Sâr Dubnotal is an early “occult detective,” who appeared in 20 anonymously written novellas published in France starting in 1909. I previously reviewed him as Black Coat Press has run new stories of him in their Tales of the Shadowmen series and put out a collection of original Sâr stories with him going up against Jack the Ripper.
Now Black Coat Press has put out a collection of new and old stories, Sâr Dubnotal 2: The Astral Trail.
The first collection had reprinted the first original Sâr story, then reprinted the storyline with him going up against Jack the Ripper that ran in novellas #7-11. But they didn’t have the eightth story, so they had to skip it. It has now been found and is included here.
The rest of the volume is made up of 11 new stories, most of which have run in volumes of Tales of the Shadowmen:
• Matthew Dennion: “Clash of the Titans” has Sâr teaming up with Captain Nemo, as they bring together two dangerous titans in hopes of eliminated both of them.
• Travis Hiltz: “The Treasure of the Ubasti” (from Tales #6) has Sâr traveling India in the “Behemoth,” a steam-powered elephant. With him is American Dr. Henry Jones, and along the way they met Mowgli.
• Josh Reynolds: “The Swine of Gerasene” (from Tales #10) is an interesting tale that teams up Sâr with two other occult detectives: Algernon Blackwood‘s John Silence, and Carnacki. They go up against M.R. James‘ Count Magus and the “swine things” from William Hope Hodgson‘s “House on the Borderland.”
• Matthew Baugh: “The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame” (from Shadow of Judex) Judex (a French silent movie character who resembles The Shadow whom I’ve reviewed before) teams up with Sâr in fighting gargoyles.
• Hiltz: “The Hounds of Saint-Augustin” is set in Paris, where some invisible creature or creatures are tearing up people. Sâr works with Inspector Maigret and Korak to find them and eliminate this threat before more are killed.
• Baugh: “What Rough Beast” (from Tales #7) set during World War I, Judex teams up with Sâr and Hugo Danner (early American superman who may have influenced Doc Savage and Superman) against a supernatural threat.
• Micah Harris: “Slouching Towards Camulodunum” is a two-part story (in Tales #7 and 8) in his series staring Becky Sharp (from Vanity Fair, the novel not the magazine). This time she meets Sâr and must deal with Richard Upton Pickman (H.P. Lovecraft).
• Dennion: “A Tale of Two Souls” has Sâr working to save Dr. Henry Jekyll after Edward Hyde has summoned the Cenobites.
• Roman Leary: “The Evils Against Which We Strive” (from Tales #4) has Sâr teaming up with The Shadow.
• Baugh: “Ask Me a Riddle…” is a sequel to the author’s earlier story, which has Sâr in a final conflict with the villain behind that one: the sinister Dokter Von Meyer (from Seabury Quinn‘s Jules de Grandin series). After his fellow occult detectives (including de Grandin, Duc de Richleau, and others) are injured in a prior conflict with Von Meyer, Sâr engages the assistance of Gregory George Gordon Green — or “Gees” — in finding and confronting him.
• Stuart Shiffman: “True Believers” (from Tales #10) has Sâr working to rescue the grandchild of his associates, with the assistance of others including John J. Malone (lawyer created by Craig Rice), Kenneth J. Malone (created by “Mark Philips“) and the grandson of Morris Klaw, the Dream Detective.
Like the Tales of the Shadowmen volumes, the sources of the places and characters are given in the back, listing their authors/creators. It can be a bit tricky to track down some of the sources.
Another great volume from Black Coat Press. If you’ve enjoyed past Sâr Dubnotal stories, get this one. I don’t see them bring us more of the original stories, but we should hopefully see more new ones in future Tales of the Shadowmen, including the latest volume, #12.
