Jules de Grandin is a fictional

occult detective Occult detective fiction is a subgenre of detective fiction that combines the tropes of the main genre with those of supernatural, fantasy and/or horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective who investigates murder and other common crimes ...

that, from 1925-1951, starred in 92 short stories and one novel by

Seabury Quinn Seabury Grandin Quinn (also known as Jerome Burke; January 1, 1889 – December 24, 1969) was an American government lawyer, journalist, and pulp magazine author, most famous for his stories of the occult detective Jules de Grandin, published ...

in the pulp magazine anthology series ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, printe ...

''. In the pages of ''Weird Tales'', Quinn also authored a serialized novel featuring de Grandin entitled ''The Devil’s Bride'', which deals with a young girl being kidnapped by satanists. In 1966,

Arkham House Arkham House was an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had ...

published a collection of 10 de Grandin stories as ''The Phantom Fighter,'' leading some fans to refer to the character by this nickname afterward. The character's methods of reasoning and investigation has led to comparisons with

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

and

Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by the English writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is Christie's most famous and longest-running character, appearing in 33 novels, two plays (''Black Coffee (play), Black Coffee'' and '' ...

Overview

In the stories, de Grandin is a French physician who is physically fit, with blonde hair and blue eyes. A former member of the French

Sûreté (, but often translated to 'safety' or 'security') is, in some French-speaking countries or regions, the organizational title of a civil police force. Algeria The Directorate General for National Security is known in French as the Sûreté ...

, de Grandin becomes an expert in the occult and is eager to lend his aid and investigative skills when called. De Grandin lives in Harrisonville,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and often new cases are brought to his attention by Jeremy Costello of the Harrisonville Police Department. Similar to Sherlock Holmes having a supporting cast of the landlady/housekeeper Mrs. Hudson and his aid and biographer

Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

, de Grandin has a housekeeper named Nora McGinnis and is assisted on his investigations by Dr. Trowbridge, a fellow physician who narrates the stories. In his stories, De Grandin sometimes encounters otherworldly beings such as

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

s and

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...

, but in several instances he discovers the danger at hand is not supernatural as others suspected but simply the evil acts of ordinary people who are corrupt.

Collected editions

In 1966

Mycroft & Moran Mycroft & Moran was an imprint of Arkham House publishers and was created in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1945. The imprint was created to publish weird detective stories and the Solar Pons stories by August Derleth. Arkham retired the imprint in 1982 ...

published a ten-story, hardcover de Grandin collection, ''The Phantom Fighter''. The collection included stories published between 1925 and 1930; Quinn provided an introductory essay. He also modernized the text in the stories. Beginning in 1976,

Popular Library Popular Library is a New York paperback book company established in 1942 by Leo Margulies and Ned Pines, who at the time were major pulp magazine and newspaper publishers. The company's logo of a pine tree was a tribute to Pines, and another ...

issued five paperback collections of de Grandin stories, assembled and edited by Robert Weinberg. The collections included about one-third of the series as well as the only full-length de Grandin novel, ''The Devil's Bride''. The volumes carried covers by Vincent DiFate and included interior illustrations by

Stephen Fabian Stephen Emil Fabian Sr. (January 3, 1930 – May 6, 2025) was an American fantasy and science-fiction artist who only became a professional artist at the age of 54 after losing his job. Despite being a self-taught artist, he became a widely know ...

. Aside from ''The Devil's Bride'', originally serialized in 1932, only three of the stories included had been published after 1930. *''The Adventures of Jules de Grandin'' (August 1976) *''The Casebook of Jules de Grandin'' (September 1976) *''The Skeleton Closet of Jules de Grandin'' (October 1976) *''The Devil's Bride'' (November 1976) *''The Hellfire Files of Jules de Grandin'' (December 1976) *''The Horror Chambers of Jules de Grandin'' (February 1977) No further volumes in the series were released, though more were planned, and the initial volumes were never reprinted. Weinberg reprinted three more stories in some of his reprint fanzines. A collection of six stories in French translation, ''Les archives de Jules de Grandin'', was issued by the Librairie des Champs-Elysées in 1979. The entire series of stories has been reprinted by Night Shade Books in a five volume set called ''The Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin'' and in a three-volume set from Battered Silicon Dispatch Box Press. The Night Shade volumes use the print files from the Battered Silicon editions. The individual Night Shade volumes are * ''The Horror on the Links'' (covering stories from 1925 to 1928) * ''The Devil's Rosary'' (1929 & 1930) * ''The Dark Angel'' (1931 to July 1933, including the novel ''The Devil's Bride'') * ''The Rival from the Grave'' (August 1933 to March 1938) * ''Black Moon'' (June 1938 through to the last story in September 1951). ''The Devil's Bride'' was issued in an Italian edition, ''Jules de Grandin: La Sposa del Diavolo'', in 2015, translated by Nicola Lombardi and published by La Zona Morta.

''Weird Tales''

de Grandin stories were often selected for the cover of ''

'', particularly when

Margaret Brundage Margaret Brundage, born Margaret Hedda Johnson (December 9, 1900April 9, 1976), was an American illustrator and painter who is remembered chiefly for having illustrated the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales''. Working in pastels on illustration board, ...

was the regular cover artist. File:Weird tales 192512.jpg File:Weird Tales January 1928.jpg File:Weird Tales January 1929.jpg File:Weird Tales April 1929.jpg File:Weird Tales July 1929.jpg File:Weird Tales January 1930.jpg File:Weird Tales March 1930.jpg File:Weird Tales January 1936.jpg File:Weird Tales November 1936.jpg File:Weird Tales January 1937.jpg File:Weird Tales September 1937.jpg File:Weird Tales November 1937.jpg File:Weird Tales February 1938.jpg File:Weird Tales March 1938.jpg File:Weird Tales June 1938.jpg File:Weird Tales July 1944.jpg File:Weird Tales March 1945.jpg File:Weird Tales January 1946.jpg

References

* "The Complete Adventures of Jules de Grandin". ''The

Battered Silicon Dispatch Box The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box (BSDB) is an independent, Canadian literary publisher, founded in 1993 by George A. Vanderburgh. Based in Shelburne, Ontario, and in Sauk City, Wisconsin, the company is headed by George Vanderburgh. The press in ...

''. 16 November 2006. .

External links

Jules de Grandin - at gwthomas.org

series listing
at

ISFDB The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Grandin, Jules Fictional French detectives Fictional paranormal investigators Fictional French physicians Characters in pulp fiction Occult detective fiction