Post by demonik on Mar 26, 2006 6:30:05 GMT -5
Illustration by Dudley Cowes to Si Urag Of The Tail from Fifty Strangest Stories Ever told, (Odhams, 1937)
Oscar Cook, playright and novelist, was for many years in the Government Service in British North Borneo, and that mysterious island provides the background for some of his most effective tales of the supernatural. Since his return to England, he has been author, editor, publisher, actor, and secretary to a dramatic school. Now he is in business".
Hugh Walpole - A Century Of Creepy Stories (Hutchinson, 1934)
... Cook had been a District Officer in British North Borneo from 1911 to 1919 ... Returning to Britain, he wrote up his experiences as an autobiography and was recommended to try the Curtis Brown agency in selling the book. It was allocated to Christine Campbell Thomson who gave the book its title, "Borneo: Stealer Of Hearts" and placed with Hurst & Blackett who published it in 1924. At the time it was considered one of the most authorative books on Borneo.
Mike Ashley, Unlocking The Night, in Gaslight And Ghosts , (World Fantasy Convention/ Robinsons, 1988)
Here's an (incomplete?) biblio of Oscar's horror stories
On The Highway - (Weird Tales, Jan 1925)
Si Urag Of The Tail - (Weird Tales, July 1926; You'll Need A Night Light, Sept.1927; A Century Of Creepy Stories, 1934; 50 Strangest Stories Ever Told, Odhams, 1937; Still Not At Night, Arrow 1962)
The Creature Of Man - (Weird Tales, Nov 1926)
The Sacred Jars - (Weird Tales, March 1927)
Piecemeal - (By Daylight Only, October, 1929; Weird Tales, Feb 1930; Not At Night Omnibus, 1937; Pan Horror 2, 1960)
When Glister Walked - (Gruesome Cargoes, July,1928; A Century Of Creepy Stories 1934; 50 Strangest Stories Ever Told, Odhams, 1937; Not At Night, Arrow, 1960, 1962)
Boomerang - (Switch On The Light, April, 1931; A Century Of Creepy Stories 1934; Pan Horror 2, 1960)
His Beautiful Hands - (At Dead Of Night,Nov, 1931; Not At Night Omnibus,1937; Pan Horror 1, 1959)
The Great White Fear - (Grim Death, Aug. 1932; A Century Of Creepy Stories 1934;)
Golden Lilies - (Adventure Story magazine (Sept. 1922); Keep On The Light, 1933; More Not At Night, Arrow 1961)
Dog Death - (Terror By Night, 1934)
The Crimson Head-Dress - (Nightmare By Daylight, 1936)
I've a feeling that "The Sacred Jars" and "When Glister Walked" are the same story. Other than the Weird Tales originals, I've not seen either 'Dog Death' or 'The Crimson Head-Dress' from the later 'Not At Night's, so these are of especial interest if only to confirm they do or do not feature the wonderful Warwick!
There's a 1991 reprint of Borneo: The Stealer of Hearts advertised at wildasia, but I don't believe his weird fiction has ever been collected, which, if true, is a scandal. I was disappointed with the non-Warwick stories when I first read them, though (like Piecemeal and Boomerang) three are set in Borneo and feature a British District Officer, but When Glister Walked and Si Urag Of The Tail have kind of grown on me.