As a fan of occult detectives, I have been aware of Flaxman Low for some time, but have yet to read any of his stories. He is one of the earliest of the occult detectives, and some try to claim he is the first full-time occult detective versus someone who sometimes deals with this. But as we saw with the recently discovered Amos Jelkie, he isn’t the first.
Flaxman Low appeared in a series of 12 stories which appeared in Pearson’s Magazine in 1898 and 1899, then were reprinted in book form as Ghosts: Being the Experiences of Flaxman Low in 1899. Since then I have only been aware of a story here or there reprinted in various occult detective collections. However, thanks to a new volume from MIT Press‘s Radium Age series, we can again read the complete set of stories.
Flaxman Low: Occult Detective contains all 12 stories as contained in the original book. These are by E. and H. Heron, a pseudonym for a mother-son writing team of Hesketh “Hex” Prichard (1876–1922) and Kate O’Brien Ryall Prichard (1851–1935). The book also contains an introduction by Alexander B. Joy. It’s nice, but I would have liked one from someone who is more of an expert on occult detectives.
Low is an Oxford-educated psychologist and approaches these stories from a scientific background rather than a religious one. And he is physically fit, able to get involved with the action of the story if need be. In these stories, he confronts ghosts and spirits which he works to eliminate. Thus, we don’t have evil people or creatures to confront, as other occult detectives might.
In the first story, he is called in to help with a haunted house. The new owner says it was built by a strange recluse who disappeared, and it was later owned by an aunt who died there mysteriously, later passing to him. But a series of renters tells of the ghost, and one claims it tried to kill him. So Low helps him look into it. After staying in the same room that the aunt had been in, he was almost smothered by the ghost.
He concludes that the builder of the house had been a leper and had killed his wife, then somehow sealed himself up in the house; hence he haunted it. So the new owner feels the only thing to do is to tear it down. In the process, they find the man’s skeleton. He had created a space under the stairs, hid himself in, and sealed it behind him, dying there.
Another story has another house known to be haunted, but the ghost was never a problem. But then a new group is staying there, and suddenly the ghost is more dangerous, even causing the death of a maid. Low comes in, takes a look, and sends everyone away but himself and the owner’s son. In the process, they discover that the “ghost” is actually a mummy coming to life. A mummy that the owner had discovered and sent to the house for his personal museum.
All the stories are varied in terms of the events and the causes. I thought all the stories were pretty good. If you’re interested in early occult detectives, this is one to check out.
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