the Hills(1963), and The Dark Beasts(1964) are al-
most exclusively supernatural or occult. “Second
Night Out” (1933) is one of his best short tales, the
story of a traveler on a cruise ship bedeviled by a
monster. “A Visitor from Egypt” (1930) is one of the
rare convincing stories of terror at the hands of re-
vived mummies. Some of Long’s lighter fantasies are
also quite entertaining, particularly “Fisherman’s
Luck” (1940) and “Come into My Garden” (1942).
Long did not return to horror fiction until the
1970s, when, under the pseudonym Lyda Belknap
Long, he wrote several Gothic suspense novels
that, unlike most of the books appearing in that
guise, incorporated genuinely supernatural ele-
ments. A secret society conspires to conceal occult
knowledge in To the Dark Tower(1969), voodoo
proves to be real in The Shape of Fear(1971), two
clairvoyants solve an eerie mystery in Fire of the
Witches(1971), and there is genuine witchcraft in
House of Deadly Nightshade(1972). The Night of the
Wolf (1972), published under his own name, is
more obviously supernatural, an interesting varia-
tion on the traditional werewolf story with liberal
doses of magic.
Several of Long’s later science fiction novels
incorporate elements of horror, such as vampires
from outer space in Journey into Darkness(1967).
Occasional fantastic stories can also be found in
the collections The Rim of the Unknown(1978) and
Night Fear(1979). Long wrote a biography of Love-
craft, his own memoir, and several volumes of po-
etry, much of it involving occult themes. Although
his writing never received the accolades awarded
to many of his peers, his early work is still regarded
with considerable respect.
The Lord Darcy StoriesRandall Garrett
(1964–1979)
Although Randall Garrett is remembered primarily
as a science fiction writer, his most famous single
character is Lord Darcy, an unusual detective in an
alternate world where magic is the order of the day
rather than science. Mixing fantasy and the classic
mystery story has always been a difficult task, since
the existence of magic invites the reader to believe
that the solution may be dependent on something
the author has failed to tell. Garrett was cognizant
of this fact, and, in fact, the magic system in his
world is explained sufficiently to reassure the
reader that the author will not cheat in the final
pages.
Garrett’s unusual approach was evident in the
fact that the first in the series, “The Eyes Have It”
(1964), actually appeared in a science fiction mag-
azine noted for its rejection of anything remotely
fantastic. Garrett had codified his magic system so
that it felt like science, and Lord Darcy’s assistant,
a Doctor Watson of sorts, is a forensic sorcerer.
The series continued with “A Case of Identity”
(1964) and “The Muddle of the Woad” (1965). A
novel-length adventure, Too Many Magicians(1966),
posed a perplexing case of murder at a convention
of wizards. Despite the popularity of Darcy and his
world, Garrett added only a few more stories dur-
ing the 1970s. Most of the short adventures were
collected as Murder and Magic(1979) and Lord
Darcy Investigates(1981), with all three volumes
later combined as Lord Darcy (1983). A later
printing added a few additional short pieces. Sev-
eral of the stories openly acknowledge classic mys-
tery fiction by Nero Wolfe, John Dickson Carr,
and others.
Following Garrett’s death the author Michael
Kurland extended the series with two additional
novels. Ten Little Wizards(1988) is a locked-room
murder mystery involving the systematic elimina-
tion of powerful wizards, and A Study in Sorcery
(1989) takes Darcy to the New World to solve a
mystery involving an Aztec nobleman. Although
the novels are interesting in their own right, they
are less rigorous about the fantasy backdrop and
never rise to the level of the originals. Garrett
wrote no other fantasy of note, although much of
his science fiction is memorable.The Lord of the Rings SeeTHE FELLOWSHIP
OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS, and THE RETURN
OF THE KING.Lost HorizonJames Hilton(1933)
The British writer James Hilton moved to the
United States, where he worked primarily as a
screenwriter, although he found time to produce220 The Lord Darcy Stories