''Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales'' is a collection of
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
and
horror short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
by American writer
Henry S. Whitehead. It was released in
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...
and was his first book published by
Arkham House
Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had ...
. 1,559 copies were printed. The introduction is by Whitehead's fellow Floridian
Robert H. Barlow.
The stories for this volume were taken chiefly from the magazines ''
Weird Tales
''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...
'' and ''Adventure''.
Contents
''Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales'' contains the following tales:
# "Henry S. Whitehead", by R.H. Barlow
# "Jumbee"
# "Cassius"
# "Black Tancrède"
# "The Shadows"
# "Sweet Grass"
# "The Black Beast"
# "Seven Turns in a Hangman's Rope"
# "The Tree-Man"
# "Passing of a God"
# "Mrs. Lorriquer"
# "Hill Drums"
# "The Projection of Armand Dubois"
# "The Lips"
# "The Fireplace"
Reception
Eudora Welty
Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel '' The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerou ...
, reviewing ''Jumbee'' for the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', praised the collection as "gentle, matter-of-fact, rather fatherly stories which produce some of the most point-blank ghosts that have jumped at us anywhere" and concluded that "these little stories have charm -- perhaps it is the gentleness of the author's personality pervading their horrifying content that makes them piquant".
["Ghoulies, Ghosties and Jumbees," '' New York Times Book Review'', September 24, 1944, p.5] E. F. Bleiler wrote that "Although the subject matter is often sensational, the treatment is restrained, smooth, and sophisticated,
with much local color and with an attempt at social realism. . . . Whitehead is at his best when he discusses the folkways of the old aristocracy and middle class".
[E. F. Bleiler, ''The Guide to Supernatural Fiction'', Kent State University Press, 1983 (p.529-30)]
See also
*
Jumbee
A jumbee, jumbie, mendo or chongo in Colombia and Venezuela is a type of mythological spirit or demon in the folklore of some Caribbean countries. Jumbee is the generic name given to all malevolent entities. There are numerous kinds of jumbees, r ...
, supernatural belief in the Caribbean
References
Sources
*
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*{{cite book , last=Nielsen , first=Leon , title=Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide , location=Jefferson, NC and London , publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., pages=51–52 , year=2004 , isbn=0-7864-1785-4
1944 short story collections
Fantasy short story collections
Horror short story collections
Arkham House books