davidallkins's review
4.0
First published in 1932, this is the story of a doctor caught up in battle with a gangster, Julian Ricori and a witch Madame Mandilip. The witch has a line in poisoning people causing them to die with their faces locked in an expression of fear. Then she uses their souls to animate the dolls fashioned in the form of the victims and sends them out on assenation missions. While some of the writing is dated, this has aged a lot better then other works from the time has done. Traditional witchcraft in an urban American city was a new angle. Now it reads as a period setting but it still has some creepy moments with the dolls and the backroom of Mandilip’s shop. This was used as basis for the 1936 film ‘The Devil Doll’ but the film has very little to do with the novel’s story. It’s a shame that this has not referenced much because it’s definitely worth seeking out and revisiting.
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