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A review by captlychee
The Horror on the Links by Seabury Quinn
5.0
At last we have a complete collection of Jules de Grandin stories available to the public who aren't willing, or able, to lash out $1500-odd on a hardcover collection.
I came across my first Jules de Grandin story, 'The House of Horror', in an audio version of [b:The Pan Book of Horror Stories|2265582|The Pan Book of Horror Stories|Herbert van Thal|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1349073699s/2265582.jpg|2271598] in 1991, and the scene of horror in it was at once so vivid and horrifying I determined to track down more stories by the same author. Unfortunately, I thought that was [a:David Case|20429|David Case|http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], so that delayed me finding the real author for a few years.
Anyway, 'The House of Horror' is in this volume and I'm pleased to say it has lost none of its impact. If anything, more empathy for the victims on my side means it has more horror in it than it did in the last millennium, which is all to the good.
Not all the stories have some aspect of horror or the supernatural, and some, such as 'The Serpent Woman' are mysteries which at least sow light on the 1920's. The stories are presented in publication order, so it's possible to see the characters grow and change as the stories go on. Whether they improve I leave up to the reader to judge. Some people may find de Grandin's French oaths a tad ludicrous—for example, one is Nom du fromage vert. Name of green cheese? But perhaps that's a real French exclamation.
There's a pretty good introduction that makes an interesting case for why Seabury Quinn is not included with [a:H P Lovecraft|18671802|H P Lovecraft|http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Robert E Howard|18559597|Robert E Howard|http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] as ne of the great writers to come out of Weird Tales magazine. With any luck, this and the other four volumes will get that changed.
I came across my first Jules de Grandin story, 'The House of Horror', in an audio version of [b:The Pan Book of Horror Stories|2265582|The Pan Book of Horror Stories|Herbert van Thal|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1349073699s/2265582.jpg|2271598] in 1991, and the scene of horror in it was at once so vivid and horrifying I determined to track down more stories by the same author. Unfortunately, I thought that was [a:David Case|20429|David Case|http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], so that delayed me finding the real author for a few years.
Anyway, 'The House of Horror' is in this volume and I'm pleased to say it has lost none of its impact. If anything, more empathy for the victims on my side means it has more horror in it than it did in the last millennium, which is all to the good.
Not all the stories have some aspect of horror or the supernatural, and some, such as 'The Serpent Woman' are mysteries which at least sow light on the 1920's. The stories are presented in publication order, so it's possible to see the characters grow and change as the stories go on. Whether they improve I leave up to the reader to judge. Some people may find de Grandin's French oaths a tad ludicrous—for example, one is Nom du fromage vert. Name of green cheese? But perhaps that's a real French exclamation.
There's a pretty good introduction that makes an interesting case for why Seabury Quinn is not included with [a:H P Lovecraft|18671802|H P Lovecraft|http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Robert E Howard|18559597|Robert E Howard|http://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] as ne of the great writers to come out of Weird Tales magazine. With any luck, this and the other four volumes will get that changed.