Mandrake (by Oliver Sherry)

Oliver Sherry's Mandrake is one of the most bizarre and exciting supernatural horror novels of the 1920s, a chilling tour de force unworthy of its obscure status.

The story centers around the investigations of an American occult detective, Tom Annesley (following in the great literary tradition of earlier psychic sleuths Carnacki, John Silence, Flaxman Low and Abraham Van Helsing), in two remote English villages. This area is terrorized by the immortal Baron Habdymos, malevolent sorcerer and last surviving of seven ancient adepts of black magic, and his evil bestial familiar or "mandrake," which feeds on blood -- a memorable creation worthy of M.R. James at his darkest.

Malignant ghosts and demons haunt nearly every chapter of this extremely fast-paced novel, all steadily leading up to a thrilling climax.

Medusa Press is pleased to reissue this lost supernatural classic for the first time since its original publication over eighty years ago.

In addition, researcher Richard Dalby provides an informative intro-duction to the work and its equally obscure author.