Thank you for this interesting episode about the mashing up of genres in pulp fiction, how Seabury Quinn as popular writer in doing this, in a way invented urban fantasy.
Honestly, I think I was more of a grumpy Lovecraft when reading this, thinking again and again: this is so not original, this is too obvious, too simple. But this is just why this story (and the other Quinn stories, I imagine) is so special - the mashing up of all those genre conventions and tropes. Brandon is so right by the way when he says popular fiction has a lot more to say as a cultural artefact than the canon (which often represent precisely exceptional opinions and worldviews, or critiques on mainstream culture).
I now have volume I of the De Grandin tales, but I don't know if I will read a lot of them. If I will read on it is because I'm curious about what type of monsters Quinn will release in his tales - I'm always interested in the choice, invention and use of monsters and mythical creatures in all types of fiction and other media, because they say a lot about the types of anxiety or wonders that occupy the relevant period and location of the writer.
The last book my own book club read was The Island of dr. Moreau (it was my choice), but unfortunately due to corona measures we could not discuss it any more (most of the members would only discuss it when physically being together again - hopefully this summer). It would be great when this novella would be discussed on Elder Sign!
Also, yes to The Island of Dr. Moreau!
Yes, returning to Quinn for some light evening reading has been something I've been wanting to do. But I've been watching detective tv shows instead.
Doing a bonus series on The Island of Dr. Moreau is one of our Patreon goals, and I don't think we're too far from reaching it. It's certainly something we've been wanting to do for a long time because it is so important to Gene Wolfe.
I loved this story so much. It's been really hard for me to resist the urge to go start a separate Seabury Quinn podcast. I have a strong feeling, though, that most people are on Team Lovecraft here and that I would also be the only audience for that show. We'll see if listeners want us to cover more of these, but I'm already trying to prepare myself for heartbreak.