Book excerpt: “The medicine drums were beating wearily and another, greater drum had commenced to boom with a hysteria which spoke of breaking nerves. The slither and slap of bare feet sounded upon Billy’s verandah, and he straightened up to see that Wanoa and several lesser chiefs had come”.
This pulp fiction fantasy novel by L. Ron Hubbard was published in May of 1939, tells the story of down and out Billy Newman finally striking it rich mining for gold in the Philippines. Believing his luck has changed, he buys his own South Sea Island at a bargain price no less. But as all good stories have it, not is all as it seems! He doesn’t have to wait long to find out about the locals stories of their beastly deity, the voracious shark god “Tadamona”! Not only does he discover that the shark god is real, but Billy must find a way to prevent the ritual sacrifice of a beautiful young girl and save the island and their inhabitants from certain destruction.
The idea of worshiping and sacrificing for gods, deities, spirits, divinity, however a culture describes it, is as old as the history of mankind. A common thread between rituals for gods is the local ceremonial communal feasts and dancing with sacrificial offerings in exchange for safety and good crops. In the case of the Aztec God, it was believed that there were three main gods with many lesser gods below them. This hierarchy of gods had a major impact on the lives of the Aztec people. The Egyptians followed a daily morning, mid day and evening ritual with strict rules to ensure the success of their existence. The Greeks and the Asian culture all have their own myths and stories of gods.
In Hubbard’s story, the deity is no less demanding than the recorded pictorial accounts of rituals and punishments meted out by angered gods (or the priests representing their gods for that matter). His story telling is masterful and is indicative of someone who wrote hundreds of novels and stories that are still in demand today. Add to the fact the audiobook version of “Danger in the Dark”, is of cinematic quality with gifted voice actors who have fully immersed themselves into there roles with great sound effects and you have a great story that you or a group of people can enjoy.
Pulp fiction stories written from the early 1900a to the 1950s, was a unique time in our history because it gave rise to many genres we enjoy today and fantasy stories, such as the one above, were in such demand that it was not uncommon for a million copies to fly off the shelves when the next issue were delivered to the stands. This was a Herculean feat for the war depressed people of the thirties and forties. Although this story is in the fantasy genre, Hubbard also wrote mysteries, science fiction, westerns, air and sea adventures, far-flung adventure and tales from the Orient.
I give this story a thumbs up!
Danger in the Dark - A Pulp Fiction Audiobook Fantasy Story
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