{"id":17889,"date":"2024-02-14T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T15:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/?p=17889"},"modified":"2024-02-17T21:24:20","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T02:24:20","slug":"the-scarecrow-vs-cyptids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/2024\/02\/14\/the-scarecrow-vs-cyptids\/","title":{"rendered":"The Scarecrow vs. Cyptids"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I reviewed <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/2023\/08\/09\/the-wages-of-syn\/\">The Wages of Syn<\/a><\/em> by <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/tag\/john-l-french\/\">John L. French<\/a><\/strong>. Set in Harbor City, it stars <strong>Jericho Syn<\/strong>, alias <strong>The Scarecrow<\/strong>, who provides \u201cunofficial justice\u201d in Harbor City, in between the cops and the Outfit.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/when-the-moon-shines.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[17889]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-17931\" src=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/when-the-moon-shines-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"When The Moon Shines\" width=\"350\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/when-the-moon-shines-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/when-the-moon-shines-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/when-the-moon-shines-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/when-the-moon-shines.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a>We are informed that he is known as &#8220;The Scarecrow&#8221; as it was used by his uncle <strong>Theodore Syn<\/strong>, who had fought gangsters and Nazis in the 1930s and &#8217;40s before retiring. And, yes, he is connected to an early man named Syn who was also known as &#8220;The Scarecrow.&#8221; We will learn a bit of his family history in one of the stories.<\/p>\n<p>I said I wanted to see stories with him, and learned there are some. A total of three are part of another series by other authors, but as this is a series regarding cryptids, these have the earlier Scarecrow and his encounters with cryptids.<\/p>\n<p>The overall series is called &#8220;Systema Paradoxa&#8221; from NeoParadoxa Press. The volumes, which are either novellas or novelettes (not sure which), are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;When The Moon Shines&#8221; (vol. 1)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Chessie At Bay&#8221; (vol. 8)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Daylight Comes&#8221; (vol. 18)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The first story, &#8220;When the Moon Shines,&#8221; is set in Maryland inland from Harbor City during Prohibition. Two different groups, Irish and Italian, have set up rival roadhouses where booze and gambling are available. While things are tense, there isn&#8217;t any violence. Yet. But later violence starts. Is it due to one or both of the bosses, or is there a third party involved? Also, two different cryptid species are involved: the snallygasters and the dwayyo.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/chessie-at-bay.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[17889]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-17928\" src=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/chessie-at-bay-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Chess at Bay\" width=\"350\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/chessie-at-bay-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/chessie-at-bay-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/chessie-at-bay-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/chessie-at-bay.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a>Theodore Syn actually doesn&#8217;t show up until midway through the story. We do learn about his backstory, as well as his family&#8217;s, and their connection to one of the cryptid species. He is a former Baltimore cop, now looking for a new career, and starts working for the new county marshal. When things come to a head, he is at least able to put an end to the violence.<\/p>\n<p>The next story starts just before WWII in the Chesapeake Bay, considering that it involves <strong>Chessie<\/strong>. The military is using a helicopter to look for possible German incursions when they take note of Chessie. They then assign a team to specifically look for and film it. When they do, the officer in charge reaches out to Scarecrow to take it further as he doesn&#8217;t want Chessie being captured or killed. But the military has other ideas and apparently kill it. Or do they?<\/p>\n<p>There is also a mysterious woman, and we also see Scarecrow&#8217;s life take on a new aspect. Further when he is asked by the military to see if he can get the cryptids to help with the war effort, something that others in the U.S. and other countries are doing. It&#8217;s kind of an interesting idea. Oh, and the snallygasters make a return appearance. All this comes to an end for some.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/daylight-comes.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[17889]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-17929\" src=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/daylight-comes-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Daylight Comes\" width=\"350\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/daylight-comes-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/daylight-comes-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/daylight-comes-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/daylight-comes.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a>The third and final story is set after WWII, and has a return of both the snallygasters and the dwayyo, as well as the &#8220;<strong>Beast of Gevauldin<\/strong>.&#8221; Think of a werewolf, basically. Scarecrow is now a detective with Harbor City, married, and has taken in Jericho. But the emergence of the Beast is causing problems. Interestingly, we see a new phase for the snallygasters and dwayyo, with Scarecrow kind of watching over them.<\/p>\n<p>So what about the cryptids? I was actually ignorant of several of them, but they do include info about them in the volumes, taken from various online sources, and some nice artwork. Snallygasters are a kind of large bird\/reptile combo with tentacles. They are big enough to carry off a man that they will suck their blood and eat them. Dwayyo are a kind of werewolf, or more a man-sized wolf creature that stands on two legs, and is also a pack animal. Chessie is a sea serpent similar to <strong>Nessie<\/strong>. All of these creatures are shown to have some level of intelligence and some can communicate with certain humans. The Beast of Gevauldin is a legendary werewolf.<\/p>\n<p>All three stories were pretty good, and I would certainly like to see more stories with Scarecrow, with or without cryptids. But I don&#8217;t know if that will happen. I&#8217;ve enjoyed all of John L. French&#8217;s work, and would recommend checking him out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I reviewed The Wages of Syn by John L. French. Set in Harbor City, it stars Jericho Syn, alias The Scarecrow, who provides \u201cunofficial justice\u201d in Harbor City, in between the cops and the Outfit. We are informed that he is known as &#8220;The Scarecrow&#8221; as it was used by his uncle Theodore Syn, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_has_post_settings":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Pulp Super-Fan looks at The Scarecrow vs. Cyptids. #newpulp","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[7,14],"tags":[1917,574,1510],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-17889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-pulp","category-review","tag-cryptids","tag-john-l-french","tag-the-scarecrow-of-romney-marsh"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2024\/02\/when-the-moon-shines-featured.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3eLo8-4Ex","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17889"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17965,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17889\/revisions\/17965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17889"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=17889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}