Henry S. Whitehead: The Forgotten Master of Jumbee and Vodoun

Henry S. Whitehead: The Forgotten Master of Jumbee and Vodoun

And he's back in print!

Although mostly forgotten, the Rev. Henry S. Whitehead was one of Weird Tales most popular writers between 1924 1933. Rev. Whitehead ,who was a Harvard Graduate, spent 8 years as acting archdeacon of the Virgin Islands for the Episcopalian Church. Towards the end of his short life Rev. Whitehead became a personal friend of HPL, who after traveling down to Florida to visit the Reverend described him so.....

"He has nothing of the musty cleric about him; but dresses in sports clothes, swears like a he-man on occasion, and is an utter stranger to bigotry or priggishness of any sort."

It was during his years in the Virgin Islands that Rev. Whitehead gained a knowledge and understanding of the region, it's peoples, their culture and religion that gave his weird tales such a strong note of authenticity. The majority of his tales take place on the Island of St. Thomas and are 2^nd to none when dealing with the region. It is just y opinion but these are some of the finest stories dealing with Voodoo/Voudon that ever appeared in the pulps. Even if the Reverend wasn't a believer, he still took the Islanders and their beliefs seriously and always treated the subject with respect. A major rarity in Rev. Whitehead's stories was the dignity and respect with which he treated the characters in his story. There's nary a cringe inducing moment in his stories dealing with the Islands. He wrote about human beings and portrayed the same way. This wasn't exactly the most common way non-whites were portrayed during the pulp era. The Reverend, was for his time, an extremely progressive man.

The majority of Rev. Whitehead's tales take place in the Virgin Islands and the majority of his stories appeared in the pages of Weird Tales Magazine. Several of which have been heavily reprinted. These are Cassius, The Lips, The Passing of a God and The Trap. All of which have been heavily reprinted during the 1960s and 70s. It's of interest to mention that The Trap was co-written with H. P. Lovecraft.

The tales written by Rev. Whitehead are some of the most eerie, readable and entertaining horror stories out there. And they have also aged extremely well when one considers that the were written over 80 years.

Up until now, if you wanted to get you hands on a collection of Whitehead's tales you needed some fairly deep pockets. Aside from the two (now) expensive and hard to find Arkham House collections and one Ash Tree Press collection.

My copy of the 1976 Mayflower UK Edition with a lovely cover by Peter Jones

 Plus there were only two paper back editions, which printed in the UK back during the 1970s. So these are also now sought after collectors editions.

The newest collection from Wordsworth

Luckily that has been rectified by Wordsworth Books. Last year Wordsworth released the most complete collection of Whitehead's tales that has ever been published. Last year the released Voodoo Tales: The Ghost Stories of Henry S. Whitehead. It contains 37 of the 46 stories that Rev. Whitehead had published. What's even more amazing is the price. This thick, but compact, 691 pages of smallish print trade paperback cost's on $3.60 over at Amazon! The low price is due to all of the stories having fallen into the public domain.

So use this opportunity to discover the weird thrills and joys of the genre's greatest but sadly forgotten masters.

The Contents:

Introduction (by David Stuart Davies)

WEST INDIA LIGHTS
The Black Terror
West India Lights
Williamson
The Shut Room
The Left Eye
Tea Leaves
The Trap
The Napier Limousine
The Ravel Pavane
Sea Change
The People of Pan
The Chadbourne Episode
Scar Tissue
"'—In Case of Disaster Only'"
Bothon
The Great Circle
Obi in the Caribbean

JUMBEE AND OTHER VOODOO TALES
Jumbee
Cassius
Black Tancrède
The Shadows
Sweet Grass
The Tree-Man
Passing of a God
Hill Drums

THE BLACK BEAST AND OTHER VOODOO TALES
The Black Beast
Seven Turns In A Hangman’s Rope
Mrs. Lorriquer
The Projection Of Armand Dubois
The Lips
The Fireplace

OTHER STORIES
The Moon Dial
No Eye-Witnesses
Across the Gulf
The Tabernacle
The Door
Sea-Tiger

This wonderful collection can be purchased by following the links below.

Voodoo Tales at Amazon.com

Voodoo Tales at Amazon.co.uk