Doc Savage books, the Zarkon adventures involve
genuine occult forces that clearly move them into
the fantasy field. During the 1970s, Carter and L.
Sprague DE CAMPbegan adapting some of the
Robert E. Howard’s short stories to add them to
the CONANseries, adding original material of their
own, and while these additions did not often reach
the quality of the originals, they helped flesh out
the character’s history and stimulated the revived
interest in sword and sorcery in general, and
Howard’s work in particular.
Carter’s most interesting fantasy series con-
sisted of Kesrick(1982), Dragonrouge(1984), Man-
dricardo(1986), and Callipygia(1988). The setting is
a magical land in which all of the legends of human
history are real. The opening volume is predomi-
nantly cast in the form of an Arabian Nights–type
adventure, but in later volumes the two heroes
eventually meet dragons, giants, and various other
dangers. The tone is lightly humorous, but the au-
thor’s affection for his material is obvious and the
series is quite readable. Kellory the Warlock(1984),
although more serious in tone, also demonstrates
that Carter was becoming more skillful late in his
career.
Carter also produced a fair body of short fan-
tasies. Lost Worlds(1980) is a general collection,
while The Xothic Legend Cycle(1997) collects tales
in the style of H. P. LOVECRAFT.Lin Carter’s Anton
Zarnak: Supernatural Sleuth(2002) chronicles the
investigations of an occult detective in the manner
of the John Silence stories by Algernon BLACK-
WOODand other similar psychic investigators. De-
spite his considerable body of published fantasy
fiction, however, Carter’s primary importance to
fantasy was as an editor. In addition to the five-
volume Flashing Swordsseries of original antholo-
gies, he collected and reissued many classic short
pieces in several anthologies and even more impor-
tantly oversaw the Ballantine Books Adult Fantasy
line, which reissued fantasy work by William MOR-
RIS, James Branch CABELL, William Hope HODG-
SON, Evangeline WALTON, William Beckford,
Ernest BRAMAH, George Meredith, G. K. Chester-
ton, and many others. The success of that line
helped convince publishers that fantasy could sus-
tain itself as a separate genre, and today new fan-
tasy titles are as numerous as new science fiction.
“Casting the Runes”M. R. James(1911)
Although M. R. JAMESis often credited as the
most important ghost story writer of the early 20th
century, several of the stories for which he is best
remembered do not involve ghosts at all. This par-
ticular story, one of his best, opens with the rejec-
tion of a paper discussing alchemy written by an
obnoxious individual named Karswell, whose odi-
ous character is revealed to us by the recounting of
an episode in which he terrorized a number of chil-
dren and scandalized his neighbors. We also learn
that Karswell had previously published a book
about witchcraft and that Harrington, a reviewer
who trashed it, later died under mysterious circum-
stances. The paper was rejected at the suggestion
of Edward Dunning, an authority on the subject
who declares it badly written and of dubious value.
Although Dunning’s identity is kept confidential,
it is not difficult for Karswell to determine his
identity, which he has done.
Ominous events begin to occur. Dunning and
two attendants notice a strange advertisement
posted in a train car, a commemoration of Harring-
ton’s death, although the notice vanishes as myste-
riously as it appeared. A stranger hands Dunning a
leaflet, although he makes no effort to distribute
any others, and another stranger returns some
fallen papers to him in the library, who Dunning
subsequently learns is none other than Karswell
himself.
The situation rapidly grows more serious.
Dunning’s servants are poisoned and taken to the
hospital. There are strange noises in his apartment
at night, and the power fails. He begins to feel that
he is not alone, that unseen eyes are watching him.
Convinced that Karswell is somehow involved, he
visits Harrington’s brother and learns that the dead
man experienced similar forebodings. Together
they learn the truth, that Karswell included in the
papers he handed to Dunning a slip that contains
magical runes that dictate his fate. The only es-
cape is to return the runes to Karswell, but there is
a catch: They must be formally accepted. Simply
mailing them back or destroying them will not save
Dunning. To this end, Dunning disguises himself,
and with Harrington’s aid and the fortunate coin-
cidence of a minor accident, he is able to return
the runes to Karswell in a packet of tickets. The“Casting the Runes” 49