above their limited subject matter. The best of his
recent work is the atypical The Highwayman
(2004), a much more restrained adventure with
more fully realized characters.
Salvatore has developed from a competent but
minor name to one of the leading authors of main-
stream fantasy adventure. Although his plots are
familiar and he takes few chances in his writing, he
clearly has begun to produce more substantial
work on a regular basis. His short fiction has been
rare and minor, but “The Coach with Big Teeth”
(1996) suggests he might also do better at that
length in the future.
Sarban (John William Wall)(1910–1989)
Sarban was the pen name of the British diplomat
John William Wall, who published only three
books but who immediately established himself as
one of the premier writers of atmospheric horror
fiction. His books include three relatively brief
novels and a handful of short stories, most of
which have been repeatedly reprinted since their
original appearance. The first of his books was
Ringstones and Other Curious Tales(1951). The title
story, a short novel, describes the adventures of
Daphne, a young woman who agrees to serve as a
kind of governess to three children at the remote
Ringstones mansion, named for a circle of standing
stones similar to Stonehenge. The children strike
her as more than a bit odd, particularly the oldest
boy, whose cruel tricks eventually lead her to at-
tempt to leave. When she does so, the very land-
scape changes around her, foiling her escape,
although she ultimately survives. The children, or
at least the boy, is apparently not entirely human,
perhaps a refugee from the world of fairies.
There were three short stories in the original
edition that were dropped for the paperback. The
best of these is “Calmahain,” in which three chil-
dren living under unhappy circumstances build a
magical boat in which to escape. “The Khan”
mixes an unhappy marriage with the appearance of
a man who is also a bear, and “Capra” involves a
caprice of the god Pan. Although none of these
stories are of the same quality as the novella, they
are rendered in a rich and entertaining prose and
deserve wider dissemination.
The Sound of His Horn(1952) is a more diffi-
cult novel to describe. In form it would seem to be
science fiction rather than horror, because it is ap-
parently set in a future after the Nazis have won
World War II, one in which members of the
“lesser” races are hunted as game animals. As a
straightforward adventure, this might not be hor-
ror at all, but Sarban places the story in a world
that seems virtually untouched by technology and
that may not be our future at all but rather some
strange alternate reality. The Dollmaker(1953) is
the best of his longer works. A young woman be-
comes involved with a mysterious man who has
created an elaborate world of animated dolls. She
eventually discovers that the dolls are magically
enlivened by the essences of human beings her
“friend” has killed and that she is in line to join
the cast.
Sarban’s work has recently been reprinted in
new editions, including previously uncollected sto-
ries. Despite the very small body of work he pro-
duced, his reputation has not dimmed with the
passage of time. His gift for creating worlds just
slightly askew from our own has rarely been
equaled.“Sardonicus”Ray Russell(1960)
Although Ray Russell wrote several excellent short
fantasy and horror stories, the one for which he
will be best remembered is this tale of a man
trapped by his own grotesque past. Robert Car-
grave is a prominent 19th-century English physi-
cian who specializes in problems involving
disorders of the muscles, especially the develop-
ment and use of relaxants. He is surprised but not
displeased to receive a letter from Maude Randall,
to whom he had been romantically inclined several
years earlier but who had disappeared after her
family suffered bankruptcy. She is now married to a
man named Sardonicus and living in Bohemia, and
she and her husband express their desire to have
him visit.
Although not entirely certain what is in-
tended, Cargrave cannot pass up the opportunity
to visit Maude, finding her much dispirited and liv-
ing in a castle built in the shape of a skull. His ar-
rival there is reminiscent of Jonathan Harker’s visit“Sardonicus” 305