instead they cluster in the cities, hidden to all ex-
cept a few who have the vision to recognize them
for what they are. Although De Lint uses very simi-
lar themes in much of his work, he is constantly ex-
amining them from a fresh viewpoint or unfolding
his stories in different directions. He is probably the
most accomplished current writer of fantasies using
a contemporary setting.
“The Demon Lover” Elizabeth Bowen(1945)
The concept of the demon lover relies on the
premise that although love and hate may seem dia-
metrically opposed, they also are linked because of
the intensity of the emotions involved. Demon
lovers are sprinkled through horror fiction, and in-
clude such disparate forms as revenant ghosts,
soul-stealing incubi and succubi who invade our
dreams, crazed but otherwise ordinary humans,
and in recent years charming vampires with am-
biguous natures. Perhaps the most frightening ver-
sions of the demon lovers are those that are less
specific, never clearly delineated, such as the invis-
ible intruder in “WHAT WAS IT?” (1881) by Fitz-
James O’Brien and the enigmatic visitor in the
demon lover series by Shirley JACKSON. Elizabeth
Bowen, who wrote only a handful of supernatural
stories, contributed one of the shortest and very
best of these with this effective thriller.
Mrs. Drover is happily married. Her children
have grown, she is content with her lot in life, and
the fiancé who disappeared during the war 25 years
in the past is no longer even a memory. She and
her family have relocated to their vacation home
for the summer, but she stops by their closed up
house to collect a few items she has forgotten. On
a table inside she finds an unstamped letter ad-
dressed to her and is puzzled by its presence, since
no one could have known she was stopping by on
this particular day, and only the caretaker, who
would have forwarded the correspondence, has a
key. She opens it and reads an unsigned note re-
minding her that she had promised to keep an ap-
pointment at some unspecified hour.
She is understandably more confused than
alarmed, but gradually memory returns to her of
the promises she made to the missing man. As the
hour advances she feels near panic and decides to
find a taxi to take her away quickly. She does so,
but once inside she realizes that the cab driver is
her long-lost lover. The story ends as he drives off
with Mrs. Drover trapped in the rear. We never
learn what happened to him, how he returned, or
what he plans for his disloyal lover, but it does not
matter. Bowen wisely leaves the next scene to our
imagination.“The Demon Pope”Richard Garnett(1897)
The British writer Richard Garnett wrote a small
but well respected body of short fantasies, the
thrust of which was usually to indict one or an-
other aspect of organized religion, Protestant or
Catholic, usually satirically. The most clever of
these is this deal-with-the-devil story, which, like
most of its type, is darkly humorous, although his
version of Lucifer seems particularly gullible. Lu-
cifer intends to tempt young Sylvester with
promises of wealth and power, but Sylvester has no
intention of surrendering his soul. Finally, Lucifer
offers a different arrangement, 40 years of assis-
tance in return for the completion of one task at
the end of that period, with the stipulation that
the task must be within Sylvester’s power. He
agrees, the pact is sealed, and we jump forward to
learn the outcome.
Sylvester has become pope in the interim. Lu-
cifer appears, reminds him of his bargain, and then
asks to be made a cardinal. Sylvester correctly in-
fers that Lucifer hopes thereby to succeed to the
papacy so that he can subvert the church, but
since Sylvester is a good man, he refuses, inviting
Lucifer to take him to hell for reneging. Lucifer is
nonplused and refuses since the advent of a good
man in the infernal regions would result in their
destruction. Sylvester offers a compromise of his
own. Lucifer will be pope for 12 hours, at the end
of which time Sylvester will appoint him a cardi-
nal, if the demon still wishes that outcome.
Lucifer is transformed into an exact duplicate
of Sylvester, although one foot is a cloven hoof, but
is promptly set upon by a conspiracy among the
cardinals, who charge him with heresy and throw
him into a dungeon. They discover his cloven
hoof, but rather than recoil in horror, they begin
approaching him singly and covertly, each hoping“The Demon Pope” 85