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Jules de Grandin #4
The Devil's Bride
book has romance and adventure.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
About the author
Seabury Quinn
275 books53 followersBest know as an American pulp author for Weird Tales, for which he wrote a series of stories about occult detective Jules de Grandin. He was the author of non-fiction legal and medical texts and editor of Casket & Sunnyside, a trade journal for mortuary jurisprudence. He also published fiction for Embalming Magazine, another mortuary periodical.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 13, 2019
This is the only Jules de Grandin novel, and I can see why Quinn never wrote another.
It serves up the same heady concoction of quaint pseudo-racism, naive imperialism, soft-core pornography, and sudden, brutal violence as the Grandin short stories do--qualities that appealed to adolescents in the '20's and '30's, and (though I am half-embarrassed to admit it) still appeal to the adolescent in me. But this account of a world-wide devil cult (masterminded by a monk who is sort of a cross between Gurdjieff and Aleister Crowley) is not nearly as successful as the shorter tales.
This sort of pulp absurdity should be consumed in small doses, and the novel form is much too lengthy to sustain such fitful, old-fashioned dreams.
August 16, 2014
En la tradición de los detectives de lo oculto, tenemos al doctor francés Jules de Grandin, el personaje creado por Seabury Quinn. Las aventuras de De Grandin tienen un punto en común con las del famoso Sherlock Holmes: donde este tiene a su fiel compañero, el doctor Watson, como narrador, aquel tiene al también doctor Trowbridge. Pero aquí terminan las comparaciones, ya el personaje de Quinn se aleja del personaje de Doyle tanto en el físico como en las aventuras que le suceden, que son más de estilo pulp.
‘La novia del Diablo’, la única novela que escribió Quinn dedicada a De Grandin, no tiene mucho que ver con el terror, pese a lo que pueda indicar su título. Es más bien una fantasía detectivesca y macabra de aventuras. La historia comienza con el rapto de Alice cuando está a punto de casarse, siendo De Grandin y Trowbridge testigos del hecho. Las investigaciones y la búsqueda de la joven Alice no se harán esperar. Adoradores del diablo, hombres-leopardo africanos, sectas satánicas, misas negras, sacrificios humanos, etc., como si de una película antigua de la Hammer se tratase, no dan respiro al lector. El ritmo es frenético y muy visual, sin profundizar en las descripciones psicológicas de los protagonistas, y Quinn no escatima a la hora de describir escenas atroces.
No nos engañemos, ‘La novia del Diablo’ no es alta literatura, y tampoco lo pretende. Es hija de su tiempo, y el original fue publicado en seis entregas a lo largo de 1932 en la revista Weird Tales. Es una novela de aventuras para pasar el rato, que no es poco.
‘La novia del Diablo’, la única novela que escribió Quinn dedicada a De Grandin, no tiene mucho que ver con el terror, pese a lo que pueda indicar su título. Es más bien una fantasía detectivesca y macabra de aventuras. La historia comienza con el rapto de Alice cuando está a punto de casarse, siendo De Grandin y Trowbridge testigos del hecho. Las investigaciones y la búsqueda de la joven Alice no se harán esperar. Adoradores del diablo, hombres-leopardo africanos, sectas satánicas, misas negras, sacrificios humanos, etc., como si de una película antigua de la Hammer se tratase, no dan respiro al lector. El ritmo es frenético y muy visual, sin profundizar en las descripciones psicológicas de los protagonistas, y Quinn no escatima a la hora de describir escenas atroces.
No nos engañemos, ‘La novia del Diablo’ no es alta literatura, y tampoco lo pretende. Es hija de su tiempo, y el original fue publicado en seis entregas a lo largo de 1932 en la revista Weird Tales. Es una novela de aventuras para pasar el rato, que no es poco.
November 26, 2016
Jules de Grandin, the Weekly World News's version of Hercule Poirot, must fight against the forces of the ethnic other in order to preserve the purity of white brides about to have fabulous flapper weddings in Connecticut. No matter how many girdles made of human skin these young, privileged ladies wear (they are, after all, family heirlooms) even a surrender monkey like Grandin knows that they represent the best America has to offer and their hymens must be protected with machine gun fire and mass murder.
October 15, 2018
Pop Quiz: Which author was the most frequently published in the pages of the legendary pulp magazine "Weird Tales"? If your answer is the obvious one, H.P. Lovecraft, guess again. Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore, Henry Kuttner, Edmond Hamilton, Robert Bloch? Still wrong. Surprisingly, the answer is Washington, D.C.-born Seabury Quinn, who, during the 279-issue run of "Weird Tales," dating from 1923 – '54, managed to appear no fewer than 165 times, or in more than half of all those issues. And of those 165 Seabury Quinn appearances, 93 of them featured the author’s most popular character, Jules de Grandin, a blond-mustachioed, French gentleman, late of the Surete, now a sort of detective specializing in occult and macabre doings, and based in--of all places --Harrisonville, NJ. While lodging at the home of his close friend, Dr. Samuel Trowbridge (the narrator of all 93 tales, and a fill-in, of sorts, for Sherlock Holmes' Dr. Watson), de Grandin faced off against a remarkable roster of evil nemeses, from his first appearance in October 1925's "The Horror on the Links" all the way to his last, in September 1951's "The Ring of Bastet." Unlike Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot character (who made his first appearance in 1920's "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," and whom many feel was an inspiration for Quinn's character), de Grandin did not only solve cases of mere domestic murder, but rather, of homicides perpetrated by agents of the satanic, the exotic and the arcane. (This WAS "Weird Tales" magazine, after all!)
But of those 93 Jules de Grandin stories, 92 of them were just that--short stories. "The Devil's Bride" was something else again. The only full-length de Grandin novel, this one initially appeared as a six-part serial in the February – July 1932 issues of "The Unique Magazine"; the February issue even featured cover art by the famed C.C. Senf, depicting the crucifixion scene from the story. "The Devil's Bride" was the 46th of those 93 de Grandin tales, and thus comes precisely at the midpoint of the Frenchman's legendary career. Combining as it does Satanism, kidnapping, ancient legends, a worldwide conspiracy, Black Masses, strong violence, romance, hints of the supernatural, and even African jungle adventure, the novel can almost be seen as the ultimate Jules de Grandin outing (I'm guessing about this, actually, only having read perhaps a dozen of those other 92 stories), and is thus required reading for all fans of this highly amusing character. Fortunately for those, the book can be had today in a nice-looking, trade-size, 2012 edition from Scorpionic Books. This edition, although featuring more typos than any one volume might be expected to have (and not just simple misspellings...words are often missing from sentences, punctuation is often a hash), is yet a reasonable deal for $14.95, and just might be your best recourse if you do want to read this fun and pulpy adventure.
But as to the story itself: It is one that defies a brief synopsis, but I will endeavor to do so. As the tale opens, we find de Grandin and Trowbridge about to attend the wedding rehearsal of John Davisson and Alice Hume; Trowbridge had delivered Alice into the world and had been a friend of the Hume family for many years. But when Alice is mysteriously abducted in a cloud of yellow dust, in full view of all her family but to nobody's recollection of the event, de Grandin jumps into full investigative mode. He learns that one of Alice’s remote female ancestors hailed from the Yezidee tribe in northern Iraq, and that their modern-day, Devil-worshipping descendants have abducted Alice to be their high priestess, after a formalized marriage to the Devil himself! But matters quickly go from bad to worse when Alice's mother is killed, a young woman is found naked (hardly the first such woman to be found thus, in this de Grandin outing!) and crucified in a convent garden, several young boys are reported missing, and a young schoolgirl is horribly mutilated. Trowbridge and de Grandin are soon joined by an old Surete buddy of the latter, Renouard, who reports on a generalized outbreak of European church desecrations, an increase in the African slave trade, a rising trend of drug and alcohol abuse by formerly well-bred women, and mounting activity centered near Mt. Lalesh, the fabled center of the Yezidees...all organized by a party of Russians, no less. During a daring infiltration of a Black Mass ceremony near Harrisonville, our heroes encounter another gentleman who contributes some new and tantalizing information. This gent, Ingraham, a British member of his government's military secret service based in Africa, tells of a huge upswing in the activities of the dreaded Leopard Men, who have resumed their aggressive and cannibalistic ways. Long story short, Alice is indeed rescued from that Black Mass ceremony, only to be kidnapped again and brought to Sierra Leone, where a convocation of all the Devil worshippers and assorted nasties from around the world will soon be taking place, deep in the primeval jungle. And so, can de Grandin, Trowbridge, Davisson, Renouard and Ingraham--a nicely international quintet--do anything other than to follow?
Seabury Quinn's de Grandin tales just might be an acquired taste, perhaps dished out in small doses, and a full-length novel may indeed be a bit much for some folks to take. Quinn was an author with a propensity to overwrite (whereas another author might tell us that de Grandin walked into an abandoned liquor store, here, our hero enters "an emporium dispensing spirituous, malt and vinous liquors...."), while de Grandin himself is a big of a braggart and a blowhard ("How I shall do it I cannot tell, but that I shall succeed I am assured. I am Jules de Grandin, and I do not fail," he tells us)...albeit a lovable one. And, oh, those crazy exclamations that he utters, in both English and French! Some of my favorites here: "beard of a green rat," "name of a billy goat," "God of dogs," "name of an umbrella," "pains of a most dyspeptic bullfrog," "name of a cauliflower," "by the beard of a red fish" and "dewlap of a raven"! Some folks might find this constant barrage of wacky expressions tiresome, and ditto for de Grandin's incessant mangling of the English language, while others, such as myself, may have fun with it. Personally, I find these de Grandin stories are best read slowly, with a good dictionary, atlas and the Interwebs handy, so as to be able to tackle the many unusual words and references that the extraordinarily well-read Quinn is always ready to throw at us...unless, that is, you know what such words as "pentice," "yclept" and "highte" mean, for example. And, oh, I may never figure out what de Grandin's oft-repeated expressions "pardieu," "cordieu" and "mordieu" mean! "The Devil's Bride," as was the case with many of the other de Grandin tales, is guilty of casual racism (the superiority of the colonial powers of Europe is taken as a given, for example), not to mention healthy doses of violence and risqué nudity, but I suppose that these must all be taken as symptomatic of the era in which these stories were written.
And this novel really does have quite a bit of graphic violence to dish out. Alice's hanged mother and that crucified woman are both lingeringly described (Senf, in his cover artwork, softened the impact of the latter scene by showing the woman tied to the cross, rather than spiked on); little children are put to death at the Black Mass; and that mutilated little girl has her hands cut off, her eyes gouged out and her tongue removed (if the author was trying to show us just how wicked those Satanists are, he sure did succeed admirably!). In one grisly sequence, de Grandin and Trowbridge attend the electrocution of Grigor Bazarov, the chief Russian mastermind of the international intrigue, and later disinter his coffin to have another look at him (there was reason to believe that he was still alive...don't ask!). The book, faithful to its "Weird Tales" readers, also packs in decided bits of outré strangeness, such as the African bulala-gwai drug, the nightmares that the Yezidee priests are able to engender from afar, the ability of Bazarov to control and command wild wolves, and the truly bizarre sight of Alice, in full priestess garb at that jungle gathering, and with Devil horns surgically implanted to the top of her skull! And this de Grandin novel provides the reader with any number of thrilling sequences, the infiltration of the Black Mass and the infiltration of the African marriage ceremony of course being two of them, both of which are painstakingly described by the author. Jules, I might add, has perhaps never been shown in a suaver light than when he rescues Alice at the end of this book; almost comically suave, as a matter of fact. And we even get to learn, in one surprising segment here, something of de Grandin's tragic love history, and discover why he has remained a bachelor ever since. In all, "The Devil's Bride" is a wholly satisfying Jules de Grandin adventure, its short final chapter tying up almost all the loose ends neatly (I'm still not clear who effaced the entries in David Hume's 300-year-old diary, though) and ending on a very sweet note, indeed. For those with a taste for pulp fiction, this de Grandin epic just might fit the bill very nicely.
But wait...this Scorpionic volume is not quite finished! As if to make amends for the general sloppiness of its presentation, this edition also gives us an added treat: one more de Grandin adventure! The bonus tale here is "The House of Golden Masks," the 27th de Grandin adventure, which first appeared in the June 1929 issue of "Weird Tales." In this one, women are being kidnapped left and right from the streets of Harrisonville, and de Grandin and Trowbridge soon discover why: A gang of slavers from India has been at work abducting and then torturing and demeaning young women in a desolate country estate, preparatory to shipping them overseas. In a tense conclusion, our two heroes hide themselves in suits of armor and observe the bizarre goings-on, before putting paid to the dastardly scoundrels. It is a fast-moving, compact story, which form some readers might find preferable to the anomaly that is the de Grandin novel. Actually, I'd suggest reading the short story first, followed by the novel, so as to approximate the 1930s experience of seeing a cinematic short prior to the longer feature film. But however you read these two, and in whatever order, be prepared for some pretty way-out excitement. "By the love of a billy goat," I have a feeling that you will enjoy them!
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Seabury Quinn and other "Weird Tales" writers....)
But of those 93 Jules de Grandin stories, 92 of them were just that--short stories. "The Devil's Bride" was something else again. The only full-length de Grandin novel, this one initially appeared as a six-part serial in the February – July 1932 issues of "The Unique Magazine"; the February issue even featured cover art by the famed C.C. Senf, depicting the crucifixion scene from the story. "The Devil's Bride" was the 46th of those 93 de Grandin tales, and thus comes precisely at the midpoint of the Frenchman's legendary career. Combining as it does Satanism, kidnapping, ancient legends, a worldwide conspiracy, Black Masses, strong violence, romance, hints of the supernatural, and even African jungle adventure, the novel can almost be seen as the ultimate Jules de Grandin outing (I'm guessing about this, actually, only having read perhaps a dozen of those other 92 stories), and is thus required reading for all fans of this highly amusing character. Fortunately for those, the book can be had today in a nice-looking, trade-size, 2012 edition from Scorpionic Books. This edition, although featuring more typos than any one volume might be expected to have (and not just simple misspellings...words are often missing from sentences, punctuation is often a hash), is yet a reasonable deal for $14.95, and just might be your best recourse if you do want to read this fun and pulpy adventure.
But as to the story itself: It is one that defies a brief synopsis, but I will endeavor to do so. As the tale opens, we find de Grandin and Trowbridge about to attend the wedding rehearsal of John Davisson and Alice Hume; Trowbridge had delivered Alice into the world and had been a friend of the Hume family for many years. But when Alice is mysteriously abducted in a cloud of yellow dust, in full view of all her family but to nobody's recollection of the event, de Grandin jumps into full investigative mode. He learns that one of Alice’s remote female ancestors hailed from the Yezidee tribe in northern Iraq, and that their modern-day, Devil-worshipping descendants have abducted Alice to be their high priestess, after a formalized marriage to the Devil himself! But matters quickly go from bad to worse when Alice's mother is killed, a young woman is found naked (hardly the first such woman to be found thus, in this de Grandin outing!) and crucified in a convent garden, several young boys are reported missing, and a young schoolgirl is horribly mutilated. Trowbridge and de Grandin are soon joined by an old Surete buddy of the latter, Renouard, who reports on a generalized outbreak of European church desecrations, an increase in the African slave trade, a rising trend of drug and alcohol abuse by formerly well-bred women, and mounting activity centered near Mt. Lalesh, the fabled center of the Yezidees...all organized by a party of Russians, no less. During a daring infiltration of a Black Mass ceremony near Harrisonville, our heroes encounter another gentleman who contributes some new and tantalizing information. This gent, Ingraham, a British member of his government's military secret service based in Africa, tells of a huge upswing in the activities of the dreaded Leopard Men, who have resumed their aggressive and cannibalistic ways. Long story short, Alice is indeed rescued from that Black Mass ceremony, only to be kidnapped again and brought to Sierra Leone, where a convocation of all the Devil worshippers and assorted nasties from around the world will soon be taking place, deep in the primeval jungle. And so, can de Grandin, Trowbridge, Davisson, Renouard and Ingraham--a nicely international quintet--do anything other than to follow?
Seabury Quinn's de Grandin tales just might be an acquired taste, perhaps dished out in small doses, and a full-length novel may indeed be a bit much for some folks to take. Quinn was an author with a propensity to overwrite (whereas another author might tell us that de Grandin walked into an abandoned liquor store, here, our hero enters "an emporium dispensing spirituous, malt and vinous liquors...."), while de Grandin himself is a big of a braggart and a blowhard ("How I shall do it I cannot tell, but that I shall succeed I am assured. I am Jules de Grandin, and I do not fail," he tells us)...albeit a lovable one. And, oh, those crazy exclamations that he utters, in both English and French! Some of my favorites here: "beard of a green rat," "name of a billy goat," "God of dogs," "name of an umbrella," "pains of a most dyspeptic bullfrog," "name of a cauliflower," "by the beard of a red fish" and "dewlap of a raven"! Some folks might find this constant barrage of wacky expressions tiresome, and ditto for de Grandin's incessant mangling of the English language, while others, such as myself, may have fun with it. Personally, I find these de Grandin stories are best read slowly, with a good dictionary, atlas and the Interwebs handy, so as to be able to tackle the many unusual words and references that the extraordinarily well-read Quinn is always ready to throw at us...unless, that is, you know what such words as "pentice," "yclept" and "highte" mean, for example. And, oh, I may never figure out what de Grandin's oft-repeated expressions "pardieu," "cordieu" and "mordieu" mean! "The Devil's Bride," as was the case with many of the other de Grandin tales, is guilty of casual racism (the superiority of the colonial powers of Europe is taken as a given, for example), not to mention healthy doses of violence and risqué nudity, but I suppose that these must all be taken as symptomatic of the era in which these stories were written.
And this novel really does have quite a bit of graphic violence to dish out. Alice's hanged mother and that crucified woman are both lingeringly described (Senf, in his cover artwork, softened the impact of the latter scene by showing the woman tied to the cross, rather than spiked on); little children are put to death at the Black Mass; and that mutilated little girl has her hands cut off, her eyes gouged out and her tongue removed (if the author was trying to show us just how wicked those Satanists are, he sure did succeed admirably!). In one grisly sequence, de Grandin and Trowbridge attend the electrocution of Grigor Bazarov, the chief Russian mastermind of the international intrigue, and later disinter his coffin to have another look at him (there was reason to believe that he was still alive...don't ask!). The book, faithful to its "Weird Tales" readers, also packs in decided bits of outré strangeness, such as the African bulala-gwai drug, the nightmares that the Yezidee priests are able to engender from afar, the ability of Bazarov to control and command wild wolves, and the truly bizarre sight of Alice, in full priestess garb at that jungle gathering, and with Devil horns surgically implanted to the top of her skull! And this de Grandin novel provides the reader with any number of thrilling sequences, the infiltration of the Black Mass and the infiltration of the African marriage ceremony of course being two of them, both of which are painstakingly described by the author. Jules, I might add, has perhaps never been shown in a suaver light than when he rescues Alice at the end of this book; almost comically suave, as a matter of fact. And we even get to learn, in one surprising segment here, something of de Grandin's tragic love history, and discover why he has remained a bachelor ever since. In all, "The Devil's Bride" is a wholly satisfying Jules de Grandin adventure, its short final chapter tying up almost all the loose ends neatly (I'm still not clear who effaced the entries in David Hume's 300-year-old diary, though) and ending on a very sweet note, indeed. For those with a taste for pulp fiction, this de Grandin epic just might fit the bill very nicely.
But wait...this Scorpionic volume is not quite finished! As if to make amends for the general sloppiness of its presentation, this edition also gives us an added treat: one more de Grandin adventure! The bonus tale here is "The House of Golden Masks," the 27th de Grandin adventure, which first appeared in the June 1929 issue of "Weird Tales." In this one, women are being kidnapped left and right from the streets of Harrisonville, and de Grandin and Trowbridge soon discover why: A gang of slavers from India has been at work abducting and then torturing and demeaning young women in a desolate country estate, preparatory to shipping them overseas. In a tense conclusion, our two heroes hide themselves in suits of armor and observe the bizarre goings-on, before putting paid to the dastardly scoundrels. It is a fast-moving, compact story, which form some readers might find preferable to the anomaly that is the de Grandin novel. Actually, I'd suggest reading the short story first, followed by the novel, so as to approximate the 1930s experience of seeing a cinematic short prior to the longer feature film. But however you read these two, and in whatever order, be prepared for some pretty way-out excitement. "By the love of a billy goat," I have a feeling that you will enjoy them!
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Seabury Quinn and other "Weird Tales" writers....)
December 19, 2019
Tras llevar cuatro libros leídos de este detective ya estoy bastante cansado de sus historias. Utilizando siempre el mismo patrón una y otra vez: un caso extraño y el testigo empieza a narrar lo que ha visto.
January 9, 2018
Seabury Quinn fue uno de los escritores del movimiento "pulp" más eficientes, cumplía a la perfección con lo que se busca en ese tipo de relatos, y en "La novia del diablo", se nota a la perfección su dominio del género.
La literatura "pulp" era por su misma naturaleza, barata. Si bien eso no fue impedimento para que lumbreras como Lovecraft o Robert E. Howard emergieran de ella. Escritores como Quinn fueron de los que mejor cumplían con las características que buscaban los editores de ese estilo, razón por la cual fue más exitoso que ellos en vida. "La novia del diablo", por tanto, no es una gran pieza literaria, sin embargo, dentro de su segmento es bastante interesante. Nos habla acerca de la añeja maldición que persigue a una infortunada joven hasta el día de su boda, donde lo que prometía iba a ser el día más feliz de su vida, se torna en una pesadilla de sangre que revela alcances mucho más profundos que lo que a simple vista parece, requiriéndose el esfuerzo de Jules de Grandin, su genial detective insignia, y un conglomerado de luchadores por el bien de diferentes nacionalidades, para lograr desentrañar el misterio y lograr la salvación de la pobre muchacha.
Es de un estilo muy sencillo de leer, sin grandes complicaciones, e incluso un tanto predecible. Sin embargo, es muy entretenido. Destacan sobre todo las detalladas descripciones de las ceremonias macabras que acontecen en la historia, ¡qué se sienten demasiado reales! La acción es trepidante y el ritmo no decae en ningún momento de la narración.
Para pasar un buen momento de sano entretenimiento, es bastante recomendable, sobretodo a los fans de Weird Tales o revistas afines.
La literatura "pulp" era por su misma naturaleza, barata. Si bien eso no fue impedimento para que lumbreras como Lovecraft o Robert E. Howard emergieran de ella. Escritores como Quinn fueron de los que mejor cumplían con las características que buscaban los editores de ese estilo, razón por la cual fue más exitoso que ellos en vida. "La novia del diablo", por tanto, no es una gran pieza literaria, sin embargo, dentro de su segmento es bastante interesante. Nos habla acerca de la añeja maldición que persigue a una infortunada joven hasta el día de su boda, donde lo que prometía iba a ser el día más feliz de su vida, se torna en una pesadilla de sangre que revela alcances mucho más profundos que lo que a simple vista parece, requiriéndose el esfuerzo de Jules de Grandin, su genial detective insignia, y un conglomerado de luchadores por el bien de diferentes nacionalidades, para lograr desentrañar el misterio y lograr la salvación de la pobre muchacha.
Es de un estilo muy sencillo de leer, sin grandes complicaciones, e incluso un tanto predecible. Sin embargo, es muy entretenido. Destacan sobre todo las detalladas descripciones de las ceremonias macabras que acontecen en la historia, ¡qué se sienten demasiado reales! La acción es trepidante y el ritmo no decae en ningún momento de la narración.
Para pasar un buen momento de sano entretenimiento, es bastante recomendable, sobretodo a los fans de Weird Tales o revistas afines.
March 20, 2019
Esta cuarta entrega de las aventuras de Jules de Grandin destaca porque incluye la única novela de la serie. Por ello, tal vez sea la mejor opción para quienes sólo quieran comprar un libro de este célebre detective de lo sobrenatural.
Los primeros cuentos del volumen son espléndidos, como también lo son las dos terceras partes de la novela "La novia del Diablo". Si me ha quedado un sabor agridulce es por ese final algo repetitivo y por el último cuento, previsible y poco original.
Si quieres aprender sobra ritos satánicos, o de la concepción de Seabury Quinn sobre ellos, aquí hay material de primera. También se lee con gusto algún que otro dato sobre la vida pasada del célebre protagonista, detalles que el autor nos ofrece siempre con cuentagotas.
Se trata, en suma, de un buen libro, el cuarto de un total de siete, cuyas historias no serán clásicos del género de terror, pero cumplen su función: divertir y en el mejor de los casos sorprender al lector. Si te han gustado los demás volúmenes, este no va a ser menos, y si tienes pensado iniciarte en la saga, creo que es el libro adecuado.
Los primeros cuentos del volumen son espléndidos, como también lo son las dos terceras partes de la novela "La novia del Diablo". Si me ha quedado un sabor agridulce es por ese final algo repetitivo y por el último cuento, previsible y poco original.
Si quieres aprender sobra ritos satánicos, o de la concepción de Seabury Quinn sobre ellos, aquí hay material de primera. También se lee con gusto algún que otro dato sobre la vida pasada del célebre protagonista, detalles que el autor nos ofrece siempre con cuentagotas.
Se trata, en suma, de un buen libro, el cuarto de un total de siete, cuyas historias no serán clásicos del género de terror, pero cumplen su función: divertir y en el mejor de los casos sorprender al lector. Si te han gustado los demás volúmenes, este no va a ser menos, y si tienes pensado iniciarte en la saga, creo que es el libro adecuado.
August 3, 2023
2.5 Audible edition. This is a really long story for Quinn. Too long. It was published in installments over six months in 1932, in Weird Tales Magazine. This story is weird, dark, and it drags in many places.
There is a satanic cult, kidnappings murders, crucifixions, damsels in distress, and a global cast of quite strange characters. There is just too much in this story, it just kept going and going.
On the plus side, the narration was great.
This story is available in 'The Dark Angel: The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume Three'. It was originally published starting in Weird Tales February 1932 and mainly takes place in the fictitious Harrisonburg, New Jersey.
There is a satanic cult, kidnappings murders, crucifixions, damsels in distress, and a global cast of quite strange characters. There is just too much in this story, it just kept going and going.
On the plus side, the narration was great.
This story is available in 'The Dark Angel: The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume Three'. It was originally published starting in Weird Tales February 1932 and mainly takes place in the fictitious Harrisonburg, New Jersey.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews