I have already noted my interest in occult investigators, those who either confront occult mysteries or use occult abilities and knowledge to confront mysteries. These were a smaller sub-genre within the pulp world. But I was not aware of one of the earliest of the pulp occult investigators until recently: Semi Dual.
Semi Dual was really Prince Abdul Omar of Persia (father was a Persian nobleman, mother was a Russian princess), and was an astrologer, mystic, telepath, and psychologist.
His name, which is pretty clunky, of “Semi Dual,” is due to his methods of investigations: “by dual solutions: one material, for material minds; the other occult, for those who cared to sense a deeper something back of the philosophic lessons interwoven in the narrative.” But if you read the second story you’ll get a different explanation of the name. His authors would have him be referred to as Semi Dual, Dual, Mr. Dual or Semi.
From 1912 to 1934, he appeared in over 30 serials and novelettes in a variety of early pulp magazines: Cavalier (1912-13), All-Story (1914-20), People’s Magazine (1917-18), Top-Notch (1918), and Argosy All-Story Weekly/Argosy (1920-34). He was never reprinted during the pulp era.
He was created by J.U. Giesy and Junius B. Smith, who both lived in Utah. Giesy was a doctor, Smith a lawyer, and both were interested in astrology. They both wrote for the early pulps, and Giesy’s most well-known work is the “Palos of the Dog Star” trilogy (reprinted by Atlus Press), which is in the “planetary romance” genre, similar to John Carter of Mars. Smith has no notable works apart from Semi Dual.
Semi Dual operated from the top of the Urania office building. After taking an elevator to the 20th floor, one walked up a wide staircase to the roof garden, and in the center a white tower was where Semi Dual dwelt.
At some point in the series, Dual’s connection with the world is through “Glace and Bryce, Private Investigators,” located on the seventh floor of the Urania building. James Bryce, retired police inspector, is one half. The other is Gordon Glace, the narrator of the stories and a former reporter. It was in this capacity that he meets Semi in the first story.
In most cases, it is Glace (and later also Bryce) who confront the cases at first, while Semi Dual works from his tower, though he later may emerge and get involved in the action. Earlier cases have him helping ordinary people; later ones have him saving the world from disaster. There were some where he confronts the forces of evil trying to enshrine the Devil, such as the Black Brotherhood. Much later ones have him going up against gangsters.
There are apparently enough stories for nine volumes, and Altus Press has put out the first of these, “The Complete Cabalistic Cases of Semi Dual, the Occult Detector, Volume 1: 1912,” collecting the first three stories. I hope they step up the frequency of these, as I feel the later stories (such as the ones in which he goes up against the Black Brotherhood) will be the most interesting.
And Pro Se Press has put out a volume of new Semi Dual stories under its Pulp Obscura line.
The first Altus Press volume reprints three stories from 1912: “The Occult Detector,” “The Significance of the High ‘D’,” and “The Wistaria Scarf.”
“The Occult Detector” introduces us to Semi-Dual through Glace, as he is sent to find out more about this mysterious individual who has taken up resident in the Urania Building. We learn about Dual through his conversations with Glace that enables the solving of a recent murder. The next story has Glace and Semi unravel an unusual case of a young bank teller accused of passing a forged check that pulls in his older brother and another young man, and a couple of girls. The final story in the volume actually has some of the main characters from the second story re-appear. The young man has married his sweetheart, the daughter of the older brother, and they are traveling on their honeymoon when the girl is kidnapped in Paris by sinister characters. Glace and Dual come to their aid and rescue the girl in Persia. In the process we learn more about Dual’s background, as well as seeing him fully involved in the action.
The Pro Se Press volume, “The New Adventures of Semi Dual,” has stories by I.A. Watson, Kevin Noel Olson, and James Palmer.
Watson’s story is set earlier in the series, with Glace still a reporter, but has a girlfriend (I believe that get married later in the series). In his story Semi solves a murder of a businessman which is made to look like a suicide. It also involves the ghost of his wife, whom the Urania building is named for. The other two stores are set later in the series, when Bryce and Glace both assist Semi. Olson’s story has the trio traveling to Easter Island to stop a cult from sacrifice a group of virgins from around the world to bring back a sunken continent. Sadly, this story is marred by a few errors, due to only being provided with the first story. Palmer’s story has Semi being charged with the murder of another occultist, and they must clear his name and find the true murder. Overall I thought the new stories were pretty good and captured the spirit of the originals, despite the mistakes. As more original story are made available, I hope this declines.
If you like occult detectives, as well as want to read earlier pulp stories (1910s and ’20s), check out this character. As noted, I do hope Altus Press steps up the frequency of the volumes, as I am interested in reading the later stories, especially the ones with the Black Brotherhood.
