One of his stories in Weird Tales was so frightening that it caused removal of the magazine from the newsstands in at least one city. —Howard Wolf, “Variety” column, The Akron Beacon Journal 12 Dec 1927, p10
In his 1927 article on H. P. Lovecraft, Howard Wolf relates the above brief anecdote, which probably came from Lovecraft himself, or one of his close associates. In writing to his aunt Lillian D. Clark about the article, Lovecraft explained:
He is wrong in saying that it was a tale of mine which caused an issue of Weird Tales to be barred from the stands in Indiana. The story in question was Eddy’s “The Loved Dead”—which, however, had much of my work in it. —H. P. Lovecraft to Lilian D. Clark, 10 May 1928, LFF2.652-653
Lovecraft had mentioned a brush with censorship and “The Loved Dead” in his letters since late 1925, although details were vague. One of the key points seemed to be that it involved Indiana and, strangely enough, the Parent-Teacher Associations.
“In the Vault” he rejected because he feared its gruesomeness would get him into trouble with the censors—O Gawd! O Montreal! —H. P. Lovecraft to Clark Ashton Smith, 4 Nov 1925, DS 86
Glad you like “In the Vault”. Wright’s rejection of that was sheer nonsense—I don’t believe any censor would have objected to it, but ever since the Indiana senate took action about poor Eddy’s “Loved Dead”, he has been in a continual panic about censorship. —H. P. Lovecraft to Lilian D. Clark, 13 Dec 1925, LFF1.507
About poor Eddy’s tale—it certainly did achieve fame of a sort! His name must have rung in tones of fiery denunciation all through the corridors & beneath the classic rotunda (if it has a rotunda) of the Indiana State Capitol! —H. P. Lovecraft to Lillian D. Clark, 22-23 Dec 1925, LFF1.520
This worthy editor has been amusingly timid about very bizarre tales ever since he had had some trouble with state censors and parent-teacher associations over a story he printed three years ago—a story, as coincidence would have it, by an acquaintance of mine in Providence. —H. P. Lovecraft to Bernard Austin Dwyer, [June 1927], LMM 455
C. M. Eddy, Jr. and his wife Muriel E. Eddy were pulp writers that lived a few miles from Lovecraft in Providence, Rhode Island. In the early 20s, Lovecraft and the Eddys were fairly close, and Lovecraft would have a hand in several of C. M. Eddy’s weird stories “Ashes” (Weird Tales Mar 1924), “The Ghost-Eater” (Weird Tales Apr 1924), “The Loved Dead” (Weird Tales May-Jun-July 1924), and “Deaf, Dumb and Blind” (Weird Tales Apr 1925), as well as work on The Cancer of Superstition for Harry Houdini. The degree of Lovecraft’s involvement in the stories is difficult to trace; the Eddys and Lovecraft gave different accounts of his work in “The Loved Dead,” though all agree the initial idea was Eddy’s, and it appeared under his byline when it was published in Weird Tales‘ large anniversary number in 1924, which was an oversize issue on the stands for several months.
The reason for the oversize issue is that Weird Tales itself was going through a critical re-organization. Initially, Weird Tales was published by the Rural Publishing Co. with Edwin Baird as editor, and Farnsworth Wright as first reader for the magazine; the offices were in Chicago. Mounting debts forced a change: Baird departed, and Weird Tales was now published by Popular Fiction Publishing of Indianapolis, Ind., with Wright as editor. The oversize 1924 May-Jun-Jul issueof Weird Tales marks the transition from Baird’s editorship to Wright’s, and the move from Illinois to Indiana.
This, then, at the beginning of Wright’s career as editor of Weird Tales, is when something happened—at least, according to Lovecraft, who would continue to refer to the event in his letters for the rest of his life:
Of course, you would have to use vast care & subtlety in suiting the tale to Wright’s idea of its reception by the Indiana Parent-Teacher Association—& even so, his timidity might bring about rejection in the end. Poor chap—he’ll never forget the row that Eddy’s “Loved Dead” stirred up some seven years ago! —H. P. Lovecraft to Clark Ashton Smith, [8 Nov 1931], DS 301
Quinn’s new offering would surely seem to be strong stuff—hope it doesn’t produce another situation like that aroused by Eddy’s “Loved Dead”. —H. P. Lovecraft to R. H. Barlow, [3?-6 Aug 1934], OFF 157
Poor Farny! That censorship of ‘24 absolutely broke his nerve, so that he has ever since been timid about publishing anything with a corpse over 10 hours old! As you may know, he once rejected my “In the Vault” as “too horrible”—although he did take it later on. It may interest you to know that I revised the now-notorious “Loved Dead” myself—practically re-writing the latter half. Eddy is a Providence man, & I was in fairly close touch with him in ‘23. I did not, though, devise the necrophilic portion which so ruffled the tranquility of parents & pedagogues on the banks of the Wabash. —H. P. Lovecraft to Robert Bloch, [mid-Mar 1935], LRBO 132
Did I tell you that he rejected a splendid corpse story by Kid Bloch because it was ‘too horrible’? He brought up the spectre of C. M. Eddy’s “Loved Dead” again after 10 years. Poor chap—he’ll never forget the Indiana Parent-Teacher’s Association! —H. P. Lovecraft to R. H. Barlow, [24 Mar 1935], OFF 230
A recent experience of little Bobby Bloch does not form an encouraging omen—for Pharnabozus turned down a yarn of his (about a chap who found that his bedfellow in an hotel was a badly decomposed cadaver) on the ground of excessive horror, bringing up the now-classic case of 1924 . . . . . C. M. Eddy’s “Loved Dead” (the latter half of which I re-wrote!) & the Indiana Parent-Teacher’s Association. Poor Farny—he’s like a dog that has received a nerve-breaking scare, & cringes every time anything reminds him of it! —H. P. Lovecraft to Clark Ashton Smith, [26 Mar 1935], DS 594
Poor Farny has been timid ever since 1925, when he had a run-in with the Indiana bourgeoisie over a yarn by C. M. Eddy Jr. of Prov., which I revised! —H. P. Lovecraft to Robert Bloch, [mid-May 1936], LRBO 170
As with Edith Miniter and the Dracula revision, Lovecraft’s accounts are generally consistent throughout the years, and many scholars and critics have taken him at his word that perhaps the May-Jun-Jul 1924 issue of Weird Tales was banned in Indiana, or at least Indianapolis, and that the Parent-Teacher’s Association had something to do with it. The problem is, no specific evidence of such a ban has ever been uncovered. Unfortunately, the Lovecraft-Farnsworth Wright correspondence has a gap in that timeframe when it would have occurred, and the surviving letters do not mention it; the same goes for Lovecraft’s letters to C. M. Eddy, Jr. and his wife Muriel. While Lovecraft’s data for the anecdote must have come from Wright or Eddy—there would hardly seem to be anybody else in a position to know—we are left with speculation as to what really happened.
The editorial offices for Weird Tales at this time were at 854 North Clark Street, Chicago; thier business address was 325 North Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, the address of a brick building constructed and owned by the Cornelious Printing Company, a well-known, family-owned Indianapolis company of solid standing, who happened to be the printer of Detective and weird Tales, and the largest creditor of Rural Publishing. Their building sat a mere block-and-a-half from the capitol. We suspect that Lovecraft’s initial comment—”His name must have run . . .”—was based on infortmation he misunderstood and which he tuned into a delectable joke. What fun to imagine that Eddy’s devilish little story threw a puritanical state goverment into a tizzy! In fact, what probably happened was that the PTA, a member, or even a state senator, visited the Cornelius office to complain about “The Loved Dead,” and the unwholesome influence it might have on the youth of America, etc. et.c, and that the company, which had financial leverage, asked Henneberger to exercise more caution in the future. Then when “In the Vault” was rejected, Lovecraft converted his initial faulty suppostion into a fact. (173)
New evidence, however, suggests there was at least a germ of truth in Lovecraft’s account.
The Indiana Magazine War of 1924
In the Spring of 1924, a grassroots campaign of concerned parents, educators, and other busybodies had enough of salacious pulps on the newsstands. With a cry of “think of the children!” (or a foreshadowing of the later campaign against comic books by Frederic Wertham), the Parent-Teacher Associations of Indiana came together to petition Governor Warren T. McCray to do something about the pulp menace.
McCray dropped the issue in the lap of Indiana State Attorney-General U. S. Lesh. The focus of the petition was not on all pulp magazines, but seemed to be centered on confession pulps and the slightly risque (for the time) spicy pulps, confessionals, and the men’s humor magazines such as Hot Dog, which might have a few pin-ups that bared a shoulder, an ankle, and a filmy veil through which a reader might catch a glimpse of a nipple. Indiana, like most states, already had legislation on the books to deal with obscene publications (Sale of Obscene Magazines To Be Halted In State part 1, part 2), which had occasionally resulted in successful prosecutions (Johnson County Bars Magazines).
Lesh decided now was the time to enforce these laws, and sent out letters to state prosecutors naming 22 pulp titles that the PTA had put forward as wanting off the stands.
Weird Tales was not on the list; it was neither a confession pulp or a spicy pulp, and the covers during that period were often done by Andrew Brosnatch, and fairly unsalacious.
The news spread quickly in Indiana’s newspapers. Immeditately, there was question of enforcement, cries of censorship, and pushback from newsstands, distributors, and pulp magazine publishers. Several state prosecutors such as Frank T. Strayer, Henry T. Hardin, John Summa, Mark I. Thompson, William H. Remy, and P. H. Hurd garnered notices and grabbed headlines (1924 was, after all, an election year) as they moved forward with enforcement, which initially meant seeing what was actually being sold at the local newsstands and bookstores and making the owners aware of possible legal consequences. As the focus was on the point of sale, several news agents removed the magazines from their stock rather than face arrest, fines, and possible imprisonment:
On Monday, 24 Mar 1924, raids were made at newsstands throughout Indiana. Police and prosecutors confiscated thousands of magazines. Macfadden Publishing, who had three confession pulps on the ban list (True Romances, True Stories, and Dream World) organized a meeting of news agents in Chicago (Publishers To Fight Seizure of Magazines). It was the opening salvo in what several Indiana newspapers would dub the “Magazine War.”
However, there was little that pulp publishers could do except circle the legal wagons. One of the first layers of censorship in the United States in that era was the U. S. Post Office, which had the authority to prevent the sending of obscene matter through the mail. Pulp magazines were classified as second-class mail, and subject to inspection; lawyers for the pulp publishers argued that if the post office accepted it, the content must have passed the postal censor (Ignore Attorney-General). This argument, however, did not hold water with the state attorneys. (Publishers Protest, Briefs Are Sent To Prosecutors).
Soon, rumors started of a “test case”—someone to actually be charged with a crime, tried in court, to see if the law would hold against legal reasoning (A “Test Suit”, Seen and Heard About Richmond). Lesh knew that this would be the litmus test of the campaign, and urged prosecutors to proceed cautiously (Lesh Changes Magazine Rule). Such a case soon became reality. State prosecutor B. H. Hurd had set a deadline of 1 April for local dealers to stop selling the banned pulps; one dealer resisted (One Dealer Selling Tabooed Magazines).
The affadavit charged the appellant on April 4, 1924, at Huntington county, in the State of Indiana, did unlawfully sell to one Sophronia Wannas an obscene, lewd, lascivious and licentious publication in the form of a pamphlet, to wit, a pamphlet bearing the name and title of, “Hot Dog, The Regular Fellows Monthly, price two bits,” being then and there of the issue of the month of April 1924, Vol. 3, which printed matter of said pamphlet being then and there too lewd, lscivious and licentious to set out herein and to incumber the records of the court therewith. —Sunderman v. State of Indiana, Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Indiana, vol. 197, p705
Enforcement of the pulp ban was uneven. While Attorney-General Lesh could send letters to direct and guide state prosecutors, local authorities had considerably leeway into how hard they pursued the matter. When the new governor, Emmett Forrest Branch took office in May 1924, he pushed Lesh to send another letter to aid enforcement , but not every county took up the ban (No Objection to Magazines Heard, Obscene Magazine Fight Gets Impetus, The Indiana Anti-Pulp Crusade). On the other hand, other prosecutors appear to have been more keen: William H. Remy presented evidence before a grand journey to see if he could prosecute (Grand Jury May Get Bad Magazine Cases). Others set a deadline of August 1st to remove offending magazines from their county.
Pulp publishers such as Macfadden and distributors such as the Hoosier News Agency continued to resist however they could. Macfadden managed to convince several Indiana ministers to come out in favor of the moral stories in their confession pulps (Pastors Aid Magazines Banned Here), and Lesh apparently agreed to allow Macfadden’s pulps to be sold until a test case could be resolved (Magazines Under Ban Are Being Sold Thru “Truce”), but the individual district attorneys were the ones who decided which magazines to ban…which may explain why, in September 1924, Macfadden took out a large advertisement against the Richmond District Attorney.
As autumn turned to winter, the magazine war slowed. Lesh consulted with postal inspectors, presumably to stop the offending periodicals from coming into the state (In Postal Campaign). Some pulp publishers were accused of having changed tactics, producing pulp magazines with new titles that didn’t appear on the ban list (New Magazines Are Suspected), but this seems unlikely—or at least, the turnover of old pulps folding and new ones forming doesn’t seem to fit with Lesh’s list or the publishers of the pulps on that list. In practice, the pulp field was so fecund, with new magazines published and ceasing publication every year, that any static blacklist could not possibly keep up.
1925 brought a change: U. S. Lesh was no longer Attorney-General of Indiana. Lesh and the PTA had shifted their attention from enforcing existing laws to pushing new legislation. Their reasoning behind this was clear:
Lesh prepared the bill, which provided for magazine sellers to be licensed by the state. The bill died in the Indiana house of representatives (Magazine Bill Goes Down in the House).
Weird Tales entered into the picture near the end of the drama. While Lesh was out, individual prosecutors could and did continue to enforce magazine bans. Henry T. Hardin was a particularly tenacious and truclent. In June 1925, he published a list of 46 pulp titles banned in Evansville, Indiana—based on the initial list of 21 titles provided to Lesh by the PTA, it also included Weird Tales. Hardin’s reasons for including the weird fiction pulp among the spicies, romance pulps, and girlie magazines is not stated. Perhaps someone really did read “The Loved Dead” and got offended.
Farnsworth Wright, who took over as editor of Weird Tales from Edwin Baird, wrote in a September 1924 letter, “The Richmond (Indiana) Parent Teachers’ Association tried to get an injunction out against the further publication of Weird Tales because of ‘The Loved Dead.'” (vi)
Without access to that letter, this quote cannot be confirmed, and no news notice in support of this has yet been located. Yet if accurate, that would be another instance of Weird Tales being targeted.
While the stated intent of the campaign was to save the children, the magazines targeted had an audience largely comprised of older teens and adults, many of them women (“Bootlegging” of Magazines is Predicted). Confession pulps like True Romance and True Confessions more often than not contained morality tales where women expressed their regret for terrible decisions or circumstances that left them wiser and dealing with the consequences; yet to hear state prosecutor William H. Remy tell it:
They make a heroine of the unfaithful wife and a martyr of the renegade husband. The divorce evil is already serious enough in Marion county, and so is the matter of crime, and magazines which tend to encourage either or to condone offenses against the laws of the land ought to be blacklisted by public opinion as well as by law. —“To Prosecure Sellers of Obscene Magazines” part 1, The Indianapolis News, 3 May 1924, p1
Even the spicy pulps like Breezy Stories and Saucy Stories sold the sizzle, not the steak—no pulp publisher was going to print an explicit account of sex. Yet to the stolid men of the state attorneys offices, these were considered obscene.
Yet despite all the hullaballoo, it is clear this was not a popular crusade. At a time when the state prosecutors and law enforcement were wrestling with the Volstead Act, Indiana’s Magazine War went unsupported in a majority of its counties, seems to have resulted in few prosecutions or fines, and did not apparently change or diminish the content of any of the pulp magazines involved—unless Lovecraft was correct, and Farnsworth Wright, wet behind the ears as editor of Weird Tales, was scared because his magazine was numbered, however briefly, among the obscene materials that might be banned from the newsstands.
The players in this little drama are little more than footnotes in Indiana state history, but the outlines of the conflict are an old, ugly tale, one which has played out again and again—censorship by an outspoken minority, and the rule by fear.
Loose Ends
As with any old puzzle, there are a few pieces that don’t quite fit, and those deserve to be briefly addressed. In one letter recounting various experiences he has and has not had, Lovecraft wrote:
I have several times been in a police station—usually to inquire about stolen property, & once to see the Chief of Police about the banning of a client’s magazine from the stands—but never in the part devoted to cells. —H. P. Lovecraft to J. Vernon Shea, 29 May 1933, LJS 131
Lovecraft does not give a date or place for his incident, and some have suggested that this might be a reference to the banning of Weird Tales‘ May-Jun-Jul 1924 issue. However, on the balance this seems unlikely—Lovecraft was never in Indiana, and there doesn’t seem to be anything the Chief of Police in any city he did visit could have done. It is possible that this is a forgotten incident with another magazine—one can imagine the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice getting a hold of a copy of Home Brew and squinting at the phallic shapes of Clark Ashton Smith’s vegetation—but lacking any hint of that in Lovecraft’s letters, it must remain a mystery.
In a memoir of Lovecraft, his friend and literary executor R. H. Barlow wrote:
He tells me he ghostwrote “The Curse of Yig,” “The Last Test,” “The Electric Executioner”; some Houdini stuff in WT—“The Loved Dead”; that the latter was nearly suppressed in Milwaukee because of the necrophilic theme. —R. H. Barlow, “Memories of Lovecraft (1934)”, OFF 402
Milwaukee is in Wisconsin. In this case, I believe Barlow simply misremembered what Lovecraft had said.
Thanks extremely for the interesting cuttings, which I herewith return. I also have kept a file of these things for years—would you care to see some of the choicest items? I’d be glad to lend any number of envelopes full. That fog in Washington surely was a curious ‘colour out of space’ . . . . . I wonder if the preparations to reprint my story in that state had anything to do with it? The case of the Boer lady—Mevrouw van de Riet—certainly offers dark food for the imagination. She seems to be a sort of female Aleister Crowley—or a striga, lamia, empusa, or something of the sort. An odd—& potentially evil—face. Actually, she probably has the same degenerate psychology found in the old maleficae whom Sprenger & Kramer & Boguet & the other Renaissance prosecutors encountered—no doubt seeking to start cults or groups of loathsome practices wherever she settles. For fictional purposes you could use the South African birth—hinting at a childhood visit to the ruins of Zimbabwe by moonlight, & at whispers overheard there . . . . . . for is that not one of the points visited by the Fishers from Outside? —H. P. Lovecraft to Clark Ashton Smith, postmarked 18 Nov 1933, Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill 479
I’m glad the newspaper clippings were of interest. Thanks for your suggestion about the Boer witch-woman: she might well have gone to Zimbabwe and imbibed certain vaporous or shadowy outside influences from those unholy ruins. I may yet use her in a story; she certainly looks the part assigned to her. —Clark Ashton Smith to H. P. Lovecraft, postmarked 4 Dec 1933, Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill 491
Today, friends widely separated geographically can easily send each other news articles and images from different parts of the world through social media and the internet. In Lovecraft’s day, they would stick clippings from newspapers and magazines to each other alongside their letters. As the clippings themselves often do not survive, researchers are left to figure out what Lovecraft and friends were talking about via the references left in their letters—which, for Mevrouw (“Madam” or “Mrs.” in Dutch/Afrikaans) van de Riet, little has come to light.
Fortunately, the ongoing scanning and uploading of newspaper archives has at last put forward a promising candidate:
Crash Is Laid To Woman
Witchcraft, darkly sinister, fraught with all the mystery that has coursed uncertainly through the ages, found its way into the port of San Francisco yesterday.
A tale of black magic was told by men of the sea who shuddered fearfully as they whispered of the strange curse that has pursued the Silver Palm, British freighter, which collided with the cruiser Chicago in an “unnatural” fog off Point Sur.
Woman in Mystery As this saga of sorcery was recounted, it was almost as if a a marrow chilling wind from a long forgotten civilization swept through the city, desstrying every concept belonging to this generation.
The story concerns a woman. The only passenger aboard the Silver Palm at the time of the fatal crash, whose very presence on the freighter caused high seas to run and desne fogs to fall. Whose familiarity with gods of the underworld brought disaster upon the shop, and whose artful malevolence resulted in a near collision with the Tattosh lighthouse and the unforseen accident with the Chicago.
This is what members of the Silver Palm’s crew are whispering about Mrs. Maude A. C. Van der Riet, former resident of Marin county, who is now being detained at Angel Island at the request of the British Government, pending the arrival of another ship to take her to South Africa.
Fear Seals Lips So convinced are they that she is a “witch woman,” and that she along was responsidble for the ship’s misfortunre, that two Hindu sailors refused to testify under oath at the inquiry board session at Mare Island for fear she would put a curse on them.
And yet, as Mrs. Van de Riet basked in the bright sun yesterday at Angel Island, watching her three kittens scamper about, she seemed anything but a “jinx woman.” She exuded no mysterious force, and spoke in simple terms of her weariness and her desire for beauty.
She boarded the Sil[v]er Palm at Vancouver at the request of the British Government who tactfully insisted upon her immediate return to South Africa, the land of her brith. —S. F. Chronicle
As this article doesn’t include a photograph of Mrs. van der Riet, this wasn’t exactly the clipping that Smith sent Lovecraft—probably it was the original version from the San Francisco Chronicle, whose 1933 issues are not yet available. Still, it seems to be the only article that attributes witchy attributes to van der Riet, whose story is a bit more prosaic.
The 1930 Federal census lists Maude van der Riet as a resident alien from South Africa, a widow living on her own in Marin, California. A card from a 1925 crossing to Mexico gives her full name as Maude Anna Catherine Vander Riet. She was about 46 in 1930, and is listed as having entered the U.S. in 1926. A 1925 passenger departing/arriving list for Hawaii lists her occupation as “Nurse,” as does her entry in the 1928 San Francisco city directory. A 1925 newspaper article says that she was a Red Cross nurse, and that when denied to go to shore in the port of Los Angeles, she jumped off a ship, the Rakuyo Maru (same as the 1925 passenger list above), and swam ashore before walking back to the ship (Defies Law By Swim To Reach Land).
In 1933, Van der Riet was in Vancouver, Canada when she was apparently requested by the British government to return to South Africa. She boarded the M.S. Silver Palm as the only passenger when it left Vancouver on 20 October. On 24 October, the Silver Palm collided with the U. S. S. Chicago off Point Sur during a heavy fog. The collision left three U.S. seamen dead (Paymaster John W. Troy, Lt. H.A. McFarlane, Lt. F. S. Chappelle,), and one injured (machinist J. A. Oehlers) (Warship in Crash, Two Killed In Crash In Fog Off Point Sur). Later newspaper accounts reveal gruesome details: Oehlers had a “fractured arm and mashed hand” which required amputation of the army just below the elbow; Troy was crushed to death in his stateroom; the head and face of Chapelle was found as the wreckage was torn away, and McFarlane was initially believed missing, but the crushed and mangled body was found after hours of work with torch and saw—his stateroom had been directly hit (Mystery Ship in Crash).
Newspaper accounts list the Silver Palm arriving in San Francisco regularly; the Chicago was on the way to San Francisco for Navy Day celebrations. The Point Sur lighthouse could not see clearly what happened. As details emerged in the paper, Capt. Herbert E. Kays of the Chicago claimed that he was attempting to avoid a collision with a third, unknown ship (later described as a “rusty tramp freighter”) in the fog when the Silver Palm emerged from the fog to starboard. The third made of the Silver Palm, George Ellis Stanley, confirmed Capt. Kays’ report of a third ship (Quiz Pressed In Ship Crash).
The first articles were focused on the crash itself, and the dead and missing officers of the Chicago. An official inquiry would be made and interviews taken (Naval Inquiry Board Starts Probe of Ship-Cruiser Crash), yet there was one witness that got into print the day after the accident: Maude van der Riet.
Petaluma Argus-Courier, 25 Oct 1933, p3
The news of the collision was widely reported; the aftermath a little less so. Reporters followed the inquiry, and the testimony given by crew and officers. Libel suits by the freighter company and the U.S. Navy were filed, and the tragic accident took on the narrative of a legal drama. Mrs. van der Riet is not mentioned in the lists of witnesses called—nor, perhaps, was she expected to be, as she was only a passenger. The sensational claim that Maude van der Riet was a witch appears to be only a bit of yellow journalism. They couldn’t even get the number of kittens she had correctly.
What happened to Maude van der Riet? Presumably, she was put on another ship to go back to South Africa; the why and wherefore of that trip and her earlier and later life aren’t recorded in sources I have access to, though possibly someone with better sources in South Africa, Canada, Australia, or the U.K. might have better luck.
Lovecraft and Smith probably had little more to go by than the one article declaring van der Riet a witch, and that is what tickled Lovecraft’s imagination. He would set a story partially in South Africa, “Winged Death” (1934) by Hazel Heald & H. P. Lovecraft, which was published a few months later, and the reference to Great Zimbabwe and the “Fishers from Outside” is a reference to “The Outpost” (1930) and his conception of an African Mythos. The idea of a woman who had learned witchcraft in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe was also a minor plot point in “Medusa’s Coil” (1939) by Zealia Bishop & H. P. Lovecraft, written c. 1930. The reference to Aleister Crowley is simply a reflection of the Great Beast’s reputation, which Lovecraft commented on elsewhere in his letters.
In the end, Clark Ashton Smith doesn’t seem to have used Maude van der Riet in any of his stories, and this potential plot idea was dropped by both men. Yet it is a good example of the kind of oddness that could crop up in newspapers during their lifetime, how this information (or disinformation) could be spread, and could inspire stories in pulp authors. It shows too how easily Lovecraft could adopt new material into his existing framework as the Mythos slowly grew.
In the August Derleth (1909 – 1971) archive of the Wisconsin Historical Society, there is a fairly substantial file of correspondence from Zealia Bishop (1897 – 1968), comprising ~83 letters and postcards (192 pages) over a period of about thirty years (1937 – 1966, roughly; many letters are undated). The first letter is dated 8 Apr 1937, and is a reply from Bishop to Derleth:
Dear August Derleth:—
I am overwhelmed with shock & grief at the tragic message your letter conyed to me for I had not learned until then of Mr. Lovecraft’s death. No on can ever know what his means to me as it was he who steered me into the path of writing—who taught me the necessity & fascination of playing with words—taught me humbleness rather than arrogance—and it was always to him that I rushed when in difficulty—how willingly, patiently and kindly did he always pull me from the chaos—regardless of the sacrifice to himself—Poor Howard! What a beautiful spirit he possessed—& how insignificant the rest of us are beside his shining armor! How I shall continue without him I don’t know—for he was as an anchor in my stormy career. Anything—anything I can do for his old aunt—& to partially repay him for his goodness & patience, to me—let me know— His letters to me—I have hundreds & hundreds—are so beautiful & inspiring. Why could we not use excerpts from them? Also I have two stories which were never published—you might be interested in reading them— F. Wright—read one: Medusa’s Coil—but could not use it then—I never sent it again nor endeavored to place it with another publisher—Two years ago Howard helped me with a book—The Adopted Son—He liked it so very much—and urged my sending it out tirelessly—but after I’ve done a piece of work I can’t bring myself to struggle over the financial ends—the book is here—Would you care to read it?
And on in that vein. In effect, Bishop’s correspondence with Derleth picks up where her correspondence with Lovecraft drops off. Zealia Bishop was at the time relatively comfortable with her husband Dauthard William Bishop in Missouri, where they owned a farm/ranch (and later a furniture manufacturing business). Their sons from previous marriages were now grown and out of the house, according to the 1940 Federal census, and they had not yet adopted their two daughters.
As with Hazel Heald, Derleth wrote to Zealia Bishop primarily in search of Lovecraftiana, as part of his nascent plan to publish the fiction and letters of H. P. Lovecraft. She had two weird stories revised by Lovecraft as yet unpublished: “Medusa’s Coil” (1939) and “The Mound” (1940), which Derleth would see published (and in the former case, whose ending he would bowdlerize). Bishop’s letters from Lovecraft were transcribed and some of them made it into the Selected Letters published by Arkham House. Derleth appears to have shown rather less interest in Bishop’s non-weird fiction.
The majority of the letters are from Zealia Bishop to Derleth, and this gives a different perspective, since we can read about her own life and experience with Lovecraft in her own words. These first 1937-1941 letters in particular deal considerably with her memories of Lovecraft and the publication of her stories at Weird Tales. After this, the correspondence appears to have fallen off for a space. The next letter from Bishop to Derleth is dated 19 Jan 1949, where she details the losses suffered during the war.
Her letters veer between reminiscences of Lovecraft and matters of the present, especially where they came together in the printing of her stories. Both “The Mound” and “The Curse of Yig” appeared in Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1943) from Arkham House, so presumably there would have been permission sought and granted, but Bishop did not apparently receive a copy of the book until after she wrote to Derleth in 1949, which prompted the comment:
He knew that I prefered lighter fiction, tho he encouraged my continuing on with weird stories for he thought I would gain more depth. He was delighted when I went to Oklahoma and became interested in folklore and wrote the story of Yig. This is strictly a story that came from my sister’s husband’s grandmother and the Indians around Binger. The names all authentic. The Mound also came from the same source and Medusa’s Coil originated from a tale told me by my negro maid.
I am wondering how the fact that it is listed as HPL’s story in this book will effected its being reprinted in a collection of my own? Was it your intention to make them appear as his stories? —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 28 Jan 1949, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
When and how Zealia Bishop decided she might publish a collection of her stories isn’t clear, yet this became the trend of her correspondence with Derleth over the next few years, which resulted in The Curse of Yig (1953) being published by Arkham House as a more-or-less vanity press arrangement.
Business aside, their friendship improved when they actually met in person in 1949—her son Jim (James P. Reed) was out of the army and living in Madison, Wisconsin, Derleth’s home state, so they were close enough to visit. Her reaction was positive, if perhaps not exactly heartening:
Dear August:
A little late in telling how much Jim and I enjoyed the visit with you and how much it meant to me. That trip was exactly what I needed to get me back in harness and on the road again. Believe this time I shall continue on and, at least, get a peek at the bull’s eye. How foolish for me, with all the years of training I’ve had, to have let people discourage me. From now on—well, I’ll keep plugging. […]
I fell more at ease with you now. You’re just another boy—big, fat—spoiled as hell—
My best always, Zealia —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 6 Apr 1949, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
At the time, Derleth had some issues with his weight and hypertension; he was also “pitching woo” with a local teenage girl (Sandra Winters, whom Derleth would later marry), which Bishop found amusing. Much of the focus on her own life and writing in the letters surrounds Bishop’s critical lack of confidence in her own writing, her inability to finish things, and her concern over the perception of her work as her own:
It was just before Bill’s and my brother’s tragic deaths, that H. Hoffman Price [sic] (maybe I have that first initial wrong) turned me over to his agent August Lenninger. At that point when he was advising me my heart and mind seemed suddently to stand still. Oh, I always did some writing, kept notes religiously. That was simply second nature . . . . but it was difficult to settle down to creating anything in particular. Then suddenly things changed for me. I knew I must do everything I had been seeking (at least make the efort) But, for some reason, I began to feel, that possibly my writing weird tales and having HPL revise them had made it difficult for me to do things of any importance, without editors believing I had been unable to create alone. Is that true, or is that merely me own fancy? Now, I believe I should begin to sell—if I have developed characterization well enough. The plots are there . . . but— Of all the eight novels I wrote I never tried to sell any of them. The last time Professor Moe read my pottery novel ater my final revision, he said it was a ‘work of art’; that I ahd done a wonderful job and he thought it would sell; but I didn’t send it out. I had that feeling I still couldn’t sell my work to an editor. I would like to have you read one or two either short stories or nevels and tell me what you think of them and point out specifically what I should or shot not do. —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 24 Apr 1949, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
E. Hoffmann Price and Maurice W. Moe were friends of Lovecraft’s; Price was a professional pulp writer during the 40s, and August Lenninger a hard-nosed agent, while Moe was primarily an English teacher. Bishop’s fear of rejection is almost palpable in these letters; for Derleth, who needed to publish constantly to survive, it was almost a matter of course that some stories or novels would be rejected—and rewritten, resubmitted, until they sold. That was how he worked.
Derleth was willing to be friendly, and even read and offer a few comments on her manuscripts, evident from a carbon of a letter that survives, with notes like: “try to be less feminine in your writing. Eliminate gushing, and there is quite a bit of it in these pages.” and “You have a tendency to be trite and hackneyed, as perhaps you know.” While these might seem a bit harsh, they’re also probably fair and well-meant.
The file of correspondence is spotty 1950-1952. The long-promised articles on Lovecraft and Derleth that Bishop had meant to write took a long time to actually come to fruition, and both were very busy with their respective lives. The adoption of the young women Helen and Frances May (“Frankie”) by Zealia and her husband apparently was completed in 1950. August Derleth and Sandra Winters were engaged to be married and Zealia congratulated them about it a little early (the letter of 10 Jun 1952 is addressed to “Mr. & Mrs. Derleth”; they would not be married until 6 Apr 1953—unless the letter is misdated, which is possible).
Then, disaster.
D. W. Bishop would live until 1956, but would never regain his full health. This was a major change to Zealia’s life and to the businesses that the Bishops shared. At the same time, she was determined to publish something; and Derleth was amenable for her weird fiction to come out through Arkham House. So the letters focus on the details of the publication of The Curse of Yig, which provided a relief from managing the farm and her life as caretaker:
Since D.W. is in this state—whether or not to be of long duration I shall be confined closely. Were I unable to keep busy and accomplish something, I could not exist. I cannot play or practice on the organ or piano. We have to whisper most of the time and slip about on tip-toe. Except on the surface, all idea of keeping the house clean by vacum [sic] or waxer is remote. Any noise seems to set him into a tantrum. Yes, it is very hard on one who has been so active and I would give my own life if I could give back to him his health and activity. Nothing could be worse or more heartbreaking than to watch his slow disintegration and one whom you love so dearly. So, you see, why I am especially eager to keep so busy and must not dwell too much upon the conditions about me. —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 22 Dec 1952, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
D. W. is not now bedfast. He sits in a contour chair in a darkened library fourteen to eighteen hours a day—and never moves from there except to go to his meals, to the bath or, on occasion, to look out one of the windows in another room. For amusement or diversion he listens to a radio beginning at 5:A.M. and continuing until sometimes midnight. (I loathe a radio.) He likes only hillbilly msuic. He insists that I sit with him at all times. If I go upstairs or into another room he calls or starts ringing a bell for me. In three days I wrote exactly four words on the revision of the DERLETH article. —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 14 Aug 1953, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
Things aren’t going so well here. Drs. have had to tell D.W. his true condition. I am going work of the day & night—so I am weary, very weary—and must do all the planning for this cattle sale Oct 21st. —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 16 Sep 1953, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
Without D. W. Bishop at the helm to manage the business, the decision was made to close it out—sell the cattle at least—which in itself was a complicated process that involved some involvement with the Internal Revenue Service, according to Zealia Bishop’s 19 Jan 1954 letter to Derleth. The same year, their adopted daughter Frankie was married. The promotion for The Curse of Yig included a brief appearance on local television:
Anne Hayes had me on TV last Tuesday—with Frank Glenn—who has the more complete book stores in this aera [sic]. He gave a fine plug for the book, and immediately afterward had a number of calls for “YIG”—I am profoundly surprised that so much interest is being shown because I am not too elated. Had this come ten years ago I would have loved it and perhaps been a bigoted nit-wit—now, I feel only humility and gratitude for having the honor of being instructed by so great a man and teacher—In the interview your pitcutre was held before the camera and we discussed you— —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 19 Jan 1954, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
As it happened, Zealia had misunderstood her contract with Arkham House, which probably exacerbated her financial difficulties at this trying time, due to having taken a short-term loan to cover the cost of printing the book and not understanding that the immediate receipts from initial sales would not begin to pay it back.
It was, it happened, a bad time for Arkham House. The Curse of Yig (1953) was followed by The Feasting Dead (1954) by John Metcalfe, but Arkham House did not publish another book until The Survivor and Others (1957), Derleth’s collection of his posthumous collaborations with Lovecraft. Derleth’s letters to Zealia Bishop during this period give a peak into Arkham House’s business, and the harsh realities of independent press publishing. The slowness in which The Curse of Yig sold probably discouraged any further publishing plans Bishop had.
There seem to be fewer letters from Zealia to August during this period, though they appear to have remained on good terms. A letter of congratulations was sent to August and Sandra Derleth on the birth of their first child, April Rose Derleth, in 1955. For herself, Zealia was still dealing with her husband:
D. W. is holding own. We still have three nurses and our income is rapidly vanishing. he is helpless, it requires two people to turn or move him. he doesn’t get up at all anymore, but we try not to let it discourage us. Rather, we endeavor to feel this is our God-given job and we must go about it happily and unselfishly. Such an attitude does wonders for us! I believe I feel younger and certainly do not feel one day older . . . tho my hair is quite silver! —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 4 Jul 1956, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
D. W. Bishop died 11 Sep 1956; the death certificate lists immediate causes of death as pyelonephritis (kidney infection), uremia (high urea in the blood, from kidney failure), and pneumonia. Zealia announced her husband’s death in the same letter where she congratulated the Derleths on the birth of their second child, Walden William Derleth. The death meant more legal matters to deal with, including government audits of the furniture factory, and Zealia was a grandmother eight times over. She tried to keep in touch. Yet there are gaps in the letters, and signs of weariness from the years of caretaking which, now over, left her bereft of purpose.
Never a year went by without a letter or two from Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, but in 1963 her financial situation took a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse:
Have lost practically everything—through no fault of my own—Go over your books—See if you can send me a small check each month instead of semi-annually—Never needed help before in my life—& so desperately—Will tell you all later—Am living with my niece— —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, c. Jun 1963, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
What exactly happened isn’t clear from the letters; she wrote in 1959 that Kansas City absorbing Gashland changed the “tax picture” on her property—probably that meant higher taxes. There may also have been some business mismanagement, for she wrote that she was not often in the office, that her problems were placing her trust and confidence in others, and in one undated letter: “I had no debts—they were debts of others—”
Newspaper ads suggest that Zealia Bishop owed the government several years of back taxes, and when they came to collect the farm, factory, and house were all foreclosed on and had to be sold.
The letters to Derleth did not cease. Zealia Bishop did her best to go on with her life, though at times she would write things like:
Am so unsettled—so unaccustomed to living this way—my heart simply isn’t in anything. It’s difficult to realize this is actually “me”— —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, c. 1965, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
She was 68 years old and had lost her husband, her home, presumably most of all of her savings and many belongings. On top of which, there seems to have been a breakdown in her relationship with her son:
Never hear from Jim—& we were such truly good friends—as well as mother & son—& my only child! I shall never recover from all this—it was so tragic—so unnecessary— —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, 8 Mar 1966, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
We do not have Jim Reed’s thoughts on his mother, or what the circumstances were; perhaps he had simply not called or written to her for a while, and there was no real break, only a lonely old woman who wanted to hear from her child more often than she did. The end of life is almost always tragic, if only because it is written out long beforehand, and cannot be avoided. Many of the later letters, where Zealia’s handwriting becomes noticeably more shaky, ask for Derleth to send her anything he can—any check, however small—and with every indication is that she was near the end of her resources. In an undated letter, she wrote:
To one who has tried to make life worthwhile for others I cannot believe so much has been put upon my shoulders—everything stripped from me with an hour’s warning—& not one bit of it my fault except trust & confidence.
How I would love to see & talk to you, August, & have your advice as a column. —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, n.d. [1964?], MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
While the occasional small royalty check on The Curse of Yig was no doubt welcome, what she always asked for from Derleth was news of him and his children—what she always expressed was a desire to visit and see him once again. Friendship, as much as anything, was what Zealia Bishop seemed to crave in her extremity—and perhaps Derleth did his part to provide that.
Into every life comes ups and downs, and Zealia weathered her storms with whatever dignity she could manage. Lovecraft, no doubt, would have approved.
We are in the direct line of a tornado at the moment so I’ll stop & go to the basement with the rest— —Zealia Bishop to August Derleth, n.d. [1965], MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to. —Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent
Lovecraft country is often associated with New England, because that’s where Lovecraft set many of his most famous stories. Arkham, Dunwich, and Innsmouth are in the fictional Miskatonic River valley of a fantasy version of Essex County of Massachusetts. Yet Lovecraft country was never restricted to the Bay State.
The fictional stomping-grounds of the Old Ones encompassed the Oklahoma frontier of “The Curse of Yig” (1929) and “The Mound” (1940); the French provence of Averoigne in Clark Ashton Smith’s tales; the ancient town of Stregoicavar in Hungary in Robert E. Howard’s “The Black Stone” (1931). Other writers have staked out and developed their own corners of Lovecraft country: the Severn Valley in Ramsey Campbell’s tales, with Goatswood and Brichester; the Sesqua Valley in the Pacific Northwest by W. H. Pugmire; and any other of other additions, popular and obscure, by writers professional and amateur.
Yet this might be a first. Niceville USA meets Shub-Niggurath.
The Shadow over Des Moines is a parody written in the style of the great pulp horror author H.P. Lovecraft. if you are not familiar with his work, you are missing a treat. He’s perfect for Halloween. Check out The Dunwich Horror, At the Mountains of Madness or The Shadow over Innsmouth. I am not ashamed to say that Lovecraft has had a singificant influence on my own writing. —Lisabet Sarai, “The Shadow over Des Moines”
Two of the elements that make parody work are juxtaposition and exaggeration. The Lovecraftian parodist doesn’t just copy the most obvious or characteristic elements of Lovecraft’s prose, they often enhance them to the point of ridiculousness. Made all the more obvious by contrasting the Lovecraftian aesthetic with an area of the country least associated with anything eldritch.
The surprising thing is, it doesn’t come off badly. The prose is a little purple, but the Midwestern setting itself isn’t exaggerated. It’s more like a Lovecraftian protagonist moved into a suburb than an attempt to reveal the hidden horrors of home-made blueberry pie and calf-length skirts. The humor and horror of the story don’t come at the expensive of the innocent metropolis of Des Moines, but in the quirky Lovecraftian excess of the protagonist—and the fact that this is an erotic parody.
Leonora encouraged me to drop by and visit anytime, but I doubted that I would act on her suggestion. Shivers ran down my spine as a I watched her swaying hips retreat down my path and across the street to her own dwelling. Nevertheless, I found my body reacted to her as if I were fifteen instead of fifty four. I found it necessary to spend a quarter of an hour reading Popular Mechanics before my tumescence subsided. —Lisabet Sarai, “The Shadow over Des Moines”
The outlines of the story are familiar; basically Fright Night with a sexy Lovecraftian twist and trappings. The fact that so much of it is played straight-faced makes the occasional play on words all the more effective (“Mrs. Gratsky’s gate swung silenly open, as if well-lubricated.”) If it leans a little too hard into some of the stereotypes of Lovecraftian pastiche, it also works to deliver a carefully-curated erotic aesthetic that balances vivid description with an older, quainter verbiage. The end result is as absurd as it is utterly appropriate. Where else but in such a story as this will you get such turns of phrase as “unhallowed anus?”
Like most erotic Lovecraftian ebook fare, things wrap up fairly swiftly after the climax. The pacing is set up for this single encounter, not a longer series of repetitive erotic adventures a la the Booty Call of Cthulhu series. Yet this is a very competent, self-contained example of this mode of fiction. If I had any suggestion for a sequel, it would be to make more use of Des Moines itself; it feels like there was room to make more use of this most un-Lovecraftian addition to Lovecraft country.
I’ve lived for long, uncounted eons Since Time and I were young; I dwell in hidden crypts and eyries, And speak with witch’s tongue.
When blood drips from the horned moon, And wild winds lash the sea, And men and ships die in the night, I laugh with demon-glee.
For well I know my evil curse— That I shall never die; My soul will dwell with snakes and toads, and bats that blindly fly.
I walk my dark, forbidden ways, And none of human race Can ever flee my awful spell, Who look upon my face.
And when the sun at last grows cold In its vain, ageless quest, I’ll seek once more the alien land Where I was born unblest. —Pauline Booker, “The Eldritch One”
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Pauline Booker was a pulp poet during the 1940s and 50s with a long list of verse published in magazines like All-Story Love, Love Book Magazine, Max Brand’s Western Magazine, New Love Magazine, Rangeland Romances, Romance Western, Sweetheart Love Stories, Star Western—and three poems in Weird Tales. Of her life and broader career, practically nothing is known. All we can say for certain is that she had her finger on the pulse of weird fiction, at least a little.
H. P. Lovecraft did not coin the word “eldritch”—did not even use it in the majority of his stories, and only once or most twice in any given story (although he did use it three times in “Supernatural Horror in Literature.”) Yet it is a keyword that has become associated with Lovecraft and his mode of fiction as surely as “cosmic horror,” “squamous,” “non-Euclidean,” or “tentacle.” Eldritch has become part of the vocabulary of cosmic horror, used and abused with love and affection by all manner of writers.
When did that transition happen? Google’s n-gram viewer is a handy snapshot for a word’s use, and the word was decreasing in frequency, almost at the nadir of its use until the 1910s—and forms a little peak around the time when Weird Tales began to be published in 1923. Is the recent spike in usage all down to Lovecraft and the fiction he inspired? Maybe. Andrew Eldritch, lead singer of Sisters of Mercy, and Philip K. Dick’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1964) probably also contributes to the trend. Yet Pauline Booker was writing during a period when “eldritch” was on the decline again, at least outside of Mythos pastiches.
Yet how many fans of Lovecraft and weird fiction would not have caught her meaning, just from the title?
While it is tempting to try and connect “The Eldritch One” to some specific inspiration from Lovecraft, the imagery of the poem is rather traditional, combining favorite elements from Weird Tales, and not anything specific to one of Lovecraft’s stranger horrors. There are hints of witchcraft, of gorgons, immortality or the undead. A miscellany of horror, a real witch’s brew of familiar elements, but nothing concrete. Yet in its own way, as with all good poetry, it is timeless, as relevant and enjoyable to horror fans now as it was then.
Weird Tales May 1948 (art by Fred Humiston)
“The Eldritch One” was published in Weird Tales May 1948. It has not been reprinted.
What follows is an extended deep-dive into the history of one of the most contentious affairs in pulp science fiction in the 1940s, the Shaver Mystery, and its interactions with H. P. Lovecraft’s Mythos, which was also beginning to coalesce in the same period. The ramifications of their interactions would spill over into science fiction fandom, conspiracy circles, and occult literature, with long-lasting effects on popular culture. Because this is very long, the following internal links are provided for those who would like to jump to specific sections.
I am certainly inclined to believe that [Shaver] has been inspired by the success of Lovecraft in attempting to create a literary mythos with much the same basic motif as he developed in his stories of the Old Ones. But, unlike Lovecraft, Mr. Shaver is not an artist. —Alan Devereux, “Mr. Shaver’s Memories” in Fantasy Review (Oct-Nov 1948) 11
The entire Shaver mythos is so obviously derived from the Lovecraftian fictional background that it is hard today to imagine that it impressed any experienced readers. The first Shaver story told how the people of ancient Earth were endangered by a degenerated elder, how the hero and his followers learned of the danger, and how escape was achieved with the help of immortal elder gods. —Harry Warner, Jr., All Our Yesterdays: an informal history of science fiction fandom in the 1940s (2004), 234
In 1926, Hugo Gernsback had founded Amazing Stories as the first pulp magazine devoted to science fiction. Mismanagement cost Gernsback the magazine, and it went through several hands; by the late 1930s it was owned by pulp publisher Ziff Davis and its readership in decline. In 1938, the editorship of Amazing was given to Ray Palmer, a young and enthusiastic pulp writer and editor who had cut his teeth in science fiction fandom, writing, editing, and publishing fanzines.
Palmer worked to improve the magazine’s circulation by aiming at younger readers, with more adventure, sensational illustrations, and less hard science. Small hoaxes in the pages of Amazing were not uncommon, with stories written by pseudonymous authors accompanied by fake biographies and critical comments from Palmer. At the same time, editor John Campbell had just taken over rival magazine Astounding Stories and was aiming for a more high-brow market. The dichotomy polarized science fiction fandom—Palmer became known as a hack, or at least a purveyor of junk fiction. But Amazing’s circulation increased.
In the October 1943 issue of Writers’ Digest, in the small personal ads are buried two notices from a “Shaver, Barto, Pa.” One was a lonely heart advertisement, the other was more unusual: advice requested for a newly discovered ancient language.
What response was received from these advertisements is unclear, but the response was likely unsatisfactory, because in December 1943 a letter from a Pennsylvania steelworker named Richard S. Shaver arrived at the offices of Amazing Stories. Shaver claimed to have discovered an ancient alphabet for a universal language (later called “Mantong”), supposedly of a pre-human race with connections to Atlantis.
Crank letters were a part of the business every pulp editor had to deal with, along with unsolicited manuscripts and fanmail. However, Palmer saw potential reader interest, and printed the entire letter as “An Ancient Language?” in Amazing Stories Jan 1944. Moreover, Palmer encouraged readers to try out Shaver’s language. Readers responded. As Palmer put it:
Many hundreds of readers’ letters came in, and the net result was a query to Richard S. Shaver asking him where he got his Alphabet.
The answer was in the form of a 10,000 word “manuscript” typed with what was certainly the ultimate in non-ability at the typewriter, and entitled “A Warning To Future Man.”
I read it through, every single word, and then sat back. What was it I had here? Certainly not an attempt by an “author” to sell a story. Mr. Shaver wanted no money for hia manuscript. It wasn’t a manuscript, but a letter. Mr. Shaver seemed anxious that it be published, not for notoriety, but out of sincere (apparently) desire that the world be warned of a terrible danger it faced, and informed of a wonderful heritage it had lost, and which should be recovered if at all possible. —Ray Palmer, The Secret World(1975), 36-37
Palmer continued to correspond with Shaver, who sent him a 10,000-word letter or manuscript titled “A Warning to Future Man.” Ray Palmer bought the manuscript, and re-wrote it.
I put a clean piece of paper into my typewriter, and using Mr. Shaver’s strange letter-manuscript as a basis, I wrote a 31,000-word story which I titled “I Remember Lemuria!” although I added all the trimmings, I did not alter the factual basis of Mr. Shaver’s manuscript except in one instance. Here, perhaps, I made a grave mistake. However, I could not bring myself to believe that Mr. Shaver had actually gotten his Alphabet and his “Warning to Future Man” and all the “science” he propounded from actual underground people. Instead, I translated his thought-records into “racial memory” and felt sure this would be more believable to my readers, and a reasonable and perhaps actual explanation of what was going on was in Mr. Shaver’s mind—which is where I felt it really was going on; and not in any caves or via any telaug rays or telesolidograph projections of illusions from the cavern ray operators. —Ray Palmer, The Secret World(1975), 38
For those of you who will read on and carefully weigh what I am about to tell you I am convinced there will be no thought of puns. Instead, when you consider the real truths behind what I say—and even better, experiment and study to corroborate them—it seems to me to be inevitable that you will forget that I am Richard Sharpe Shaver, and instead, am what science chooses to very vaguely define as the racial memory receptacle of a man (or should I say being?) named Mutan Mion, who lived many thousands of years ago in Sub Atlan, one of the great cities of ancient Lemuria! —Richard S. Shaver & Ray Palmer, The Shaver Mystery Compendium, Vol. 1, 8
In the original manuscript, Shaver had made more explicit reference to Atlantis, not Lemuria; Palmer’s change brought a Theosophical bent to the re-written work (see The Book of Dzyan for other examples of Theosophical influence on the pulps). A footnote interpreted “Mutan Mion” through Shaver’s universal language, which shows the long build-up to this particular story.
In the words of Mutan Mion (amplified by many explanatory footnotes from Palmer), the readers are introduced to a scientifically advanced civilization that lives in underground caverns as protection from the damaging rays of the sun. As the advanced, nigh-immortal Titans and Atlans prepare to migrate to a different solar system, Mutan Mion and Sub Atlan are faced with the threat of the dero.
Pressed for a more complete explanation, Mr. Shaver has defined ‘dero’ for us:
“Long ago it happened that certain (underground) cities were abandoned and into those cities stole many mild mortals to live, at first, they were normal people, though on a lower intelligence plane; and ignorant due to lack of proper education. It was inevitable that certain inhabitants of the culture forests lose themselves and escape proper development; and some of them are of faulty development. But due to their improper handling of the life-force and ray apparatus in the abandoned cities, these apparatii became harmful in effect. They simply did not realize that the ray filters of the ray mechanisms must be changed and much of the conductive metal renewed regularly. If such renewals are not made, the apparatus collects in itself—in its metal—a disintegrant particle which gradually turns its beneficial qualities into strangely harmful ones.
“These ignorant people learned to play with these things, but not to renew them; so gradually they were mentally impregnated with the persisitently disintegrative particles. This habituates the creature’s mind, its mental movements, to being overwhelmed by deterimental, evil force flows which in time produce a creature whose every reaction in thought is dominated by a deterimental will. So it is that these wild people, living in the same rooms with degenerating force generators, in time become dero, which is short for detrimental energy robot.
“When this process has gone on long enough, a race of dero is produced whose every thought movement is concluded with the decision to kill. They will instantly kill or torture anyone whom they contact unless they are extremely familiar with them and fear them. That is why they do not instantly kill each other—because, being raised together, that part of their brain that functions has learned very early to recognize as friend or heartily to fear the members of their own group. They recognize no other living thing as friend; to a dero all new things are enemy.
“To define: A dero is a man who responds mentally to dis impulse more readily than to his own impulses. When a dero has used old, defective apparatus full of dis particle accumulations, they become so degenerate that they are able to think only when a machine is operating and they are using it; otherwise they are idiot. When they reach this stage, they are known as ‘ray’ (A Lemurian word not to be confused with ray as it is used in English.) Translated, ray means ‘dangerous or deterimental energy animal.’ Ray is also used to mean a soldier—one of those who handles beam weapons (note how the ancient meaning has come into our modern word).” —Richard S. Shaver & Ray Palmer, The Shaver Mystery Compendium, Vol. 1, 28-29
Mutan Mion finds aid from Mars and the Nortans (yet another advanced subterranean people), sometimes referred to as Elder Gods and Goddesses. After getting some upgrades and falling in love, Mutan Mion returns to free the Atlans from the dero—who, it turns out, are also cannibals:
These devilish abandondero had a meat market in the lower floors, filled with human flesh; and a pile of choice cuts I saw was composed mainly of Atlan girl breasts! These dero things were cannibals and lived off immortal Atlan flesh! —Richard S. Shaver & Ray Palmer, The Shaver Mystery Compendium, Vol. 1, 73
The story ends with Mutan Mion victorious, the dero temporarily thwarted but not utterly destroyed, and he heads off to a new planet with his love. His warning to the future is inscribed on “telonian message plates” and left for the wild men left behind on the planet to discover. Implicitly in this story, those wild men are the ancestors of homo sapiens today—and the threat of the dero remains.
“I Remember Lemuria!” took clear inspiration from hollow earth fiction such as Jules Verne’s Voyage au centre de la Terre (“Journey to the Center of the Earth,” 1864), Edgar Rice Burrough’s Pellucidar novels beginning with At the Earth’s Core (1914), and A. Merritt’s “The Moon Pool” (1918) and “Conquest of the Moon Pool” (1919)—the latter of which are known to have been in Shaver’s library (see “Dick Shaver’s Library” in Shaverology); Shaver also specifically cited Merritt’s works in his “Open Letter To The World” (Amazing Stories Jun 1945). Palmer’s re-casting of the story as one of “racial memory” or recalling a past life was not novel. Past-life stories such as Jack London’s The Star Rover (1915), Lovecraft’s “Polaris” (1920), and Robert E. Howard’s “People of the Dark” (1932) were well-known among science fiction and weird fiction fans.
Yet these works were all presented as fiction. What was remarkable about “I Remember Lemuria!” was not the content—but because Shaver insisted it was true, and Palmer steadfastly claimed to believe him. The reader response, both positive and negative, was tremendous. Letters poured in. Fans debated and denounced the stories. Issues of Amazing Stories sold well.
From 1945 to 1948, more Shaver material appeared in Amazing Stories. Palmer assisted with the prose, but encouraged by publication Shaver continued to develop and expand on his new artificial mythology. Many science fiction fans derided it as a hoax; others bought into it. There’s always a wild conspiratorial fringe in any population, and Shaver’s talk of malicious dero, conspiracies to restrict access to technology, and invisible rays afflicting people caught the imaginations of few.
Palmer left Ziff Davis in 1949, and would go on to help publish more of Shaver’s material in smaller independent magazines and fanzines; he would also be influential in the development of ufology, and founded Fate magazine, among others. He was a titan in the development, spread, and popularization of fringe ideas like flying saucers and various conspiracy theories, and thanks to him Shaver’s Mystery has an outsized cultural footprint, such as the subterranean Derro race in Dungeons & Dragons. Shaver himself continued to write, publish, and evolve his strange little world of paranoid fantasies, with the dero becoming more sexually sadistic and voyeuristic.
In 1934, the death of Shaver’s brother severely impacted his mental health; he began experiencing auditory hallucinations, and was institutionalized at the Ypsilanti State Hospital. When he got out two years later, he found his wife had died (accidentally electrocuted) and their daughter taken into the custody of her maternal grandparents. The following years are poorly-documented but apparently involved rough living and an arrest trying to cross the border to Canada, and culminated in a stay at the Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Michigan, from which Shaver was discharged in May 1943 into the care of his parents. (This is a highly abridged version of the account given in The Man from Mars: Ray Palmer’s Amazing Pulp Journey (2013) by Fred Nadis). The letter to Amazing Stories would come about six months later after his release from Ionia.
Shaver was not unique, however. In the 1930s, a fan named G. P. Olson (or Olsen) of Sheldon, Iowa began to write bizarre fan letters expounding theories about vampires and physics to writers like H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Hugh B. Cave, Henry S. Whitehead, August Derleth, and Clark Ashton Smith. In 1932, Cave wrote to Carl Jacobi suggesting that he mine Olson for ideas for his own fiction (see “The Fool Olson” in Weird Talers)—and I suspect that is ultimately what Palmer did with Shaver, at least in the early part of their correspondence and friendship. Whether Palmer’s encouragement of Shaver’s paranoid fantasies, and the resultant negative response from fans, was detrimental to his mental health is hard to say; that Palmer ultimately exploited Shaver is impossible to ignore.
Lovecraft’s influence on Shaver is also difficult to assess. “I Remember Lemuria!” includes references to Elder Gods, but these do not seem to be the Elder Gods of Lovecraft’s fiction. Nor did Lovecraft go in very much for hollow earth stories, though he certainly had cannibalistic underground peoples in stories like “The Lurking Fear” and “The Rats in the Walls,” and the ruins of an advanced alien civilization feature prominently in At the Mountains of Madness (1936). Probably the closest Lovecraft approached Shaver’s mythos was in “The Mound” (1940) by Zealia Bishop & H. P. Lovecraft—and, as it turns out, this is the one Lovecraft story we know Shaver read.
Palmer published a number of letters from fans in the pages of Amazing Stories as the Shaver Mystery stories unfolded. Being typical fans, some of these were hoax letters, and slipped past the editorial radar. One such letter that saw print:
THE NECROMINICON [sic]
Sirs:
In line with your research on the Lemurian question, may I refer you to the “Necrominicon” [sic] of Abdul Alhazred, and also, the singularly famous “Das Inausprechlichen Kulten” [sic] by Von Junzt.
Both of these volumes may be found in the reserve room of Miskatonic University’s library at Arkton [sic], Massachusetts.
I am a graduate in occult sciences of this university, and have been engaged in conflict with Mr. Shaver’s “underground deros” since my graduation there in 1935.
Translation of the seventh chapter of the “Necronominicon” [sic] using the “Lemurian alphabet” should aid greatly in discovering the missing plates.
I regret deeply that a certain interest in the (deleted by the editor for very good reasons) keeps me from aiding you materially in your search, but a hint to so fertile a brain as Mr. Shaver’s should be enough. And I feel quite sure that after you have read the above-mentioned volumes, many things should be clear that are now confused and dark.
This was all in good fun, and Palmer seemed to know that Poldea was pulling his leg—yet it may also have suggested possibilities to Palmer. In an undated letter to August Derleth of Arkham House publishers, Palmer wrote asking for copies of Lovecraft’s The Outside and Others (1939), Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1943), and Marginalia (1944), and added:
I wonder if you were right when you said Lovecraft did not believe a word of what eh wrote. Strangely enough, I have received some interesting comments on “truth” contained in his writings which, together with corroborative evidence in support of those comments, intrigues me very much.
Also, do you have on your lists the name of John Poldea? An affirmative answer would be very interesting to me.
A copy of Derleth’s answer is not in his file of correspondence with Palmer at the Wisconsin Historical Society, but it was likely very much in the negative on both accounts. In a follow-up letter, Palmer wrote:
I am slightly amazed at your reaction to my question concerning Lovecraft. I understand little about the matter, except that it seems you’ve built up a “legend” about Lovecraft and his creations. Would you mind explaining briefly.
I published a letter which I knew was fake, in order to get the reaction, which was terrific, regarding the Miskatonic U and the books Das Unaussprechlichen Kulten and the Necronomicon of Alhazred.
Maybe you wouldn’t be surprised to know how many people believe there are such things—and maybe you wouldn’t be surprised to know how many people know there are not—and yet are fascinated by your “legend”.
You say you’d jump on any statement that Lovecraft believed what he wrote with both feet. This fascinates me. Personally I believe he did believe what he wrote, and further, I think I could even prove it.
I might even be able to produce what he wrote about! —Ray Palmer to August Derleth, 20 Jun 1945, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
For Palmer, this was just another possible dimension by which to extend the Shaver Mystery; and even Shaver wasn’t sure how much of it he believed in or not, so long as it got a reaction from people. What Palmer probably had no idea of was how he was crossing nearly every possible line with Derleth, who had worked and sweated to build Arkham House in part on Lovecraft’s reputation as a literary figure, not a general pulp writer and certainly not as part of some cockamamie hoax running in Amazing.
A carbon copy of Derleth’s answering letter was immediate, and makes the Arkham House founder’s position clear—including an unsubtle legal threat if Palmer decided to push the matter any further:
You ask about Lovecraft. Contrary to your belief, we have NOT been building any “legend” about Lovecraft and his creations. We have been doing all in our power to keep him a straight literary figure, even to the extent of my taking time to write a brief critico-biography of him when I have little time for anything off-trail, and when you write that you “believe he did believe what he wrote and think” you “could prove it” this is simply to anyone who knows a plain bid to use the memory of a dead man in a cheap bid for publicity, which I construe as plain fraud and which would force me and the Lovecraft estate into legal action against the Ziff-Davis Company, regrettable as that is. I know very well what you are getting at when you say you might “even be able to produce what he wrote about”—crackpots have offered to write a NECRONOMICON for us, and you may be sure that such a purely Lovecraft creation would again, if fraudulently offered, bring action from us.
Where you got the idea we have built up a legend about HPL and his creations is beyond me. Certainly there are a lot of people who believe in the NECRONOMICON, and so forth; the origin of all these things is correctly set down in my H. P. L.: A MEMOIR, coming in book form in a month or so. I suggest you get hold of a copy and inform yourself before falling into any belief pattern. The UNAUSSRPECHLICHEN KULTEN was Howard’s invention, and I still have in my possession letters between R. E. Howard and HPL, with some of my own, showing that I contributed the UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN to the title in place of another word Howard wanted to use. Other titles came from other writers with Lovecraft’s permission.
Naturally, when, in the face of the contention of the man who has read more of the Lovecraft papers and letters than any man alive, you still say you “believe” to the contrary and contemplating offering “proof”, I have no other course but to think that you are contemplating some cheap plan to involve HPL and his mythos in a publicity plan for the Z-D magazines. I might expect that from Davis, but hardly from you, and you are right when you suggest that I might be “shocked”. I frankly hope that I am very much wrong.
Before going into the publication of any NECRONOMICON etc., you might look into the legal aspects of copyright in this matter; you will find that we have very solid grounds to take action against anyone purporting to offer “THE” book. I am thoroughly familiar with the copyright laws, and your use of a NECRONOMICON in this way is the equivalent of anyone else’s use of a w–k character or device under copyright. —August Derleth to Ray Palmer, 21 Jun 1945, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
In strict point of fact, Derleth’s legal position was probably weaker than it looked. He had an arrangement with the estate of Lovecraft to reprint his works, in cooperation with Lovecraft’s literary executor R. H. Barlow (then in Mexico), but his stated control over the copyrights was mostly bluff and bluster. Yet it was an effective threat, because Palmer had no way of knowing that. Nor was Palmer aware that he had inadvertently threatened everything Derleth had built at Arkham House by confusing the nascent Mythos with Shaver’s Lemurian stories. Certainly, Palmer didn’t appear to have any idea of Derleth’s personal involvement with the Mythos, as with the naming of Robert E. Howard’s Unaussprechlichen Kulten (for which see “Unspeakable! The Secret History of Nameless Cults”).
For Palmer, it was all potential fodder for the expanding Shaver Mystery—and his own weird capability of believing things. As it was, in Palmer’s answering letter he did his best to defuse the situation and cover his ass.
Your information is interesting. Some of my readers informed me there was a “business” being built up about the “cthulhu mythos”. I understand Esquire has purchased an article about Lovecraft hinting such a buildup. You see, I am not without foundation for that idea. […]
Nor did I mean that I had any mss to present. I meant that I (and numberless readers) believe Lovecraft’s writings to a certain extent, and that excludes those fictional books and university. You see, what I said I could prove was the existence of the “beings” Lovecraft writes about. I’ve had some quite entertaining experiences with them of a personal nature. But before you think me mad, we’ll drop my little dabblings into demonology, as they are personal, and get back to the “proof” I could offer that many readers believe in Lovecraft, and dis-believe in his Necronomicon and Kulten books, and the Miskatonic U. they believe in his demons, because they’ve seen them. I have dozens of sincere letters addressed to my Discussions columns, affirming that these experiences are true, and that they are identical with Lovecraft’s so-called fictional ones. Of course, suggestion is a powerful thing, and Lovecraft’s writings can be said to be powerful. Believing them is a matter of personal choice. I believe that more people believe them sincerely than accept Lovecraft asa great writer. This should interest you, since you are not trying to build up anything but his reputation as a writer.
On a purely personal vein, I know Lovecraft believed his basic theories, and his choice in taking that field for expression of his art was not just because he liked weird things. But of course, this has nothing to do with your reaction.
Regarding “hoaxes”, you remember I asked if you had a certain name on your list? You said no, which absolved you of being an innocent party to a rather filthy trick that was played on me, to discredit my Lemurian stories through the Lovecraft “mythos”. I have since discovred the unprincipled gentlemen were those who call themselves the “fans” of science fiction, and you know who they are.
[…] But, since the “fans” have taken up Lovecraft’s creations as a club to show that mine are the same attempt at “falsifying”, I will retaliate by publishing those letters which show a sincere belief in Lovecraft does exist Naturally these letters are authentic. I have thousands of letters from persons who believe in Shaver, many more than those who believe in Lovecraft. but most significant, all belief in both because they present the same basic theory (I’ll not call it fact, because I’d rather have the scientific world go on calling the Shaver material “metaphysics” or whatever they choose. I am prepared to present the positive scientific proof of the Shaver stories, by producing the caves, the machines, and the people. But this must wait until I am prepared scientifically. Amazingly, we have uncovered a vast storehouse of new knowledge, which if not handled carefully, might be very ineptly applied to our bloodthirsty civilization.)
But please be assured I have no manuscripts, or any ideas of producing Lovecraft’s fictional pieces as the real McCoy. But perhaps I will produce one of his “monsters”. It would look very well in the local park along with the giraffes and the anteater. —Ray Palmer to August Derleth, 22 Jun 1945, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
In his memoir The Secret World (1975), Palmer wrote of some remarkable experiences he had when he visited Shaver and his wife in Pennsylvania; this may or may not have been the personal experiences that Palmer spoke of. It is hard to tell because Palmer never seemed to be able to turn the huckster or hoaxer part of himself off; it wasn’t just a poise, it seemed to be fundamental to his being to believe whatever he was selling at the moment, at least to some degree. However, he had badly miscalculated his audience: Palmer had misunderstood or misread Lovecraft, and Derleth knew it.
The end result was that Shaver and Palmer never made any attempt to shoe-horn the Cthulhu Mythos into the Shaver Mystery, at least not in the pages of Amazing. Ray Palmer acknowledged Poldea’s fake letter in Amazing Stories Dec 1945 with a good-natured shrug and didn’t pursue that particular development of the Shaver Mystery further.
However, some of the fans were more critical than Poldea. In the popular fanzine Vampire published by Joe Kennedy, a scathing review was published in issue #4 of Maxin 96, a Lemurianist/occultist/Shaver Mystery zine published by fan David D. Dagmar. The review caught the eye of Amazing Stories’ competitor Startling Stories, which reprinted it in the Summer 1946 issue as part of a regular feature that reviewed science fiction fan publications. In response, Shaver sent a rebuttal to Kennedy, who would report:
Up until a couple moths ago, I corresponded with Shaver. He wrote me when a highly unfavorable comment on the Lemurianist fanzine, Maxin-96, was reprinted from Vampire in Startling’s fanzine review. Shaver seemed to welcome the chance to blast somebody’s ears off for the opposition which the “Shaver mystery” had evoked from the majority of actifandom. Misspellings and simple errors displaying marked ingorance of the fundamental rules of English grammar abounded in his letters. For the publication in Vamp he forwarded me a four-page “prose poem” which, as a piece of literature, was mildly amazing. The thing started off in undistinguished blank-verse style, rambled on another page, with references to Palmer and the deros becoming more and more frequent, bubbled and forthed into an attack on the opposing fan element (supposedly dero-controled!), then broke into straight prose, meandered on as a letter for a page or two, with intermittent ravings, then came to a decidedly abrupt conclusion. I sent it back to him. However, the main reason it was impossible to correspond with the guy, although I tried to give his side of the story a fair chance, was that all my arguments concerning the Shaver “truths” were either completely ignored or raidly passed over with but sparse comment. You can’t argue with a chap who just keeps drilling, over and over, THE DEROS ARE POWERFUL! YOU MUST BELIEVE! I’ve compared the Shaver letters and certain portions of his Palmer-rewritten published stories with examples of psychoneurotic literature quoted in psychology texts. The resemblance is remarkable, and indicative of far more than pure coincidence… No, I don’t correspond with R.S. Shaver any more. —Joe Kennedy, Gruzlak #1 (Oct 1946), 14-15
Eventually, Kennedy and Shaver agreed to a rewritten version of this rebuttal as “Lovecraft and the Deros” by Richard S. Shaver. This piece was first published in the fanzine Vampire #6 (1946); it was later republished in another fanzine, Spicy Armadillo Stories #5 (1991). The entire text is reproduced below.
※
LOVECRAFT AND THE DEROS
((EDITOR’S NOTE: Since much has been written in the fan press against the Lemurian series in Amazing Stories, we believe that it is no more than fair that Dick Shaver be given an opportunity to tell his side of the story. We are completely convinced of the author’s sincerity, although the following article does not necessarily reflect the views of Vampire’s staff.))
Up to twelve years ago I was a stf fan, much like yourself, I suppose. I thought I knew exactly what was true in science and what could happen and that I could draw a precise line in my reading between fact and fantasy.
Then it happened, almost exactly as I tell it in the stories I write. Things that couldn’t happen except through a wonder-science never produced by modern men of science at all.
There were three conclusions. The first that these machines and rays came from space (visitors). The second was that they were modern secret science—things that science had developed and kept to itself as a monopoly, for the power and wealth the advantages of using these apparatuses would give them. This second conclusion was my conclusion until I knew more about it, which took many years. It is the usual deduction of the person first contacting secret ray.
The third deduction came after long experience with the phenomena I talk about in my stories. That this thing was a persistence of the same thing the medieval were talking about when they raised such a hullabaloo about witchcraft. The same thing Homer was talking about when he mentioned the immortal gods. I did a lot of research, believe it or not. And this last deduction is the correct one. The caverns I saw were not modern—they were not even built fairly recently by space travelers who stopped here long enough to leave such gigantic traces—were built before Man had a history. They are the big missing portion of history, and they have a history all of their own far more important in many ways than our own surface history.
Witchcraft, fairy tales, legends of the underworld—are not all antique fiction. It is surprising how well they describe some things that are done with with the machines. Merlin, in King Arthur, had a cave full of machines; and he died in it. In Deirdre—a ray from nowhere cuts down the heroes at the climax. The list of references is endless—I know—I looked them up. Take “The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel”—a fifth century Irish MSS.—translated in the Five Foot Shelf—The Men From the Elfmounds are mentioned over and over. The underworld was well known in the past and it shall be in the future. It has been the monopoly of a little group of savagely monopolistic people for a few centuries.
Read Lovecraft’s rewrite for a woman friend of his—”The Mound” in Beyond the Wall of Sleep, quite a long story and as good a picture of the underworld as ever I read. Take off about twenty per cent for Lovecraft’s weird ideation and ornamentation—and you have an exact picture of the underworld—except for the radioactive light.
As for Maxin 96 ((The Lemurianist fanzine—ed.)) I find it unfortunate that all the occultists have leaped to my banner—for I never meant to inferno that spirits had anything to do with what I am talking about. In fact the ray phenomena I mention explain away all spiritualist phenomena as ray work—of my despised dero—incidentally—the real explanation of all evil is dero, detrimental energy robot. These mysterious ray phenomena do exist and occur regularly. I always thought it was wool and lies and fakers myself just as you probably do—’till they happened without benefit of a medium within miles. No, I didn’t leap to the conclusion that they were spirits. I figured out the real reason—and it is some answer. naturally it is hard to swallow offhand, mainly because you don’t get all the background. Read “Da Derga’s Hostel” and Lovecraft’s “The Mound.”
I note in Vampire how the fans booed me at the convention in Newark. All this active fan opposition hurts like hell—but the truth of it is—they lose so darn much I could give them—if THEY UNDERSTOOD! But they are not my worst worry. My worry is the mad dero of the caverns—and they do our country even more harm. Some of those fans who are most loud in denouncing my “LIES” are directly used by the dero ray for that purpose. DON’T BE USED! The very copulation by which those same fans were conceived was watched over a telaug by a dero or a tero—humans who inherit a long line of conditional variational factors from a surrounding entirely different from our own—was watched for the vicarious entertainment received from the augmented emotional and sensory impulses which is greater than ordinary human.
Under our feet is a world of scientific wonder beyond any writer’s power of description, but there before Earth had a sun. Those metals don’t rust—those caves are as dry and hot as a desert—perfectly preserved, they wait for modern scientists to wrest their ancient secrets from those machines. That no scientist will accept this “impossible” truth is the only stumbling block between men and a wonder world. Our race was not the only race on earth; there were greater races and greater times. We are in truth the degenerate descendants of a great race, and not the apre’s mutant brother evolutionists would have us think. If you had been to Mars on an unannounced trip—how would you tell about it? Prove it, people would say. Well, it’s a hard job, but we may get it done—this proof you want is growing every day. Pluto did live, and strangely enough Dante’s concept of the nether world and the city of Dis has its counterpart in actuality.
There was a semi-sequel to this article, in the form of an answer to a letter to Shaver from J. O. Cuthbert in 1948 that opens “Dear Mr. Shaver: L—la-ngai-ygg—Ia—Shub-Niggurath. Ph’nglui mglw ‘nafh Cthulhu R’lyan wgah ‘hagl fhtagn.”, Shaver’s response to that reads:
Dear J. O. Cuthbert:
Did you ever read Lovecrafts [sic] protege’s story, The Mound? Better than Lovecraft, and it has some true data on the caves mingled with Lovecraft expansion. In a Lovecraft collection of storys [sic]. —Richard S. Shaver, The Shaver Mystery Magazine (1948), vol. 2, no. 2, 34
Beyond the Wall of Sleep, which reprinted “The Mound,” was published in 1943, the same year that Shaver began corresponding with Palmer, and a year before Shaver wrote “A Warning to Future Man.” It isn’t clear when Shaver read Beyond the Wall of Sleep, though, and there are many disparate threads of science fiction, fantasy, and folklore that could (and probably did) work to inspire Shaver besides Lovecraft. The Togail Bruidne Dá Derga is a real Irish story reprinted as part of Harvard Classic’s Five-Foot Shelf of Books line in volume 49, Epics and Sagas (1937).
In 1964, a portion of Richard S. Shaver and Ray Palmer’s correspondence in the 1940s was published in the Shaver Mystery zine The Hidden World (issues A-13, -14, -15, and -16). These letters give some insight into Shaver’s life, thoughts and habits, and working relationship with Palmer. Direct references to Lovecraft only occur in two of the published letters, but are relevant. The first is:
The mention of Merritt is good I think—there are several reasons—the Lovecraft cult of writers uses his name all the time to good effect—and certainly Merritt is more worthy of such honor—as well as the corroboration of my contentions which his work offers and the enticement of his followers is also commercially valuable as they are legion. —Richard S. Shaver to Ray Palmer, [n.d., c.mid-Oct 1944], The Hidden World A-14, 2443-2444
There are a number of mentions of A. Merritt and his stories, particularly “The Snake Mother” (1930) in Shaver’s letters and other writings. Shaver was likely discussing “Open Letter to the World” (Amazing Stories Jun 1945), which mentions Merritt repeatedly. The “Lovecraft cult of writers” references the growing popularity of Lovecraft (who was published in an Armed Services Edition during the war), and emulators and pasticheurs like August Derleth.
The second reference to Lovecraft in Shaver’s letters to Palmer is more extensive:
Reading in Lovecraft’s “Marginalia” which Bob sent me—noted a concept of his directly opposed to one of yours—wish you would think about it—for to a degree he is right.
He is talking in a chapter entitled “Notes on Interplanetary Fiction”.
“The characters, though they must be natural, should be subordinated to the central marvel around which they are grouped. The true ‘hero’ of a marvel tale is not any human being, but simply a set of phenomena.”
I have thought that perhaps you said the reverse in order to get me to think more carefully of character work in my writing, and in the main you agree with Lovecraft here. Personally, I think he is right, and that if the characters are too natural, we lose the illusion of other worldliness we are trying to create. I think then motivations of such characters should be different, as out of the ordinary as the settings, and thus the whole behavior of your characters, too, becomes the reverse of what we call “natural”—so here I disagree to an extent with Lovecraft, too. I admit the characters behaviour [sic] should be logical, and I stop there.
Personally I think Lovecrafts [sic] buildup for his marvels gets a little tiresome, but old stf fans are apt to be immune to the usual fanfare of intense surprise attempted by the stf writer.
In stf we have to write about marvels, we have to do it in a way that the average man can understand and enjoy as much as he does his Sunday supplement, and it is here that I agree and endorse your views. But that does not necessarily mean the characters can all be “natural”, meaning everyday people, at all. Some of the characters must of course be natural to set off the unnaturalness of those who are motivated by an other-world set of values.
Granted we all agree if boiled down to it. I thought you would be interested in his idea—the “hero of a marvel tale is a set of phenomena.” —Richard S. Shaver to Ray Palmer, [n.d., c. Mar 1945], The Hidden World A-15, 2632-2633
“Bob” is Robert McKenna, a friend of Shaver’s who would also help improve Shaver’s prose and ghostwrite for him. Arkham House published Lovecraft’s Marginalia in 1944; which included his essay “Some Notes on Interplanetary Fiction,” which Derleth had excerpted from one of Lovecraft’s letters. The fundamental idea of the weird phenomena taking center stage rather than the human characters who witness it is very much at the core of Lovecraft’s fiction, exemplified in stories like “The Dunwich Horror” and “The Colour out of Space,” and more fully expressed in his essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature.”
Shaver’s focus on this bit of writing advice is a glimpse behind the curtain of the Shaver Mystery. While Shaver seems to have very much believed in Deros, rays, et al, he was also keenly aware that what he and Ray Palmer were creating was fiction—perhaps as a way to get the truth out there to the masses, but still very clearly a creative exercise, which involved plotting, narratives, characters who required development, motivations, etc. Palmer, as something of a pulp hack, knew the advantages of character-driven stories, and probably steered Shaver in this direction with his fiction in Amazing Stories; Shaver’s fiction outside of those pages tends to be far less character-focused. With Lovecraft’s advice opposing Palmer’s, Shaver struggled to find his own course and his own voice somewhere between the two.
Despite Harry Warner’s proclamation that Shaver’s Mystery was derived from Lovecraft, in the corpus of Shaver’s writing references to Lovecraft and his work are so few that it cannot be said that the Lovecraft Mythos inspired the Shaver Mystery—but Lovecraft certainly seems to have been one of the influences on Shaver. Lovecraft and Shaver shared some inspirations in common, such as A. Merritt’s “The Moon Pool,” which explains a few of their similarities, but at no point does Lovecraft’s artificial mythology impinge on Shaver’s Atlantis and Lemuria. “Lovecraft and the Deros” emphasizes how much Shaver dismisses Lovecraft’s Mythos in favor of recasting “The Mound” in terms of his own artificial mythology. I suspect that if Lovecraft was a more substantial influence on Shaver, more references to “The Mound” would have found their way into Shaver’s writing at some point…yet all we have, really, is “Lovecraft and the Deros.”
Henry S. Whitehead, “Bothon,” & the Shaver Mystery
Recalling the “old days” brings us to a mention of Henry S. Whitehead’s “Bothon” in this issue. Reverend Whitehead is, of course, dead, but this unpublished story of his is far from dead. We consider it a very fine piece of work, and as we read it, we remember that Henry S. Whitehead was himself a researcher into the unusual, and we wonder what he would have said about the stories of Mr. Shaver? It is a very astounding fact to consider that in this story “Bothon,” Reverend Whitehead’s story is similar in all details to many letters we have from readers who claim to remember, or be reincarned, or have contact with some weird occult record which describes the events Whitehead describes so graphically in his story. Could it be that “Bothon” is itself a “thought record or a “racial memory” or did he believe eh was reincarnated and the story that formed in his mind was really memory of that former life? It is introguing to wonder what the truth behind “Bothon” really is. —Ray Palmer, Amazing Stories Aug 1946
The Reverend Henry St. Clair Whitehead was an Episcopal priest and pulp writer, a friend and correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft, E. Hoffmann Price, and Robert E. Howard who wrote for pulps like Adventure, Weird Tales, and Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror. He was best known for his “jumbee” stories, based on the folklore of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which he would visit during the 1920s, as well as “The Trap,” a story written with Lovecraft, and “Cassius,” a story written based on one of Lovecraft’s ideas. At the time of his death on 23 Nov 1932, Whitehead apparently had several unpublished manuscripts, including one called “The Bruise.”
I’m helping Whitehead prepare a new ending for a story which Bates rejected. It was about a man in 1923 who got a bruise on the head which caused him to hear strange cataclysmic sounds—that turned out to be the Tokyo earthquake. The bruise had made a sort of radio of his ears! In my new version, the bruise excites certain cells of hereditary memory & causes him to hear the destruction of one of the cities of fabulous Mu—the sunken continent of the Pacific—20,000 years ago. —H. P. Lovecraft to August Derleth, 31 Mar 1932, Essential Solitude2.469
I’m now helping Whitehead prepare a new ending & background for a story Bates has rejected. The original told of a young man who bumped his head & thereafter heard sounds of a mighty cataclysm, although the city around him was quiescent. It was supposed to be due to a result of the bruise—which made the fellow’s head a natural radio & enabled him to hear the Japanese earthquake—which was occurring at the time. Bates rightly thought this tame, so I am having the cataclysm & its cause somewhat different. I am having the bruise excite cells of hereditary memory causing the man to hear the destruction & sinking of fabulous Mu 20,000 years ago! —H. P. Lovecraft to Clark Ashton Smith, 4 Apr 1932, Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill 361
He had a splendid tale under way called “The Bruise”, which (at my suggestion) involved the lost & fabulous Pacific continent of Mu. I am wondering whether it was ever finished. —H. P. Lovecraft to E. Hoffmann Price, 7 Dec 1932, Letters to E. Hoffmann Price & Richard F. Searight 38
Whitehead also had another story under way—his old tale “The Bruise”, with a new ending (suggested and mapped out by myself) involving the fabulous lost continent of Mu 20,000 years ago; but whether this was ever put in final publishable shape I don’t know. —H. P. Lovecraft to Farnsworth Wright, 6 Jan 1933, Letters to Woodburn Harris & Others75
Harry Bates was editor of Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror (1931-1933), a short-lived competitor to Weird Tales that Whitehead contributed to, and Astounding Tales of Super-Science (1930-1933).
Years after Whitehead and Lovecraft’s death, August Derleth, co-founder of Arkham House, pursued the publication of Whitehead’s collected weird fiction, which eventually resulted in two books: Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales (1944) and West India Lights (1946). This required dealing with Whitehead’s heirs; a confusing situation where a woman named Edna Black owned the copyrights, but a woman named Mary Starr owned several of the actual manuscripts. Included in a letter from Starr to Derleth dated 8 Nov 1943 is a list of unpublished manuscripts; at the bottom are two stories labeled “Scar-Tissue” and “Bothon.”
Mss. Wisconsin HIstorical Society, August W. Derleth Archive
It isn’t clear what some of these annotations mean, such as the checkmarks; possibly those indicate that the completed manuscript had been submitted to a given market (which suggests that “Scar-Tissue” at least may have been sent to Weird Tales, and was presumably rejected).
“Scar-Tissue” involves Gerald Canevin, a series character in Whitehead’s fiction, and a Dr. Pelletier who encounter a patient named Joe Smith who not only remembers Lemuria, but carried a physical scar that corresponds with a wound obtained in a past life as a gladiator. Canevin and Pelletier had previously appeared together in “The Great Circle” (Strange Tales Jun 1932). “Bothon” follows the general plot laid down by Lovecraft: a man bangs his head, and the bruise unlocks memories of his past in Lemuria. The story ends with a reference to a man named Smith who had similar memories.
The interrelation between “The Great Circle,” “Scar-Tissue,” and “Bothon” is unclear. Canevin and Pelletier form a link between “The Great Circle” and “Scar-Tissue,” while “Scar-Tissue” and “Bothon” share much common ground, including the character Bothon, and the latter “Bothon” appears to reference the character of Smith in “Scar-Tissue”; but there is no Canevin or Pelletier in “Bothon.” Was this the aborted start of an intended series, or the tail end of an ongoing one? We may never know. All three stories are also somewhat uncharacteristic of Whitehead’s typical pulp product, with more action and fantasy, but that was a direction that some of his fiction was headed toward near the end of his life.
It is unknown if one or both stories were complete at the time of Whitehead’s death, or existed in draft. “Scar-Tissue,” if it was submitted to Weird Tales as the above list implies, must have been in decent shape. Lovecraft’s involvement appears to have been primarily suggestion and plotting for “The Bruise”—he never mentions “Scar-Tissue” nor contributed any actual text to “The Bruise.” Though there have been claims that someone else may have written or completed the stories:
It is not certain that Whitehead ever finished the revision and expansion of “The Bruise” before his death. As late as December 1932, Lovecraft speaks of the process being still “under way” ([see letter to Price above]). It is possible, therefore, that the story was finished and retitled by August W. Derleth, who oversaw the editing and assembling of West India Lights, where it appeared. Derleth fleshed out a number of Lovecraft’s plots and notes into complete stories (see The Survivor and Others, 1957), and frequently wrote fiction pseudonymously. It has been claimed, for example, that in Night’s Yawning Peal (1952), an anthology he edited, there were three such tales, Derleth appearing (in addition to an entry under his own name) as Stephen Grendon, Michael West, and—J. Sheridan le Fanu! See Jack L. Chalker, “Arkham House & Sons, part 2,” Fantasy Review, no. 97 (December 1986): 19. —A. Langley Searles, “Fantasy and Outré Themes in the Short Fiction of Edward Lucas White and Henry S. Whitehead) in American Supernatural Fiction: From Edith Wharton to the Weird Tales Writers (1996), 75n62
As mentioned in the review of “The Murky Glass” (1957) as by August Derleth & H. P. Lovecraft, Derleth’s approach to “posthumous collaboration” was often one of entirely original writing based around an extent bit of text or story synopsis. Derleth did use pseudonyms as well; this was a common practice in the pulps, and “Stephen Grendon” was an established alternate name that Derleth used many times. So Derleth was certainly capable of writing or revising a story and publishing it under a different name, and had done so. But did he do it?
Before or concurrent with the publication of West India Lights, both “Scar-Tissue” and “Bothon” were published in Amazing Stories in 1946, in the July and August issues respectively. While there is no copyright notice or reference to Derleth attached to the stories, and unfortunately no letters with Starr or Black from this period attest to any deal or payments for publication, Derleth’s letters to Ray Palmer show that he submitted the stories, and brokered their sale at the same time as he was arguing with Palmer about Lovecraft:
Yes, I’d like to look at the Whitehead things concerning Lemuria, etc. Would appreciate your sending me the manuscripts. —Ray Palmer to August Derleth, 20 Jun 1945, MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
I will send along the Whitehead stories—BOTHON and SCAR-TISSUE—just as soon as my secretary gets around to typing them: in a fortnight or so. They are very good stories of the Lemuria type which you seem now to tbe seeking. —August Derleth to Ray Palmer, 21 Jun 1945, MSS. WHS
Thanks for getting the Whitehead stories in shape for me to look at. —Ray Palmer to August Derleth, 22 Jun 1945, MSS. WHS
This was followed up some months later by a receipt of sale:
MSS. Wisconsin Historical Society
Derleth submitting stories on behalf of Whitehead’s heirs isn’t unusual. In the early 1950s, Derleth had arranged for the reprinting of two of Whitehead’s stories in the pages of Weird Tales (“The Tree-Man,” WT Sep 1953 and “Passing of a God,” WT Jul 1954), so we know Derleth did sometimes act as agent for such stories. Whether Derleth was acting as agent or ghost-writer, some of this money should have gone to Edna Black; unfortunately, the correspondence for this period between Black and Derleth is lacking.
There are some substantial textual differences between the text in Amazing Stories and West India Lights, with the Amazing Stories version of the text being substantially shorter and punchier. Probably Palmer cut the text down for publication to better fit the space in the magazine. To give one example of the differences:
“Do you get that picture? Here we were, prisoners of war — after a couple of months of the hardest training I have ever known, in the Ludektan gladitorial school, about to shed our blood to make an Atlantean holiday! Yes, Ludetka was the southernmost province of Atlantis, the cultural center of the continent. There had been innumerable wars between the Atlanteans and Lemuria. Like Rome and Carthage.
“Do you get that picture? Here we were, prisoners of war — after a couple of months of the hardest training I have ever known, in the Ludektan gladitorial school, about to shed our blood to make an Atlantean holiday!
“Scar-Tissue,” West India Lights 233
“Scar-Tissue,” Amazing Stories (Jul 1946) 149
Practically all of the changes in the Amazing Stories text represent a condensation of the story, truncating some of the battle scenes and speeding up the pacing. The above is a rare instance where a bit of the “lore” of the setting was excised. Was this done by Palmer so that Whitehead’s story dovetailed more closely with the Shaver Mystery? Given that so much setting material was left intact, probably not.
What is remarkable about “Scar-Tissue” and “Bothon,” and what might be most suggestive of Derleth’s involvement, is not so much the existence of two salable manuscripts by Whitehead that finally saw print after fourteen years—but that both such stories were directly relevant to the current trend in Amazing Stories. The timing is key: just when Amazing Stories was pushing the Shaver Mystery hard, here comes two stories of essentially similar theme from a different, established author, that could almost have been written to order.
Whether Derleth saw an opportunity to market Whitehead’s stories and took it, or Derleth re-worked one or both of the stories to fit isn’t clear, but it seems more than coincidence that two such atypical stories from a fortunately deceased author could emerge at just this time in Amazing Stories. That topicality makes them suspect. Yet without access to the original manuscripts there is no way to know for sure.
Despite Searles’ surety that someone other than Whitehead was involved, the evidence for Derleth revising, completing, or writing “Scar-Tissue” or “Bothon” is entirely circumstantial. We know at least from Lovecraft’s letters that “The Bruise” contained recognizable elements to be found in “Bothon,” and the 1943 manuscript list from Mary Starr clearly lists both stories. So it seems likely that if Derleth did touch up the manuscripts, he at least had some manuscript to work with, rather than writing the tales out of whole cloth, or based only on the synopsis in Lovecraft’s letters about “The Bruise.”
There is undoubtedly more to the story of how these two Whitehead works ended up at Amazing Stories. It’s notable that the publication in those magazines does not mention Lovecraft, Derleth, Arkham House, or West India Nights; for a tireless self-promoter and champion of Lovecraft like Derleth, it seems odd he wouldn’t make more of the opportunity for some free advertising, or to at least promote the Lovecraft connection elsewhere. In fact, when Clark Ashton Smith commented on “Bothon” in a letter to Derleth after West India Nights came out, Derleth’s reply didn’t mention Lovecraft at all (Eccentric Impractical Devils 370).
There are several Lovecraftian traces in “Bothon” that are not present in “Scar-Tissue.” The simian slave-class is called “Gyaa-Hua”; compare with “The Mound” (1940) by Zealia Bishop & H. P. Lovecraft, where the slave-class is called the “gyaa-yothn.” Two transcribed bits of ancient Lemurian speech in “Bothon” are: “Iï, Iï, Iï, Iï;—R’ly-eh!—Ieh nya, —Ieh nya; —zoh, zoh-an-nuh!” and “Ióth, Ióth,—natcal-o, do yan kho thútthut,” which bare similarities to some of Lovecraft’s alien speech,” especially the appearance of”R’y-eh” is particularly close to “R’lyeh” from “The Call of Cthulhu,” and “kho thútthut” could be a phonetic rendering of “Cthulhu.” Either Whitehead or Derleth could easily have inserted these references; though given Derleth’s contretemps with Palmer over adding anything Lovecraftian to the Shaver Mysteries, why he would insert such a reference is unclear. It is perhaps notable that when Lovecraft used Mu in his fiction in “Out of the Æons” (1935) by Hazel Heald & H. P. Lovecraft, he made no reference to either R’lyeh or the gyaa-yothn/gyaa-hua.
The connection between Lovecraft, “The Bruise,” and “Bothon” does not appear to have become publicly known until after Derleth’s death, when Selected Letters IV (1976) was published, which book contains the references in letters to E. Hoffmann Price and Clark Ashton Smith. Without access to concrete evidence in the form of drafts, letters, or business records to clarify matters, this small tangent to the Shaver Mystery and its almost-connection to the Lovecraft Mythos must remain a mystery.
Manly Wade Wellman, The Necronomicon, & the Shaver Mystery
“Suppose,” said Thunstone, “that I wanted a copy of the Necronomicon?”
“Suppose,” rejoined the old woman, “that I gave it to you?” She turned to a shelf, pulled several books out, and poked her withered hand into the recess behind. “Nobody else that I know would be able to look into the Necronomicon without getting into trouble. To anyone else the price would be prohibitive. To you, Mr. Thun—”
“Leave that book where it is!” he bade her sharply. —Manly Wade Wellman, “The Letters of Cold Fire” in Weird Tales May 1944
Lovecraft and Wellman overlapped a bit at Weird Tales, but never corresponded. Nevertheless, Wellman had respect for his elder in weird fiction, and paid homage to Lovecraft in several stories, including “The Terrible Parchment” (WT Aug 1937) and “The Letters of Cold Fire” (WT May 1944), which feature the Necronomicon, and “Shonokin Town” (WT Jul 1946) where Lovecraft is mentioned as an expert in eldritch lore.
Wellman came into his own in Weird Tales during the 1940s, when his occult detective character John Thunstone ran in a successful series of tales. Like Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and others, Wellman had learned to build up a degree of interconnectedness in his stories for greater verisimilitude—Thunstone mentions Weird Tales authors H. P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffmann Price, Seabury Quinn’s occult detective Jules de Grandin (who would also mention Thunstone in his own stories), and several of Wellman’s characters exist in the same general setting, and sometimes face the same enemies—notably the pre-human, magically adept beings known as the Shonokin.
One of the details revealed in Richard S. Shaver’s correspondence with Ray Palmer in The Hidden World is that Shaver himself read Weird Tales, at least occasionally, and even submitted short fiction to the magazine. One story that caught his eye was “The Letters of Cold Fire” by Manly Wade Wellman:
In a tale in Weird Tales mag. recently it spoke of THE DEEP SCHOOL of Magic. I think you will find this is pertinent. Men who had been through the school could no longer stand the light at all. The underworld – hereditarily – have extra large eyes. This was in the Rowley Thorne – Dunstone [sic] series – runs regularly in Weird Tales and the author may know something though it’s hard to tell among all his magic wool. He should not be hard to contact and writers can explain what they mean. I hope he is not one who believes really the common concept of magic. —Richard S. Shaver to Ray Palmer, 8 Jun [1944], The Hidden World A-14 2338-2339
It isn’t known if Shaver ever attempted to contact Wellman. In Weird Tales Jul 1946 and in the fanzine Sunspots #28 (Fall 1946), Wellman claims to have received letters form those who were convinced the Shonokin were real and could tell him more. Could Shaver have been among them? Perhaps, perhaps not; Shaver’s further letters to Palmer don’t mention any such attempt.
What is known is that Shaver remembered “The Letters of Cold Fire,” and later when the subject of grimoire came up after reading William Seabrook’s Witchcraft: Its Power in the World Today (1940), Shaver was inspired to an elaboration on his theories.
Such writers as your firned [sic] friend of Weird Tales mention such EVIL books—the book from the DEEP SCHOOL etc. etc.—and such wonderful things can be done with formula in them—is standard weird talk for witch stories through the ages—why—because once that was true and magicians—or mag-neticians—did save those books and work wonders with but they were not numerous to save that wisdom for us—or they lived in the caves and all that history of theirs still lies down there waiting for us—but if my observations of dero are right they are still using the ancient libraries for toilet paper and fire starting as in the ancient days. —Richard S. Shaver to Ray Palmer, Jan 12 [1945], The Hidden World A-15, 2570
There is something strange and terrible about the image of a Dero, after evacuating last night’s cannibalistic feast, reaching for the age-softened, crumbling pages of the Necronomicon to wipe themselves clean—and that is an aspect of Shaver’s mystery that readers of Amazing Stories perhaps did not appreciate, the degree to which Palmer and other ghostwriters cleaned things up, for Shaver could be quite brusque about subjects like torture, sex, and some of the more unpleasant aspects of life in his stories.
Muriel E. Eddy, David H. Keller, & the Shaver Mystery
In a 1948 interview, David H. Keller, a prolific author of science fiction and weird tales and a contemporary of Lovecraft’s, was asked about the Shaver Mystery:
“What is your opinion of the Shaver controversy?”
“A healthy affair in some ways. After all there is not much difference between Shaver and Lovecraft as far as the basic idea is concerned. Even Jules Verne hinted at it in his JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. Merritt talked about those Old Ones and Lovecraft wrote constantly in regard to such a menace. […] —David H. Keller, interviewed by Jacob Hudson, Fantasy-Times #64 (Apr 1948), 5
Keller’s comparison of Shaver and Lovecraft is not unique; it’s a point that crops up repeatedly in the literature. One of the key points Keller makes is that “Lovecraft wrote constantly in regard to such a menace”—but did he really? At this date, Arkham House had brought Lovecraft into print in hardback, and in the mid-40s editions paperback editions were available through Bartholomew House and the Armed Services Edition. Weird Tales under Dorothy McIlwraith published or re-printed Lovecraft stories provided by August Derleth and Arkham House, as well as Derleth’s own pastiches. Derleth’s first “posthumous collaboration,” the novel The Lurker on the Threshold, was published in 1945.
While Lovecraft wrote of many terrors, some ancient and some underground, there was never a single unifying threat that ran through multiple stories as the Deros do through Shaver’s oeuvre. However, for casual readers who absorbed a great deal of Derleth along with Lovecraft, this fine distinction between the Mythos as Lovecraft wrote it versus how Derleth tended to play it up was easily lost. Derleth’s pastiches tended to emphasize a unity and structure to Lovecraft’s Mythos that wasn’t originally there, while Shaver seems to have had a very clear conception from the beginning of how things were in the underground caverns, even if he struggled with how to present this information to the audience.
This kind of comparison led to another tangential connection between Lovecraft and Shaver, in the pages of Fantastic Adventure, another Ziff Davis pulp magazine that was under the editorship of Ray Palmer. While the Shaver Mystery stories largely appeared in Amazing Stories, some of Shaver’s fiction also appeared in Fantastic Adventure, which was at least nominally dedicated to fantasy, although in practice Ray Palmer tended to run both fantasy and science fiction together in the magazine.
In Fantastic Adventure s(Feb 1948), Shaver’s story “Slaves of the Worm” ran. The story is not explicitly related to the Mystery—not a Dero in sight—and may owe something to Robert E. Howard’s “The Shadow Kingdom” (1929) and “The Valley of the Worm” (1934) as well as A. Merritt’s “The Face in the Abyss” (1923) and its sequel “The Snake Mother” (1930). Yet something about the story prompted a reader to write in and compare it to Lovecraft; and Ray Palmer agreed.
Not many would look to the letter-columns of Fantastic Adventures for a brief memoir about Lovecraft, yet that is part of the legacy of the Shaver Mystery too.
Robert E. Howard, Serpent People, & the Shaver Mystery
One of the hallmarks of conspiratorial literature is how quickly it is to absorb new ideas into its existing framework, and the same is true for the Shaver Mystery. In the August 1946 issue of Amazing Stories, Ray Palmer wrote a piece about the pamphlets of Maurice Doreal, an occultist, which presents his ideas of the hollow earth (drawing much inspiration from Theosophy), and wrote that:
I am advising that Doreal’s booklets be read by all students of the Shaver matter. I do not believe that he is correct in all his statements, but there may be a basis underlying them, and this knowledge should be known to students simply as a matter of theory.
In the October 1946 issue of Amazing Stories, an answering letter from Doreal was published, essentially confirming the subterranean evil Dero exist, and working the Dero into their schema.
Maurice Doreal (also M. Doreal, Morris Doreal, etc.) was a pseudonym for Claude Doggins, an occultist and conspiracy theorist inspired by both Theosophy and pulp fiction. One of Doreal’s most notable publications is The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean (n.d.). The esoteric poem includes a lot of material drawn from ancient Egyptian religion, Hermetic occultism, and Theosophy, but there’s one passage in particular which is basically a synopsis of Robert E. Howard’s story “The Shadow Kingdom (Weird Tales Aug 1929):
In the form of man they amongst us, but only to sight were they as are men. Serpent-headed when the glamour was lifted but appearing to man as men among men. Crept they into the Councils, taking forms that were like unto men. Slaying by their arts the chiefs of the kingdoms, taking their form and ruling o’er man. Only by magic could they be discovered. Only by sound could their faces be seen. Sought they from the Kingdom of shadows to destroy man and rule in his place.
While Doreal does not connect the dero to the serpent people directly, they share certain attributes, being evil, shape-shifting, and subterranean. It goes to show how flexible and adept at self-promotion Doreal was to latch onto the Shaver Mystery, however briefly. Doreal also borrowed from other pulp authors, notably referencing Frank Belknap Long Jr.’s “The Hounds of Tindalos” (Weird Tales mar 1929), also referenced in The Emerald Tablets:
Strange and terrible are the HOUNDS of the Barrier. Follow they consciousness to the limits of space. Think not to escape by entering your body, for follow they fast the Soul through angles. Only the circle will give ye protection, save from the claws of the DWELLERS IN ANGLES.
Like Shaver, Doreal’s writings influenced popular conspiracy theories, and his works tied together aspects of Theosophy, pulp fiction, and the nascent ufology culture. Michael Barkun in A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America(2013) notes that Doreal also authored a pamphlet giving a revisionist history of the world featuring this serpent race (Mysteries of the Gobi), where the perverted, underground Lemurians were supposedly the ancestors of all Semitic peoples. Another pamphlet, Flying Saucers: An Occult Viewpoint postulated the serpent people were extraterrestrials, which would help set the stage for popular depictions of reptilian humanoid aliens, such as the television series V. All of these have uncertain publication dates, but based on this letter we can definitely say they were around in the 1940s.
Doreal would be quoted extensively in David Icke’s Children of the Matrix: How an Interdimensional Race has Controlled the World for Thousands of Years—and Still Does (2001), which collates and updates the whole idea of shapeshifting reptilians for a 21st-century audience. Icke is noted for his antisemitism, and for his identification of members of the Jewish Rothschild family as secret reptilians (Barkun 146); the entire shape-shifting reptilian alien idea in popular culture has been tinged by Icke’s prejudice.
Robert E. Howard did not invent the idea of serpent people or reptilian humanoids; H. P. Lovecraft had played with the idea in “The Nameless City” (1921), A. Merritt had the eponymous Snake-Mother of Yu-Atlanchi in “The Snake-Mother” (1923); Frank Belknap Long, Jr. had a woman-headed serpent in “The Were-Snake” (1925); Edgar Rice Burroughs had underground serpent people in Tarzan at the Earth’s Core (1929-1930); Clark Ashton Smith had made serpent a part of his stories in “The Double Shadow” (1933) and “The Seven Geases” (1934); Edmond Hamilton, famous for his space operas, included reptilian alien humanoids in “Monsters of Mars” (1931) and “The Snake-Men of Kaldar” (1933), and John Murray Reynolds had similar Scaly Ones in “The Golden Amazons of Venus” (1939); E. Hoffmann Price played on Southeast Asian beliefs about the Naga in “Snake Goddess” (1939), and there are many other precursors and cases of independent invention. There is even a famous case in 1934, an engineer named G. Warren Shufelt even advertized that there was an underground city of lizard people beneath Los Angeles.
Richard S. Shaver had serpent-people in his Shaver Mystery fiction too—most notably in “The Fall of Lemuria” in Other Worlds Science Stories (Nov 1949). These snake-people probably owe more to Merritt’s “Snake-Mother” than to anything Howard or anyone else wrote.
Yet Howard’s serpent-people have gained pop-culture precedence—and entered conspiracy circle legend—because of several contributing factors. For Lovecraft, Smith, and many others, the reptilians and serpent people, whether beneficient or inimical to humanity, hatched no conspiracies, and dwelt underground and apart from humanity and its affairs. Howard’s were actively seeking to undermine and manipulate human civilization, and doing so with the aid of magical disguises to impersonate others.
Marvel Comics introduced serpent people to their universe through works adapted from and inspired by the work of Robert E. Howard; in the pages of Conan the Barbarian,Kull the Conqueror, and (oddly enough) Marvel Premiere #4, where Dr. Strange fights the spawn of Sligguth in a story that combines aspects of “The Shadow Kingdom” and “The Shadow over Innsmouth.” Robert E. Howard’s version of the serpent-god Set, and his serpent-people followers, would play a major role in the Marvel Universe during storylines like Atlantis Attacks! (1989), although since Marvel subsequently lost the license to Conan, the serpent-people have played substantially less of a role.
Roleplaying games have featured a number of reptilian and serpent-people, some of whom were inspired by pulp fiction, others of which are original. The Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game adapted Howard, Smith, and Lovecraft’s serpent-people lore and glossed and expanded it. Dungeons & Dragons have the Yuan-Ti, who were largely humanoid serpent-people with shapeshifting powers, that first appeared in Dwellers in the Forgotten City (1980); whether they were originally based on Howard’s serpent people or not, they embody many of the tropes—but there are innumerable fantasy serpent- and reptile-people in fantasy and science fiction, too many to narrow them all down to one single source. Publisher White Wolf would also borrow from Howard when creating the clan called the Followers of Set for Vampire: The Masquerade (1991), whose discipline of Serpentis gives them serpent-like powers and attributes.
The Followers have an Egyptian theme, despite the fact that the Egyptian god known as Set, Seth, or Sutekh does not have serpentine attributes—a common misconception which also affected the Marvel comics (where the Egyptian god Seth was a separate deity, though still serpent-themed) and even Dungeons & Dragons (where the Mulhorandi god Set was largely based on the Egyptian god, but also took on serpentine characteristics). Robert Bloch would commonly err in making the serpentine Set an Egyptian god in some of his early horror and fantasy stories. The confusion comes because in the Conan tales, Set is the god of the Stygians—who are intended to be strongly reminiscent of ancient Egypt, and to be the precursor civilization to it:
Meanwhile, also, a tribe of Vanir adventurers had passed along the Pictish coast southward, ravaged ancient Zingara, and come into Stygia, which, oppressed by a cruel aristocratic ruling class, was staggering under the thrusts of the black kingdoms to the south. The red-haired Vanir led the slaves in a general revolt, overthrew the reigning class, and set themselves up as a caste of conquerors. They subjugated the northern-most black kingdoms, and built a vast southern empire, which they called Egypt. From these red-haired conquerors the earlier Pharaohs boasted descent. —Robert E. Howard, “The Hyborian Age” (1936)
There is a terrible irony to Doreal and Icke’s adding bigotry to Howard’s serpent people: Howard was thinking about Jews when he wrote it. Howard’s original story “The Shadow Kingdom” was in part inspired by some of his own characterization of Jews in the Old Testament in his private letters (see Deeper Cut: Conan and the Shemites: Robert E. Howard and Antisemitism). However, a study of Howard’s letters do not show any definite awareness or belief in popular antisemitic conspiracy theories, and Howard never made any explicit connection between serpent people and Jews in his fiction. Howard did not confuse fantasy and real-world prejudice; he took a metaphor based on a personal reading of the Old Testament and wove into his fantasy fiction—making literal serpents out of the metaphorical manipulators of King Saul. This wasn’t a huge stretch for Howard, who had already included his antipathy to serpents and characters with snake-like attributes in several stories before Kull was created (see “Conan and the Little People: Robert E. Howard and Lovecraft’s Theory.”)
The 1930s and 40s saw the cross-pollination between pulp and popular fiction and fringe conspiracy theories, and what would become New Age movements, many of which were in a foundational stage during the interwar and WW2 period. Doreal’s letter in support of Shaver’s Mystery is an example of how easily these works incorporated ideas from science fiction and weird fiction into already-extent occult and conspiratorial ideologies about the hollow earth and hidden masters. It also demonstrates how antisemitic tropes can grow and spread, sometimes under unlikely guises.
Marebito (稀人, 2004)
Marebito(“Unique One,” 稀人) is a Japanese horror film from director Shimizu Takashi (清水 崇), based on a novel and screenplay by Konaka Chiaki (小中 千昭). As the film opens, freelance cameraman Masuoka (played by Tsukamato Shin’ya 塚本 晋也) is obsessed the nature of fear and with viewing the world through a camera lens. Masuoka investigates the apparent suicide of a terrified man underground that was captured on camera. His investigation leads him to a subterranean network of tunnels beneath Tokyo. Masuoka meets people who live in the tunnels and believe in Richard Shaver’s Deros; Masuoka himself finds a section of the underground that resembles ancient ruins and believes he has come to the Mountains of Madness spoken of by Lovecraft—although he acknowledges both Shaver and the hollow earth theory are fiction. Yet in that netherworld, fact and fiction seem to merge.
Throughout the film, possibly-supernatural events occur, and the line between what is real and what is just in Masuoka’s head is not clear. The film plays with aspects of voyeurism, documentary filmmaking, the nature of reality, and the uncertain nature of perception. The narrative is shot through with sudden transitions, artifacts of digital recording in settings of clear reality, impromptu encounters and conversations, and a growing uncertainty about who the characters really are and how much of this is really happening, or if Masuoka is just off his meds and reality and delusion are merging together inseparably.
The Deros are a repeated touchstone in the ideology of the film, not something seen on the screen much, but a pervasive idea. Likewise, while Lovecraft is seldom referenced directly, the questioning of the nature of fear is strongly reminiscent of his work. This is no accident, Konaka Chiaki has also written Cthulhu Mythos fiction, including the screenplay for a Japanese television adaptation of “The Shadow over Innsmouth” (インスマスを覆う影, 1992). In Marebito, Konaka gets to marry those ideas with the questioning of reality and memory that are trademarks of some of his anime work such as Serial Experiments Lain and The Big O.
Shimizu Takashi brings these ideas to the screen with an aesthetic that places it in the general oeuvre of the Ring films directed by Nakata Hideo (中田 秀夫) and the later documentary-style horror films of director Shiraishi Kōji (白石 晃士). While there is no single video artifact or ghost at the center of Marebito, the visual transition between watching what is “really” happening and watching the same through the lens of a camera introduces a layer of visual rhetoric that gives the film considerable depth. If Konaka adapted Shaver and Lovecraft for a new Japanese context, Shimizu adapted that script for a new Japanese syntax, translating the voyeuristic impulses of Shaver and the fear of the unknown in Lovecraft into present-day fears of video surveillance, the questionable fidelity of memory, and the pliable reality of recordings.
Which might be an interesting way of looking at the Shaver Mystery and the Lovecraft Mythos in the 21st century: not as literal truth, and not necessarily as something to copy and pastiche, but collections of ideas and images to use as a springboard for new work. Shaver and Lovecraft did not live to see the long tail of their creations influence popular culture, nor for the fringe of true believers to spread their ideas of ancient aliens from the pulps to the mainstream. Yet it is a new century now, and new voices find uses for old pulp ideas.
In this way, the Shaver Mystery and the Lovecraft Mythos live on.
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. —H. P. Lovecraft, “Supernatural Horror in Literature”
While many horror stories grapple with fear of the unknown, there are elements within and without the narrative of cozy horror stories that bring the work in question into a safer, more knowable realm, allowing for a sense of comfort to take hold. —Jose Cruz, “The H Word: Getting Cozy With Horror”
“Cozy horror” is the current term for a broad swathe of horror-flavored creative works. It is probably more properly a mode of weird fiction than a subgenre. A kind of attitude and approach that reaches across genre conventions. Not everything with horror trappings is necessarily horrific in the pure sense of the term. With experience comes familiarity. Bela Lugosi capes, Boris Karloff neck-bolts and flat top, plush Cthulhus all come from the same Hallowe’en-store aesthetic of cozy horror.
Parts of Lovecraftian horror have been cozy for a long time.
In part, this is because Mythos fiction, more than most, tends to be intensely self-referential. Writers want the readers to make connections with other stories, they want to be part of something bigger. Sometimes this bleeds over into full-blown nostalgia; “The Discovery of the Ghooric Zone” (1977) by Richard Lupoff and “Down into Silence” (2018) by Storm Constantine are both stories that bank on the reader not only being able to catch the hints, but to share in that sensation of quiet longing and awed recognition. Others just go for straight-up humor, even to the point of parody and satire: what is “At the Mountains of Murkiness, or From Lovecraft to Leacock” (1940) by Arthur C. Clarke if not taking the piss out of Lovecraftian horror, in a gentle and ribbing British manner?
The balancing point of “cozy Lovecraftian horror” is going to be subjective. It needs to at least work as a weird tale on its own; it needs to be a part of or allude to the Mythos in a way that the readers can recognize and respond to. Jose Cruz’ four elements of Familiarity, Sensuousness, Distance, and Fun are all important—but three of those, at least, are typical of most Mythos stories by default. Readers rarely identify with finding our great-great-great-grandma was a Deep One or Ape Princess, or experience the anxiety of living in the attic room of a witch house and dealing with an extradimensional rodent infestation when they really should be focusing on their finals. The Fun aspect of cozy horror is probably the trickiest and most argumentative aspect of the whole business.
That being said, I believe “On Safari in R’lyeh and Carcosa with Gun and Camera” (2020) by Elizabeth Bear stands out as a very good representation of cozy Lovecraftian horror. The overall shape of the narrative is intensely familiar: how many scions of Innsmouth (never mentioned under that name) have come back home, in how many different variations? Yet the way the story is told is relatively light and novel: a fifty-something female physics professor with tenure and a penchant for sushi. A perfect setup for any number of funny-because-its-true comments about the lives of women in academia.
I note, entirely for the record and apropos of nothing, that I am the only female tenured faculty in the physics department. I note, entirely for the record and apropos of nothing, that I do an estimated thirty-six percent of the emotional labor in my sixteen-person department.
Female grad students and admins do the rest. And it’s not like we’re any less introverted and non-neurotypical than the dudes. We’re just forced to learn to endure more discomfort in order to have careers. —Elizabeth Bear, “On Safari in R’lyeh and Carcosa with Gun and Camera” (2020)
If the story was just a whine, no matter how well-deserved, it probably wouldn’t sustain interest. Yet Bear is very good at composing her narratives, and has structure the story with an in media res action sequence right at the start to let us know that yes, the safari with guns and cameras are real, we’re getting to that. Then she gets to that. It’s not exactly a novel story structure, but it’s a workhorse of fiction for a reason: putting a bit of action first as a hook to draw the reader in, and then it can build up again.
The actual horror in the story is slight. The monsters aren’t very monstrous, the characters aren’t really scared as much as driven by scientific curiosity; blasting away at byakhees like Hunter S. Thompson in bat country is a select aesthetic that doesn’t really encourage the same kind of comforting glow of, say, a mountain that walked or stumbled, or the remnants of an ancient cannibal feast that happens to have the unmistakable physical tell-tales of your own peculiar family. This is not quite on the level of a hypothetical Abbott and Costello Meet Cthulhu, but it’s not far from it.
It is the kind of good, clean fun that you can have when you learn to stop worrying and love the Lovecraft Mythos—and it managed to do it without naming Deep Ones, without running across a copy of the Necronomicon, and only mentioning Miskatonic Univeristy once and in regards to a failed graduate thesis in genetics. If the rules at play seem to owe a little more to the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game than Lovecraft’s original, then at least Bear has the good sense not to recapitulate the entire Mythos, August Derleth style. She gives just enough lore to keep things moving, and no more.
It is almost inconceivable that Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. Still, he must have done it. There is his name on the title page, and before the tale was bound up and offered us between covers it ran in length in various newspapers, and under the same name of authorship. —“Bram Stoker’s Story” in the Detroit Free Press, 18 Nov 1899, p11
The research for Deeper Cut: Lovecraft, Miniter, Stoker: the Dracula Revision required an examination of the history of the Dracula manuscript and an evaluation of the textual variations in order to evaluate whether there was any place in the timeline for Edith Miniter, as Lovecraft alleged, and to judge Bram Stoker’s involvement with changes to the text before and after publication.
One of the most notable developments in Dracula studies in recent years has been the discovery of and translation into English of the 1899 Swedish translation Mörkrets Makter (translated into English as Powers ofDarkness), which was serialized in the newspaper Dagen, and 1901 Icelandic edition Makt Myrkanna (also translated into English as Powers of Darkness) serialized in the newspaper Fjallkonan. However, there were also numerous Dracula serializations in English-language newspapers in the period 1899-1928.
Some of these have been discussed by previous scholars: John Edgar Browning in The Forgotten Writings of Bram Stoker listed serialization in the Washington Times (1917-1918) and the Charlotte Daily Observer (1899), drawing on information from the Bram Stoker Estate and researcher David J. Skal. Browning also mentions advertisements in the Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, Lowell Sun for a serial in the Boston Advertiser (1921); I have not been able to find an online archive for the Advertiser yet, but can confirm the ads.
Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, 27 May 1921, p18Lowell Sun, 28 May 1921, p7
That advertisement also ran in Worcester Telegram, Berkshire Eagle, Biddeford-Saco Journal, Boston Jewish Advocate and Herald; Springfield Daily News, Republican, and Morning Union; Quincy Patriot Ledger; Fall River Evening Herald and Globe; Holyoke Transcript-Telegram; The Day (New London, CT), Daily Herald (Rutland, VT), Sun-Journal (Lewiston, ME), andBangor Daily News around the same time.
.Thanks to the digitization of old newspaper archives and online subscription services, these newspaper serials, which have received rather scanty attention, are more accessible today than they were previously. Enough that a survey of the extant texts is warranted.
Serialization of novels was nothing strange in the late 19th/early 20th century; many newspapers contained fiction, and ran short stories, poetry, and serials for the entertainment of their readers. Licensing serials was another source of income for authors (or their widows), and served as ready-made advertising, as newspapers often made much of the stories, at least in the first few installments, to drum up excitement for their investment. The problem with serializing Dracula, however, might be apparent to anyone that has read the book. The unabridged 1897 novel is rather long (~160,500 words), divided up into 27 chapters of unequal length, and is in epistolary format, further sub-divided into an assortment of letters, diaries, articles, phonograph recordings, and memoranda, which are also of varied length.
Trying to break that up into newspaper format would be an ordeal for any editor, and many ended up breaking up chapters, letters, and diary sections as they attempted to squeeze the text into space. Worse, from the newspaper person’s perspective, many of the individual sections mean little in themselves and contain little narrative action. Realistic as Dracula is, individual letters only gain meaning and import in the sum of their parts, and the plot progresses very gradually and not in any obvious direction. Imagine their frustration at trying to write synopses for chapters to aid readers trying to follow the story day-by-day or week-by-week! The serials ultimately ran from as few as 22 installments to as many as 131 installments, over the course of a single month or strung out over 5-6 months, but all of them start strong and enthusiastic but dwindle in excitement as the story nears the final chapter.
The first four serials all use more or less the identical text, an abridged version of the 1897 Dracula text that removes several sections (probably for space) but does not re-write any sections or correct any errors, as the 1901 abridged edition does. Aside from omissions, the main textual variations are typesetting or transcription errors, some of which are howlers—in the 30 June 1928 entry of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, for example, the installment ends with the words “hands of oGd!” However, the editors did embellish the text in other ways, often adding synopses or interjecting subsection titles, presumably to punch up the text. Some of these are fun in and of themselves, being occasionally barely literate and often showcasing how tricky it is to improve Stoker’s prose.
The serializations covered in this survey are as follows:
It is notable that there is no overlap between the runs of these serializations. While we don’t have the contracts between the newspapers and Stoker (or his widow, or their agent), that would seem to be deliberate, so that each paper had exclusive rights to the story for a set period, which may have affected the sectioning as well. There is also no known newspaper serialization during the period when the Argosy pulp magazine serialized Dracula (9 parts, Jun 1926 – Feb 1927). Whether this was intentional or coincidental is unknown.
There may well be additional newspaper serializations of Dracula besides these; these are just the serials available via newspapers.com as of the time of this writing. Links will be to the full pages, as clips tend to come out illegible.
The wisdom of putting this story into the newspapers may be questioned, from a humanitarian point of view, for the oerdinary reader will have to take a nerve tonic after its perusal, especially if inclined to timidity, and the newspaper public numbers thousands of nervous and superstitious people, some of whom are imbued with the particular legendary lore from which the conception of “Dracula” originally sprang. —“A Grewsome Tale.”, Washington D.C. Times 21 Jan 1900, p20
Inter Ocean (7 May 1899-4 Jun 1899)
The first serialization of Dracula was announced in the Inter Ocean on 3 May 1899, on page 5:
The title for the series was The Strange Story of Dracula, and ran for 28 installments from 7 May 1899 to 4 June 1899, or nearly a chapter a day. Although the text is taken from the 1897 edition, there has been some abridgement: Jonathan Harker’s prologue (“How these papers have been placed in sequence […]”) has been omitted, as well as parts of chapter V (“Dr. Seward’s Diary (kept in phonograph),” “Letter, Quincey P. Morris to Hon. Arthur Holmwood,” and “Telegram from Arthur Holmwood to Quincey P. Morris.”), chapter VII (Mina Murray’s journal for 10 August), the tail end of Dr. Seward’s Diary in chapters VIII and IX, Lucy Westenra’s Diary of 12 September at the beginning of chapter XI, a few sentences from Hennessy’s letter in chapter XII, both sections of Dr. Seward’s Diary and the Westminster Gazette excerpts in chapter XIII, parts of Mina Harker’s Journal in chapter XIV, etc. Chapters XV and XVI of the book have been excised completely, and as a consequence the chapter numbering was subsequently changes so that the story has 25 chapters instead of 27.
There are a number of small changes that represent either typographical or typesetting errors, too many to list, and a few that may represent editorial fiat. For example, in the Inter Ocean chapter XIV (chapter XVII in the book), “Mina Harker’s Journal” is rendered as “Nina Harker’s Journal” and in the Inter Ocean XXII (chapter XXIV in the book), “Dr. Seward’s Diary” is rendered as “Dr. Seward’s Story,” etc. The 15th installment (Sunday, 21 May 1899) provided readers with a summary of the preceding chapters; another summary appeared with the 22nd installment (Sunday, 28 May 1899).
Note: Until chapter XIV, chapter numbering is identical with the 1897 text, starting with Inter Ocean chapter XV the numbering changes. Equivalent chapters from the 1897 text are presented in parantheses.
Part 1: 7 May 1899, page 17. Chapter I. “3 May” to “sharply to the right.” Link
Part 2: 8 May 1899, page 7. Chapters I-II. “Soon we were hemmed in” to “Peter Hawkins. So!” Link
Part 3: 9 May 1899, page 7. Chapters II-III. “We went thoroughly” to “up and said:” Link
Part 4: 10 May 1899, page 7. Chapter III. “Have you written” to “sank down unconscious.” Link
Part 5: 11 May 1899, page 7. Chapter IV. “I awoke in my” to “whom I am dear!” Link
Part 6: 12 May 1899, page 7. Chapters IV-VI. “30 June, Morning” to “this time tomorrow.” Link
Part 7: 13 May 1899, page 7. Chapters VII-VIII. “CUTTING FROM ‘THE DAILYGRAPH’” to “far over the sea.” Link
Part 8: 14 May 1899, page 17. Chapters VIII-IX. “Same Day, Noon.” to “an excuse and try.” Link
Part 9: 15 May 1899, page 7. Chapters IX-X. “25 August” to “knees begin to tremble.” Link
Part 10: 16 May 1899, page 7. Chapters X-XI. “There on the bed” to “God help me!” Link
Part 11: 17 May 1899, page 7. Chapter XII. “18 September” to “similar incoherent ravings.” Link
Part 12: 18 May 1899, page 7. Chapters XII-XIV. “The two carriers” to “WILHELMINA HARKER.” Link
Part 13: 19 May 1899, page 7. Chapters XIV-XV [XIV, XVII]. “25 September” to “that terrible story!” Link
Part 14: 20 May 1899, page 7. Chapters XV-XVI [XVII-XVIII]. “Then it was terrible” to “that giveth rest.” Link
Part 15: 21 May 1899, page 7. Chapter XVI-XVII [XVIII-XIX]. “Thus when we find” to “become itself corrupt.” Link
Summary of Preceding Chapters: Jonathan Harker, an English solicitor, goes to Transylvania to close negotiations with Count Dracula for an estate which the latter wishes to buy in England. As he approaches the Count’s castle the peasantry indicate that he is going into great danger. He reaches the castle at night and is received by the Count, who warns him not to stray beyond certain rooms. The necessary papers for the transfer of the estate, called Carfax, are signed and the Count also makes arrangements for his own removal to England. Harker discovers that he and the Count are apparently the only inhabitants of the castle. He is also struck by the fact that the Count casts no shadow in a mirror and seems to have strange power over the wolves which range the forests about the castle. The Count forces Harker to write advance letters giving the dates of his own departure from the castle and arrival at a neighboring town. In exploring the castle Harker finds the Count lying in a coffin in the ruined chapel, apparently dead, yet alive. Harker falls asleep in one of the deserted rooms and apparently dreams that three beautiful women are about to kill him. Finally Harker escapes from the castle after the departure of the Count by climbing down the walls, and is next heard of with brain fever in a hospital. Meanwhile Harker’s fiancée, Mina Murray, has gone to visit Lucy Westenra, at Whitby. A Russian vessel driven ashore there with her dead captain lashed to the wheel. A dog, which jumps ashore and disappears, is the only living thing on board. The logbook shows that all but the captain have been driven to jump overboard by some terrifying specter. Lucy Westenra walks in her sleep and is found sitting on a bench with a dark shape hovering over her. Mina Murray brings her home and finds two tiny punctures in her throat, but thinks them made accidentally with a pin. Lucy’s health steadily declines. Dr. Seward, head of an insane asylum near the Carfax estate, notes peculiar conduct of a homicidal patient named Renfield. Dr. Van Helsing comes from Amsterdam to examine Lucy Westenra. He finds her condition critical and employes [sic] transfusion of blood. She is better for a day or two and then relapses. Van Helsing finds the wounds in her throat, again transfuses blood, and orders her to sleep only in a closed room hung with garlic. By a series of accidents these precautions prove unavailing, and Lucy dies. Meanwhile, Harker has returned to England, having married Mina Murray, who had gone to Hungary to nurse him. He sees Dracula on the streets in London. Van Helsing announces that Lucy has been killed by a vampire, and holds counsel with the Harkers, Lucy’s fiancée and Dr. Seward as to means to rid the world of the monster.
Part 16: 22 May 1899, page 7. Chapters XVII-XVIII [XIX-XX]. “Under ordinary circumstances” to “up to the door.” Link
Part 17: 23 May 1899, page 7. Chapters XVIII-XIX [XX-XXI]. “I thought that” to “few minutes join you.” Link
Part 18: 24 May 1899, page 7. Chapter XIX [XXI]. “The patient was breathing” to “clung to him fiercely.” Link
Part 19: 25 May 1899, page 7. Chapters XIX-XX [XXI-XXII]. “Van Helsing and” to “Is it not?” Link
Part 20: 26 May 1899, page 7. Chapter XX [XXII]. “Then let us come” to “the coming of the Count.” Link
Part 21: 27 May 1899, page 7. Chapter XXI [XXIII]. “3 October” to “sorrows have come!” Link
Part 22: 28 May 1899, page 7. Chaptera XXI-XXII [XXIII-XXIV]. “The men were” to “forms, he departed.” Link
Summary of Preceding Chapters: Jonathan Harker, an English solicitor, goes to Transylvania to close negotiations with Count Dracula for an estate which the latter wishes to buy in England. As he approaches the Count’s castle the peasantry indicate that he is going into great danger. He reaches the castle at night and is received by the Count, who warns him not to stray beyond certain rooms. The necessary papers for the transfer of the estate, called Carfax, are signed and the Count also makes arrangements for his own removal to England. Harker discovers that he and the Count are apparently the only inhabitants of the castle. He is also struck by the fact that the Count casts no shadow in a mirror and seems to have strange power over the wolves which range the forests about the castle. The Count forces Harker to write advance letters giving the dates of his own departure from the castle and arrival at a neighboring town. In exploring the castle Harker finds the Count lying in a coffin in the ruined chapel, apparently dead, yet alive. Harker falls asleep in one of the deserted rooms and apparently dreams that three beautiful women are about to kill him. Finally Harker escapes from the castle after the departure of the Count by climbing down the walls, and is next heard of with brain fever in a hospital. Meanwhile Harker’s fiancée, Mina Murray, has gone to visit Lucy Westenra, at Whitby. A Russian vessel driven ashore there with her dead captain lashed to the wheel. A dog, which jumps ashore and disappears, is the only living thing on board. The logbook shows that all but the captain have been driven to jump overboard by some terrifying specter. Lucy Westenra walks in her sleep and is found sitting on a bench with a dark shape hovering over her. Mina Murray brings her home and finds two tiny punctures in her throat, but thinks them made accidentally with a pin. Lucy’s health steadily declines. Dr. Seward, head of an insane asylum near the Carfax estate, notes peculiar conduct of a homicidal patient named Renfield. Dr. Van Helsing comes from Amsterdam to examine Lucy Westenra. He finds her condition critical and employes [sic] transfusion of blood. She is better for a day or two and then relapses. Van Helsing finds the wounds in her throat, again transfuses blood, and orders her to sleep only in a closed room hung with garlic. By a series of accidents these precautions prove unavailing, and Lucy dies. Meanwhile, Harker has returned to England, having married Mina Murray, who had gone to Hungary to nurse him. He sees Dracula on the streets in London. Van Helsing announces that Lucy has been killed by a vampire, and holds counsel with the Harkers, Lucy’s fiancée and Dr. Seward as to means to rid the world of the monster. Dr. Van Helsing describes the character of the vampire, the conditions under which these damned souls are able to walk the earth and prey upon the living, and the means of destroying them. The boxes which the Count sent from Transylvania contain earth from the graveyard in which the vampire was originally buried, and these are necessary to afford a retreat from the monster. Armed with carnal and spiritual weapons, Van Helsing and the others search the Carfax house and are attacked by legions of rats. Some of the boxes of earth are gone. They are traced to their different houses in London which the Count has bought. Renfield protests his sanity and begs for release, to be allowed to go away to save his soul. He is found fatally injured in his room, and confesses that he has yielded to the temptations of the vampire, but rebelled when the monster attacked Mrs. Harker. The vampire is found at work on Mrs. Harker, and attempting to make her one of his own kind. Van Helsing drives him from the house with a consecrated wafer and he disappears in a mist. Mrs. Harker is in an agony of despair, but Van Helsing warns her that she must live until the monster is laid, unless she wishes to become like him. The vampire’s lair at Carfax is sterilized by placing in each box of earth a portion of the consecrated wafer. This operation is repeated at the Count’s other house in London, but one box of earth from Transylvania is not found. The Count appears at the house where the avengers are waiting for him, but escapes them. Mrs. Harker fears that she may become a vampire.
Part 23: 29 May 1899, page 7. Chapter XXII [XXIV]. “No one knew” to “She is calling to me.” Link
Part 24: 30 May 1899, page 7. Chapter XXIII [XXV]. “11 October, Evening” to “1 o’clock today.” Link
Part 25: 31 May 1899, page 7. Chapters XXIII-XXIV [XXV-XXVI]. “28 October” to “anything in his power.” Link
Part 26: 1 Jun 1899, page 7. Chapter XXIV [XXVI]. “30 October” to “hands of God!” Link
Part 27: 2 Jun 1899, page 7. Chapters XXIV-XXV [XXVI-XXVII]. “Later.—Oh” to “Come to us. Come! Come!” Link
Part 28: 4 Jun 1899, page 17. Chapter XXV [XXVII]. “In fear I turned” to “JONATHAN HARKER. (THE END.)” Link
Memphis Commercial Appeal (14 Jun 1899-13 Jul 1899)
The serialization of Dracula in the Commercial Appeal for Memphis, Tennessee was announced in the 13 June 1899 issue, on page 1:
The title for the series was simply Dracula, and ran for 26 installments from 14 June 1899 to 13 July 1899. The text largely follows the Inter Ocean abridgement, including the chapter numbering, but without the two synopses and with some unique typesetting/typographical errors (for example, Chapter I opens with “Jonathan Barker’s Journal”) and slight changes to some titles (e.g. the Inter Ocean for Chapter XXII starts simply “This to Jonathan Harker” and in the Commercial Appeal Chapter XXII this is preceded by: “Dr, Seward’s Phonograph Diary, Spoken by Van Helsing. BY VAN HELSING.”)
One amusing incident was an announcement to readers that ran in place of Dracula on 4 and 5 July:
Publication resumed on 8 July. Given the text is nearly identical to that in the Inter Ocean, this raises the question: where did the Commercial Appeal get the text? Were they literally copying it from issues of the Inter Ocean, or did they receive it from the Inter Ocean editorial, or was there an approved newspaper abridgement that would have come from Stoker or whatever agency that brokered the sale?
Note: Until chapter XIV, chapter numbering is identical with the 1897 text, starting with Commercial Appeal chapter XV the numbering changes. Equivalent chapters from the 1897 text are presented in parantheses.
Part 1: 14 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter I. “3 May” to “the moonlit sky.” Link
Part 2: 15 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter II. “5 May” to “I am a prisoner!” Link
Part 3: 16 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter III. “When I found” to “sank down unconscious.” Link
Part 4: 17 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter IV. “I awoke in” to “he stopped. ‘Hark!’” Link
Part 5: 18 Jun 1899, page 16. Chapters IV-V. “Close at haul” to “Good-bye.” Link
Part 6: 19 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter VI. “24 July” to “this time tomorrow.” Link
Part 7: 20 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter VII. “Cutting From ‘The Dailygraph,’” to “routine of her life.” Link
Part 8: 21 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter VIII. “Same day, 11 o’clock p.m.” to “of good things?” Link
Part 9: 22 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter IX. “My Dearest Lucy” to “till have seen you.” Link
Part 10: 23 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter X. “7 September” to “Ho! ho!” Link
Part 11: 24 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter XI [Mislabeled as Chapter XII]. “13 September” to “God help me!” Link
Part 12: 25 Jun 1899, page 11. Chapter XII. “18 September” to “Wait and see.” Link
Part 13: 26 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapters XIII-XIV. “22 September” to “you will,’ I said.” Link
Part 14: 27 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter XV [XVII]. “When we arrived” to “to comfort him.” Link
Part 15: 28 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter XVI [XVIII]. “30 September” to “convince you tonight.” Link
Part 16: 29 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter XVII [XIX]. “1 October, 5 a.m.” to “sleep. Good-night.” Link
Part 17: 30 Jun 1899, page 3. Chapter XVIII [XX]“1 October, Evening” to “I must go at once.” Link
Part 18: 1 Jul 1899, page 3. Chapter XIX [XXI]. “3 October” to “its daily course.” Link Note: upper-left corner of page destroyed in this scan, data filled in from Inter Ocean text based on context.
Part 19: 2 Jul 1899, page 11. Chapter XX [XXII]. “3 October” to “coming of the count.” Link
Part 20: 3 Jul 1899, page 3. Chapter XXI [XXIII]. “3 October” to “in a faint.” Link
Part 21: 8 Jul 1899, page 3. Chapter XXII [XXIV]. “Dr. Seward’s Phonograph” to “She is calling to me.” Link
Part 22: 9 Jul 1899, page 11. Chapter XXIII [XXV]. “11 October, evening” to “the MS. to us.” Link
Part 23: 10 Jul 1899, page 3. Chapter XXIV [XXVI]. “29 October” to “every minute is precious.” Link
Part 24: 11 Jul 1899, page 3. Chapter XXIV [XXVI]. “Ground of Inquiry” to “always for him.” Link
Part 25: 12 Jul 1899, page 3. Chapter XXV [XXVII]. “1 November” to “but one word:” Link
Part 26: 13 Jul 1899, page 3. Chapter XXV [XXVII]. “DRACULA” to “JONATHAN HARKER. THE END.” Link
Charlotte Daily Observer (16 Jul 1899-10 Dec 1899)
The serialization of Dracula in the Daily Observer for Charlotte, North Carolina follows the Inter Ocean abridged text, including the chapter numbering but minus the synopses, and was published in 22 parts from 16 July 1899 to 10 December 1899. Inevitably there were numerous misspellings, either from transcription or typesetting, such as “Yours always, JOHN SEAWRD.” in Chapter IX, “DR. SEWARD’S DAIRY” in Chapter XI, “JONATHAN HARKER’S JOURNNAL” in Chapter XXVII, etc. The subtitle for the serial was “A Strong Story of the Vampire,” and as “By Bram Stoker, the Dramatic Critic, Theatrical Manager and Author of ‘Miss Betty,’ ‘Under the Sunset,’ and Other Books.” although Miss Betty (1898) is sometimes mistranscribed as “Miss Betsy,” “Miss Belay,” etc.
Note: Until chapter XIV, chapter numbering is identical with the 1897 text, starting with Daily Observer chapter XV the numbering changes. Some chapters are unnumbered. Equivalent chapters from the 1897 text are presented in parantheses.
Part 1: 16 Jul 1899, page 10. Chapter I. “3 May” to “the moonlit sky” Link
Part 2: 23 Jul 1899, page 10. Chapter II. “5 May” to “I am a prisoner!” Link
Part 3: 30 Jul 1899, page 10. [Chapter III.] “When I found” to “sank down unconscious.” Link
Part 4: 6 Aug 1899, page 10. Chapter IV. “I awoke in” to “Goodby, all! Mina!” Link
Part 5: 13 Aug 1899, page 10. Chapters V-VII. “My Dearest Lucy” to “routine of her life.” Link
Part 6: 20 Aug 1899, page 10. Chapter VIII. “Same day 11 o’clock p. m.” to “distribution of good things?” Link
Part 7: 27 Aug 1899, page 10. Chapter IX. “Budapest, 24 August” to “till have seen you.” Link
Part 8: 3 Sep 1899, page 10. Chapter X. “7 September” to “Ho! ho!” Link
Part 9: 10 Sep 1899, page 10. Chapter XI. “13 September” to “God help me!” Link
Part 10: 17 Sep 1899, page 10. Chapter XII. “18 September” to “Wait and see.” Link
Part 11: 24 Sep 1899, page 10. Chapter XIII-XIV. “22 September” to “will,’ I said.” Link
Part 12: 1 Oct 1899, page 10. [Chapter XVII]. “When we arrived” to “to comfort him.” Link
Part 13: 8 Oct 1899, page 10. [Chapter XVIII]. “20 September” to “convince you to-night.” Link
Part 14: 15 Oct 1899, page 10. Chapter XVII [XIX]. “1 October, 5 a. m.” to “sleep. Good night.” Link
Part 15: 22 Oct 1899, page 10. Chapter XVIII [XX]. “1 October, Evening” to “I must go at once.” Link to page 1 Note: Page 10 missing from online scan, data filled in from Inter Ocean.
Part 16: 29 Oct 1899, page 10. Chapter XIX [XXI]. “2 October” to “its daily course.” Link
Part 17: 5 Nov 1899, page 10. Chapter XX [XXII]. “3 October” to “coming of the Count.” Link
Part 18: 12 Nov 1899, page 10. Chapter XXI [XXIII]. “3 October” to “forward in a faint.” Link
Part 19: 19 Nov 1899, page 10. Chapter XXII [XXIV]. “DR. SEWARD’S PHONOGRAPH DIARY” to “She is calling to me.” Link
Part 20: 26 Nov 1899, page 10. Chapter XXIII [XXV]. “11 October, evening” to “brought the MS to us.” Link
Part 21: 3 Dec 1899, page 14. Chapter XXIV [XXVI]. “23 October” to “be always for him.” Link
Part 22: 10 Dec 1899, page 10. [Chapter XXVII]. “1 November” to “JONATHAN HARKER. [THE END].” Link
Buffalo New York Courier (19 Feb 1900-1 Apr 1900)
The serialization of Dracula in the Courier for Buffalo. New York follows the Inter Ocean abridged text, including the chapter numbering (more or less) but with its own synopses, and was published in 37 parts from 19 February 1900 to 1 April 1900. The synopses begin with part 3 and are a regular feature of the daily Dracula until the finale in parts 36 and 37. Given the relatively slow pace of Dracula, many of the synopses are identical from segment to segment.
Of interesting note is the copyright notices; the first nine installments read simply “Copyright Bram Stoker,” but starting with the 1 March 1900 entry, the copyright notice changes to:
This would reflect the first U.S. publication of Dracula by Doubleday & McClure in 1899.
Note: Until chapter XIV, chapter numbering is identical with the 1897 text, starting with Commercial Appeal chapter XV the numbering changes. Some chapters are unnumbered. Equivalent chapters from the 1897 text are presented in parantheses.
Part 1: 19 Feb 1900, page 5. Chapter I. “3 May” to “into strange relief” Link.
Part 2: 20 Feb 1900, page 5. [Chapter I]. “The ghost-like clouds” to “against the moonlit sky.” Link.
Part 3: 21 Feb 1900, page 5. Chapter II. “5 May” to “what strange things here may be.” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula is a vampire. He lives in a deserted castle in the Carpathian Mountains. Finding existence somewhat monotonous, he writes to London with a view to procuring new victims. In this installment Jonathan Harker is on his way to the castle to pay a visit to the Count.
Part 4: 22 Feb 1900, page 5. [Chapter II]. “This led to ” to “I am a prisoner!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 3.
Part 5: 23 Feb 1900, page 5. Chapter III. “When I found” to “‘modernity’ cannot kill.” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula lives in a deserted castle in the Carpathian Mountains. He desires to take up a residence in the vicinity of London. At his request Jonathan Harker of Exeter pays a visit to the castle, bringing with him papers describing a place which he believed would suit Count Dracula. Mr. Harker describes in a diary his remarkable experiences on his way to the castle and after arriving there. Yesterday’s instalment of the story closed with Harker a prisoner in Dracula’s home.
Part 6: 24 Feb 1900, page 5. [Chapter III-IV]. “Later: the morning of 16 May” to “new scheme of villany.” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula lives in a deserted castle in the Carpathian Mountains. He desires to take up a residence in the vicinity of London. At his request Jonathan Harker of Exeter pays a visit to the castle, bringing with him papers describing a place which he believed would suit Count Dracula. Mr. Harker describes in a diary his remarkable experiences on his way to the castle and after arriving there. Yesterday’s instalment of the story closed with Harker practically a prisoner in Dracula’s home, the Count informing him that he desired him (Harker) to remain as his guest for thirty days.
Part 7: 26 Feb 1900, page 5. [Chapter IV]. “17 June” to “Goodby, all! Mina!” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula lives in a deserted castle in the Carpathian Mountains. He concludes to take up his abode near London and writes to Peter Hawkins to find for him a suitable place. Mr. Hawkins sends Jonathan Harker to the castle with plans of the house he has selected. Mr. Harker keeps a diary of his extraordinary experiences. Dracula at the conclusion of the last instalment had made Harker a prisoner in his castle.
Part 8: 27 Feb 1900, page 5. Chapter V. “9 May” to “auditors put it.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 7.
Part 9: 28 Feb 1900, page 5. Chapter V-VI. “8 July” to “ship is steadier.” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula lives in a deserted castle in the Carpathian Mountains. He concludes to take up his abode near London and writes to Peter Hawkins to find for him a suitable place. Mr. Hawkins sends Jonathan Harker to the castle with plans of the house he has selected. Mr. Harker keeps a diary of his extraordinary experiences. After witnessing many wierd [sic] and uncanny incidents Harker decides that he will return home, being now in mortal fear of his life. He finds, however, that he is a prisoner in the castle. His continued absence is causing uneasiness at home.
Part 10: 1 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters VII-VIII. “29 July” to “if to herself:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 9.
Part 11: 2 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters VIII-IX.“His red eyes” to “loving MINA HARKER” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 9.
Part 12: 3 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter IX]. “20th of August” to “till I have seen you.” Link. Synopsis: Dracula lives in a deserted castle in the Carpathian Mountains. He concludes to take up his abode near London and writes to Peter Hawkins to find for him a suitable place. Mr. Hawkins sends Jonathan Harker to the castle with plans of the house he has selected. Mr. Harker keeps a diary of his extraordinary experiences. After witnessing many wierd [sic] and uncanny incidents Harker decides that he will return home, being now in mortal fear of his life. He finds, however, that he is a prisoner in the castle. His continued absence is causing uneasiness at home. Dracula has left his castle in the mountains and gone to his house near London. Harker has also left the castle and is recovering from a long illness.
Part 13: 5 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters X-XI. “No sitting up tonight” to “Lucy’s phonograph.” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula lives in an isolated castle in the Carpathian Mountains. An air of mystery surrounds him. Tiring of his secluded life he writes to Peter Hawkins to find him a place near London. Jonathan Harker is sent to the Count with plans of a place which Dracula accepts and goes to London, leaving Harker a raving maniac at the castle due to his weird and uncanny experiences. Harker partially recovers, however, and is married to Mina Murray. Mina’s friend Lucy Westenra is about to be married but becomes ill from loss of blood. Her case is extraordinary and is now under investigation by Dr. Seward who is the superintendent of a lunatic asylum and by a famous specialist, Dr. Van Helsing. Mr. Renfield, who is confined in Dr. Seward’s asylum is also a subject of much concern to the Doctor and his case is under investigation.
Part 14: 6 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapter XI. “17 September” to “That’s so.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 15: 7 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapters XI-XII]. “And I guess” to “loving MINA HARKER” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 16: 8 May 1900, page 5. Chapters XII-XIII. “20 September” to “he was speaking:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 17: 9 May 1900, page 5. Chapters XIII-XIV. “It is the” to “so I said:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 18: 10 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters XIV-XV [XIV, XVII]. “Dr. Van Helsing” to “that terrible story!” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula lives in an isolated castle in the Carpathian Mountains. An air of mystery surrounds him. Tiring of his secluded life he writes to Peter Hawkins to find him a place near London. Jonathan Harker is sent to the Count with plans of a place which Dracula accepts and goes to London, leaving Harker a raving maniac at the castle due to his weird and uncanny experiences. Harker partially recovers, however, and is married to Mina Murray. Mina’s friend Lucy Westenra is about to be married but becomes ill from loss of blood. Her case is extraordinary and is now under investigation by Dr. Seward who is the superintendent of a lunatic asylum and by a famous specialist, Dr. Van Helsing. Mr. Renfield, who is confined in Dr. Seward’s asylum is also a subject of much concern to the Doctor and his case is under investigation. Lucy Westenra dies mysteriously.
Part 19: 12 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XVIII]. “All we have” to “addressing an equal:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 18.
Part 20: 13 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapter XVII-XVII [XVIII-XIX]. “Can you not” to “us go home.” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula lives in an isolated castle in the Carpathian Mountains. An air of mystery surrounds him. Tiring of his secluded life he writes to Peter Hawkins to find him a place near London. Jonathan Harker is sent to the Count with plans of a place which Dracula accepts and goes to London, leaving Harker a raving maniac at the castle due to his weird and uncanny experiences. Harker partially recovers, however, and is married to Mina Murray. Mina’s friend Lucy Westenra is about to be married but becomes ill from loss of blood. Her case is extraordinary and is now under investigation by Dr. Seward who is the superintendent of a lunatic asylum and by a famous specialist, Dr. Van Helsing. Mr. Renfield, who is confined in Dr. Seward’s asylum is also a subject of much concern to the Doctor and his case is under investigation. Lucy Westenra dies mysteriously. It is discovered beyond doubt that Dracula is a vampire, and efforts are being put forth to destroy him.
Part 21: 14 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters XVII-XVIII [XIX-XX]. “The house was” to “for the despite.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 20.
Part 22: 15 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XX]. “An interview with” to “another of us:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 20.
Part 23: 16 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters XVIII-XIX [XX-XXI]. “Quincey’s head is level” to “as he spoke:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 20.
Part 24: 17 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XXI]. “There is no” to “to him fiercely.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 20.
Part 25: 19 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XXII]. “3 October” to “may be strong.” Link. Synopsis: Count Dracula lives in an isolated castle in the Carpathian Mountains. He writes to Peter Hawkins, a barrister, to secure a place for him near London. Jonathan Harker is sent to him with plans for a place, which the County [sic] accepts. While at the castle Harker has the most weird and uncanny experiences. He leaves the castle a raving maniac. He recovers and marries Mina Murray. The Count moves to his new place near London and soon afterward Mrs. Harker’s friend Lucy Westenra dies mysteriously. Dr. Van Helsing a famous specialist and Dr. Seward, superintendent of a lunatic asylum investigate and learn beyond doubt that Miss Westenra was killed by a vampire. Further investigation shows that Dracula is the vampire. Renfield, a patient in Dr. Seward’s asylum is killed by Dracula and he has just been frustrated in attempting the death of Mrs. Harker.
Part 26: 20 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters XX-XXI [XXII-XXIII ]. “Breakfast was a” to “Death, met Life.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 27: 21 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XXIII]. “Harker groaned and” to “his sublime misery.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 28: 22 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XXIII]. “We had a” to “into the rachet.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 29: 23 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters XXI-XXII [XXIII-XXIV]. “What are you” to “want to know.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 30: 24 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XXIV]. “They make known” to “glory of God.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 31: 26 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters XXII-XXIII[XXIV-XXV]. “The Czarina Catherine” to “no need to speak.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 32: 27 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XXV]. “I want you” to “doom, I trust!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 33: 28 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XXV]. “26 October” to “that we think.” Link Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 34: 29 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapters XXIII-XXIV [XXV-XXVI]. “Then, as he” to “anxiety and eagerness.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 35: 30 Mar 1900, page 5. [Chapter XXVI]. “30 October, evening” to “on, Russian fashion.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 25.
Part 36: 31 Mar 1900, page 5. Chapter XXIV-XXV [XXVI-XXVII]. “4 November” to “with my work.” Link.
Part 37: 1 Apr 1900, pages 17, 23. [Chapter XXVII]. “I knew that” to “Jonathan Harker. The End.” Link p17. Link p23.
Washington D.C. Times Herald (13 Sep 1917-21 Jan 1918)
Bram Stoker died in 1912; subsequent serializations would have been authorized by his widow Florence. In the Washington, D.C. Times, the story was run as “Dracula, or The Vampire.” Unlike previous serials, this was for the most part the complete 1897 text, with only one notable cut: Jonathan Harker’s prologue. The spelling was also changed from British to American English (e.g. “labor” instead of “labour”), as well as some punctuation (many commas see to have been left out), and there are the typical typographical or typesetting errors. The text is augmented by a number of key phrases which were interjected as sub-headings, presumably to give a sense of action. Starting with the 8th installment on 20 September 1917, the editors also began to run a synopsis, which ran until the 47th installment on 29 October 1917, at which point apparently the editors gave up; most of the synopses are identical in wording.
These additions, the largely unabridged text, and the smaller size of each installment account for its length: this is the longest-running of the newspaper Dracula serials, published in 131 installments from 13 September 1917 to 21 January 1918.
Note: Many parts do not contain chapter headings. Equivalent chapters from the 1897 text are presented in parantheses.
Part 1: 13 Sep 1917, page 14. [Chapter I]. Link. “3 May” to “on without it.” ATTEMPTS TO LOCATE THE CASTLE DRACULA. To “Mem., I must ask the count [sic] all about them).” BEGINS A LONG JOURNEY ON A SLOW TRAIN. To “natural self-assertion.” FINDS LETTER FROM COUNT AT HOTEL. To “Your Friend, DRACULA.” REFUSED INFORMATION OF COUNT OR CASTLE. To “Here comes the Coach!” PEASANT SUPERSTITIONS CAUSE WORRY. To “about these superstitions.)” CROWD GIVES CHARM AGAINST ALL EVIL. To “right before us:” MEN AND WOMEN KNEEL BEFORE SHRINE. To “light his lamps.” PASSENGERS’ EXCITEMENT CAUSE FOR SPEED. To “in a white cloud.”
Part 2: 14 Sep 1917, page 8. [Chapter I]. Link. “We could” to “For the dead travel fast.” THE STRANGE JOURNEY INTO BUKOWINA BEGINS. To “sick feeling of suspense.” HOWLING WOLVES ADD TO THE TRAVELER’S PERIL. To “anything through the darkness.” THE DRIVE FIGURES IN A WEIRD [sic] DREAM. To “in a moving circle.” RING OF WOLVES SURROUND THE CARRIAGE. To “understand their true import.”
Part 3: 15 Sep 1917, page 5. [Chapters I-II]. Link. “All at once” to “the moonlit sky.” THE DRIVER SHOWS HIS MARVEL STRENGTH. To “was swung back.” BID WELCOME BY STRANGE OLD MAN. To “your supper prepared.” FEARS DISSIPATED BY COURTEOUS TREATMENT. To “into the other room.”
Part 4: 16 Sep 1917, page 21. [Chapter II]. Link. “I found supper” to “very marked physiognomy.” STRUCK BY THE COUNT’S PECULIAR APPEARANCE. To “and he said:” COUNT HEARS MUSIC IN HOWLING OF WOLVES. To “the Law List.” TELLS OF HIS LONGING TO VISIT ENGLAND. To “you speak excellently.”
Part 5: 17 Sep 1917, page 9. [Chapter II]. Link. “Not so,” to “what strange things there may be.” THE COUNT ANSWERS QUESTIONS FRANKLY. To “in the friendly soil.” DECLARES PEASANTS ARE COWARDS AND FOOLS. To “Peter Hawkins. So!” DETAILS FOR PURCHASING THE ESTATE ARRANGED. To “visible from the grounds.”
Part 6: 18 Sep 1917, page 11). [Chapter II]. Link. “When I had finished” to”jumping to his feet, said:” KEPT TALKING UNTIL DAWN WAS UPON HIM. To “except myself.” A MIRROR THAT MAKES NO REFLECTION. To “The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!”
Part 7: 19 Sep 1917, page 11. Chapter III. Link. “When I found” to “coach that brought me here.” PAST EVENTS ARE NOW BEING PUT TOGETHER. To “whose blood is in these veins?” TELLS OF WARLIKE HISTORY OF HIS FAMILY. To “as a tale that is told.”
Part 8: 20 Sep 1917, page 11. [Chapter III]. Link. “It was by this time” to “be useful to me.” LEGAL SITUATION IN ENGLAND INTERESTS DRACULA. To “known by any one persons.” INQUIRIES REGARDING MAKING CONSIGNMENTS. To “find all things as you wish.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a London solicitor’s clerk, takes a long journey to Bukowina to see Count Dracula and arrange for the transfer of an English estate to the count. In his diary, kept in shorthand, he gives the details of his strange trip the latter part filled with mysterious and thrilling happenings. Upon his arrival at Castle Dracula he is met by the count and finds himself virtually a prisoner. The castle itself is a piece of mystery with doors all barred, and no servants to be seen. The count greets him warmly, but his strange personality and odd behavior cause Harker much alarm. In order not to arouse suspicion Harker leads the count to tell of his estate and of the history of his family.
Part 9: 21 Sep 1917, page 9. [Chapter III]. Link. “At the door he turned” to “looked carefully out.” THE COUNT DESCENDS THE PRECIPITIOUS BASTION. “What I saw” to “the key was gone!” AN EXPLORING TRIP IN QUEST OF A KEY. “That key must” to “was a great precipice”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a London solicitor’s clerk, takes a long journey to Bukowina to see Count Dracula and arrange for the transfer of an English estate to the count. In his diary, kept in shorthand, he gives the details of his strange trip the latter part filled with mysterious and thrilling happenings. Upon his arrival at Castle Dracula he is met by the count and finds himself virtually a prisoner. The castle itself is a piece of mystery with doors all barred, and no servants to be seen. The count greets him warmly, but his strange personality and odd behavior cause Harker much alarm. In order not to arouse suspicion Harker leads the count to tell of his estate and of the history of his family. Later the Count orders him to write his employer he is to stay at the castle for a month.
Part 10: 22 Sep 1917, page 9. [Chapter III]. Link. “The castle was built on” to “a soft quietude come over me.” A MARKED CONTRAST WROUGHT BY TIME. To “what he may say.” IGNORES COUNT’S WARNING ABOUT PLACES TO SLEEP. To “that it was all sleep.” THE “DREAM” BEHINS TO UNWIND ITSELF. To “some deadly fear.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a London solicitor’s clerk, takes a long journey to Bukowina to see Count Dracula and arrange for the transfer of an English estate to the count. In his diary, kept in shorthand, he gives the details of his strange trip the latter part filled with mysterious and thrilling happenings. Upon his arrival at Castle Dracula he is met by the count and finds himself virtually a prisoner. The castle itself is a piece of mystery with doors all barred, and no servants to be seen. The count greets him warmly, but his strange personality and odd behavior cause Harker much alarm. In order not to arouse suspicion Harker leads the count to tell of his estate and of the history of his family. Later the Count orders him to write his employer he is to stay at the castle for a month. castle for a month [sic] That night he sees the Count crawl down the castle wall like a lizard.
Part 11: 23 Sep 1917, page 19. Chapters III-IV. Link. “I felt in” to “with beating heart.” A RUDE INTERRUPTION AND AWAKENING. “But at that” to “work to be done.” A WELCOME ENDING TO A TERRIBLE SCENE. “Are we to have” to “suck my blood.” DOOR TO THE MYSTERY ROOM IS LOCKED. To “on this surmise.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a London solicitor’s clerk, takes a long journey to Bukowina to see Count Dracula and arrange for the transfer of an English estate to the count. In his diary, kept in shorthand, he gives the details of his strange trip the latter part filled with mysterious and thrilling happenings. Upon his arrival at Castle Dracula he is met by the count and finds himself virtually a prisoner. The castle itself is a piece of mystery with doors all barred, and no servants to be seen. The count greets him warmly, but his strange personality and odd behavior cause Harker much alarm. In order not to arouse suspicion Harker leads the count to tell of his estate and of the history of his family. Later the Count orders him to write his employer he is to stay at the castle for a month. That night he sees the Count crawl down the castle wall like a lizard.
Part 12: 24 Sep 1917, page 7. [Chapter IV]. Link. “19 May” to “God help me.” OPPORTUNITY TO ESCAPE PRESENTS ITSELF. “28 May” to “again a shock!” NOT A ROAD TO ESCAPE IS LEFT OPEN. To “new scheme of villainy.” Synopsis: Identical to part 11.
Part 13: 25 Sep 1917, page 9. [Chapter IV]. Link. “17 June” to “ruthless villainy.” THE COUNT APPEARS IN MY STOLEN CLOTHING. To “and simply cried.” WOMAN’S AGONIZED CRY IN THE COURT YARD. To “Monster, give me my child!” Synopsis: Identical to part 11.
Part 14: 26 Sep 1917, page 13. [Chapter IV]. Link. “She threw herself” to “from the earth.” THE FIRST FATAL LETTER STARTS ON ITS COURSE. To “was covered with dust.” A GOLDEN HOARD IN THE COUNT’S ROOM. To “I made a discovery.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a London solicitor’s clerk, takes a long journey to Bukowina to see Count Dracula and arrange for the transfer of an English estate to the count. In his diary, kept in shorthand, he gives the details of his strange trip the latter part filled with mysterious and thrilling happenings. Upon his arrival at Castle Dracula he is met by the count and finds himself virtually a prisoner. The castle itself is a piece of mystery with doors all barred, and no servants to be seen. The count greets him warmly, but his strange personality and odd behavior cause Harker much alarm. In order not to arouse suspicion Harker leads the count to tell of his estate and of the history of his family. Later the Count orders him to write his employer he is to stay at the castle for a month. That night he sees the Count crawl down the castle wall like a lizard. A series of mysterious incidents follow, and Harker gains an idea of the strange character of his host. One night three women appear in his room but are driven away by the Count in fury. Recognizing his danger he seeks to escape, but finds all avenues of escape closed.
Part 15: 27 Sep 1917, page 11. [Chapter IV]. Link. “There, in one of the great boxes” to “can look as he said:” THE MORROW BRINGS A WELCOME EVENT. To “Hark!” AGAIN THE AWFUL HOWLING OF THE WOLVES. To “I cried out.” Synopsis: Identical to part 14.
Part 16: 28 Sep 1917, page 13. [Chapter IV]. Link. “Shut the door” to “I left the Count.” A RESOLVE BORN OF DESPERATION. To “batten on the helpless.” PARALYZED BY THE FLASH OF UNEARTHLY EYES. To “the nethermost hell.” Synopsis: Identical to part 14.
Part 17: 29 Sep 1917, page 11. Chapters IV-V. Link. “I thought and” to “we shall see.” ONLY SCANT NEWS FROM JONATHAN. To “curly-haired man???” Synopsis: Identical to part 14.
Part 18: 30 Sep 1917, page 19. [Chapter V]. Link. Letter, Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray “17, Chatham Street, Wednesday” to “your sympathy.” THE OLD PROVERB AND THE MATRIMONIAL QUESTION To “to my present trouble.” REGULAR BOOK METHOD OF RECEIVING REPLY. To “though I am so happy.” Synopsis: Identical to part 14.
Part 19: 1 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter V]. Link. “Evening. Arthur has just gone” to “say it now.” NO. 2 IS FOUND INTERESTING TALKER To “very faithful friend.” AN EASY WAY OUT OF A DISTRESSING SITUATION. To “I was blushing very much—he said:—” AND SO PASSES OUT MR. MORRIS “Good-bye.” Synopsis: Identical to part 14.
Part 20: 2 Oct 1917, page 11. Chapters V-VI. Link. “May 25” to “he is coming this way. . . .” Synopsis: Identical to part 14.
Part 21: 3 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VI]. Link. “He is a funny old man.” To “cuttin’ them on the tombsteans [sic].” Synopsis: Identical to part 14.
Part 22: 4 Oct 1917, page 13. [Chapter VI]. Link. “Look here all” to “took as evidence!”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a London solicitor’s clerk, takes a long journey to Bukowina to see Count Dracula and arrange for the transfer of an English estate to the count. In his diary, kept in shorthand, he gives the details of his strange trip the latter part filled with mysterious and thrilling happenings. Upon his arrival at Castle Dracula he is met by the count and finds himself virtually a prisoner. The castle itself is a piece of mystery with doors all barred, and no servants to be seen. The count greets him warmly, but his strange personality and odd behavior cause Harker much alarm. In order not to arouse suspicion Harker leads the count to tell of his estate and of the history of his family. Later the Count orders him to write his employer he is to stay at the castle for a month. That night he sees the Count crawl down the castle wall like a lizard. A series of mysterious incidents follow, and Harker gains an idea of the strange character of his host. One night three women appear in his room but are driven away by the Count in fury. Recognizing his danger he seeks to escape, but finds all avenues of escape closed. Harker discovers the Count wounded and believes him dead. Then the strange developments are told in a series of letters which throw new light on the Count’s wierd [sic] personality.
Part 23: 5 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VI]. Link. “I do not know” to “to his room.” RENFIELD’S PECULIAR TASTE FOR UNUSUAL FOOD. To “with his food.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 24: 6 Oct 1917, page 9. [Chapter VI]. Link. “19 July” to “and bearing:” A STUDY OF THE MAN SHOWS STRANGE MANIA. To “during the day.” ATTENDANT DISCLOSES RENFIELD’S CARNIVOROUS HABIT. To “habit of walking in her sleep.” Synopsis:Identical to part 22.
Part 25: 7 Oct 1917, page 20. [Chapter VI]. Link. “Her mother has” to “a very gentle way:” THE OLD MAN ATTEMPTS TO PLACATE MINA. To “at a strange ship.” A STRANGE VESSEL APPEARS IN THE OFFING. To “before this time tomorrow.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 26: 8 Oct 1917, page 9. Chapter VII. Link. “Cutting from ‘The Dailgraph [sic],’” to “of a sensitive nature.” A SOLITARY VESSEL ACTS STRANGELY IN FACE OF STORM. To “storm-tossed sea bird.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 27: 9 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VII]. Link. “On the summit” to “away in its rush.” MYSTERIOUS SCHOONER DEFIES THE STORM. To “Tate Hill Pier.” IMMENSE DOG FLEES FROM STRANDED VESSEL. To “the binding cords.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 28: 10 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VII]. Link. “The poor fellow may” to “harbor in the storm.” SHIP’S IDENTITY AND CARGO FINALLY SOLVED. To “into archipelago.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 29: 11 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VII]. Link. “On 13 July” to “some trouble ahead.” CREW PANICKY OVER STRANGE HAPPENINGS. “On 17 July” to “ship is steadier.” ONE BY ONE, CREW DISAPPEARS FROM SHIP. To “have deserted us.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 30: 12 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VII]. Link. “3 August” to “air might hear:” MATE TELLS STORY OF STRANGE ENCOUNTER. “signal for help” to “leave my ship.” THE CAPTAIN DECIDES TO STICK BY HIS VESSEL. To “routine of her life.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 31: 13 Oct 1917, page 11. Chapter VII-VIII. Link. “Early in the morning” to “by his dog.” MORE MATERIAL FOR LUCY’S WIERD [sic] DREAMS To “God bless and keep him.” ROUSED FROM SLUMBER BY DEEP FEELING OF FEAR. To “fear chilling my heart.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 32: 14 Oct 1917, page 12. [Chapter VIII]. Link. “Finally I came to” to “our favorite seat.” IN THE CLOUD-HIDDEN RUINS. To “endless steps to the abbey.” A GHOSTLY ADVENTURE IN THE ABBEY. To “moaning and sighing occasionally.” LUCY AWAKENED IN THE CHURCHYARD. To “I thought I should faint.” LUCY SWEARS MINA TO SECRECY ABOUT EVENT. To: as it is so tiny.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 33: 15 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VIII]. Link. “Same day, night” to “any trouble tonight.” TWICE AWAKENED BY LUCY TRYING TO GET OUT. To “followed her eyes.” A STRANGE FIGURE WITH BLAZING EYES. To “some one to protect her.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 34: 16 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VIII]. Link. “Poor dear” to “Lucy’s sleep-walking.” A DREADFUL PALL DROPS OVER HAPPINESS. “17 August” to “recall it to herself:” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 35: 17 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter VIII]. Link. “I didn’t quite dream” to “SISTER AGATHA.” JONATHAN SEES WOLVES AND BLOOD IN DELIRIUM. To “if men only knew!” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 36: 18 Oct 1917, page 19. [Chapter VIII]. Link. “For half an hour” to “to know so well.” REFFIELD’S [sic] DISPOSITION UNDERGOES A CHANGE. To “door of the chapel.” THE “LUNATIC” TALKS TO AN UNSEEN MASTER. To “danger in good time.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 37: 19 Oct 1917, page 13. Chapters VIII-IX. Link. “With strength” to “that is to be mad. JONATHAN PLACES SECRET IN MINA’S HAND To “my wedding present.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 38: 20 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter IX]. Link. “When the chaplain” to “Tonight he will not speak.” RENFIELD HAS RECURRENCE OF VIOLENT MOOD. To “once more escaped.” Synopsis: N/A
Part 39: 21 Oct 1917, page 28. [Chapter IX]. Link. “Later—Another night adventure.” To “could see nothing.” HUGE BLACK BAT DISAPPEARS TOWARD WEST. To “have analyzed them.” LUCY UNBURDENS HER MIND TO THE PHYSICIAN. To “habit has not returned.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 40: 22 Oct 1917, page 9. [Chapter IX]. Link. “I am in doubt” to “all you think.” DR. VAN HELSING WARNS OF SERIOUSNESS. To “anything of young ladies?” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 41: 23 Oct 1917, page 13. [Chapter IX]. Link. “He has his madams” to “but is not.” DOCTOR ORDERS VIGILANCE TOWARD HIS PATIENT. To “I cannot quite understand it.” QUEER PATIENT AGAIN RESORTS TO FLY-EATING. To “himself than to me:” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 42: 24 Oct 1917, page 15. Chapters IX-X. Link. “All over!” to “looked around him.” THE SUN AND MOON ARE STRUCK UPON AS CLUES. To “when the time comes.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 43: 25 Oct 1917, page 15. [Chapter X]. Link. “I did not see” to “gently out of the room.” BLOOD TRANSFUSION IS IMMEDIATE DEMAND. To “in a kindly way:” Synopsis: N/A
Part 44: 26 Oct 1917, page 17. [Chapter X]. Link. “Young miss is bad” to “effort with success.” PREPARING FOR OPERATION THAT MEANS LIFE OR— To “you have have done. Good-by.” MARKS COME ON NECK IN FOR INVESTIGATION. To “sight pass from her.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 45: 27 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter X]. Link. “Shall I have” to “wander where he wills.” Synopsis: N/A
Part 46: 28 Oct 1917, page 22. [Chapter X]. Link. “I know where my thoughts” to “being to tremble.” SAPPED OF HER BLOOD LUCY AGAIN NEAR DEATH. To “and half-whispered:” WARNED TO KEEP AFFAIR SECRET FROM FIANCE. To “amid her pillows.” TOLD TO EAT AND DRINK ENOUGH. To “It is coming.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Part 47: 29 Oct 1917, page 11. Chapters X-XI. Link. “11 September” to “Good-night, everybody.” Synopsis: Identical to part 22.
Page 48: 30 Oct 1917, page 11. [Chapter XI]. Link. “13 September” to ‘his pipe, he said:”
Page 49: 31 Oct 1917, page 13. [Chapter XI]. Link. “Now, sir, you” to “fight in ‘im.”
Page 50: 1 Nov 1917, page 11. [Chapter XI]. Link. “This one ain’t” to “natural length with surprise.” “BERSICKER” MAKES APPAREANCE AT WINDOW OF HOUSE. “God bless me!” to “soon fell asleep.” AWAKENED AGAIN BY FLAPPING AT WINDOW. To “not to go to sleep.”
Page 51: 2 Nov 1917, page 15. [Chapter XI-XII]. Link. “Presently the door” to “hurled on the floor.” GAUNT GRAY WOLF CRASHES THROUGH THE WINDOW. To “room to look for them. THE FOUR MAIDS ARE FOUND DRUGGED. To “all to us now.”
Page 52: 3 Nov 1917, page 9. [Chapter XII]. Link. “We went round” to “and entered the room.” SCENE OF HORROR GREETS THE TWO PHYSICIANS. To “What’s the matter with me, anyhow?” AN OLD FRIEND APPEARS AT AN OPPORTUNE TIME. To “outstretched hands.”
Part 53: 4 Nov 1917, page 16. [Chapter XII]. Link. “What brought you here?” to “all myself again.” DR. SEWARD EXPLAINS OBJECT OF CALL. To “About ten days.” A PROBLEM THAT BAFFLES EVERYONE CONCERNED. To “and I’ll do it.”
Part 54: 5 Nov 1917, page 9. [Chapter XII]. Link. “When she woke late” to “round the house.” DAYLIGHT REVEALS SAD CONDITION OF PATIENT. To “Mr. Hawkins said:—” A HAPPY TURN OF EVENTS FOR THE LOVERS. To: “to swing for it.”
Part 55: 6 Nov 1917, page 11. [Chapter XII]. Link. “I opened the window” to “on another account.”
Part 56: 7 Nov 1917, page 13. [Chapter XII]. Link. “He says the amount” to “and said calmly:” DR. VAN HELSING WARNS THAT LUCY IS DYING. To “a tired child’s.”
Part 57: 8 Nov 1917, page 15. Chapters XII-XIII. Link. “And then insensibly” to “form her lips:” ARTHUR IS FORBIDDEN A FAREWELL KISS. To “at once it ceased.” FINALLY SUCCUMBED MYSTERIOUS MALADY. To “such as this.”
Part 58: 9 Nov 1917, page 13. [Chapter XIII]. Link. “As he spoke” to “looking at a corpse.” THE DEATH CHAMBER IS DECKED WITH GARLIC. To “new puzzle to grapple with.”
Part 59: 10 Nov 1917, page 9. [Chapter XIII]. Link. “The forenoon” to “sympathetic understanding.” LEAVES FOR VISIT TO LORD GODALMING. To “constraint with him.” ARTHUR SUFFERS BREAKDOWN UNDER DEEP STRAIN. To “is she really dead?”
Part 60: 11 Nov 1917, page 14. [Chapter XIII]. Link. “I assured him” to “he turned aside.” BID FAREWELL TO DEAD SWEETHEART. To “as Arthur.” ARTHUR APOLOGIZES AND ASKS FORGIVENESS. To “never thought of it.” VAN HELSING ASKS TO HOLD LUCY’S LETTERS. To “till the time comes.” ARTHUR WARNED TO BE UNSELFISH. To “an exercise anyhow.” FUNERAL SERVICES MARKED BY SIMPLICITY. To “that disturbed him.” IS MUCH DISTURBED BY A STRANGE LOOKING MAN. To “who it is?”
Part 61: 12 Nov 1917, page 9. [Chapter XIII]. Link. “No, dear,” to “as if to himself:—” COUNT DRACULA MAKES APPAEARANCE IN LONDON. To “your own dear sake.” SAD HOME-COMING FOR PARTY OF FRIENDS. To “He said:” VAN HELSING EXPLAINS CAUSE OF BREAKDOWN. To: “what it may be.”
Part 62: 13 Nov 1917, page 9. [Chapter XIII]. Link. “I did not like” to “am bigamist.” FAILS TO SEE JOKE IN THE SITUATION. To “imagine themselves—to be.” MISSING CHILDREN HAVE WOUNDS IN THROAT. To “which may be about.”
Part 63: 14 Nov 1917, page 15. Chapter XIII-XIV. Link. “The Westminster Gazette 25 Sept.” to “subject to him.” HESITATES TO TALK ABOUT RECENT EVENTS. To “how you love her.” VAN HELSING PLEADS FOR MINA’S AID. To “real truth now!” HORRIBLE PAST EVENTS RECALLED TO MIND. To “just at present.” FINDS GOOD CRY MAKES HER FEEL BETTER. To “upset him again.” GLAD JONATHAN NOW KNOWS FOR CERTAIN. To “record it verbatim.”
Part 64: 15 Nov 1917, page 17. [Chapter XIV]. Link. “It was half-past” to “at once began:” LUCY’S DIARY MENTIONS SOMNAMBULISM. To “handed it to him.” ASKS FORGIVENESS FOR SILICITIOUSNESS. To “by both hands.” VAN HELSING DELIGHTED BY CONTENTS OF DIARY. To “do not know me.”
Part 65: 16 Nov 1917, page 12. [Chapter XIV]. Link. “Not know you” to “I went on:” CONTENTS OF LETTERS DISTURBS PATIENT. To “study and experience.” PROMISES TO AID IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY. To “mad or sane.” MINA GIVES VAN HELSING THE STRANGE JOURNAL. To “if I may.”
Part 66: 17 Nov 1917, page 11. [Chapter XIV]. Link. “Jonathan will be here” to “Yours the most faithful, Abraham Van Helsing.” THANKS DR. VAN HELSING FOR RELIEVING HER MIND. To “wrote down was true.” LETTER REVEALS COUNT IS IN LONDON. To “laughed as he said:” JONATHAN LISTENS TO DOCTOR PRAISE MIND. To “quite choky.” DOCTOR INQUIRES ABOUT TRIP TO TRANSYLVANIA. To “as ever I can.”
Part 67: 18 Nov 1917, page 15. [Chapter XIV]. Link. “26 September” to “into my hand.” READS OF CHILDREN BEING DECOYED AWAY. To “and went on:” TOO PREJUDICED, DOCTOR TELLS HIS FRIEND. To”the thought reading.” SOME ADVANCED MEDICAL THOUGHT INTRODUCED. To “the church lamps?” DOCTOR ASKS QUESTION THAT PUZZLES HARKER. To “who cannot die?” THEORY OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION EXPOUNDED. To “where I am going.”
Part 68: 19 Nov 1917, page 12. Chapters XIV-XV. Link. “That is good image” to “I cried.” COVERS FACE WITH HANDS AND SPEAKS. To “Dare you come with me?” STAGGERED BY THE WEIGHT OF THE AWFUL TRUTH. To “afternoon was passing.” CHILDREN HAD HAD SLEEP AND TAKEN FOOD. To “the ‘bloofer lady.’” WANTED PARTENS OF CHILD CAUTIONED. To “which could pass away.” WENT ABOUT HIS WORK SYSTEMATICALLY. To “week-old corpse.”
Part 69: 20 Nov 1917, page 13. [Chapter XV]. Link. “We doctors,” to “dreary, miserable time.” A STARTLING DISCOVERY IN THE CEMETERY. To “dismay shot through me.” LUCY’S BODY AGAIN IN ITS RESTING PLACE. To “showed the white teeth.”
Part 70: 21 Nov 1917, page 11. [Chapter XV]. Link. “See,’ he went on” to “take more blood.” TRANCE HOLDS VICTIM IN “UN-DEAD” STATE. To “snap, and said:” VAN HELSING SUDDENLY CHANGES HIS PLANS. To “my own way.” MEETING ARRANGED TO CONTINUE THEIR PLANS. To: “I shall learn it.” SUPERHUMAN POWERS OF THE UN-DEAD. To “I know not what.”
Part 71: 22 Nov 1917, page 13. [Chapter XV]. Link. “So that it be” to “intense gravity:” VAN HELSING AKS PERMISSION TO ACT. To “we are to do?” ANOTHER VISIT TO LUCY’S TOMB ARRANGED. To “what is it?” A REQUEST THAT CAUSES DEEP REVULSION. To “the head of dead Miss Lucy?”
Part 72: 23 Nov 1917, page 13. Chapter XV-XVI. Link. “Heavens and earth” to “may seem to me.” TO LET RESULT OF PLAN RECOMMEND ITSELF. To “looked in and recoiled.” AGAIN THE COFFIN IS FOUND UNOCCUPIED. To “which they shun.” VAN HELSING WARNS OF STRANGE HAPPENINGS. To “door behind him.”
Part 73: 24 Nov 1917, page 9. [Chapter XVI]. Link. “Oh! But it” to “as he answered:” A STRANGE SUBSTANCE TO KEEP OUT THE UN-DEAD. To “features of Lucy Westerna [sic].” THE APPARITION IS THAT OF LUCY WESTENRA. To “a voluptuous smile.” SPIRIT DROPS CHILD AFTER DRINKINK [sic] ITS BLOOD. To “enter the tomb.” HELD AT BAY BY THE POWER OF THE CRUCIFIX. To “by asking Arthur:”
Part 74: 25 Nov 1917, page 17. [Chapter XVI]. Link. “A newer me” to “like this of tonight.” LEAVE YOUNG VICTIM SAFE WITH POLICE. To “sufficient to work by.” FEELING OF LOATHING AGAINST FORMER SWEETHEART. To “and remained silent and quiet.” VAN HELSING PREPARES FOR GHOULISH OPERATION. To “so wicked mouth.”
Part 75: 26 Nov 1917, page 9. [Chapter XVI]. Link. “But if she die” to “has a better right?” GRUESOME WORK FOR A HOLY CAUSE. To “the Un-dead pass away.” ARTHUR DRIVES STAKE THROUGH LUCY’S HEART. To “terrible task was over.” TERRIBLE TASK AT LAST IS ACCOMPLISHED. To “Van Helsing said to him:—”
Part 76: 27 Nov 1917, page 12. Chapter XVI-XVII. Link. “And now, my child” to “you can help me.” WORK ACCOMPLISHED, VAN HELSING GOES HOME. To “as that of today.” DOCTOR LEAVES DIARIES FOR CLOSE STUDY. To “Here she is!” MINA PAYS VISIT TO DR. VAN HELSING. To “hear it say something?”
Part 77: 28 Nov 1917, page 8. [Chapter XVII]. Link. “Certainly,’ he replied” to “out of his embarrassment:” MINA SEEKS DETAILS OF FRIEND’S DEMISE. To “pallor as he said:” REFUSES TO TELL DETAILS OF DEATH OF LUCY. To “we can get.” RECORDS DISCLOSE LIGHT ON DARK MYSTERY. To “ears and listened.” SHOCKED BY RECITAL OF UNEARTHLY STORY. To “somewhat restored me.”
Part 78: 29 Nov 1917, page 11. [Chapter XVII]. Link. “My brain” to “when they come.” BEGIN TASK OF COLLATING DETAILS. “He accordingly” to “that way madness lies!” HARKER ADVISES TALK WITH ZOOPHAGUS PATIENT. “Harker has” to “vampire’s ultimate triumph?” RENFIELD RAVES MUCH OF STRANGE MASTER. “Stay; he is himself” to “consignment of boxes.” SIGHT OF COUNT’S LETTER STARTLES HARKER. To “and the harbormaster.”
Part 79: 30 Nov 1917, page 14. [Chapter XVII]. Link. “They had all” to “ex post facto manner.” DELIVERY OF BOXES TRACED TO CARFAX. “From there I” to “raised his terms.” SATISFIED THAT BOXES HAVE BEEN LOCATED. “Of one thing” to “order for tonight.” THRILLED AT PROSPECT OF HUNT FOR COUNT. “I feel myself” to “all this, Mrs. Harker?” LORD DOFALMING PROFESSES TO CONFUSION. To “heart was breaking:”
Part 80: 1 Dec 1917, page 9. Chapters XVII-XVIII. Link. “I loved dear” to “for Lucy’s sake!” OVERWHELMING GRIEF CAUSES BREAKDOWN. “In an instant” to “to comfort him.” MANUSCRIPT TO EXPLAIN ALL DETAILS. “He bore his” to “simply answered: ‘Why’?” THE ZOOPHAGANS [sic] MANIAC “CLEANS UP” HIS ROOM. To “held out her hand.”
Part 81: 2 Dec 1917, page 19. [Chapter XVIII]. Link. “Good evening, Mr. Renfield” to “shown contempt to me:” PHILOSOPHY OF THE INSANE PATIENT. “You will, of course” to “mentioned certain things.” RENFIELD DISCUSSES HIS PECULIAR APPETITE. “Why, I myself” to “astonishment, he replied:” A STRANGE METHOD OF SAYING FAREWELL. “Good-by, my dear” to “we go alone.” OBTAINS HOUSE THAT ADJOINS DRACULA’S. To “to this morning.”
Part 82: 3 Dec 1917, page 13. [Chapter XVIII]. Link. “But why not” to “a bright smile.” FINAL MEETING ARRANGED FOR WAR ON VAMPIRE. “And so now,” to “who did love her.” MUST WORK HARD TO SAVE OTHER SOULS. “But that is gone” to “come unknown.” PLANNING TO DESTROY THE INHUMAN MONSTER. “How then are” to “no other reason.” FRINEDS SOLEMNLY PLEDGE THEMSELVES TO COMPACT. To “tradition and superstition are everything.”
Part 83: 4 Dec 1917, page 16. [Chapter XVIII]. Link. “Does not the” to “men have been.” FIGHTING AN ENEMY OF THE WHOLE WORLD. “In old Greece” to “madman in his cell.” THE COUNT’S POWER CEASES WITH COMING OF DAY. “He cannot go” to “with our eyes.” VAMPIRE PERPETUATES SPIRIT OF POWERFUL MAN. To “we must trace—”
Part 84: 5 Dec 1917, page 17. [Chapter XVIII]. Link. “Here we were” to “resume his statement:—” MUST STERILIZE EARTH THAT GIVES COUNT LIFE. “We must trace” to “down the passage together.” INSANE PATIENT DEMANDS TO BE RELEASED. “We found him” to “saying in turn:—” RECALLS A DUEL HIS FATHER FAUGHT. [sic] To “of their liberties.”
Part 85: 6 Dec 1917, page 17. [Chapter XVIII]. Link. “And I am” to “its own charm.” MANIAC’S SPEECH CAUSES CONSIDERABLE SURPRISE. “I think we” to “he said slowly:” RENFIELD MAKES FOR FRIENDSHIP. “Then I suppose” to “The Professor went on:” DR. VAN HELSING FAILS TO GET RENFIELD’S AID. “Come, sir, bethink” to “efforts were unavailing.” RENFIELD CHANGES TACTICS TO OBTAIN WISH. To “keeping me here.”
Part 86: 7 Dec 1917, page 16. Chapters XVIII-XIX. Link. “I am speaking” to “the rest to us.” MEMORY OF RENFIELD STILL REMAINS. “We were, I think” to “Then he spoke:” VAN HELSING WARNS OF DANGER THAT LIES AHEAD. “My friends, we are” to “at Miss Lucy’s.” BOLT FINALLY YIELDS TO DOCTOR’S KEY. To “proceeded on our search.”
Part 87: 8 Dec 1917, page 9. [Chapter XIX]. Link. “The light from” to “I felt myself doing.” HOB-NAIL MARKS ON DUST-COVERED FLOOR. “The whole place” to “stagnant and foul.” ATMSPHERE LADEN WITH MYRIAD VIL EODERS.[sic] “There was an” to “no mistaking them.” STARTLED BY APPARITION OF COUNT DRACULA. “There were only” to “alive with rats.” LORD GODALMING FIRST TO ACT IN EMERGENCY. To “and we moved out.”
Part 88: 9 Dec 1917, page 19. [Chapter XIX]. Link. “Lord Godalming lifted” to “in our resolution.” SEARCH OF HOUSE REVEALS NOTHING NEW. “We close the” to “has gone elsewhere.” VAN HELSING SATISFIED WITH PROGRESS MADE. “Good! It has” to “not to disturb her.” ARISE FROM WELL-EARNED NIGHT’S REPOSE. To “Who knows?”
Part 89: 10 Dec 1917, page 13. [Chapter XIX]. Link. “I went on” to “Well?” RENFIELD TELLS PROFESSOR UNCOMPLIMENTARY THINGS. “I fear that” to “the terrible excitement.” EVENTS OF PAST SEEM HORRIBLE TRAGEDY. “Last night I” to “mystery of their own.” THIN VEIL OF MIST MOVES SLOWLY TOWARD HOUSE. “Not a thing” to “continued in dreams.”
Part 90: 11 Dec 1917, page 18. Chapters XIX-XX. Link. STRANGE POWER SEEMS SLOWLY TO MOVE ALL. “I thought that” to “we can imagine.” THICK VEIL OF MIST POURS INTO ROOM AT NIGHT. “The mist grew” to “out of the night.” MINA DETERMINES TO STRIVE AGAINST DREAMS. “I must be” to “important to communicate.” FEARFUL OF APPROACH OF MUCH-NEEDED SLEEP. “I was not so” to “headpiece of his own.” CLEW OBTAINED TO TWELVE BOXES OF EARTH. To “He replied:”
Part 91: 12 Dec 1917, page 17. [Chapter XX]. Link. “Well, guvnor” to “of our decision.” THE EARLY MAIL BRINGS INFORMATION. “2 October, evening” to “I asked.” OFF AGAIN WITH ONLY A SLENDER CLUE. “I’m the depity [sic]” to “which he replied:” JONATHAN LEARNS MUCH ABOUT MOVEMENTS OF COUNT. “Well, guv’nor,” to “earn a copper.” DRACULA LOSES TEMPER AND EXHIBITS STRENGTH. To “complete the task unobserved.”
Part 92: 13 Dec 1917, page 15. [Chapter XX]. Link. “At Piccadilly Circus” to “access to the house.” CARE INSPERTION [sic] FAILS TO REVEAL ANYTHING. “There was at” to “It is sold, sir.” RUN UP AGAINST STONE WALL IN AGENT. “Pardon me” to “He said:” LORD GOLDAMING CARD HAS MYSTIC RESULT. “I would like” to “our grim task.” MIND BECOMING RECONCILED TO APPARENT SLIGHTS. To “in the morning.”
Part 93: 14 Dec 1917, page 21. [Chapter XX]. Link. “Lord Godalming’s brows” to “he answered me:” DR. SEWARD BRINGS PHILOSOPHY FROM MANIAC. “The fly,” to “occupied spiritually!” LEARNED DOCTOR STUMPED BY LUNATICS WISDOM. “This was a poser” to “means of life!” PATIENT SUDDENLY LAPSES INTO SILENCE. To “with their souls!”
Part 94: 15 Dec 1917, page 9. [Chapter XX]. Link. “Something seemed” to “jaws was white.” THE PATIENT TURNS AGAINST HIS USUAL DIET. “It was evident” to “elephant’s soul is like?” [sic] RENFIELD LOSES TEMPER UNDER CONSTANT GRUELLING. “The effect I desired” to “Here they are:” SUMMARY OF OBSERVATION OF ASYLUM INMATE. “Will not mention” to “MITCHEELL [sic], SONS & CANDY.” SENTRY POSTED TO KEEP TAB ON PATIENT. To “was to call me.”
Part 95: 16 Dec 1917, page 19. Chapters XX-XXI. Link. “After dinner” to “in strait-waistcoats.” RENFIELD’S MOODS FOLLOW TOSE OF THE COUNT. “Later.—” to “I must proceed.” HEAPED ON THE FLOOR IN POOL OF BLOOD. “When I came” to “he whispered to me:” VAN HELSING DISMISSES ALL THE ATTENDANTS. To “just above the ear.”
Part 96: 17 Dec 1917, page ??. [Chapter XXI]. Link to page 1. “Without another word” to “he went on:—” Note: Would presumably have appeared on page 19, but that page is not available on scan. Data filled in from 1897 text.
Part 97: 18 Dec 1917, page 19. [Chapter XXI]. Link. “I didn’t know” to “instant to spare.” THE MANIAC IS HELPLESS IN HIS MASTER’S GRIP. “There was no need” to “in a stupor.” THE COUNT SUCCEEDS IN MAKING MINA A VICTIM. “Kneeling on the” to “and cowered back.” COUNT COMES BEFORE UPLIFTED CRUCIFIXES. To “beneath her shook.”
Part 98: 19 Dec 1917, page 19. [Chapter XXI]. Link. “But in God’s name” to “take counsel together.” TELLTALE TEETHMARKS EVIDENCE OF COUNT’S LUST. “She shuddered and” to “to the utmost:” DR. SEWARD RELATES STORY OF COUNT’S DEED. “And now, Dr. Seward” to “So Art went on:” HAD DESTROYED ALL THEIR PRECIOUS RECORDS. To “she began:”
Part 99: 20 Dec 1917, page 17. [Chapter XXI]. Link. “I took the” to “of some presence.” READ CREATURE APPEARS SIF [sic] FROM MIST. “I turned to” to “appease my thirst!” STRANGE POWER WITHELD ALL RESISTANCE. “I was bewildered” to “I was countermining them.” “LATER ON TO BE MY COMPANION AND HELPER.” To “them from pollution.”
Part 100: 21 Dec 1917, page 17. [Chapters XXI-XXII]. Link. “As she was” to “To work!” MAKE INQUIRY OF ATTENDANT. “When Dr. Van Helsing” to “the same result.” DECIDE TO TAKE MINA INTO CONFIDENCE. “When the question” to “stating a fact:” MINA PREFERS DEATH TO YIELDING TO DRACULA. To: “grim an interest.”
Part 101: 22 Dec 1917, page 7. [Chapter XXII]. Link. “As usual Van Helsing” to “his hand warningly.” VAN HELSING WARNS AGAINST PRECIPITATE ACTION. “Nay, friend Jonathan” to “I nodded.” THE SIMPLEST WAY WAY [sic] IS THE BEST. “Now, suppose that” to “of the house.” PRACTICABILITY OF PLAN BECOMES APPARENT. To “so it may.”
Part 102: 23 Dec 1917, page 11. [Chapter XXII]. Link. “Mina took a” to “time for fear.” DISCUSSIONS OF PROCEDURE REVEALS SOME WEAKNESSES. “When we came” to “him in force.” DEITY [sic] LIES IN PROTECTING MINA FROM HARM. “To this plan” to “to comfort her.” HORRIBLE RECOLLECTIONS INADVERTANTLY RECALLED. “Oh, Madam Mina” to “Father, the Son, and—” SACRED WAFER BURNS ITS MARK ON MINA. To “things outside himself:”
Part 103: 24 Dec 1917, page 9. [Chapter XXII]. Link. “It may be” to “heart we know.” MUST BEAR THEIR CROSS TILL DIVINE AID ARRIVES. “For so surely” to “their ghastly ranks.” FIND ALL THINGS JUST AS ON FIRST VISIT. “We entered Carfax” to “as he worked.” VAN HELSING STERILI⅝ES [sic] BLACK BOX OF EARTH. “One by one” to “may come along.” ARRANGE PLANS FOR GAINING ACCESS TO HOUSE. To “entered the hall.”
Part 104: 25 Dec 1917, page 9. Chapters XXII-XXIII. Link. “We sat still” to “in the house.” ONE MYSTERIOUS BOX STILL UNDISCOVERED. “In the dining-room” to “the other houses.” SET OUT TO DESTROY COUNT’S SOURCE OF STRENGTH. “When we had” to “here it is:” PROFESSORS DISCLOSES DATE ON DRACULA’S HISTORY. “I have studied” to “as he spoke:” HOW THE COUNT WORKS HIS INSIDIOUS WILL. To “they are hidden.”
Part 105: 26 Dec 1917, page 10. [Chapter XXIII]. Link. “He may have” to “absent once return.” STARTLED BY KNOCK ON DOOR TO HALL. “While he was” to “may not change.” A RACE BETWEEN FRIEND AND FOE. “It will take him” to “Be ready!” GRATING OF KEY WARNS OF PRESENCE OF COUNT. “He held up” to “he feared it.” THE COUNT SUDDENLY BURSTS INTO THE ROOM. To “through his heart.”
Part 106: 27 Dec 1917, page 10. [Chapter XXIII]. Link. “As it was” to “my left hand.” HELD AT BAY BY POWER OF CRUCIFIX. “I felt a” to “spoke to us:” THE COUNT SINGS HIS “HYMN OF HATE.” “You think to baffle” to “seen him depart.” MUST AWAIT RISING SUN TO RESUME THE HUNT. “It was now late” to “altogether without hope.” BRAVELY RECEIVES NEWS OF TERRIBLE DANGERS. To “outcast from God.”
Part 107: 28 Dec 1917, page 12. [Chapter XXIII]. Link. “’Jonathan,’ she said” to “as he spoke:” HARKER, PRAYS FOR OPPORTUNITY FOR REVENGE. “May God give” to “with their God.” VAN HELSING PREPARES MINA’S ROOM AGAINST VAMPIRE. “Before they retired” to “where it was.” MAY HIDE FOR YEARS IF NECESSITY DEMANDS. To “must try again.”
Part 108: 29 Dec 1917, page 7. [Chapter XXIII]. Link. “4 October, morning” to “me for nothings.” MINA MAKES STRANGE REQUEST OF PROFESSOR. “I want you to” to “Professor spoke again:” STRANGE FAR-OFF RESPONSE TO DOCTOR’S QUESTIONING. “Whare are you” to “called them back:” VAN HELSING REASONING GOOD, AS ALWAYS. To “We follow him.”
Part 109: 30 Dec 1917, page 17. [Chapters XXIII-XXIV]. Link. “Tally ho!” to “as he replied:” PROFESSOR BIDS FRIENDS BE CALM AND PATIENT. “Ask me nothings” to “sun go down.” FINAL PLACE OF SAFETY WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS. “It was his last” to “again and again.” STRENGTH OF PURPOSE SPURS HARKER’S ACTION. “Somehow, although the” to “see last night.” CLUE TO TYPE OF VESSEL AS REVEALED BY MINA. To “the Czarina Catherine.”
Part 110: 31 Dec 1917, page 17. [Chapter XXIV]. Link. “He swear much” to “want to know.” VAN HELSING OBTAINS NEWS OF DRACULA’S MOVES. “They make known” to “master amongst men!” PROFESSOR IMPRESSES UPON THEM NECESSITY OF PURSUIT. To “geologic and chemical world.”
Part 111: 1 Jan 1918, page 10. [Chapter XXIV]. Link. “There are deep” to “make you like him.” VAN HELSING REVEALS THE HORRIBLE TRUTH. “This must not” to “a great city.” THE DRACULA’S CUNNING EQUALED BY HIS LEARNING. “What does he” to “cause of action.” CONTENTMENT VANISHES AT GLIMPSE OF LOATHSOME MARK. “I feel a wonderful” to “beginning to work.” ALL PART OF WELL-LAID PLANS OF THE VAMPIRE. To “a noble woman!”
Part 112: 2 Jan 1918, page 14. [Chapter XXIV]. Link. “Van Helsing is” to “he went on:” AN ALARMING CHANGE NOTED IN MINA. “Madam Mina, our” to “as I expected.” VAN HALSING [sic] MAKES PLANS FOR CONFERENCE. “It is now” to “Quincey Morris added:” MORRIS OFFERS SUGGESTION BASED ON EXPERIENCE. To “me tenderly, said:—”
Part 113: 3 Jan 1918, page 8. [Chapter XXIV]. Link. “Jonathan, I want” to “right to make it.” MINA EXACTS SOLEMN PROMISE FROM HUSBAND. “But, dear one” to “a dreamless sleep.” MINA AWAKENS EARLY AND ASKS FOR VAN HELSING. “6 October, morning” to “said very gravely:” THE FOUR AVENGERS CONSENT TO TAKE MINA. “Madam Mina you” to “I hope he did.” NO SLACKERS WHEN TIME FOR ACTION COMES. To “shall have remainder.”
Part 114: 4 Jan 1918, page 14. Chapters XXIV-XXV. Link. “It is now drawing” to “inciting her to action.” MENTAL FREEDOM SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS OF SUN. “This mood or” to “may not take?” MINA COURTS DEATH TO ESCAPE HORRIBLE FATE. “That I may” to “low and strained.” AS THE ONLY ESCAPE FROM ETERNAL TORMENT. “When you shall” to “oh, my wife.” MINA EXACTS PROMISE THAT MEANS HER DEATH. To “slay them.”
Part 115: 5 Jan 1918, page 7. [Chapter XXV]. Link. “It is men’s duty” to “enemy against you.” ACQUIESCE N FINAL SOLEMN REQUEST. “One more request” to “f-fail m-me!” FIND SOLACE IN PATIENT’S MENTAL FORTITUDE. “She was right” to “in the box.” SUNRISE PRESENTS OPPORTUNE TIME FOR ACTION. To “have some report.”
Part 116: 6 Jan 1918, page 17. [Chapter XXV]. Link. “17 October” to “will be done.” PLANS COMPLETED FOR DISPOSING OF DRACULA. “We have already” to “in her presence.” LETHARGY GROWS DESPITE APPARENT STRENGTH. “In old days” to “ice-cold hand!” MINA LAPSES INTO STUPOR AFTER RESTLESS HOURS. “Van Helsing and I” to “signaled any moment.” NON-APPEARANCE OF SHIP CAUSES MUCH UNEASINESS. To “He added significantly:”
Part 117: 7 Jan 1918, page 17. [Chapter XXV]. Link. “I did not” to “will-o’-the-wisp to man.” MUST MAKE THE BEST OF BAD TURN OF FORTUNE “It was an odd” to “asked Lord Godalming.” VAN HELSING DELEGATES TO EACH MAN A TASKS. [sic] “Van Helsing shook” to “seeing me alone.” DRACULA TRANSPORTS SPIRIT TO READ MINA’S MIND. “You are in part” to “thinks not so.” VAN HELSING REALIZES HOPE RESTS ON HIGH. To “of her misery.”
Part 118: 8 Jan 1918, page 14. [Chapter XXV]. Link. “As she came in” to “to be empiric.” SAYS CRIMINALS HAVE CHILD-BRAINS. “The criminal always” to “as she spoke:—” MINA GAVE HYPNOTIC HISTORY OF EVENTS. “The count is a” to “that we think.” SEEKS SAFETY, ALL ELSE BEING FORGOTTEN. To “where he fail!”
Part 119: 9 Jan 1918, page 14. Chapters XXV-XXVI. Link. “That terrible baptism” to “gone Van Hel- [sic] said:” DREAMS PRESAGE NEARNESS OF HUNTED MONSTER. “You see, my friends” to “what is happening.” MRS. HARKER YIELDS TO HYPNOTIC INFLUENCE. To “with equal quickness.”
Part 120: 10 Jan 1918, page 14. [Chapter XXVI]. Link. “All is dark” to “an agonized voice.” THE RISING SUN DISPELS VAN HELSING’S POWER. To “meet his match!”
Part 121: 11 Jan 1918, page 17. [Chapter XXVI]. Link. “The skipper was” to “rid o’t althegither.” BROUGHT AN ORDER TO RECEIVE BOX. “We didn’t do” to “all he knew.” NO ONE KNEW WHERE SKINSKY HAD GONE. To “hotel to Mina.”
Part 122: 12 Jan 1918, page 9. [Chapter XXVI]. Link. “When we met” to “blindfold at Galatz.” EVERY DETAIL WORKED TO AID DRACULA. To “all shall do.”
Part 123: 13 Jan 1918, page 17. [Chapter XXVI]. Link. “I shall get a steam” to “the enemy’s country.” VAN HELSING PLANS A BOLD MOVE. To “a moment’s notice.”
Part 124: 14 Jan 1918, page 13. [Chapter XXVI]. Link. “Dr. Seward and” to “is firing up.” EXPERIENCED HAND ON STEAM LAUNCH. “He is an experienced” to “not to excite curiosity.” MAY BE NECESSARY TO JOIN FORCES. “When they dismiss” to “to ask or do.” NATIVES TELL OF SPEEDY ESSEL PASSING UP RIVER. To “coming back to me.”
Part 125: 15 Jan 1918, page 13. Chapter XXVI-XXVII. Link. “I wonder where” to “go on, Russian fashion.” LAUNCH DETAINED BY AN ACCIDENT. “4 November” to “the evil eye.” HAS MANAGED TO ESCAPE SUSPICIONS. To “or for myself.”
Part 126: 16 Jan 1918, page 14. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “I write this” to “keep us comfortable.” HYPNOTIC TRANCE REVEALS NOTHING NEW. “At dawn Van Helsing” to “is not well.” VAN HELSING’S POWER SLOWLY DIMINISHING. To “all to her.”
Part 127: 17 Jan 1918, page 14. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “I think I” to “may not sleep.” SPELL OF INTENSE SLEEP DESCENDS UPON MINA. “The sun rise up” to “that Vampire baptism.” Sleeps As He Travels over the Rough Road “’Well,’ said I” to “knowing her unavailingness.” Take Precautions to Guard Madame Mina “But I myself” to “her soul was safe!” HORSES BECOME PANICKY FROM UNKNOWN CAUSES “Presently the horses” to “with trailing garmnts [sic]” Horses Show Fear of Unknown Terrors. “All was in dead” to “Then, alas! I knew.” Misty Figures Keep Outside Holy Circle. To “Come! Come!”
Part 128: 18 Jan 1918, page 14. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “In fear I” to “to me again.” HORRID FIGURES VANISH WITH COMING OF DAWN. “At the first” to “one of them.” VAN HELSING DISCOVERS ONE OF THE VAMPIRE WOMEN. To “ranks of the Un-dead!”
Part 129: 19 Jan 1918, page 11. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “There is some” to “that I heard.” BRACES HIMSELF FOR HORRID TASK. “Then I braced” to “Un-Dead, for ever.” BEGINS TERRIBLE TASK OF DESTROYING VAMPIRES. “Then began my” to “sat down to rest.” LOOKS BACK UPON DRACULA’S CASTLE. To “not reproach me.”
Part 130: 20 Jan 1918, page 10. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “Taking his field-glasses” to “God’s will be done!” THROUGH THE SNOW FLURRY THEY SAW FRIENDS APPROACH. “Down came another” to “desire to do something.” BATTLE BEGINS FOR POSSESSION OF GREAT CHEST. To “out the order.”
Part 131: 21 Jan 1918, page 14. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “In the midst” to “cut at him.” SCARLET STREAM TELLS BLOW HAS REACHED HOME. “He had parried” to “turned to triumph.” JONATHAN DELIVERS DEATH STROKE TO DRACULA. “But, on the instant” to “Look! Look!” CURSE OF THE VAMPIRE FADES WITH THE SUN. To “for her sake. JONATHAN HARKER. THE END.”
Des Moines Tribune (25 Nov 1921-10 Feb 1922)
When the Tribune of Des Moines, Iowa ran Bram Stoker’s story, they did it under the title The Vampire. The text is the unabridged 1897 text, minus Jonathan Harker’s prologue. As with the Washington, D.C. Times Herald edition, the editors added both frequent interjections to break up the text (which cease after part 12), and starting from the second installment, original synopses (which cease after part 55). The story ran in 64 or 65 parts (one installment appears missing from the scans, but the numbering continues as if it did not run) from 25 November 1921 to 10 February 1922, parts often split between two pages in the same issue.
The production was initially lavish by newspaper serial standards; the first section ran on the front page, and included a message from the editor (“Old Timer”) to the readers:
Des Moines, Ia., Nov. 24, 1921.
Dear Tribune Readers:
I honestly believe that “The Vampire,” which starts today in the Evening Tribune, is the greatest story this newspaper has ever published.
Even more than that—I’ll stake my reputation, as a newspaper man of nearly twenty-five years’ experience, on the assertion that no one who reads the first two or three installments and really gets into the story will lay it aside until it has been completed in its entirety.
You have heard of the stories that you sit up all night to read? I’ll venture the assertion that you will be unable to lay this one aside until you have followed the astounding tale of mystery, romance, adventure, love until “The End” is written.
This is a challenge made in perfect faith, for I have read “The Vampire” and I feel to a certainty that you will be impressed as I have been.
The story is also notable in that original illustrations were commissioned and published for the first two installments. The first appeared on 25 Nov 1921, page 14:
Note: Many parts do not contain chapter headings. Equivalent chapters from the 1897 text are presented in parantheses.
Part 1: 25 Nov 1921, pages 1, 14. Chapter I. Link to page 1. Link to page 14. Jonathan Harker’s Journal—Kept in Shorthand—Leaves Munich for Buda-Pesth—From the West He Enters the East. In the Valley of Superstition. The Crucifix.
“3 May, Bistritz” to “on without it.” SEARCHES LOCATION OF THE CASTLE DRACULA. “Having had some” to “all about them.)” KEPT AWAKE THROUGH NIGHT BY DOG’S HOWLING. “I did not sleep” to “petticoats under them.” STOVAKS, ODD FIGURES AND MORE BARBARIANS. “The strangest figures” to “famine and disease.” COUNT DRACULA DIRECTS ME TO FINE OLD HOTEL. “Count Dracula had” to “Your friend, ‘Dracula.’” TURN PALE AT MERE MENTION OF OLD CASTLE. “4 May” to “out of the room” I UNWILLINGLY WORE CRUCIFIX ABOUT MY NECK. “I am writing” to “about these superstitions.)” MADE SIGN OF CROSS AND POINTED AT ME. “When we started” to “by I could” Note: Says “Continued on Page Eighteen,” actually continued on page 14. “see the green” to “at loading point.” Mighty Forests Arose. “Beyond the green” to “crossed himself reverently.” Many Goiter Afflicted. “As we wound” to “late-lying snow.” Weird and Solemn Effect. “Sometimes, as the” to “expected, but though” None Could Explain. “I asked each” to “than my own:” Horses Began Plunging. “There is no” to “dead travel fast.’)” Gripped With Steel Hand. “The strange driver” to “feeling of suspense.” Weird Sounds of Night. “Then a dog” to “to the right.” Driver Disappears. “Soon we were” to “their true import.” Then the Wolves. “All at once” to “the moonlit sky.” Tomorrow—In the Old Castle of Dracula.
Part 2: 26 Nov 1921, page 4. Chapter II. Link. In the Castle of Dracula—Meets the Count—Night in the Place of Mystery—The Blue Flame—The Wolves in the Distance—Dracula’s London House.
“5 May” to ”the dark openings.” Stood in Silence. “I stood in” to “of the morning.” Hear Heavy Step. “Just as I” to “Again he said: —” The Count’s Welcome. “Welcome to my” to “flamed and flared.” Ushered Into Great Room. “The Count halted” to “do not sup.” The Sealed Envelope. “I handed to” to “I had experienced.” Describes the Host. “By this time” to “dear to me!” One Night in Castle. “7 May” to “found it locked.” Finds Good Library. “In the library” to “certainly,’ and added:” The Locked Doors. “You may go” to “the friendly soil.” Canine Teeth Showed. “‘But how,’ said” to “I inscribe here:” The London House. “At Purfleet, on” to “from the grounds.’” Count’s Traditions. “When I had” to “the Yorkshire Coast.
Synopsis (“What Has Gone Before”): Shorthand notes from Jonathan Harker’s Journal who has started out on a journey to Dracula castle. Through many adventures and mysterious incidents he reaches his destination. The first chapter leaves him alone at the entrance of the enchanted place.
Part 3: 28 Nov 1921, pages 9, 10. Chapters II-III. Link to page 9. Link to page 10. Mystery of the Mirror—The Count’s Attack—Stopped by the Crucifix—Prisoner in the Castle—Transylvania History.
“It was the better” to “his feet, said:” Sat Up All Night. “‘Why, there’s the” to “or seem to.” Seized by Throat. “I only slept” to “was ever there.” Threw Mirror Away. “‘Take care,’ he” to “to get through.” I Am a Prisoner. “I had hardly” to “awake his suspicion.” Talks With Count. “Midnight—I” to “the Romanoffs can” Note: Continued on Page Ten. “never reach.” to “so he said:” The Count Explains. “I shall illustrate.” to “up and said:” Had Not Written. “Have you written” to “moment’s pause said:”
Synopsis (“What Has Gone Before”): Shorthand notes from Jonathan Harker’s Journal who has started out on a journey to Dracula castle. Through many adventures and mysterious incidents he reaches his destination. The first chapter leaves him alone at the entrance of the enchanted place. Count Dracula, a peculiar man, keeps him prisoner in castle.
Part 4: 29 Nov 1921, pages 11, 16. Chapters III. Link to page 11. Link to page 16. The Count’s Warning—Lizard-Like Form of a Man Crawling Down Castle Wall—The Three Vampires—”I Feel Human Teeth at My Throat”—Unconsciousness.
“Let me advise” to “it shall remain.” “Feeling on My Nerves.” “When he left” to “looked carefully out.” Crawling Like Lizard. “What I saw” to “not think of . . . .” Vanished Into Hole. “15 May” to “‘modernity’ cannot kill.” Now Fighting Insanity. “Later: the Morning” to “he may say!” Then I Fell Asleep. “When I had” to “was all sleep.” I Was Not Alone. “I was not” to “smells in blood.” Kisses for All. “I was afraid” to “with beating heart.” And Then the Count. “But at that” to “to answer him:” The Vampires Go. “You yourself never” to “sank down unconscious.”
Synopsis (“What Has Gone Before”): Shorthand notes from Jonathan Harker’s Journal who has started out on a journey to Dracula castle. Through many adventures and mysterious incidents he reaches his destination. The first chapter leaves him alone at the entrance of the enchanted place. Count Dracula, a peculiar man, keeps him prisoner in castle. Count Dracula, wolf-like with canine teeth has supernatural powers over the wolves which infest the forest. Harker attempts to escape but has two letters thrown to some gypsies intercepted and returned to him by the count. In wanlering [sic] over the castle he comes upon the body of the count in a queer like box. he flees to his room and later the count appears.
Part 5: 1 Dec 1921, pages 7, 12. Chapter IV. Link to page 7. Link to page 12. Specks Floating in the Air—A Night of Terror—The Count in a Box—Mina’s Journal—The Wolves Again.
“I thought I” to “the aerial gambolling” The Vampires Appear. “Something made me” to “and simply cried.” Agonized Cry of Woman. “As I sat” to “of all Mina.” Safely Returned. “Same day, later” to “old and stained.” Heavy Door Barred. “At one corner” to “made a discovery.” There Lay the Count. “There, in one” to “I fell asleep.” Still Prisoner. “I was awakened” to “Hark!” Hear Howling of Wolves. “Close at hand” to “the opening door.” Note: Continued on Page Twelve “I knew then” to “I cried out:” Wait Till Morning. “Shut the door” to “find me ready.” Ready for Flight. “At last I” to “monster I sought.” Like Filthy Leech. “The great box” to “above the forehead.”
Synopsis (“What Has Gone Before”): Shorthand notes from Jonathan Harker’s Journal who has started out on a journey to Dracula castle. Through many adventures and mysterious incidents he reaches his destination. The first chapter leaves him alone at the entrance of the enchanted place. Count Dracula, a peculiar man, keeps him prisoner in castle. Count Dracula, wolf-like with canine teeth, has supernatural powers over the wolves which infest the forest. Harker attempts to escape but has two letters thrown to some gypsies intercepted and returned to him by the count. In wandering over the castle he comes upon the body of the count in a queer like box. He flees to his room and later the count appears. Harker goes to a room forbidden him. He sleeps and three vampires appear and are about to piece his throat and suck his blood when consciousness leaves him.
Part 6 [mislabeled as 5th installment]: 2 Dec 1921, pages 11, 12. Chapters IV-V. Link to page 11. Link to page 12. The Bloated, Bloodstained Face in the Box—I Strike as the Lid Closes Over—The Gypsies—My Second Resolve to Escape—Letters Between Mina and Lucy.
“The shovel fell” to “much—he said.”
Synopsis (“What Has Gone Before”): Identical to part 5.
Part 7: 3 Dec 1921, page 5. Chapters V-VI. Link. “Little girl.” To “leant over and read:”
Synopsis (“What Has Gone Before”): Shorthand notes from Jonathan Harker’s Journal who has started out on a journey to Dracula castle. Through many adventures and mysterious incidents he reaches his destination. The first chapter leaves him alone at the entrance of the enchanted place. Count Dracula, a peculiar man, keeps him prisoner in castle. Count Dracula, wolf-like with canine teeth, has supernatural powers over the wolves which infest the forest. Harker attempts to escape but has two letters thrown to some gypsies intercepted and returned to him by the count. In wandering over the castle he comes upon the body of the count in a queer like box. He flees to his room and later the count appears. Harker goes to a room forbidden him. He sleeps and three vampires appear and are about to piece his throat and suck his blood when consciousness leaves him. Here begins a correspondence between Mina and Lucy touching upon the love affairs of the latter.
Part 8: 5 Dec 1921, page 9. [Chapter VI]. Link. The Insane patient—The Flies, the Spiders, and the Sparrows—The Revolting Discovery—Birds Consumed by the Maniac, Feathers and All—Reasoning of a Lunatic.
“Sacred to the” to “of a suicide” [“]It Won’t Hurt Ye.” “That won’t harm ye” to “to his room.” Catching Spiders. “1 July” to “with his food.” Colony of Sparrows. “19 July” to “shall know more.” With the Maniac. “10 p. m.” to “ate them raw!” Gives Him Opiate. “11 a. m.” to “when he arrives.” No News from Jonathan. “27 July” to “for the key.”
Synopsis (“What Has Gone Before”): Shorthand notes from Jonathan Harker’s Journal who has started out on a journey to Dracula castle. Through many adventures and mysterious incidents he reaches his destination. The first chapter leaves him alone at the entrance of the enchanted place. Count Dracula, a peculiar man, keeps him prisoner in castle. Count Dracula, wolf-like with canine teeth, has supernatural powers over the wolves which infest the forest. Harker attempts to escape but has two letters thrown to some gypsies intercepted and returned to him by the count. In wandering over the castle he comes upon the body of the count in a queer like box. He flees to his room and later the count appears. Harker goes to a room forbidden him. He sleeps and three vampires appear and are about to piece his throat and suck his blood when consciousness leaves him. Here begins a correspondence between Mina and Lucy touching upon the love affairs of the latter. Lucy hears the strange story from a Scotchman of the man who took his own life because of his unnatural hatred for his mother.
Part 9: 6 Dec 1921, page 4. Chapters VI-VII. Link. Mina Gets No Word from Jonathan—The Story of Old Mr. Swales—The Strange Ship—His Cobble or His Mule—The Shipwreck.
“6 August” to “lashed to the wheel.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harkness goes to the wilderness of Transylvania with legal papers for Count Dracula who lives in an old castle. The count proves to be a mystery man, changing from man to part wolf and holding a peculiar spell over the wolves. He keeps Harkness prisoner in the castle. Harkness is terrorized by vampires trying to pierce his throat and suck his blood. The story veers to correspondence between Mina, Harkness’ wife, a friend, Lucy, in which an insane man enters the story. He also is believed to be unnatural in that he eats raw birds and sucks their blood.
Part 10: 7 Dec 1921, page 5. [Chapter VII]. Link. “It was no wonder” to “Will that ever be?” Synopsis: Identical to part 9.
Part 11: 8 Dec 1921, pages 16, 19. Chapters VII-VIII. Link to page 16. Link to page 19. “4 August” to “over the sea . . .” Synopsis: Identical to part 9.
Part 12: 9 Dec 1921, pages 8, 26. [Chapter VIII]. Link to page 8. Link to page 26. “Same day, noon.” to “again all night.” On the East Cliff. “14 August” to “it from cold.” Held Her Throat. “I did not” to “seeing about them.” Another Letter. “Letter, Samuel F. Billington” to “having teams ready” Note: Continued on page 24 [actually 26] “at King’s Cross” to “happy ending together.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harkness goes to the wilderness of Transylvania with legal papers for Count Dracula who lives in an old castle. The count proves to be a mystery man, changing from man to part wolf and holding a peculiar spell over the wolves. He keeps Harkness prisoner in the castle. Harkness is terrorized by vampires trying to pierce his throat and suck his blood. The story veers to correspondence between Mina, Harkness’ wife, a friend, Lucy, in which an insane man enters the story. He also is believed to be unnatural in that he eats raw birds and sucks their blood. From diary kept by Mina there is a story of a strange shipwreck in which the man at the wheel is dead and lashed to his post. Also details of her friend, Lucy, walking in her sleep and found in the ruins of an old abbey.
Part 13: 10 Dec 1921, page 4. [Chapter VIII]. Link. “19 August” to “turn and movement.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harkness goes to the wilderness of Transylvania with legal papers for Count Dracula who lives in an old castle. The count proves to be a mystery man, changing from man to part wolf and holding a peculiar spell over the wolves. He keeps Harkness prisoner in the castle. Harkness is terrorized by vampires trying to pierce his throat and suck his blood. The story veers to correspondence between Mina, Harkness’ wife, a friend, Lucy, in which an insane man enters the story. He also is believed to be unnatural in that he eats raw birds and sucks their blood. From diary kept by Mina there is a story of a strange shipwreck in which the man at the wheel is dead and lashed to his post. Also details of her friend, Lucy, walking in her sleep and found in the ruins of an old abbey. Lucy tells of mysterious happenings while walking in her sleep and gradually grows anemic as from a loss of blood. There are two little mystifying scars in her throat which Mina believes are pin pricks. At last Mina hears from Jonathan Harker.
Part 14: 12 Dec 1921, pages 8, 10. Chapters VIII-IX. Link to page 8. Link to page 10. “Just now he spoke” to “to see me so.” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 15: 13 Dec 1921, pages 4, 6. [Chapter IX]. Link to page 4. Link to page 6. “Albemarie hotel, 31 Aug” to “up to now.” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 16: 14 Dec 1921, pages 4, 16. Chapters IX-X. Link to page 4. Link to page 16. “The attendant tells” to “have knowledge of.” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 17: 15 Dec 1921, pages 16, 17. [Chapter X]. Link to page 16. Link to page 17. “I used my knowledge” to “into the room.” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 18: 16 Dec 1921, pages 8, 14. [Chapter X]. Link to page 8. Link to page 14. “The blind was down” to “grim purpose in all” Note: The section of paper on page 14 is missing in the scan. Based on context, the missing section was “I do” to “an evil spirit.” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 19: 17 Dec 1921, pages 4, 7. Chapters X-XI. Link to page 4. Link to page 7. “Perhaps I am” to “know for certing. [sic]” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 20: 19 Dec 1921, pages 15, 22. [Chapter XI]. Link to page 15. Link to page 22. “Did anyone else” to “look for them.” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 21: 20 Dec 1921, pages 8, 10. Chapters XI-XII. Link to page 8. Link to page 10. “My heart sank” to “Now go.” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 22: 21 Dec 1921, pages 6, 8. [Chapter XII]. Link to page 6. Link to page 8. “In the hall” to “Yours faithfully, Patrick Hennessey” Synopsis: Identical to part 13.
Part 23: 22 Dec 1921, pages 6, 8. Chapters XII-XIII. Link to page 6. Link to page 8. “18 September” to “at a corpse.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harkness goes to the wilderness of Transylvania with legal papers for Count Dracula who lives in an old castle. The count proves to be a mystery man, changing from man to part wolf and holding a peculiar spell over the wolves. He keeps Harkness prisoner in the castle. Harkness is terrorized by vampires trying to pierce his throat and suck his blood. The story veers to correspondence between Mina, Harkness’ wife, a friend, Lucy, in which an insane man enters the story. He also is believed to be unnatural in that he eats raw birds and sucks their blood. From diary kept by Mina there is a story of a strange shipwreck in which the man at the wheel is dead and lashed to his post. Also details of her friend, Lucy, walking in her sleep and found in the ruins of an old abbey. Lucy tells of mysterious happenings while walking in her sleep and gradually grows anemic as from a loss of blood. There are two little mystifying scars in her throat which Mina believes are pin pricks. At last Mina hears from Jonathan Harker. Later friends of Lucy found her in a faint from a mysterious loss of blood. It became necessary to resort to blood transfusion. She was restored, but could remember nothing during her lapse into unconsciousness. Her friends are greatly mystified although an old physician indicates that he understands the cause for Lucy’s illness.
Part 24: 23 Dec 1921, page 4. [Chapter XIII]. Link. “The Professor looked” to “she really dead?” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 25: 24 Dec 1921, page 6. [Chapter XIII]. Link. “I assured him sadly” to “me quite cheerfully:” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 26: 26 Dec 1921, pages 10, 14. [Chapter XIII-XIV]. Link to page 10. Link to page 14. “Why, Mina, have” to “save much questioning.” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 27: 27 Dec 1921, page 10. [Chapter XIV]. Link. “Later.—He has” to “dark, and distrustful.” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 28: 28 Dec 1921, pages 4, 6. Chapters XIV-XV. Link to page 4. Link to page 6. “But now that” to “in this direction.” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 29 [mislabeled as 28th installment]: 29 Dec 1921, pages 8, 12. [Chapter XV]. Link to page 8. Link to page 12. “For a week” to “or all objective?” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 30 [mislabeled as 29th installment]: 30 Dec 1921, pages 8, 12. Chapters XV-XVI. Link to page 8. Link to page 14. “I waited a considerable” to “coffin was empty!” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part ??: 31 Dec 1921, page ??. [Chapter XVI]. Link to page 1. “For several minutes” to “of fair weight.” Note: The Saturday paper normally has 12 pages; the extant scan only has 10, none of which carry “The Vampire.” There is a gap in the story corresponding to a missing part, for all that the numbering continues without change. It is not clear if this part ran, or if somehow it was skipped during the serialization. The data has been filled in from the 1897 text via context. Subsequent installments will use the started part numbering.
Part 31: 2 Jan 1922, pages 14. [Chapters XVI]. Link. “When we were” to “a tempered joy.” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 32: 3 Jan 1922, pages 4, 6. Chapter XVII-XVIII [XVI-XVII]. Link to page 4. Link to page 6. “Before we moved” to “whilst I worked.” Synopsis: Identical to part 23. Note: Chapter XVII is erroneously listed as chapter XVIII.
Part 33: 4 Jan 1922, page 4. [Chapter XVII]. Link. “How good and thoughtful” to “there arter dark.” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 34: 5 Jan 1922, pages 8, 10. Chapter XVII-XVIII. Link to page 8. Link to page 10. “Having been in” to “and keep you!” Synopsis: Identical to part 23.
Part 35: 6 Jan 1922, pages 6, 10. [Chapter XVIII]. Link to page 6. Link to page 10. “When I went” to “men have been.”
Synopsis: Jonathan Harker starts out for Dracula castle in the Transylvania with legal papers for the count. He is detained in the castle and later made prisoner by the count who transforms himself apparently at will into another character. Harker discovers three women vampires who seek his blood when he is in a stupor. The scene shifts to England, both the count and Harker having arrived, the count mysteriously. The fiancée of Harker and her friends undergo strange experiences due to the presence of Dracula. The girls are attacked by mysterious personages which seem to rise from the mist. An old German physician is attempting to solve the mystery.
Part 36: 7 Jan 1922, pages 4, 5. [Chapter XVIII]. Link to page 4. Link to page 5. “In old Greece” to “of their liberties.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 37: 9 Jan 1922, pages 8, 10. Chapters XVIII-XIX. Link to page 8. Link to page 10. “I am sure that” to “on our search.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 38: 10 Jan 1922, page 4. [Chapter XIX]. Link. “The light from” to “thoughts of pain.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 39: 11 Jan 1922, pages 4, 6. [Chapter XIX]. Link to page 4. Link to page 6. “I came tiptoe” to “St. Mary’s church.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 40: 12 Jan 1922, page 8. Chapters XIX-XX. Link. “Suddenly the horror” to “which he replied.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 41: 13 Jan 1922, pages 6, 10. [Chapter XX]. Link to page 6. Link to page 10. “Well, guv’nor, I” to “I came away.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 42: 14 Jan 1922, pages 4, 5. Chapters XX-XXI. Link to page 4. Link to page 5. “Late in the day” to “us these times.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 43: 16 Jan 1922, page 6. [Chapter XXI]. Link. “I’ve been thinking that” to “became like water.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 44: 17 Jan 1922, page 6. [Chapter XXI]. Link. “He slipped through” to “Lord Godalming answered.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 45: 18 Jan 1922, page 6. [Chapter XXI]. Link. “I could not see” to “its daily course.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 46: 19 Jan 1922, page 8. Chapter XXII. Link. “3 October” to “lock for me.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 47: 20 Jan 1922, pages 8, 14. [Chapter XXII]. Link to page 8. Link to page 14. “And your police” to “stood before them:” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 48: 21 Jan 1922, page 4. Chapters XXII-XXIII. Link. “And now, my friends” to “of man’s stature.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 49: 23 Jan 1922, page 12. [Chapter XXIII]. Link. “He is experimenting” to “a palpitating wound.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 50: 24 Jan 1922, page 10. [Chapter XXIII]. Link. “The next instant” to “I must try again.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 51: 25 Jan 1922, page 6. Chapters XXIII-XXIV. Link. “4 October, morning” to “we return. Van Helsing” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 52: 26 Jan 1922, pages 8, 10. [Chapter XXIV]. Link to page 8. Link to page 10. “4 October” to “a forgotten land.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 53: 27 Jan 1922, page 14. [Chapter XXIV]. Link. “What more may he” to “still for her.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 54: 28 Jan 1922, page 4. Chapter XXIV-XXV. Link. “Later—How strange” to “take me with you.” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 55: 31 Jan 1922, pages 4, 6. [Chapter XXV]. Link to page 4. Link to page 6. “We had dinner” to “get the manuscript?” Synopsis: Identical to part 35.
Part 56: 1 Feb 1922, page 6. Chapters XXV-XXVI. Link. “’No!’ said I” to “last her answer came.”
Part 57: 2 Feb 1922, page 8. [Chapter XXVI]. Link. “I can see nothing” to “in the river.”
Part 58: 3 Feb 1922, page 6. [Chapter XXVI]. Link. “I had to agry” to “possibly investigate further.”
Part 59: 4 Feb 1922, pages 4, 8. [Chapter XXVI]. Link to page 4. Link to page 8. “Now of these two” to “Mina, if required.”
Part 60: 6 Feb 1922, page 8. Chapters XXVI-XXVII. Link. “It is a wild” to “at every pause.”
Part 61: 7 Feb 1922, page 10. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “Something whisper to me” to “unreal, and said.”
Part 62: 8 Feb 1922, page 6. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “Fear for me!” to “endured too much.”
Part 63: 9 Feb 1922, page 12. [Chapter XXVII]. Link. “‘Come!’ she said.” to “from the north.”
Part 64: 10 Feb 1922, page 8. [Chapter XXVII]. Link.
St. Louis Globe-Democrat (20 Feb 1928-10 Jul 1928)
The Globe-Democrat of St. Louis, Missouri ran Dracula as a serial in 121 parts, from 20 February to 10 July 1928. The text was the unabridged 1897 text, including Jonathan Harker’s prologue. Like other newspaper serials, they began to run an original synopsis with the 5th installment, which would continue to run through the 119th installment, though many of the synopses are identical or near-identical. As is typical, there were many typesetting or typographical errors throughout. One particularly noteworthy difference is a misprinted line inserted in part 85 (29 May 1928):
[…] lowering myself in the eyes of the lunatic:—
,izdam dDtTbb6ntoi shm shm sh
“And why with Enoch?”
Aesthetically, the most notable aspect of this serial is the lovely art deco header that ran on every segment:
Note: Many parts do not contain chapter headings. Equivalent chapters from the 1897 text are presented in parantheses.
Part 1: 20 Feb 1928, page 17. Chapter I. “How these papers” to “she said again” Link.
Part 2: 21 Feb 1928, page 18. [Chapter I]. “Oh, yes! I know” to “light his lamps.” Link.
Part 3: 22 Feb 1928, page 17. [Chapter I]. “When it grew” to “a moving circle.” Link.
Part 4: 23 Feb 1928, page 10. Chapters I-II. “At last there” to “replenished, flamed and flared.” Link.
Part 5: 24 Feb 1928, page 8. [Chapter II]. “The Count halted” to “the Law List.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of one of the least known sections of the Carpathian Mountains. He finds himself in a country ridden with superstition and queer customs he does not understand. Natives in picturesque costumes greet the train at little stations on the way until he arrives at Bistritz, where he must take a coach for the remainder of his journey. The Hungarian Count has arranged for his guest’s comfort, and after a night in an inn, Harker leaves for the castle in a coach which Dracula has sent for him. Just before the coach departs, an old woman begs him not to go, but when he makes known that his decision is final, she places a rosary around his neck to protect him from evil. Accompanied by only the driver whom the Count has dispatched, Harker sets out for the castle. Strange things happen along the route. Wolves howl and a mysterious blue light appears intermittently at the side of the road and an uncanny feeling overcomes Harker. Wolves circle the coach, but are frightened away, and at midnight Harker arrives at an ancient castle deep in the mountains. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and escorts him to a room where a table is spread for supper.
Part 6: 25 Feb 1928, page 8. [Chapter II]. “Whilst I was” to “eaten with rust.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of one of the least known sections of the Carpathian Mountains. He finds himself in a country ridden with superstition and queer customs he does not understand. At Bistritz he must take a coach for the remainder of his journey. The Hungarian Count has arranged for his guest’s comfort, and after a night in an inn, Harker leaves for the castle in a coach which Dracula has sent for him. Accompanied by only the driver whom the Count has dispatched, Harker sets out for the castle. Strange things happen along the route. Wolves howl and a mysterious blue light appears intermittently at the side of the road and an uncanny feeling overcomes Harker. Wolves circle the coach, but are frightened away, and at midnight Harker arrives at an ancient castle deep in the mountains. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and escorts him to a room where a table is spread for supper. After a pleasant supper and a refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms, considering the extraordinary evidences of wealth of the place. He finds a library, which, to his delight, contains a vast number of English books.
Part 7: 27 Feb 1928, page 16. [Chapter II]. “The estate is called” to “I am a prisoner!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 6.
Part 8: 28 Feb 1928, page 18. Chapter III. “When I found” to “so he said:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 6.
Part 9: 1 Mar 1928, page 16. [Chapter III]. “When he left” to “mere ‘modernity’ cannot kill.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 6.
Part 10: 2 Mar 1928, page 8. [Chapter III]. “Later: the Morning of 16 May” to “work to be done.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of one of the least known sections of the Carpathian Mountains. He finds himself in a country ridden with superstition and queer customs he does not understand. At Bistritz he must take a coach for the remainder of his journey. The Hungarian Count has arranged for his guest’s comfort, and after a night in an inn, Harker leaves for the castle in a coach which Dracula has sent for him. Accompanied by only the driver whom the Count has dispatched, Harker sets out for the castle. Strange things happen along the route. Wolves howl and a mysterious blue light appears intermittently at the side of the road and an uncanny feeling overcomes Harker. Wolves circle the coach, but are frightened away, and at midnight Harker arrives at an ancient castle deep in the mountains. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and escorts him to a room where a table is spread for supper. After a pleasant supper and a refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms, considering the extraordinary evidences of wealth of the place. He finds a library, which, to his delight, contains a vast number of English books. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep.
Part 11: 3 Mar 1928, page 9. Chapters III-IV. “Are we to have” to “new scheme of villainy.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 10.
Part 12: 5 Mar 1928, page 11. [Chapter IV]. “17 June” to “of all Mina!” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of one of the least known sections of the Carpathian Mountains. He finds himself in a country ridden with superstition and queer customs he does not understand. At Bistritz he must take a coach for the remainder of his journey. The Hungarian Count has arranged for his guest’s comfort, and after a night in an inn, Harker leaves for the castle in a coach which Dracula has sent for him. Accompanied by only the driver whom the Count has dispatched, Harker sets out for the castle. Strange things happen along the route. Wolves howl and a mysterious blue light appears intermittently at the side of the road and an uncanny feeling overcomes Harker. Wolves circle the coach, but are frightened away, and at midnight Harker arrives at an ancient castle deep in the mountains. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and escorts him to a room where a table is spread for supper. After a pleasant supper and a refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms, considering the extraordinary evidences of wealth of the place. He finds a library, which, to his delight, contains a vast number of English books. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses, and in the quarters occupied by the Count encounters three beautiful women, who have the same strangeness about them he has observed in the Count. They quarrel over which shall be permitted to kiss him. Later he retires to his own chambers and writes a series of letters to his friends in England, describing his experiences. One, written in shorthand, was discovered by the Count, who held it over the flame until it was consumed. Harker retire [sic], and when he awakened he found all his notes, letters and memoranda has been destroyed.
Part 13: 6 Mar 1928, page 18. [Chapter IV]. “Same day, late” to “not go tonight?” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of one of the least known sections of the Carpathian Mountains. He finds himself in a country ridden with superstition and queer customs he does not understand. At Bistritz he must take a coach for the remainder of his journey. The Hungarian Count has arranged for his guest’s comfort, and after a night in an inn, Harker leaves for the castle in a coach which Dracula has sent for him. Accompanied by only the driver whom the Count has dispatched, Harker sets out for the castle. Strange things happen along the route. Wolves howl and a mysterious blue light appears intermittently at the side of the road and an uncanny feeling overcomes Harker. Wolves circle the coach, but are frightened away, and at midnight Harker arrives at an ancient castle deep in the mountains. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and escorts him to a room where a table is spread for supper. After a pleasant supper and a refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms, considering the extraordinary evidences of wealth of the place. He finds a library, which, to his delight, contains a vast number of English books. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses, and in the quarters occupied by the Count encounters three beautiful women, who have the same strangeness about them he has observed in the Count. They quarrel over which shall be permitted to kiss him. Later he retires to his own chambers and writes a series of letters to his friends in England, describing his experiences. One, written in shorthand, was discovered by the Count, who held it over the flame until it was consumed. Harker retire [sic], and when he awakened he found all his notes, letters and memoranda has been destroyed. Following a restless night, Harker gets up, to find his door fastened on the outside. From his window he sees a figure coming out of the Count’s room wearing his clothes that he wore the night he came to the castle. He hears a woman’s scream, only to see her being devoured by howling wolves. Harker decides to take a chance and crawl in through the Count’s window.
Part 14: 7 Mar 1928, page 10. [Chapter IV]. “Because, dear sir” to “me more closely.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of the Carpathian Mountains. At Bistritz he must take a coach for the remainder of his journey. The Hungarian Count has arranged for his guest’s comfort, and after a night in an inn, Harker leaves for the castle in a coach which Dracula has sent for him. Accompanied by only the driver whom the Count has dispatched, Harker sets out for the castle. Strange things happen along the route. Wolves howl and a mysterious blue light appears intermittently at the side of the road and an uncanny feeling overcomes Harker. Wolves circle the coach, but are frightened away, and at midnight Harker arrives at an ancient castle deep in the mountains. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and escorts him to a room where a table is spread for supper. After a pleasant supper and a refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms, considering the extraordinary evidences of wealth of the place. He finds a library, which, to his delight, contains a vast number of English books. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses, and in the quarters occupied by the Count encounters three beautiful women, who have the same strangeness about them he has observed in the Count. They quarrel over which shall be permitted to kiss him. Later he retires to his own chambers and writes a series of letters to his friends in England, describing his experiences. One, written in shorthand, was discovered by the Count, who held it over the flame until it was consumed. Harker retired, and when he awakened he found all his notes, letters and memoranda has been destroyed. Following a restless night, Harker gets up, to find his door fastened on the outside. From his window he sees a figure coming out of the Count’s room wearing his clothes that he wore the night he came to the castle. He hears a woman’s scream, only to see her being devoured by howling wolves. The next day he crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a long passage and finds the Count, with glassy eyes and apparently dead. He looks so horrid that Harker hurries back to his own room. That night the Count comes back and tells him he is to leave for England in the morning.
Part 15: 8 Mar 1928, page 19. Chapters IV-V. “As I write” to “have your sympathy.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of the Carpathian Mountains. At Bistriz he must take a coach for the remainder of his journey. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and after a pleasant supper and refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses, and in the quarters occupied by the Count encounters three beautiful women, who have the same strangeness about them he has observed in the Count. They quarrel over which shall be permitted to kiss him. Later he retires to his own chambers and writes a series of letters to his friends in England, describing his experiences. One, written in shorthand, was discovered by the Count, who held it over the flame until it was consumed. Harker retired, and when he awakened he found all his notes, letters and memoranda has been destroyed. Following a restless night, Harker gets up, to find his door fastened on the outside. From his window he sees a figure coming out of the Count’s room wearing his clothes that he wore the night he came to the castle. He hears a woman’s scream, only to see her being devoured by howling wolves. The next morning he crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Harker hurries back to his room and that night the Count tells him he may leave the following morning. Harker asks him if he may leave that same night and the Count very suavely consents. At the front door he hears the angry howling of wolves outside and decides to stay until the next day. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blocks the iron door shut and he is locked in.
Part 16: 9 Mar 1928, page 8. [Chapter V]. “My dear, it never” to “I had been free:” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of the Carpathian Mountains. At Bistritz he must take a coach for the remainder of his journey. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and after a pleasant supper and refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses, and in the quarters occupied by the Count encounters three beautiful women, who have the same strangeness about them he has observed in the Count. They quarrel over which shall be permitted to kiss him. Later he retires to his own chambers and writes a series of letters to his friends in England, describing his experiences. One, written in shorthand, was discovered by the Count, who held it over the flame until it was consumed. Following a restless night, Harker gets up, to find his door fastened on the outside. From his window he sees a figure coming out of the Count’s room wearing his clothes that he wore the night he came to the castle. He hears a woman’s scream, only to see her being devoured by howling wolves. The next morning he crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Harker hurries back to his room and that night the Count tells him he may leave the following morning. Harker asks him if he may leave that same night and the Count very suavely consents. At the front door he hears the angry howling of wolves outside and decides to stay until the next day. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blocks the iron door shut and he is locked in.
Part 17: 10 Mar 1928, page 10. [Chapter V]. “Lucy, you are” to “your ears tingle. ART.” Link. Synosis: Identical to part 16.
Part 18: 12 Mar 1928, page 8. Chapter VI. “24 July, Whitby” to “and putting it down.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 16.
Part 19: 13 Mar 1928, page 20. [Chapter VI]. “It be all fool” to “a whole month.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 16.
Part 20: 14 Mar 1928, page 19. [Chapter VI]. “The same day.” to “the morning early.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 16.
Part 21: 15 Mar 1928, page 18. [Chapter VI]. “18 July.” to “will all last.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 16.
Part 22: 16 Mar 1928, page 10. [Chapter VI]. “3 August.” to “this time tomorrow.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 16.
Part 23: 17 Mar 1928, page 10. Chapter VII. “Cutting from ‘The Dailygraph,’” to “Tate Hill pier.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 16.
Part 24: 19 Mar 1928, page 18. [Chapter VII]. “There was, of course” to “not speak out.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 16.
Part 25: 20 Mar 1928, page 10. [Chapter VII]. “On 14 July” to “signal for help . . . ” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of the Carpathian Mountains. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and after a pleasant supper and refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses, and in the quarters occupied by the Count encounters three beautiful women, who have the same strangeness about them he has observed in the Count. They quarrel over which shall be permitted to kiss him. Later he retires to his own chambers and writes a series of letters to his friends in England, describing his experiences. One, written in shorthand, was discovered by the Count, who held it over the flame until it was consumed. The next morning he crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Harker hurries back to his room and that night the Count tells him he may leave the following morning. Harker asks him if he may leave that same night and the Count very suavely consents. At the front door he hears the angry howling of wolves outside and decides to stay until the next day. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blocks the iron door shut and he is locked in.
Part 26: 21 Mar 1928, page 8. [Chapter VII]. “It is nearly all” to “sleep-walking then.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of the Carpathian Mountains. Admitted through a ponderous iron door, he is greeted by a tall old man, clad in somber black, who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count bids him welcome and after a pleasant supper and refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses, and in the quarters occupied by the Count encounters three beautiful women, who have the same strangeness about them he has observed in the Count. They quarrel over which shall be permitted to kiss him. Later he retires to his own chambers and writes a series of letters to his friends in England, describing his experiences. One, written in shorthand, was discovered by the Count, who held it over the flame until it was consumed. The next morning he crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Harker hurries back to his room and that night the Count tells him he may leave the following morning. Harker asks him if he may leave that same night and the Count very suavely consents. At the front door he hears the angry howling of wolves outside and decides to stay until the next day. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blocks the iron door shut and he is locked in. Count Dracula has himself sent to England in a wooden box containing fresh clay. He travels in one, and when the rest of the boxes, looking very much like coffins, are invoiced as “clay.”
Part 27: 22 Mar 1928, page 12. Chapter VIII. “Same day 11 o’clock p. m.” to “living thing about.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 26.
Part 28: 23 Mar 1928, page 20. [Chapter VIII]. “When I bent” to “it from the cold.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 26.
Part 29: 24 Mar 1928, page 8. [Chapter VIII]. “I did not wake” to “very happy evening together.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 26.
Part 30: 26 Mar 1928, page 6. [Chapter VIII]. “19 August” to “the deserted house.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, leaves Munich by train, bound for the castle of Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman, in the wilds of the Carpathian Mountains. The Count bids him welcome and after a pleasant supper and refreshing sleep, Harker wanders about his rooms. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner until he is ready to release him, decides to make the best of his ill fortune. Dracula, however, permits him to write letters to his friends, but warns him they must be of a business nature; he also cautions him not to wander from his rooms, lest he encounter things that would make it impossible for him to sleep. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses, and in the quarters occupied by the Count encounters three beautiful women, who have the same strangeness about them he has observed in the Count. They quarrel over which shall be permitted to kiss him. Later he retires to his own chambers and writes a series of letters to his friends in England, describing his experiences. One, written in shorthand, was discovered by the Count, who held it over the flame until it was consumed. The next morning he crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Harker hurries back to his room and that night the Count tells him he may leave the following morning. Harker asks him if he may leave that same night and the Count very suavely consents. At the front door he hears the angry howling of wolves outside and decides to stay until the next day. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blocks the iron door shut and he is locked in. Count Dracula has himself sent to England in a wooden box containing fresh clay. He travels in one, and when the rest of the boxes, looking very much like coffins, are invoiced as “clay.” A Russian schooner, the Demeter, docks in London without a crew and the captain dead, tied to the helm.
Part 31: 27 Mar 1928, page 20. Chapters VIII-IX. “I ran back” to “but the year,” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 30.
Part 32: 28 Mar 1928, page 18. [Chapter IX]. “Well, my dear” to “an excuse and try.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 30.
Part 33: 29 Mar 1928, page 20. [Chapter IX]. “25 August” to “I am quite free.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, visits Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner, who cations him not to wander from his rooms. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses. The next morning Harker crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blows the iron door shut and he is locked in. Count Dracula has himself sent to England in a wooden box containing fresh clay. He travels in one, and when the rest of the boxes, looking very much like coffins, are invoiced as “clay.” A Russian schooner, the Demeter, docks in London without a crew and the captain dead, tied to the helm. The scene shifts to a London hospital, where Dr. Seward is watching a maniac called Renfield. This patient has such obsessions as feeding flies to spiders, spiders to birds, birds to a cat and then finally eating the cat himself.
Part 34: 30 Mar 1928, page 18. [Chapter IX]. “I could easily” to “and suavely said:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 33.
Part 35: 31 Mar 1928, page 10. [Chapter IX]. “My dear young” to “till have seen you.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 33.
Part 36: 2 Apr 1928, page 18. Chapter X. “6 September.” to “not the last!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 33.
Part 37: 3 Apr 1928, page 14. [Chapter X]. “What shall I do?” to “sleep easy hereafter!” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, visits Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner, who cations him not to wander from his rooms. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses. The next morning Harker crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blows the iron door shut and he is locked in. Count Dracula has himself sent to England in a wooden box containing fresh clay. He travels in one, and when the rest of the boxes, looking very much like coffins, are invoiced as “clay.” A Russian schooner, the Demeter, docks in London without a crew and the captain dead, tied to the helm. The scene shifts to a London hospital, where Dr. Seward is watching a maniac called Renfield. This patient has such obsessions as feeding flies to spiders, spiders to birds, birds to a cat and then finally eating the cat himself. Miss Mina Murray, Harker’s fiancée, receives word that he is safe but sick in a hospital. She leaves at once to see him. Lucy Westenra, with whom Mina had been living, walks in her sleep every night. One night Mina followed her and found her unconscious on a stone bench on a hill some distance from the house. When Mina approached a dark figure disappeared in the darkness. Lucy’s throat seemed to be pricked by a pin.
Part 38: 4 Apr 1928, page 24. [Chapter X]. “8 September” to “woman he loves.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 37.
Part 39: 5 Apr 1928, page 21. [Chapter X]. “The Professor watched” to “like unshed tears.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 37.
Part 40: 6 Apr 1928, page 13. Chapter XI. “12 September” to “my own brain.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 37.
Part 41: 7 Apr 1928, page 13. [Chapter XI]. “17 September” to “got into his ‘ead.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 37.
Part 42: 9 Apr 1928, page 17. [Chapter XI]. “Now, Mr. Bilder” to “escapade at the zoo.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 33. (Possibly in error?)
Part 43: 10 Apr 1928, page 14. [Chapter XI]. “17 September” to “for a while.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, visits Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner, who cations him not to wander from his rooms. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses. The next morning Harker crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blows the iron door shut and he is locked in. Count Dracula has himself sent to England in a wooden box containing fresh clay. He travels in one, and when the rest of the boxes, looking very much like coffins, are invoiced as “clay.” A Russian schooner, the Demeter, docks in London without a crew and the captain dead, tied to the helm. The scene shifts to a London hospital, where Dr. Seward is watching a maniac called Renfield. This patient has such obsessions as feeding flies to spiders, spiders to birds, birds to a cat and then finally eating the cat himself. Miss Mina Murray, Harker’s fiancée, receives word that he is safe but sick in a hospital. She leaves at once to see him. Lucy Westenra, with whom Mina had been living, walks in her sleep every night. One night Mina followed her and found her unconscious on a stone bench on a hill some distance from the house. When Mina approached a dark figure disappeared in the darkness. Lucy’s throat seemed to be pricked by a pin. Lucy, who is engaged to Arthur Holmwood, gets a very peculiar disease, which causes her mother and fiancé to become alarmed over her condition. Dr. Seward and a noted specialist are summoned to look at her, while Lucy grows steadily weaker. A blood transfusion is sorted to and Lucy regains some of her strength. The next morning she is again very pale and weak. Dr. Van Helsing, the specialist, is alarmed at her relapse and performs another transfusion.
Part 44: 11 Apr 1928, page 15. Chapters XI-XII. “The time did not” to “he said to me:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 43.
Part 45: 12 Apr 1928, page 20. [Chapter XII]. “I can do this” to “when we want them.” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, visits Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman. Harker, finding he is to be Count Dracula’s prisoner, who cations him not to wander from his rooms. Disregarding the warning not to wander about the castle, Harker begins exploring its gloomy recesses. The next morning Harker crawls through the Count’s window and finds the room empty. He goes down a narrow passage and finds there a hideous monster lying over a box with glassy eyes, looking very much like the Count. Returning to his room he overhears the three women whispering that tomorrow his end will come. The next morning Harker goes down the passage again. The wind blows the iron door shut and he is locked in. Count Dracula has himself sent to England in a wooden box containing fresh clay. He travels in one, and when the rest of the boxes, looking very much like coffins, are invoiced as “clay.” A Russian schooner, the Demeter, docks in London without a crew and the captain dead, tied to the helm. The scene shifts to a London hospital, where Dr. Seward is watching a maniac called Renfield. This patient has such obsessions as feeding flies to spiders, spiders to birds, birds to a cat and then finally eating the cat himself. Miss Mina Murray, Harker’s fiancée, receives word that he is safe but sick in a hospital. She leaves at once to see him. Lucy Westenra, with whom Mina had been living, walks in her sleep every night. One night Mina followed her and found her unconscious on a stone bench on a hill some distance from the house. When Mina approached a dark figure disappeared in the darkness. Lucy’s throat seemed to be pricked by a pin. Lucy, who is engaged to Arthur Holmwood, gets a very peculiar disease, which causes her mother and fiancé to become alarmed over her condition. Dr. Seward and a noted specialist are summoned to look at her, while Lucy grows steadily weaker. A blood transfusion is sorted to and Lucy regains some of her strength. The next morning she is again very pale and weak. Dr. Van Helsing, the specialist, is alarmed at her relapse and performs another transfusion. A few days later one of the gray wolves escapes from the Zoo. The only clue the keeper offers is that a tall, thin man with a hooked nose and red eyes was seen looking at the wolf the day before.
Part 46: 13 Apr 1928, page 12. [Chapter XII]. “Once again we” to “I’ll do it.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 45.
Part 47: 14 Apr 1928, page 12. [Chapter XII]. “When she woke late” to “going on well.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 45.
Part 48: 16 Apr 1928, page 16. [Chapter XII]. “The two carriers” to “sat watching her.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 45.
Part 49: 17 Apr 1928, page 20. [Chapter XII]. “Presently she woke” to “Wait and see.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 45.
Part 50: 18 Apr 1928, page 20. Chapter XIII. “The funeral was” to “bedside and said:” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, visits Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman. On his arrival he is warned not to wander about the castle, but, disregarding this warning, he begins exploring its gloomy recesses, where he encounters many horrible things. When we hear of Dracula again he has himself shipped to England in one of many boxes containing clay, which he has invoiced as “clay.” The scene shifts to a London hospital, where Dr. Seward is watching a maniac called Renfield, who has queer obsessions, such as eating spiders and flies. Harker later escapes from Dracula’s castle, but, due to the horrors he has gone through, he suffers a long siege of illness. His fiancée, Mina Murray, goes to him and they are married. Lucy Westenra, a friend of Mina’s and engaged to Arthur Homewood, had taken to sleep walking. One night she walked too far and upon her return it was found she had been bitten by a vampire. Two little red teeth marks were on her throat. Dr. Seward called in Dr. Van Helsing, a noted specialist, and, after several blood transfusions. Lucy dies, but Van Helsing declares instead of being the end it is only the beginning.
Part 51: 19 Apr 1928, page 14. [Chapter XIII]. “You need not” to “Something now?’ ‘Certainly.’” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 50.
Part 52: 20 Apr 1928, page 12. [Chapter XIII]. “You know that” to “what it may be.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 50.
Part 53: 21 Apr 1928, page 20. [Chapter XIII]. “I did not like” to “by the ‘bloofer lady.’” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 50.
Part 54: 23 Apr 1928, page 17. Chapter XIV. “23 September.” to “‘Dr. Van Helsing.’” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 50.
Part 55: 24 Apr 1928, page 13. [Chapter XIV]. “I rose and bowed” to “such infinite sweetness:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 50.
Part 56: 25 Apr 1928, page 14. [Chapter XIV]. “My life is a” to “laughed as he said:” Link. Synopsis: Jonathan Harker, a Londoner, visits Count Dracula, a Transylvanian nobleman. On his arrival he is warned not to wander about the castle, but, disregarding this warning, he begins exploring its gloomy recesses, where he encounters many horrible things. When we hear of Dracula again he has himself shipped to England in one of many boxes containing clay, which he has invoiced as “clay.” The scene shifts to a London hospital, where Dr. Seward is watching a maniac called Renfield, who has queer obsessions, such as eating spiders and flies. Harker later escapes from Dracula’s castle, but, due to the horrors he has gone through, he suffers a long siege of illness. His fiancée, Mina Murray, goes to him and they are married. Lucy Westenra, a friend of Mina’s and engaged to Arthur Homewood, had taken to sleep walking. One night she walked too far and upon her return it was found she had been bitten by a vampire. Two little red teeth marks were on her throat. Dr. Seward called in Dr. Van Helsing, a noted specialist, and, after several blood transfusions. Lucy dies, but Van Helsing declares instead of being the end it is only the beginning. Dr. Van Helsing, after Lucy’s death, goes through her personal belongings and finds letters from Mina Harker, which causes him to think she can help solve some of the mysteries which have begun to affect so many people. He visits the Harkers.
Part 57: 26 Apr 1928, page 20. [Chapter XIV]. “So! You are physiognomist.” to “waste of blood.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 58: 27 Apr 1928, page 10. [Chapter XIV]. “And how the blood” to “far, far worse.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 59: 28 Apr 1928, page 18. Chapters XIV-XV. “In God’s name” to “do?’ I asked.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 60: 30 Apr 1928, page 16. [Chapter XV]. “To open the coffin.” to “on another expedition.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 61: 1 May 1928, page 14. [Chapter XV]. “27 September.” to “snap, and said:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 62: 2 May 1928, page 18. [Chapter XV]. “I have been” to “Quincey Morris, laconically.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 63: 3 May 1928, page 10. Chapters XV-XVI. “‘Oh,’ said the” to “in and recoiled.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 64: 4 May 1928, page 20. [Chapter XVI]. “The coffin was empty!” to “would have fallen.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 65: 5 May 1928, page 18. [Chapter XVI]. “When Lucy—I” to “Van Helsing said:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 66: 7 May 1928, page 8. [Chapter XVI]. “Before we do” to “Said to him:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 67: 8 May 1928, page 20. Chapters XVI-XVII. “And now, my child,” to “the wide world!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 68: 9 May 1928, page 20. [Chapter XVII]. “Why not?” I asked,” to “ears and listened.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 69: 10 May 1928, page 20. [Chapter XVII]. “When the terrible” to “case of need.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 70: 11 May 1928, page 14. [Chapter XVII]. “20 September” to “this, Mrs. Harker?” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 71: 12 May 1928, page 12. [Chapter XVII]. “I nodded, and” to “himself a friend!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 72: 14 May 1928, page 10. Chapter XVIII. “20 September” to “to me, saying:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 73: 15 May 1928, page 14. [Chapter XVIII]. “Ah, friend John” to “What say you?” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 74: 16 May 1928, page 18. [Chapter XVIII]. “Whilst he was” to “with our eyes.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 75: 17 May 1928, page 21. [Chapter XVIII]. “Thus when we” to “asked Lord Goldaming [sic].” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 76: 18 May 1928, page 1. [Chapter XVIII]. “Me too?” said” to “Professor went on:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 77: 19 May 1928, page 18. Chapters XVIII-XIX. “Come, sir, bethink” to “Then he spoke:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 78: 21 May 1928, page 18. [Chapter XIX]. “My friends, we” to “alive with rats.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 79: 22 May 1928, page 20. [Chapter XIX]. “For a moment” to “to disturb her.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 80: 23 May 1928, page 21. [Chapter XIX]. “October 1, later” to “the terrible excitement.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 81: 24 May 1928, page 14. [Chapter XIX]. “Last night I” to “slept at all.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 82: 25 May 1928, page 21. Chapters XIX-XX. “2 October 10 p. m.” to “of our decision.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 83: 26 May 1928, page 18. [Chapter XX]. “2 October, evening” to “in Sackville street.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 84: 28 May 1928, page 11. [Chapter XX]. “The gentleman who” to “ineffably benign superiority.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 85: 29 May 1928, page 8. [Chapter XX]. “Oh no! Far” to “and said, apologetically:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 86: 30 May 1928, page 21. [Chapter XX]. “Forgive me, doctor;” to “go at once. . . .” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 87: 31 May 1928, page 11. Chapter XXI. “3 October.” to “forget, and said:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 88: 1 Jun 1928, page 22. [Chapter XXI]. “I must not” to “my own heart.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 89: 2 Jun 1928, page 7. [Chapter XXI]. “Outside the Harkers’” to “with wonderful calmness:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 90: 4 Jun 1928, page 16. [Chapter XXI]. “Do not fear” to “thoughts, she began:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 91: 5 Jun 1928, page 21. Chapters XXI-XXII. “I took the” to “neck were broken.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 92: 6 Jun 1928, page 8. [Chapter XXII]. “Dr. Seward asked” to “sa? is it not?” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 93: 7 Jun 1928, page 20. [Chapter XXII]. “Then let us” to “tears, said hoarsely:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 94: 8 Jun 1928, page 14. [Chapter XXII]. “No, I shall” to “let you in.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 95: 9 Jun 1928, page 6. Chapters XXII-XXIII. “The advice is” to “to defeat him!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 96: 11 Jun 1928, page 20. [Chapter XXIII]. “He has all” to “alone after sunset.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 97: 12 Jun 1928, page 15. [Chapter XXIII]. “He will be” to “when he said:” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 98: 13 Jun 1928, page 13. [Chapter XXIII]. “Let us go” to “go to bed.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 99: 14 Jun 1928, page 19. [Chapter XXIII]. “3-4 October” to “her shorthand notes.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 100: 15 Jun 1928, page 21. Chapters XXIII-XXIV. “I do not” to “after their investigations.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 101: 16 Jun 1928, page 17. [Chapter XXIV]. “The day is running” to “our own way.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 102: 18 Jun 1928, page 16. [Chapter XXIV]. “When Dr. Van Helsing” to “from me. Perhaps . . . ” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 103: 19 Jun 1928, page 10. [Chapter XXIV]. “My surmise was” to “another of us.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 104: 20 Jun 1928, page 12. [Chapter XXIV]. “‘Of course!’ answered” to “hope he did.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 105: 21 Jun 1928, page 18. Chapters XXIV-XXV. “‘Good boy.’ said” to “his said solemnly:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 106: 22 Jun 1928, page 22. [Chapter XXV]. “I’m only a” to “of the wire.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 107: 23 Jun 1928, page 6. [Chapter XXV]. “We had dinner” to “ice-cold hand!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 108: 25 Jun 1928, page 17. [Chapter XXV]. “Van Helsing and I” to “the time, however.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 109: 26 Jun 1928, page 8. [Chapter XXV]. “When the three” to “he went on:—” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 110: 27 Jun 1928, page 19. Chapters XXV-XXVI. “Now you shall” to “blowing upon me.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 111: 28 Jun 1928, page 21. [Chapter XXVI]. “Here she stopped.” to “we came away.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 112: 29 Jun 1928, page 13. [Chapter XXVI]. “We found Hildesheim” to “The Count wanted isolation.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 113: 30 Jun 1928, page 17. [Chapter XXVI]. “My surmise is” to “hands of oGd! [sic]” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 114: 2 Jul 1928, page 18. [Chapter XXVI]. “Later—Oh” to “Mina and me.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 115: 3 Jul 1928, page 8. [Chapter XXVI]. “2 November, morning” to “always for him.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 116: 4 Jul 1928, page 8. Chapter XXVII. “1 November” to “more of use.” Link. Synopsis: N/A
Part 117: 5 Jul 1928, page 9. [Chapter XXVII]. “So we came” to “soul was safe!” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 118: 6 Jul 1928, page 10. [Chapter XXVII]. “Presently the horses” to “how it may be . . .” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 119: 7 Jul 1928, page 10. [Chapter XXVII]. “5 November, afternoon” to “to meet us.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 120: 9 Jul 1928, page 16. [Chapter XXVII]. “6 November” to “of our presence.” Link. Synopsis: Identical to part 56.
Part 121: 10 Jul 1928, page 10. [Chapter XXVII]. “All at once” to “JONAHTAN [sic] HARKER. THE END.” Link. Synopsis: N/A
Thanks to Dave Goudsward for his help and resources.
Thanks to Hans Corneel de Roos for a recommended addition.
The dream originally took place in New England, in a cemetery there. For some reason, Lovecraft decided to relocate it to Florida, which makes NO sense to me. Florida doesn’t have a history of ancient cemeteries stretching back hundreds of years. Also, Florida is barely above ocean level! —Lisa Shea, “Author’s Note” in “The Statement of Randolph Carter Twisted” (2024)
The only topographical features of H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Statement of Randolph Carter” are the “Gainsville pike” and the “Big Cypress Swamp.” This has led many to believe the story takes place in Florida, near the city of Gainesville. It is possible that Lovecraft actually intended the location to be Georgia—his friend Samuel Loveman, who appeared in his dream and is depicted as Harley Warren, was stationed at Camp Gordon, only about 40 miles from Gainesville, GA.
I don’t point this out to nitpick, but to applaud. Lisa Shea’s author’s note gives evidence she really thought about Lovecraft’s story. Looked at how he framed it, what he did and did not achieve in a narrative sense. There have been many efforts to revise, revisit, revamp, and rewrite Lovecraft’s stories, from “His Mouth Will Taste Of Wormwood” (1990) by Poppy Z. Brite to “The Ballad of Black Tom” (2016) by Victor LaValle to “Kanye West—Reanimator” (2015) by Joshua Chaplinsky. Like old folktales, there is room for infinite variation. The first version of a story isn’t necessarily the best one, even if it’s the one repeated most often.
Shea’s “twist” to “The Statement of Randolph Carter” is an update to setting, characters, and attitude. No ambiguous Southern swamp in the 1910s and military telephones with long wires; this is set in Massachusetts in the 21st century with smartphones. The characters are younger, but their relationship is less ambiguous. The shift in setting and character requires a few tweaks in the plot; but the end result is tight. Nothing superfluous, no attempts to cram in a random “fhtagn!” where it isn’t needed. True to the spirit of Lovecraft’s original, but adapted to the current syntax.
There’s even a nice little flourish at the end. A little twist of the knife that Lovecraft didn’t do.
As a twisted tale, it works. What works best about it, however, might be the approach. Instead of approach Lovecraft’s tales as canon, they are approached as examples to study and learn from. Jumping-off points rather than fixed stars in the firmament.
If you read the original “The Statement of Randolph Carter” by Lovecraft, how would you change the scenes so they were more scary to you? —Lisa Shea, “Author’s Note” in “The Statement of Randolph Carter Twisted” (2024)
An einem seiner vielen ereignislosen, langweiligen Abenden beschließt der junge Jacop O’Damsel, freiberuflicher Nerd, sich besoffen in einem Hinterhof schlafen zu legen. Blöd, wenn ausgerechnet da plötzlich ein intergalaktischer Dimensionsschlürfer auftaucht. Bevor Jacop überhaupt die Chance bekommt, einen Kater zu haben, nimmt in das Ding auch schon einfach so mit.
Jacop wacht in Xoth auf, einer fremden Welt voller abartiger Kreaturen – oder solite man sagen: geradezu unsagbar grauenhaft? Auf jeden Fall sind da noch die »Humanisten«, eine Bande von stinkigen Fischköpfen, die Menschen kultarig verehren, und die Jacop angeblich für eine Mission brauchen. Und gäbe es niche genug an Wahnsinn zu verkraften, setzt der Bürgermeister der Stadt, der mächtige Cthulhu, seine besten Killer auf den Fall an. Den großen Alten sei Dank gibt es da noch Yen Niggurath, ein hübisches Ziegenmädchen, Des Gefallen an dem hilflosen Menschlein findet. Zusammen mit ihr get Jacop dem »Ordus Humanus« auf den Grund, Dennis – bei Cthulhus fettem Arsch! – er hat keine Lust, ständig um sein Leben zu rennen.
Vor dem Hintergrund von H. P. Lovecrafts Cthulhu Mythos entwirft Anna-Maria Jung eine Geschichte voller Monster, Nerds, Monsternerds und Nerd monster. Und der Mann aus der Angell Street kommt auch drin vor.
On one of his many uneventful, boring evenings, young Jacop O’Damsel, a freelance nerd, decides to get drunk and sleep in a backyard. Too bad when an intergalactic dimensional shambler suddenly turns up. Before Jacop even gets the chance to have a hangover, the thing takes him with it.
Jacop wakes up in Xoth, a strange world full of disgusting creatures – or should we say, downright unspeakably horrible? In any case, there are also the “Humanists”, a gang of smelly fishheads who worship humans in a cult-like manner and who supposedly need Jacop for a mission. And when there isn’t enough madness to deal with, the mayor of the city, the mighty Cthulhu, sets his best killers on the case. Thank the Great Old Ones, there is also Yen Niggurath, a pretty goat girl who takes a liking to the helpless little human. Together with her, Jacop gets to the bottom of the “Ordus Humanus”, Dennis – by Cthulhu’s fat ass! – he doesn’t want to constantly run for his life.
Against the backdrop of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, Anna-Maria Jung creates a story full of monsters, nerds, monster nerds and nerd monsters. And the man from Angell Street appears in it too.
Back cover copy, 2010 edition
English translation
Xoth! Die unaussprechlichen Stadt (“Xoth! The unspeakable City!”) is a 2007 graphic written and drawn by Anna-Maria Jung ( https://www.annamariajung.com/ ), an Austrian illustrator with a penchant for monsters and nerds. The publication history is a little difficult to piece out, because part of the history has been eaten by the web, but the Internet Archive maintains a copy of (most) of the old website, which offers some background:
Xoth! ist ein 70 seitiges Farbcomic, das auf dem “Cthulhu-Mythos” von Howard Philips Lovecraft beruht.
Die Idee für Xoth! kam Anna-Maria Jung 2006 in New York, als sie ein Buch zu H.P. Lovecrafts Cthulhu Mythos entdeckte. Beruhend auf diesem Mythos entstand die Idee, eine einzige Heimatwelt für Lovecrafts Kreaturen zu kreieren.
Anna-Maria diplomierte 2007 mit einer Arbeit über »Lovecraft in den Medien«. Diese Diplomarbeit wurde eine konzeptuelle Vorarbeit für ihren Comic sie erforschte Lovecrafts Vergangenheit, den gesamten Mythos und seine Einflüsse auf die Medienwelt. Auf Wunsch kann man diese Diplomarbeit bei mir als PDF kostenlos bestellen.
Als praktischen Teil entwickelte sie die Charaktere, Hintergründe, Gegenstände, Zusammenhänge, Beziehungen und Verhältnisse einer Welt, die sie, inspiriert von Sci-Fi Autor Lin Carter, Xoth taufte.
Xoth! is a 70-page color comic based on the “Cthulhu Mythos” by Howard Philips Lovecraft.
Anna-Maria Jung came up with the idea for Xoth! in 2006 in New York when she discovered a book about HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Based on this myth, the idea of creating a single home world for Lovecraft’s creatures was born.
Anna-Maria graduated in 2007 with a thesis on “Lovecraft in the Media.” This thesis was a conceptual preparatory work for her comic; she researched Lovecraft’s past, the entire myth and his influence on the media world. If you wish, you can order this thesis from me free of charge as a PDF.
As a practical part, she developed the characters, backgrounds, objects, contexts, relationships and conditions of a world that she named Xoth, inspired by sci-fi author Lin Carter.
Was ist Xoth? (Deutsche)
What is Xoth? (English)
Lin Carter’s Mythos fiction was published in The Xothic Legend Cycle by Chaosium; Xoth was the star from which Cthulhu originated, and Carter’s fiction dealt with Cthulhu’s progeny. Cthulhu himself appears in Jung’s Xoth! as the mayor of the city.
Unfortunately, with the death of early web, stuff like Jacop O’Damsel’s MySpace page and the English translation of some of the comic pages are likely sadly gone forever.
A 2008 “exclusive preview” of Xoth for the Internationaler Comic Salon Erlangen 2008, where the book presumably premiered; Jung also wrote and drew a spin-off comic titled “Marie Jenkins Brown: Sechs ist Besser als zwei” (“Mary Jenkins Brown: Six Is Better Than Two”) published in Comicgate Magazin #3 (2008). Both Xoth! and the Marie Jenkins Brown spin-off were collected and published in the Xoth! Die unaussprechliche Stadt Extended Edition (2010, Zwerchfell Verlag).
Absinthe and Dimensional Shamblers don’t mix.
There is a slightly cartoonish, early-2000s webcomic vibe to Jung’s art style, which might make some folks to confuse Xoth! for a comic intended for kids at first glance, but really this is aimed at a more mature audiences, with references to alcohol and sex, and some brief cartoon nudity that is designed to amuse rather than titillate. It’s a fun takeoff of the Mythos for grown ups, especially grownups who were monster enthusiasts in their youth.
Fans will appreciate the many references to Lovecraft’s Mythos (and the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game) sprinkled throughout the story. It’s definitely played for humor more than horror, reminiscent of works like The Unspeakable Vault (of Doom!), but with more narrative and focus on characters. This is really the story of Jacop O’Damsel, the sole human in the city.
Fortunately, Jacop has help from Yen Niggurath, one of the Dark Young, who takes a shine to him. Their relationship has a meet-cute quality, and there’s a certain romantic frisson between the two almost from the start.
Lovecraft, “the Man from Angell Street.” does indeed make an appearance, although he spends most of the comic in the body of a Yithian he’s been mind-swapped with. Which is a fun way to include Lovecraft in what is otherwise a contemporary setting that includes cellphones.
A scene where Jacop meets a dying Lovecraft in 1937 is also included, although Jung makes a slip here in getting the date and address incorrect.
It is a fun graphic novel. The plot isn’t very profound, but not all stories have to be epic. Some people just learn to accept where they are and who they’re with. To monsters, humans are ultimately just another monster.
The Mary Jenkins Brown spin-off comics are a bit more deliberately mature, even racy in parts. Mary is an occult detective in these brief strips, but seems more interested in getting laid than solving mysteries. They’re short and cute, played for laughs more than eroticism. It’s nice to have them collected somewhere.
There is no published English translation of Xoth!, and sadly probably never will be, which I feel is a pity because there was a time and place when I think it would have definitely found an appreciative audience. The German-language Extended Edition is still available for sale, and Anna-Maria Jung’s webstore has a lot of cool shirts.
Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein 