Alchemy Press £6.00

The cover blurb with its name-checking of thirties pulp characters and the authors ‘simple desire to tell a creepy tale’ gives the potential reader a good idea to whether or not they are likely to enjoy this collection of short stories, featuring the adventures of 1930’s hero/monster hunter for hire Damian Paladin.

The first story, Good Evening Princess, introduces the books main protagonists, and indicates the kind of horror the author has added to the thirties period setting of the collection. His use of period icons such as Speakeasies, Gangsters, Nazi Spies and the glamour of 1930’s Hollywood, all add to the book’s atmosphere. The stories are well told and I liked the way Mike Chinn revealed more and more of Paladin’s background as you made your way through the collection towards the somewhat surprising revelation of his origins in the last story, Song of the Dawn.

The only problem I had with the book were the illustrations which for the most part were fine but I felt the cover lacked something. Its only my opinion but I think that the pose could have been more dramatic and the colouring should have been bolder.

Personally I love this kind of pulp fiction, both the originals like the shadow and the spider and more recent work set in the pulp era such as "Dominic Fortune" and the "Rocketeer". Although a large part of Paladin’s background and character owe a lot to Howard Chakin’s "Scorpion" Mike Chinn has produced a fine set of stories, more please.

Dave Windett

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