Flaxman Low was one of the first “periodical” occult detectives. By that, I mean, a psychic investigator who was featured in a magazine as a recurring character. Low wasn’t the first. That honor belongs to Sherlock Holmes, who though he didn’t always chase the unknown, did on occasion face such terrors as the Speckled Band, the Hound of the Baskervilles, the Devil’s Foot and the Sussex Vampire. This was in The Strand Magazine.
George Newnes’s The Strand had many competitors but the biggest was Pearson’s Magazine, that published many of H. G. Wells’s most famous stories. C. Arthur Pearson also had a mother son team write the Flaxman Low stories. They were credited as E. and H. Heron but they were actually Kate and Heskith Prichard. The son was a famous military man, sportsman and conservationist who penned the November Joe mystery stories. For more: (http://www.michaelmay.online/2017/11/guest-post-november-joe-canadas.html) To the authors’ surprise, the series bore the title “Real Ghost Stories”. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
The adventures of Flaxman Low are contained in twelve stories:
11. “The Story of the Spaniards, Hammersmith” Pearson’s Magazine (January 1898)
2. “The Story of Medhams Lea” Pearson’s Magazine (February 1898)
3. “The Story of the Moor Road” Pearson’s Magazine (March 1898)
4. “The Story of Baelbrow” Pearson’s Magazine (April 1898)
5. “The Story of Grey House” Pearson’s Magazine (May 1898)
6. “The Story of the Yand Manor House” Pearson’s Magazine (June 1898)
7. “The Story of Seven Halls” Pearson’s Magazine (January 1899)
8. “The Story of Saddler’s Croft” Pearson’s Magazine (February 1899)
9. “The Story of No. 1, Karma Crescent” Pearson’s Magazine (March 1899)
10. “The Story of Konnor Old House” Pearson’s Magazine (April 1899)
11. “The Story of the Crowsedge” Pearson’s Magazine (May 1899)
12. “The Story of Mr. Flaxman Low” Pearson’s Magazine (June 1899)
The stories range from quite good (“The Story of the Baelbrow”) to middling (“The Story of the Moor Road”) to dull (“The Story of Konnor Old House”), with real monsters mixed in with fake. In this time of Sherlock Holmes, it was fair to play it either way.
After reading a few stories, a pattern emerges with most of the tales. Here is my full-proof Flaxman Low plot that you can use if you want to write some modern pastiches. (As did writers who followed such as William Hope Hodgson, whose Carnacki also played both sides of the street.)
STEP ONE: A friend with a haunted house writes to the occult detective. (The detective gladly agrees to look into things.)
STEP TWO: The haunted house is described.
STEP THREE: The haunting is described and illustrated with the most recent manifestations.
STEP FOUR: The history of the house is given, usually involving the originally builder or an evil tenant.
STEP FIVE: The occult detective expounds his/her philosophy.
STEP SIX: The occult detective checks out the house and has first encounter with phenomena.
STEP SEVEN: The friend wants to quit the investigation but the occult detective insists on proceeding.
STEP EIGHT: Strange equipment or information arrives. (The occult detective prepares for a second encounter.)
STEP NINE: The occult detective lets slip some tantalizing clues. (But does not fully explain.)
STEP TEN: The occult detective has second and final encounter with the phenomena.
STEP ELEVEN: The occult detective explains everything to the friend.
STEP TWELVE: The house is destroyed.
Flaxman Low may not have hit the heights of terror or mystification that a good Conan Doyle yard could, but he did show writers there was money to be made in writing a series of stories (then collecting them in a book) with the likes of Algernon Blackwood’s John Silence, William Hope Hodgson’s already-mentioned Carnacki, Sax Rohmer’s Moris Klaw, Claude & Alice Askew’s Alymer Vance, and the superstar or all superstar periodical occult detectives, Seabury Quinn’s Jules de Grandin, who with ninety-three stories makes Flaxman Low look like a punter.