More wonderful fantasy writing from
A. Merritt.
This is V1 - forgot to put that in the Header.
Here's what one writer says:
"Hving conquered the field of fantasy (with such classics as "
The Moon Pool," "
The Ship of Ishtar" and "
Dwellers in the Mirage") as well as the field of the bizarre yet hardboiled crime thriller (with his wonderful "
Seven Footprints to Satan"), Abraham Merritt went on, in 1932, to prove that he could master the field of supernatural horror, as well. That he succeeded brilliantly should come as no surprise to readers of those earlier works. His first foray in the occult, "
Burn, Witch, Burn" first appeared in the pages of "
Argosy" magazine in 1932, and was then expanded into book form the following year. In it, we meet Dr. Lowell, an eminent neurologist who becomes curious when a series of mysterious deaths comes to his attention. Men and women in the NYC area have been dying of no apparent cause, but with horrible grimaces on their faces and with very rapid onsets of rigor mortis. Lowell is aided in his investigation by Ricori, a mobster chieftain, as well as by Ricori's very efficient gang. The trail of bizarre deaths leads to one Madame Mandilip and her doll shop, and before long the reader is immersed in a world of supernaturalism and escalating tension. Lowell, hardheaded man of the 20th century, is hard put to explain the unfolding creepy events by the lights of his mundane science. Merritt writes simply in this book; one would never recognize him as the author of "
The Moon Pool" and "
The Metal Monster," with those books' lush, purple-prose passages. All of our questions regarding the strange events in "
Burn, Witch, Burn" are not answered by the tale's end, and this only seems to make what has transpired seem all the more mysterious. This is the type of book that a reader may feel compelled to gulp down in one sitting, and with its short, 160-page length, that could easily be accomplished. This tale was loosely adapted for the screen as "The Devil-Doll" (1935), but this film has little to do with its source novel."
Hope you enjoy it.
As always, let me know if there's a problem with this, and I'll fix it.
Don
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