in front of the general store or holding court on a log in front of a campfire. Here are a few examples that hopefully convey the uniquely warm and inviting prose of these stories:
From O Ugly Bird:
I swear I’m licked before I start, trying to tell you all what Mr. Onselm looked like. Words give out- for instance, you’re frozen to death for fit words to tell the favor of the girl you love. And Mr. Onselm and I pure poison hated each other. That’s how love and hate are alike. He was what country folks call a low man, more than calling him short or small; a low man is low otherwise than by inches.From Why They’re Named That:
If the Gardinel’s an old folks’ tale, I’m honest to tell you it’s a true one. Few words about them are best, I should reckon. They look some way like a shed or cabin, snug and rightly made, except the open door might could be a mouth, the two little windows might could be eyes.From Vandy, Vandy:
That valley hadn’t any name, such outside folks as knew about it, just said, ‘Back in yonder,’ and folks inside said, ‘Here.’ The mail truck dropped a few letters in a hollow tree next to a ridge where a trail went up and over and down. Three, four times a year bearded men in homemade clothes and shoes fetched out their makings-clay dishes and pots…They carried back coffee, salt gunpowder, a few nails. Things like that.8. The “horror” aspect of these stories, while excellent, is done without blood, gore or even unnecessary violence. They remind me of the classic tales of Montague Rhodes James and Algernon Blackwood.
9. Despite the feel and sound of “down home” stories, many of the tales include discussions of some fairly high level concepts like parallel dimensions, expanding galaxies, time travel, etc… John, despite having no formal education is extremely well read and will quote from classic works from time to time.
10. These stories are pure comfort food for both the heart and the brain. They are full of warmth, morality, intelligence, myths and folklore and a sense of mystery and wonder surrounding the very, very familiar.
Recommendation
If you’ve not previously read any of Wellman or his Silver John stories, you should really give them a try. I am shocked that they are not more widely known but have noticed they are generally loved by those that have read them. I can see why and certainly believe they need a much wider audience. 4.0 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
January 7, 2022
The devil's afraid of music.
What a magnificent collection! What we have here is a curious marriage of folk and fairy tale, interspersed with local American mythology, the occult and religious parable. What’s more: Manly Wade Wellman’s lively language and colourful descriptions make it hard not to like his writing.
On the top rock of them stood something against the choking blackness.
It stood up the height of a man, that thing, but you couldn't make sure of its shape. Because it was strung and swaddled over with webby rags. They stirred and fluttered around it like gray smoke.
I suppose you could argue that this is a Horror collection, but I’d rather err on the side of caution before lumping it into any specific category. There really is a lot to be had from Who Fears The Devil, and potential readers should note that these stories, even though they are chilling and spooky at times, never cross the line into the macabre. Some even have a feel-good vibe, perhaps due to some of the quirky humour.
"Where are you from, John?"
"From nowhere," I said.
"Meaning, from everywhere," he supplied me. "What do you do?"
"I wander," I said. "I sing songs. I mind my own business and watch my manners."
So then: meet John
A.k.a. John Silver
A.k.a. John the Balladeer
John wanders the Appalachian Mountains and surrounding territories with his silver stringed guitar, seeking out the truth about local legends. He also fights evil where he finds it, which, as it happens, is everywhere.
The thing growled, deep and hungry and ugly.
The tales deal with all kinds of themes, including (but not restricted to) ghostly hauntings, ‘cryptids’, and evil occultists. Thing is, the subject matter is so unique to the specific geographical area, that it is highly unlikely you have ever read anything quite like this.
Have I mentioned the delightful prose yet?
“Isn't he dead?"
"Deader than hell," the storekeeper told me. "Though folks never thought he could die, thought he'd just ugly away.”
Other than his silver-stringed guitar, John has to rely on his wits and his impressive knowledge of relevant lore to confront the baddies. It’s usually enough, although there are some close scrapes…
His blade hung over my throat, like a wasp over a ripe peach.
As with any collection, some of the stories are better than others, but it’s hard for me not to recommend this highly. It won’t look too out of place next to your Lovecraft collection, your Ashton Smith collection, or your collection of Howard horror stories.
I shrugged my guitar in front of me. My left hand grabbed its neck and my right spread on the silver strings, the silver that's sure sudden death to witch-stuff. I dragged a chord of music from them, and it echoed in there like a whole houseful of guitar-men helping me.
Respect!!
What a magnificent collection! What we have here is a curious marriage of folk and fairy tale, interspersed with local American mythology, the occult and religious parable. What’s more: Manly Wade Wellman’s lively language and colourful descriptions make it hard not to like his writing.
On the top rock of them stood something against the choking blackness.
It stood up the height of a man, that thing, but you couldn't make sure of its shape. Because it was strung and swaddled over with webby rags. They stirred and fluttered around it like gray smoke.
I suppose you could argue that this is a Horror collection, but I’d rather err on the side of caution before lumping it into any specific category. There really is a lot to be had from Who Fears The Devil, and potential readers should note that these stories, even though they are chilling and spooky at times, never cross the line into the macabre. Some even have a feel-good vibe, perhaps due to some of the quirky humour.
"Where are you from, John?"
"From nowhere," I said.
"Meaning, from everywhere," he supplied me. "What do you do?"
"I wander," I said. "I sing songs. I mind my own business and watch my manners."
So then: meet John
A.k.a. John Silver
A.k.a. John the Balladeer
John wanders the Appalachian Mountains and surrounding territories with his silver stringed guitar, seeking out the truth about local legends. He also fights evil where he finds it, which, as it happens, is everywhere.
The thing growled, deep and hungry and ugly.
The tales deal with all kinds of themes, including (but not restricted to) ghostly hauntings, ‘cryptids’, and evil occultists. Thing is, the subject matter is so unique to the specific geographical area, that it is highly unlikely you have ever read anything quite like this.
Have I mentioned the delightful prose yet?
“Isn't he dead?"
"Deader than hell," the storekeeper told me. "Though folks never thought he could die, thought he'd just ugly away.”
Other than his silver-stringed guitar, John has to rely on his wits and his impressive knowledge of relevant lore to confront the baddies. It’s usually enough, although there are some close scrapes…
His blade hung over my throat, like a wasp over a ripe peach.
As with any collection, some of the stories are better than others, but it’s hard for me not to recommend this highly. It won’t look too out of place next to your Lovecraft collection, your Ashton Smith collection, or your collection of Howard horror stories.
I shrugged my guitar in front of me. My left hand grabbed its neck and my right spread on the silver strings, the silver that's sure sudden death to witch-stuff. I dragged a chord of music from them, and it echoed in there like a whole houseful of guitar-men helping me.
Respect!!
August 15, 2013
Silver John travels the Appalachian mountains, encountering all manner of strangness, with only his silver-stringed guitar for a companion...
I have a confession to make: I think 95% of fantasy stories are derivative and unoriginal. This collection is neither. Who Fears the Devil is the complete collection of Silver John short stories, 30 in number, ranging for three or four paragraphs to fifteen pages. Silver John is a wandering balladeer, modeled after a young Johnny Cash, who wanders from one strange event to the next.
The first thing I noticed about the stories were how skilled Manly Wade Wellman was at rendering Southern dialogue without making the speakers seem stupid. Once I dug in, the book was hard to set aside for too long and I'm not a big fan of short stories by any means.
The best way to describe the stories would be to call them American fantasy. The stories explore different aspects of Southern and mountain folklore, much having to do with witches, ghosts, demons, and other supernatural creatures. The line between fantasy and horror is blurred in some of them while others are pretty humorous. Silver John outwits supernatural beasties, encounters a giant, a house that's acutaly a living organism, and other things too odd to mention, all the while playing songs on his guitar and singing.
If you like fantasy that isn't derived from Tolkien, you could do a lot worse than spending a few evenings with Silver John.
I have a confession to make: I think 95% of fantasy stories are derivative and unoriginal. This collection is neither. Who Fears the Devil is the complete collection of Silver John short stories, 30 in number, ranging for three or four paragraphs to fifteen pages. Silver John is a wandering balladeer, modeled after a young Johnny Cash, who wanders from one strange event to the next.
The first thing I noticed about the stories were how skilled Manly Wade Wellman was at rendering Southern dialogue without making the speakers seem stupid. Once I dug in, the book was hard to set aside for too long and I'm not a big fan of short stories by any means.
The best way to describe the stories would be to call them American fantasy. The stories explore different aspects of Southern and mountain folklore, much having to do with witches, ghosts, demons, and other supernatural creatures. The line between fantasy and horror is blurred in some of them while others are pretty humorous. Silver John outwits supernatural beasties, encounters a giant, a house that's acutaly a living organism, and other things too odd to mention, all the while playing songs on his guitar and singing.
If you like fantasy that isn't derived from Tolkien, you could do a lot worse than spending a few evenings with Silver John.
July 15, 2011
Within the a few sentences of the first Silver John story, I knew that I was in good hands. The dialog, the brief, yet rich description, the atmosphere created by this prose--everything that Wellman puts into these stories is excellent, and collectively his efforts amount to the kind of craft that I have come across only rarely in literature, whether genre or otherwise. Even if his other work does not stand alongside the Silver John stories--and from all account, it does so--I associate Wellman and his prose with other writers that have changed the way that I think about fiction and writing--such writers as Joe R. Lansdale, Cormac McCarthy (these two being obvious ones to think in association with Wellman), Liz Williams, China MIeville, and Mervyn Peake, among others. Wellman is the kind of writer that now defines a part of my history, such that, thinking back on other books and writers, I will categorize them as either "before Wellman," or "after Wellman."
I devoured the first half of this anthology at a quick pace, taking in a few stories a day at least. Then, I slowed down a bit, and starting spacing the stories out, sometimes putting the book down for a week or more. I agree with D_Davis's assessment in his review that, collectively, these stories do follow a consistent formula that can become overly familiar if you rush through the entire anthology. This regularity is more a fault of the present format, and part of me wishes that I had followed Silver John through the various magazine pages that he once inhabited. Then again, the fact that these stories are available at all--and that Paizo has collected them altogether--is a wonderful thing, and something to be thankful for.
My favorites in the collection are the earlier stories, where Wellman introduces a host of monsters unlike any that I have ever come across in fiction. Though the names that he employs suggest simplistic characteristics--for instance, those of the Behinder, which no one has ever seen due to its blindsiding approach--these monsters are still sinister, and, if you think about them in a dark, forest setting on a lonely mountainside, they are scary enough, too.
Another element that I liked in Wellman's stories was the way that he included Christian myth and folklore. I have heard of the people using bible verse to ward against evil, but Wellman gives the motif texture and tone that makes it both fantastic and grounded. At times, I would pick up on a reference or allusion and feel that shiver of recognition that happens when a writer ties together the mundane and the otherworldly so very well.
Here is to life and reading--after Wellman.
I devoured the first half of this anthology at a quick pace, taking in a few stories a day at least. Then, I slowed down a bit, and starting spacing the stories out, sometimes putting the book down for a week or more. I agree with D_Davis's assessment in his review that, collectively, these stories do follow a consistent formula that can become overly familiar if you rush through the entire anthology. This regularity is more a fault of the present format, and part of me wishes that I had followed Silver John through the various magazine pages that he once inhabited. Then again, the fact that these stories are available at all--and that Paizo has collected them altogether--is a wonderful thing, and something to be thankful for.
My favorites in the collection are the earlier stories, where Wellman introduces a host of monsters unlike any that I have ever come across in fiction. Though the names that he employs suggest simplistic characteristics--for instance, those of the Behinder, which no one has ever seen due to its blindsiding approach--these monsters are still sinister, and, if you think about them in a dark, forest setting on a lonely mountainside, they are scary enough, too.
Another element that I liked in Wellman's stories was the way that he included Christian myth and folklore. I have heard of the people using bible verse to ward against evil, but Wellman gives the motif texture and tone that makes it both fantastic and grounded. At times, I would pick up on a reference or allusion and feel that shiver of recognition that happens when a writer ties together the mundane and the otherworldly so very well.
Here is to life and reading--after Wellman.
August 28, 2011
I used to have the entire collection of Manly Wade Wellman's short stories and novels about Silver John, a traveling folk minstrel that knew more than his fair share about battling evil magic and monsters. It was one of my great moving van tragedy that I lost these in a move from Bullhead City to Blythe. That move was in itself a folk tale of heroic proportions, but I digress. I do not know why these stories are not better known for Wellman manages to encompass everything memorable about American folk mythology into these stories about a shamanistic balladeer. Who Fears The Devil is the perfect place to start.
August 8, 2014
The complete tales of Silver John, by Manly Wade Wellman. These are all well-crafted, unique and eccentric fantasy/horror tales about a wandering traveler named John (apparently based on a young Johnny Cash) who carries around a silver-stringed guitar and stumbles into bizarre encounters with creatures and legends of American Southern folklore. Wellman himself was rather unique amongst genre writers, having been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He also beat out William Faulkner for a Mystery prize (much to Faulker's chagrin), and wrote much of the early run of "The Spirit" comic-strip, while Will Eisner was fighting in Second World War. I definitely recommend this volume if you're interested in eccentric horror stories, and the American folk tradition.
November 26, 2010
I really grew to like Silver John, our hero, over the course of the book. It is a collection of short stories that are not really connected, but that occasionally reference earlier events. Rather than just being supernatural pulp fiction, they are also a glimpse of Appalachian culture written by someone who held this culture in high esteem. There are still plenty of monsters and witchcraft, and I especially liked how music had such a prominent place in all of the stories.
October 26, 2020
Very good collection of this characters short stories. I was taken back to my country childhood reading the descriptions and speech of the stories. Very well done. Very recommended
May 18, 2020
Not sure why I added this to my lists. I'd guess because of this excellent review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... but the image there would have put me off. It almost seems more likely that the book 'tole' me (bid me come by an enchantment) in order that I would read something very much outside my wheelhouse.
In any case, thank you my friend (see comments) for sending this to me. Excellent book. Not perfect, and not for everyone, but if anything about the blurb intrigues you, see if you can find it. It's not on openlibrary.org, but John the Balladeer is and I suspect that's similar (I'll check later). Other related books by him are also avl. there.
(If you live in the US and would like me to mail this copy to you, gratis, just PM your address.)
In any case, thank you my friend (see comments) for sending this to me. Excellent book. Not perfect, and not for everyone, but if anything about the blurb intrigues you, see if you can find it. It's not on openlibrary.org, but John the Balladeer is and I suspect that's similar (I'll check later). Other related books by him are also avl. there.
(If you live in the US and would like me to mail this copy to you, gratis, just PM your address.)
April 14, 2021
This was my second time through this collection, and I still found Silver John to be an absolute delight. A wonderful mix of supernatural and mythic folklore, and I really wish there were more Silver John stories to read (I've got one left - The Old Gods Awaken). In any case, I'm so glad I discovered my first John story in one of the Best of Whispers anthologies. If you like folklore/occultic detectives/investigators, if you can find an affordable copy of this, snap it up.
January 16, 2012
Not a stinker in the bunch. Wellman explores Appalachian myth and mythical reality with real love and honesty. There is a thrilling ernestness to these stories that is very endearing even when the plot is a little bit silly.
September 9, 2017
Silver John doesn't fear the devil, although he never actually meets the guy.
Manly Wade Wellman's wandering hero stories tackle a lot of same way out horrors that certain Weird Tales authors famously portrayed, but with a distinctive folksy regional flavor and with a character you won't really meet elsewhere. John is sometimes an El Kabong, using his guitar as a weapon in a variety of ways, but at other times he takes more of a backseat and is witness to strange events and odd cosmic justice. Come to think, since he's our narrator, John is kinda like a country Henry Rollins who also fights supernatural evil.
While there's some stuff I coulda done without, this book went kinda like a really good short TV season. I especially liked “Shiver in the Pines” in which John and new friends get a magic candle to probe a mine to find the gold of “the Ancients”. “O Ugly Bird”, the opening story, also sets things up nicely with a small community bedeviled by a witch-man and the ugly bird that looks like him. There are also a bunch of great vignettes before each story involving time travel, vampires, alchemy and more!
It's also kind of refreshing that all the people in the regions where John travels are already convinced of the reality of curses, the devil, etc. The “is it really really real?” bit usually makes for the most boring part of any monster story.
This is my first try at Manly Wade Wellman and it worked out alright for me. The narration and the device of using folk songs to prompt each adventure was effective. Who expected a troubadour monster fighter?... outside of Scooby Doo?
Manly Wade Wellman's wandering hero stories tackle a lot of same way out horrors that certain Weird Tales authors famously portrayed, but with a distinctive folksy regional flavor and with a character you won't really meet elsewhere. John is sometimes an El Kabong, using his guitar as a weapon in a variety of ways, but at other times he takes more of a backseat and is witness to strange events and odd cosmic justice. Come to think, since he's our narrator, John is kinda like a country Henry Rollins who also fights supernatural evil.
While there's some stuff I coulda done without, this book went kinda like a really good short TV season. I especially liked “Shiver in the Pines” in which John and new friends get a magic candle to probe a mine to find the gold of “the Ancients”. “O Ugly Bird”, the opening story, also sets things up nicely with a small community bedeviled by a witch-man and the ugly bird that looks like him. There are also a bunch of great vignettes before each story involving time travel, vampires, alchemy and more!
It's also kind of refreshing that all the people in the regions where John travels are already convinced of the reality of curses, the devil, etc. The “is it really really real?” bit usually makes for the most boring part of any monster story.
This is my first try at Manly Wade Wellman and it worked out alright for me. The narration and the device of using folk songs to prompt each adventure was effective. Who expected a troubadour monster fighter?... outside of Scooby Doo?
March 2, 2013
Manly Wade Wellman should be celebrated as a national treasure for these stories steeped in American folklore. Why reread and regurgitate the same European legends over and over when we have such great lore from our own backyard? I am not surprised he beat William Faulkner in a short story contest. I kept expecting the stories to run out of creative gas, but every time they came to life, even when their destination is basically the same. (The 197 pages is misleading. It would be at least 300 pages in a normal book format.) Young adult readers would get the biggest kick out of these, but the Christian allusions and Americana could thrill all ages. As the last hundred years of genre fiction continue to gain more respect from the critics, they would do well to look here.
August 10, 2011
Fabulous. Will have to look up more of Silver John. Wonderful, spiritual renditions of mountain folklore. Silver John = Odd Thomas as a guitar-playing mountain man...
October 23, 2025
What is it: Appalachian folk-fantasy.
----
Why 3 stars: first, we have to acknowledge that there is no possible better name for a man writing an anthology of folk-fantasy stories than "Manly Wade Wellman." It just can't be beat.
Second, I think it's worth emphasizing that, for me at least, the primary appeal of that anthology of folk-fantasy stories was not the content of the stories themselves but, rather, the voice Wellman uses in the telling of them. The collected stories are thin, almost all of them taking a little too long in the exposition of character and conflict and a little too short in the crisis and resolution, coming across too often as stuck somewhere in between local tale and moral fable. But the voice of Wellman's chosen narrator, John with his silver-strung guitar, is immediately inviting and characterful and becomes an essential feature in the way the anthology unfurls.
That voice is shaped by an attention to regional diction and syntax, immediately situating the character and stories in a distinctly American and distinctly southern context. But it's also shaped by the range of source material John's familiar with from folk songs to classical literature to modern scientific discoveries, making of John a sort of generalist not beholden to academic education but the natural learning that comes with wandering curiosity and deep attentiveness. And it's shaped by a moral core, as these stories are all fables of a sort after all, and Wellman has a moral argument to make by their telling. That combination of factors makes for a reading experience that feels like getting to know a particular person, more than getting to know a region or folk history.
That said, the voice and its appeal that is so apparent immediately from the start of the collection doesn't shift or develop significantly over the course of it. For me, there was a growing predictability and shallowness by the end of the anthology that felt like missed opportunity. Especially because there are glimpses, just the briefest of glimpses in single-page interludes between each of the main stories, where Wellman doesn't attempt to tell full tales but rather plays out a little scene or poetic rendering of a dialogue or tease of some high-concept premise. These interludes contain some of the most surprising and beautiful prose in the book, and have some of the most genuinely intriguing concepts and themes of the book, and they became reminders of where Wellman's voice and John's voice could take the reader beyond the stories that ended up taking the focus of this particular anthology.
----
You might also like: if you want to lean into the spooky side of this, Sinners is the easy recommendation, if for no other reason than how prominently songs like this and this feature into its storytelling and thematic arcs (my review of it here); and if you want to lean into the modern Americana myth-making, then there's truly no better pick than Kentucky Route Zero (my rambling praise of it here); and it's got some beautiful song choices too!
----
Why 3 stars: first, we have to acknowledge that there is no possible better name for a man writing an anthology of folk-fantasy stories than "Manly Wade Wellman." It just can't be beat.
Second, I think it's worth emphasizing that, for me at least, the primary appeal of that anthology of folk-fantasy stories was not the content of the stories themselves but, rather, the voice Wellman uses in the telling of them. The collected stories are thin, almost all of them taking a little too long in the exposition of character and conflict and a little too short in the crisis and resolution, coming across too often as stuck somewhere in between local tale and moral fable. But the voice of Wellman's chosen narrator, John with his silver-strung guitar, is immediately inviting and characterful and becomes an essential feature in the way the anthology unfurls.
That voice is shaped by an attention to regional diction and syntax, immediately situating the character and stories in a distinctly American and distinctly southern context. But it's also shaped by the range of source material John's familiar with from folk songs to classical literature to modern scientific discoveries, making of John a sort of generalist not beholden to academic education but the natural learning that comes with wandering curiosity and deep attentiveness. And it's shaped by a moral core, as these stories are all fables of a sort after all, and Wellman has a moral argument to make by their telling. That combination of factors makes for a reading experience that feels like getting to know a particular person, more than getting to know a region or folk history.
That said, the voice and its appeal that is so apparent immediately from the start of the collection doesn't shift or develop significantly over the course of it. For me, there was a growing predictability and shallowness by the end of the anthology that felt like missed opportunity. Especially because there are glimpses, just the briefest of glimpses in single-page interludes between each of the main stories, where Wellman doesn't attempt to tell full tales but rather plays out a little scene or poetic rendering of a dialogue or tease of some high-concept premise. These interludes contain some of the most surprising and beautiful prose in the book, and have some of the most genuinely intriguing concepts and themes of the book, and they became reminders of where Wellman's voice and John's voice could take the reader beyond the stories that ended up taking the focus of this particular anthology.
----
You might also like: if you want to lean into the spooky side of this, Sinners is the easy recommendation, if for no other reason than how prominently songs like this and this feature into its storytelling and thematic arcs (my review of it here); and if you want to lean into the modern Americana myth-making, then there's truly no better pick than Kentucky Route Zero (my rambling praise of it here); and it's got some beautiful song choices too!
January 19, 2025
Strange how American folk horror stories told from the viewpoint of a humble rover with a guitar and a zest for life have become sword-and-sorcery adjacent. This all -- well maybe not wholly -- due to its inclusion in D&D's fabled Appendix N. These are not particularly fear-inducing more than a slight chill and wonder at the beings that meet the characters. They are more of morality tales and quite heartwarming ones particularly towards the later part of the book. And the characters are well-crafted and believable. The language and a writing has a real sense of place. The local devils and creatures are interesting and weird (in the literary sense of weird fiction). Clever dialogue and witty commentary. The songs John sings seem to be real, so far I've checked!
I am used to suppressing the reading voice because it speeds up the reading significantly but with fiction it sometimes doesn't work and it definitely doesn't work here. So I wish there was an audiobook because here having a narrator's voice is part of the telling.
These are some wonderful stories, my favorite being the one with the giants.
I am used to suppressing the reading voice because it speeds up the reading significantly but with fiction it sometimes doesn't work and it definitely doesn't work here. So I wish there was an audiobook because here having a narrator's voice is part of the telling.
These are some wonderful stories, my favorite being the one with the giants.
August 7, 2011
This slim volume of 197 pages contains treasures that exceed those offered by many of the recent door-stoppers that are being dished us “epic”-proportioned fantasies. The name of Manly Wade Wellman, as well as that of his creation: John the Balladeer, more commonly known as Silver John, needs no introduction to lovers of good stories. My review is aimed at praising Paizo books for doing these very story-lovers (old & new) a terrific service by offering the ‘Silver John’ stories in a truly affordable format which would rekindle the love of pulps in many a reader’s mind. The contents are: -
1. Introduction:
a. ‘Manly and John’ by Mike Resnick
b. ‘Just Call Me John’ by Karl Edward Wagner
2. Stories:
a. O Ugly Bird!
b. The Desrick on Yandro
c. Vandy, Vandy
d. One Other
e. Call Me From the alley
f. The Little Black Train
g. Shiver in the Pines
h. Walk Like a Mountain
i. Old Devlins Was A-Waiting
j. On the Hills and Everywhere
k. Nine Yards of Other Cloth
l. Trill Coster’s Burden
m. The Spring
n. Owls Hoot in the Daytime
o. Nobody Ever Goes There
p. Can These Bones Live?
q. Where Did She Wander?
r. Sin’s Doorway (although I don't think it is a Silver John story)
s. Frogfather (this inclusion is also questionable, but I accept it).
3. Vignettes:
a. John’s My Name
b. Why They’re Named That
c. The I Wasn’t Alone
d. You Know the Tale of Haph
e. Find the Place Yourself
f. The Stars Down There
g. Blue Monkey
h. I Can’t Claim That
i. Who Else Could I Count On?
j. None Wiser for the Trip
k. Nary Spell
It has been stated by numerous critics that Manly Wade Wellman was unique in the way he had morphed American folklore and Biblical stories into proper old-fashioned good-v/s-evil stories, and in the process had shown such storytelling skills that can’t be measured even by the horde of awards that he had won. But I recommend this volume to you so that you yourself can get a measure of these wonderful tales, and in the process gift the jewel of an author the best possible posthumous gift: remembrance.
1. Introduction:
a. ‘Manly and John’ by Mike Resnick
b. ‘Just Call Me John’ by Karl Edward Wagner
2. Stories:
a. O Ugly Bird!
b. The Desrick on Yandro
c. Vandy, Vandy
d. One Other
e. Call Me From the alley
f. The Little Black Train
g. Shiver in the Pines
h. Walk Like a Mountain
i. Old Devlins Was A-Waiting
j. On the Hills and Everywhere
k. Nine Yards of Other Cloth
l. Trill Coster’s Burden
m. The Spring
n. Owls Hoot in the Daytime
o. Nobody Ever Goes There
p. Can These Bones Live?
q. Where Did She Wander?
r. Sin’s Doorway (although I don't think it is a Silver John story)
s. Frogfather (this inclusion is also questionable, but I accept it).
3. Vignettes:
a. John’s My Name
b. Why They’re Named That
c. The I Wasn’t Alone
d. You Know the Tale of Haph
e. Find the Place Yourself
f. The Stars Down There
g. Blue Monkey
h. I Can’t Claim That
i. Who Else Could I Count On?
j. None Wiser for the Trip
k. Nary Spell
It has been stated by numerous critics that Manly Wade Wellman was unique in the way he had morphed American folklore and Biblical stories into proper old-fashioned good-v/s-evil stories, and in the process had shown such storytelling skills that can’t be measured even by the horde of awards that he had won. But I recommend this volume to you so that you yourself can get a measure of these wonderful tales, and in the process gift the jewel of an author the best possible posthumous gift: remembrance.
August 23, 2010
I read something about Manly Wade Wellman and the Silver John stories and really wanted to check them out. They are about a wanderer of the Appalachian South who battles an array of folklore-ish evils via songs and his silver-strung guitar. It sounded right up my alley.
Well, I'm glad to have read the stories, but I wasn't really blown away. They are awfully simple, especially by the standards of the 1960s when most of them were written. I've read lots of fantasy and horror short stories in my day -- it's one of my favorite genres -- and the Silver John stories are just so-so. They are incredibly predictable, and sort of deliberately naïve, in a way that is maybe meant to be charming but comes across more like it's targeted at 12-year-olds.
The Planet Stories collection was also a pretty lackluster reprint of an earlier collection, lacking much of any information about where and when these stories were first published, and how they were re-edited for compilation (as they clearly were).
I think I would have enjoyed the stories themselves more when I was young and didn't demand a lot from my fiction, but then, I wouldn't have been too interested in Appalachian folklore back then either. So it's kind of a wash. As it is, I think the basic idea behind Silver John -- think Johnny Cash traveling through the mountains, battling demons and evil spirits -- is genius. Maybe somebody else will do the idea justice someday.
Well, I'm glad to have read the stories, but I wasn't really blown away. They are awfully simple, especially by the standards of the 1960s when most of them were written. I've read lots of fantasy and horror short stories in my day -- it's one of my favorite genres -- and the Silver John stories are just so-so. They are incredibly predictable, and sort of deliberately naïve, in a way that is maybe meant to be charming but comes across more like it's targeted at 12-year-olds.
The Planet Stories collection was also a pretty lackluster reprint of an earlier collection, lacking much of any information about where and when these stories were first published, and how they were re-edited for compilation (as they clearly were).
I think I would have enjoyed the stories themselves more when I was young and didn't demand a lot from my fiction, but then, I wouldn't have been too interested in Appalachian folklore back then either. So it's kind of a wash. As it is, I think the basic idea behind Silver John -- think Johnny Cash traveling through the mountains, battling demons and evil spirits -- is genius. Maybe somebody else will do the idea justice someday.
February 17, 2012
Who Fears the Devil is an excellent collection of uncanny fantasy stories by Manly Wade Wellman, following the adventures of John, a wandering balladeer with a silver-stringed guitar, through the folklorish, spirit-haunted mountains of Appalachia. The stories have an authentic southern voice and are eerie and unforgettable, a sort of Woody Guthrie wanders through sorcerers and hedgewitches with a little bit of H. P. Lovecraft mixed in.
June 12, 2014
I've been looking for the works of Manly Wade Wellman for a while now . . . . it seems his novels are all out of print, but some of his short stories are available in this neat collection from Paizo. Great stuff based on Appalachian folklore, and some of it not too dissimilar to some of the back-country folklore of the New England whence I hail . . . Anyway, great reading for fans of Gygax's famous "Appendix N" . . .
January 7, 2019
If you ever wondered what a uniquely American fantasy world would be, this is a book you will love. What would American "mountain magic" be like? Using mountain folklore from the Carolinas, Wellman has created a unique leading character, who encounters fascinating creatures, horrors, and a few good folks in dire need of help among the forgotten nooks and crannies of the mountains. The short stories are pretty pulpy, but that is part of their charm.
November 29, 2009
Collection of stories featuring Silver John who travels the Appalachian Mountains fighting supernatural evil with his silver stringed guitar. A prime example of the fantasy genre escaping from its Medieval European straitjacket. Also, "Who Fears the Devil?" has got to be one of the greatest titles ever.
May 22, 2017
An interesting book of hauntings and folklore in Appalachia. It has a musical quality (there are music verses in it), and folksy lingo. I enjoyed reading something very different from my usual fare...and also liked the illustrations. It's a bit heavy on religion for my taste. Unique, recommend for anyone.
December 14, 2017
Great voice, really captures the spirit of Appalachia. The people and their beliefs sound very right, although some of the "creatures" are his own creations - not things that I've ever encountered in our folklore
June 22, 2009
Intersting stories, with a very interesting character. They are relatively subtle tales, without anything graphic. Good but I didn't like them as much as some folks seem to have.
August 22, 2020
Being a collection of short stories, there isn't significant character development, but the premise of each story and the surrounding lore conjured is simply amazing. The fantasy settings created are well integrated and consistent throughout the stories, and the author has done his research very well (referring books such as "Grand Albert"and "Pow-Wows; or, Long Lost Friend", instead of creating new books such as what Lovecraft did with the Necronomicon). There were little gems scattered in each story that I have not come across in similar works. For example, talking of using geomancy as means to summon a dead person, the author considers the symbols drawn on the ground as forming a machine in a 4D worldline to permit time travel from the past, all stated in a less-sciency manner:
"It added up to a diagram witch-folks draw, with circles and stars and letters from an alphabet nobody on this earth can spell out. That diagram might could be a cross-section, here in our three dimensions, of something reaching backward and forward, a machine to travel you through time. (p.88)"
I've read a lot of world folklore and this book still amazes me. In my opinion Wellman's Silver John/John the Balladeer books are severely underrated. This is one of my favorite books, having read and re-read numerous times.
"It added up to a diagram witch-folks draw, with circles and stars and letters from an alphabet nobody on this earth can spell out. That diagram might could be a cross-section, here in our three dimensions, of something reaching backward and forward, a machine to travel you through time. (p.88)"
I've read a lot of world folklore and this book still amazes me. In my opinion Wellman's Silver John/John the Balladeer books are severely underrated. This is one of my favorite books, having read and re-read numerous times.
May 28, 2024
A different kind of fantasy.
No elves or hobbits or gremlins, no gore-dripping body horror, no unicorns. Just a series of hugely atmospheric weird stories set in the backwoods of the Appalachian mountains, as related by John, an itinerant guitarist, who wanders through the region in search of new songs, and who knows a good deal more than he lets on. Oh, there are strange beasties--flatters, and behinders, and One Other, and such -- but most of them you never really see, except for a quick glimpse as they duck behind a tree. The story is all in the build up, and jump-scares are not needed.
Most of these odd little tales have a moral of sorts, put me in mind of something of a cross between Aesop's fables and Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories", as they might be seen through the Twilight Zone. There is nothing quite like these stories, the closest thing being, perhaps, some of William O. Steele's books for young people. A perfect blend of homespun folk and spookiness.
If you want something different, this is it.
No elves or hobbits or gremlins, no gore-dripping body horror, no unicorns. Just a series of hugely atmospheric weird stories set in the backwoods of the Appalachian mountains, as related by John, an itinerant guitarist, who wanders through the region in search of new songs, and who knows a good deal more than he lets on. Oh, there are strange beasties--flatters, and behinders, and One Other, and such -- but most of them you never really see, except for a quick glimpse as they duck behind a tree. The story is all in the build up, and jump-scares are not needed.
Most of these odd little tales have a moral of sorts, put me in mind of something of a cross between Aesop's fables and Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories", as they might be seen through the Twilight Zone. There is nothing quite like these stories, the closest thing being, perhaps, some of William O. Steele's books for young people. A perfect blend of homespun folk and spookiness.
If you want something different, this is it.
November 6, 2018
This is probably more 2.5 stars really, but that's not an option, so I rounded down considering how highly rated the book already is. I thought some of the stories were engaging enough, but there was a certain sameness after awhile. If there's an evil character, they are usually pretty obvious right off - if male, ugly, if female, slutty. Dressed like city folk, they are either vain, greedy or evil. Most women are blonde, especially the pure ones. And a pure heart always wins out over evil. Silver, a Christian hymn, the good book always drive off evil. Nothing bad, just a little repetitive. I do have to wonder if the novels that Wellman wrote featuring Silver John would be more interesting, since the format of the short story limits what he can do, but I don't know that I care enough to find out. I would recommend reading this until you start to tire of the formula, and then stop.
March 21, 2025
The collected Silver John stories of Manly Wade Wellman, the literary equivalent of a "monster of the week" TV show. The earlier tales worked better for me than the later ones, because the stories devolve over time to get more reliant on Christian tropes. Granted, even the early ones are melodramas, and a little formulaic. But I like prefer the "Hellier-esque" sense of mystery in a story like "One Other" to the sense of religious certainty in the later stories.
Also, don't come here in search of strong female characters. If a woman shows up in a story, it's because she's innocent and needs to be rescued or wicked and needs to be stopped. Still, these stories have a certain charm to them. Wellman mines Appalachian folklore to create some cool monsters, and the humility of the Silver John character is quite welcome in these days of "alpha" arrogance.
Also, don't come here in search of strong female characters. If a woman shows up in a story, it's because she's innocent and needs to be rescued or wicked and needs to be stopped. Still, these stories have a certain charm to them. Wellman mines Appalachian folklore to create some cool monsters, and the humility of the Silver John character is quite welcome in these days of "alpha" arrogance.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews