Created by Robert Morgan
Pseudonym of C. J. Henderson
The X-Files meets the detective novel!
Well, actually, occult private eye TEDDY LONDON predates the X-Files by at least a year (and similar occult-tinged P.I. shows such as Angel, Haunted and Brimstone by several years) though the success of those shows probably contributed to the books’ popularity back in the early nineties.
This is good old-fashioned pulp, affectionately harkening back to the bloody days of the old weird menace pulps, abounding with all the stock elements one expects: deals with the devil gone bad, vengeful vampires, winged demons; you know, the regular stuff. A few nice touches, including the fact he calls his gun Betty and his knife Veronica, betraying Morgan’s (actually C.J. Henderson’s) affection for comic books. And his sometime sidekick, chubby janitor Paul Morcey, is a hoot.
Morgan says these books were his reaction to the typical Lovecraftian horror story where nobody, no matter what the hell is happening, ever seems to go for help.
Well, he wondered, what if someone did go for help?
Where would they go?
Which lead him to ponder… what if they went to a P.I. for help?
Lord knows (or, I suppose, Beezlebub), someone likes this stuff. A good attempt, certainly a lot of fun, but not really my favourite cup of blood. I much prefer the author Jack Hagee series written under the autghhor’s real name (C.J. Henderson), featuring an equally pulpy, but much more down-to-earth eye.
Still, this stuff can be a lot of fun, and I’ve gotta admit, the Morgan/Henderson guy sure knows how to spin a tale.
In 2002 several of the Teddy stories (including one featuring Paul), which had appeared in various horror magazines and anthologies, were collected in The Occult Detectives of C. J. Henderson.
UNDER OATH
- “Yes, Henderson is very, very good.”
— Mean Streets (Australia)
NOVELS
- Things That Are Not There (1992) |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- Some Things Never Die (1993) |Â Buy this book
- Thing That Darkness Hides (1993) |Â Buy this book
- All Things Under the Moon (1994) |Â Buy this book
- Only Thing to Fear (1994) |Â Buy this book
- Some Things Come Back (1995) |Â Buy this book
- The Stench of Fresh Air (2008) |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- The Sleep That Rescues (2009) |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
SHORT STORIES
- “The Soul’s Right Hand” (Fall 1996, Cemetery Dance)
- “The Horror at Columbia” (1997, Return To Lovecraft Country; Paul Morcey)
- “Fleas of the Dragon” (1999, Tales Out of Innsmouth)
- “The Door” (1999, The Ancient Track #2)
- “Juggernaut” (2000, Imelod #17)
COLLECTIONS
- The Occult Detectives of C. J. Henderson (2002) |Â Buy this book
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts
Things That Go Bump in the Night, and the Eyes Who Go After Them
Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
