Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales explained

Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales
Author:	Henry S. Whitehead
Cover Artist:	Frank Wakefield
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Publisher:	Arkham House
Release Date:	1944
Media Type:	Print (hardback)
Pages:	xii, 394

Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer Henry S. Whitehead. It was released in 1944 and was his first book published by Arkham House. 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 and Adventure.

Contents

Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales contains the following tales:

1. "Henry S. Whitehead", by R.H. Barlow
2. "Jumbee"
3. "Cassius"
4. "Black Tancrède"
5. "The Shadows"
6. "Sweet Grass"
7. "The Black Beast"
8. "Seven Turns in a Hangman's Rope"
9. "The Tree-Man"
10. "Passing of a God"
11. "Mrs. Lorriquer"
12. "Hill Drums"
13. "The Projection of Armand Dubois"
14. "The Lips"
15. "The Fireplace"

Reception

Eudora Welty, reviewing Jumbee for the New York Times, 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".^[1] 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".^[2]

See also

• Jumbee, supernatural belief in the Caribbean

Sources

• Book: Jaffery, Sheldon . Sheldon Jaffery

. Sheldon Jaffery . The Arkham House Companion . Mercer Island, WA . Starmont House, Inc. . 1989 . 1-55742-005-X. 8.

• Book: Chalker, Jack L. . Jack L. Chalker

. Jack L. Chalker . Mark Owings . The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998 . Westminster, MD and Baltimore . Mirage Press, Ltd. . 1998. 27.

• Book: Joshi, S.T.. S.T. Joshi

. S.T. Joshi . Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography . Sauk City, WI . Arkham House. 26–27 . 1999 . 0-87054-176-5.

• Book: Nielsen, Leon . Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide . Jefferson, NC and London . McFarland & Company, Inc.. 51–52 . 2004 . 0-7864-1785-4.

Notes and References

1. "Ghoulies, Ghosties and Jumbees," New York Times Book Review, September 24, 1944, p.5
2. E. F. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, Kent State University Press, 1983 (p.529-30)