Tag Archives: H. Russell Wakefield

12 D0CGS Day 6: “The Third Shadow” by H. Russell Wakefield

3 Replies

Brief Update: I’m still going to review 12 ghost stories, but I don’t think I’ll finish within the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas. I may include storeis that aren’t Christmas specific. I’m not sure if the tradition if telling ghost stories at Christmas means that the stories themselves must be set at christmas.

Today’s story is by one of the master of the traditional ghost story, H. Russell Wakefield.

I read it in Sunless Solstice, another of the British Library’s Tales of the Weird series.

I can’t recommend this series enough. I’ve got a handful of volumes in print and more in electronic format. They’re chock full of all kinds of good stuff.

But I digress.

Wakefield’s stories, at least the ones I’ve read, don’t deal with freindly ghosts. Wakefield’s ghost are not nice, and you hope you never meet one. In the case of “The Third Shadow”, we have a vengeful ghost. Continue reading →

Hearing Whispers Out of the Dust

2 Replies

IMG_3384Whispers Out of the Dust
David J. West
ebook $3.99, paperback $14.99

Take the Mormon settlement of the West, mix in some M. R. James and H. Russell Wakefield, throw in a healthy serving of H. P. Lovecraft and a dash of Robert E. Howard, stir in Native American lore, bake in the desert heat and wash down with a lake formed by a damn, and what you’re likely to come up with something that resembles Whispers Out of the Dust.

David J. West has begun to build a body of work in the subgenre known as the weird western, and his most recent book is a solid addition to the field.  It’s also one of his most ambitious projects to date.  (And I absolutely love that cover.)

St. Thomas, Nevada was settled by Mormon pioneers, but the area had been home to the Anasazi and other tribes long before.  The Mormons, many of them anyway, moved away when they discovered they were in Nevada rather than Utah and Nevada wanted to collect several years of back taxes.  Still, the town survived until the Hoover Dam was built, and the waters of Lake Mead covered it up.

That much is historical fact.  What David does is add a dose of fantasy which he blends so smoothly that you find yourself believing things you know can’t really be so.   (At least you don’t think so.)  The footnotes (endnotes, really) certainly add to the feeling of verisimilitude. David includes a number of photos he’s taken, which give you an idea of what the area looks like. Continue reading →