Passing of a God and Other Stories

THE COMPLETE SHORT FICTION OF HENRY S. WHITEHEAD, VOLUME 1.Although he was a prolific contributor to the pages of Weird Tales in the 1920s, Henry S. Whitehead is less well known today than his Weird Tales contemporaries. In part, this is due to Whitehead's premature death in 1932, just at the point where he had hit his stride as a writer. Almost fifteen years would elapse before any of his fiction was collected in book form, and this would prove just enough time for him to be forgotten by, or unknown to, the generation of readers and writers nurtured on the 'golden age' of Weird Tales in the 1930s.Whitehead lived in the West Indies for almost a decade, and would frequently make use of a West Indian background for stories that are masterpieces of their kind. Weaving the rich history and exotic folklore of their island settings into a colourful tapestry reinforced with a solid thread of the supernatural, his tales evoke a respectful sense of awe and mystery about the island natives and their unusual beliefs and superstitions.PASSING OF A GOD AND OTHER STORIES, the first of three volumes that will reprint all of Whitehead's known published short fiction, will introduce a new generation of readers of the supernatural to Whitehead's work, and do much to right the neglect of a writer with a very individual voice.Introduction by Stefan DziemianowiczWeirdTea LeavesThe DoorThe FireplaceSea ChangeThe Wonderful ThingAcross the GulfJumbeeThe Left EyeNon-WeirdNot To the SwiftChristabelThe Wonder-PhoneThe Intarsia BoxThe Adventures of GeraldThe Projection of Armand DuboisWest India LightsThe People of PanBlack TancrèdeThe Tree-ManThe Shut RoomPassing of a GodWhitehead wrote three different versions of the story collected in this book as "The Intarsia Box" and "West India Lights". All three versions have their merits, but the definitive third version, "Seven Turns in a Hangman's Rope", appears in Arkham House's JUMBEE, and will appear in a future volume of this series.The first second version is the title story for Arkham House's second Whitehead collection, WEST INDIA LIGHTS.

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