Richard A. Lupoff Source: Open Library
I was going to write this post for RIchard A. Lupoff’s (1935-2020) birthay (February 21), which was yesterday, but I didn’t have time to read anything by him. Then I saw the news about Steve Miller and wrote that post. Which I didn’t hit Publish on until earlier today because it was late, and I was tired.
Lupoff isn’t as well-known as he probably shoulde be because he didn’t confine himself to one genre but wrote horror, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery. He also tended to write at shorter lengths rather than novels. He is probably best remembered for the novel Lovecraft’s Book, which mixes fiction with fact and features several real-life pulp writers. He was also known as a writer who could provide a short story for an anthology or magazine on short notice. He should be considered another writer whose work deserves to be remembered.
Lupoff wrote a number of Lovecraftian stories. I’m going to look at one of them today.
“The Adventure of the Voorish Sign” was first published in Shadows Over Baker Street, an anthology of Lovecraftian Sherlock Holmes stories. Or Sherlockian Lovecraft stories, if you prefer.
It is also available in The Doom That Came to Dunwich, which collects Lupoff’s Lovecraftian fiction.
The story opens on a snowy evening. Holmes and Watson are enjoying a pleasant evening when they have a visitor. Lady Fairclough has just arrived from Canada. Her husband has disappeared, and her brother,Phillip Llewellyn, who is the lord at her family manor in Wales has gotten married and also disappeared. The Llewellyn family made their fortune in coal mining, and the family manor is named the Anthracite Palace. It is made entirely out of coal. (You can probably guess what will happen to it by the end of the story.
Both men built rooms in their houses that were completely sealed and seemed to have weird geometrical properties.
The brother had married a gypsy woman. The man who gave her away made some sort fo sign wit his fingers and disappeared during the ceremony. Lady Fairclough saw it, but she wasn’t able to follow with her eyes what he did with his hand.
Holmes says it was the Voorish sign. Watson doesn’t understand what is going on. The next day, the three travel to teh Anthracite Palace and confront Phillip’s wife. She is a member of a cult, the Wisdom Temple of the Dark Heavens. The room Phillip built contains an altar, and she invites Holmes, Watson, and Lady Fairclough to attend a service there.
I’ll not give away anymore of the ending than I’ve stated so far.
“The Adventure of the Voorish Sign” was a more than satisfactory blend of both Doyle and Lovecraft. Lupoff wrote the story from Watson’s point of view, as one might expect, and he captured the voice quite well. This was less a Lovecraftian Tale featuring Sherlock Holmes than it was a Sherlock Holmes story with Lovecraftian elements.
Which I think is probably the best way to blend these two iconic literary creations. I’m going to read the rest of Shadows Over Baker Street and see how the other stories compare. I’m also going to read The Doom That Came to Dunwich. Lupoff, as I said earleir, will probably be best remembered as a Lovecraftian writer.
Golden Gryphon (an excellent publisher that I greatly miss) published two collections of Lupoff’s short stories, Calremont Tales (2001) and Claremont Tales II (2002). It’s been so long since I read them, that I don’t recall any details other than that I enjoyed the stories. Maybe I’ll reread them. (Would there be any interest in a series of posts about golden Gryphon?)
Before I start rambling, check out Lupoff’s work. He’s another writer who deserves to be remembered.