John the Balladeer

Manly Wade Wellman, David Drake

Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
4.43 · 7 ratings · 306 pages · Published: 03 Apr 1988
John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman, David Drake
Collection of 17 short stories (written in two chronological periods, 1951-58 and 1979-86) plus a few ultra-short vignettes written in 1962-63, presented in the order they were written, and all set in Appalachia and featuring Wellman series character Silver John. John wanders the mountains on foot as an itinerant folk singer of the old songs (his nickname comes from his guitar strings made of silver --- a substance that also repels some supernatural nasties --- but he's also known as a "witch-master," that is, a kind of paranormal troubleshooter whose lore and skills render him "master over" and able to defeat the sinister sorcery of witches and "ha'nts." His variety of supernatural adventures bring him to face with time travel, revenants, various monsters of regional folklore such as the "Behinder," and other macabre phenomena.

Contents:

1 · Foreword: Manly in the Mountains · David Drake · fw * [Manly Wade Wellman]
4 · Introduction: Just Call Me John · Karl Edward Wagner · in * [Manly Wade Wellman]
9 · O Ugly Bird! · ss F&SF Dec ’51
25 · The Desrick on Yandro · ss F&SF Jun ’52
41 · Vandy, Vandy · ss F&SF Mar ’53
59 · One Other · ss F&SF Aug ’53
77 · Call Me from the Valley · ss F&SF Mar ’54
92 · The Little Black Train · ss F&SF Aug ’54
112 · Shiver in the Pines · ss F&SF Feb ’55
134 · Walk Like a Mountain · ss F&SF Jun ’55
154 · On the Hills and Everywhere · ss F&SF Jan ’56
165 · Old Devlins Was A-Waiting · ss F&SF Feb ’57
189 · Nine Yards of Other Cloth · ss F&SF Nov ’58
212 · Wonder as I Wander · gp F&SF Mar ’62; Then I Wasn’t Alone, vi; You Know the Tale of Hoph, vi; Blue Monkey, vi; The Stars Down There, vi; Find the Place Yourself, vi; I Can’t Claim That, vi; Who Else Could I Count On, vi
219 · Farther Down the Trail · gp Who Fears the Devil, Arkham House, 1963; John’s My Name, vi; Why They’re Named That, vi; None Wiser for the Trip, vi; Nary Spell, vi
223 · Trill Coster’s Burden · ss Whispers II, ed. Stuart David Schiff, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979
237 · The Spring · ss Shadows #2, ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1979
252 · Owls Hoot in the Daytime · ss Dark Forces, ed. Kirby McCauley, Viking, 1980
268 · Can These Bones Live? · ss Sorcerer’s Apprentice #11 ’81
280 · Nobody Ever Goes There · ss Weird Tales #3, ed. Lin Carter, DAW, 1981
294 · Where Did She Wander? · ss Whispers Oct ’87
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