recent read; Jungle Stories #56, Spring 1953

Jungle Stories #56, Spring 1953

I wanted to read some pulp outside the usual zone. I went for jungle stories. Ki-Gor is a Tarzan pastiche written under a house name. I checked with Charles Rutledge who advised me of some of the better stories. "The Silver Witch" was the only recommendation  available in ebook (at present.)

"The Silver Witch" surprised me. Not only is it a good tale, but the juju sorcery is real in the story. I would have expected a Scooby-Doo unveiling. An immortal sorceress, her silver ghostly army, a lost city in the swamp. An atmosphere of horror, too. "The Silver Witch" isn't far removed from a decent Conan pastiche. As such, it could be cross-classified as sword-&-sorcery (spear-&-sorcery) as well as a jungle story.

Four other tales round out this issue.

"Ndembo!" relates a somewhat humorous tale of a 'dead' tribesman who must endure 'death' to gain fortune among his tribe. Trickery meets trickery.

"Gorilla! Gorilla!" is a story of the leader of a troop of gorillas, under challenge from a young bull, and trying to protect his group from men. It is told from the point-of-view of the gorilla.

"Angel in the Jungle" isn't the best title for the tale it relates. The story involves the usual conflict of two colonials infighting as they deal with closing a pass with dynamite while dealing with a local tribe of elephant hunters.

"Spears of Fire" rounds out the issue. Again the setup is two white men in conflict against the backdrop of wild Africa. This story involves harvesting mahogany wood and floating it down river before the flood season leaves the wood high and dry. A few good twists in this one. I think it could use a better title, too, though. Not really many "spears." I thought this was the best story besides "The Silver Witch."

For $4 on Kindle, this issue contains a surprisingly enjoyable set of stories. Worth the read if you're interested in this sort of thing.