History Literature / SilverJohn

A series of dark fantasy stories by Creator/ManlyWadeWellman about a traveling musician named John who frequently finds himself battling supernatural menaces in the deep backwoods of Appalachia. Wellman had already written other OccultDetective stories, demonstrating a talent for weirdness and a quirky sense of humour, but these stories are additionally enlivened by Wellman's enduring interest in the folklore and folk music of backwoods America.

* FunetikAksent

* RealAfterAll:
** In "Shiver in the Pines" a pair of occultist [[ConMan con artists]] try to scam a pair of farmers out of their property by tricking them into entering an [[AbandonedMine haunted mine]] that belonged to the Ancients. John figures the scam out and the two thieves are snatched away by [[EldritchAbomination something the Ancients left behind]].
** "Blue Monkey" has John attending a midnight spell-casting where the caster informs everyone that [[CentipedesDilemma if they don't think of a blue monkey]], he can turn pebbles into gold. The spell fails because they all are. John tries the spell a year later, but tells the audience not to think of a red fish (so that they ''don't'' think of a blue monkey). Turns out the spell is real.

* BrotherChuck: Evadare is not heard from again in any of the short stories after "Trill Coster's Burden". However, in the novels ''The Old Gods Waken'' and ''After Dark'', John mentions that Evadare is staying with friends while he gathers up money so they can start a homestead and get married. Also she appears in the novel ''The Hanging Stones''.

* UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar: Anderson Newlands in "Old Devlins Was A-Waiting" is a veteran of Korea. John himself occasionally mentions that he's been to war in the past, and WordOfGod is that he was in Korea too.

* RealAfterAll: In "Shiver in the Pines" a pair of occultist [[ConMan con artists]] try to scam a pair of farmers out of their property by tricking them into entering an [[AbandonedMine haunted mine]] that belonged to the Ancients. John figures the scam out and the two thieves are snatched away by [[EldritchAbomination something the Ancients left behind]].
** "Blue Monkey" has John attending a midnight spell-casting where the caster informs everyone that [[CentipedesDilemma if they don't think of a blue monkey]], he can turn pebbles into gold. The spell fails because they all are. John tries the spell a year later, but tells the audiene not to think of a red fish (so that they ''don't'' think of a blue monkey). Turns out the spell is real.

** SilverBullet: In "You Know the Tale of Hoph", one is used to slay the monster.

* TheKoreanWar: Anderson Newlands in "Old Devlins Was A-Waiting" is a veteran of Korea. John himself occasionally mentions that he's been to war in the past, and WordOfGod is that he was in Korea too.

* SummonBiggerFish: In "Vandy, Vandy" a warlock starts a spell to turn a picture of John into an object of SympatheticMagic, so he can use it to harm John. John attempts to distract the warlock by throwing a [[SilverHasMysticPowers silver quarter]] at him, and the warlock's spell latches onto the image of GeorgeWashington on the quarter instead of onto the picture of John. Result: Washington himself -- or rather, an embodiment of the heroic myth of George Washington -- appears out of the smoke and kicks the warlock's ass.

* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: John's good at this, though sometimes he takes EldritchAbominations down more [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu physically.]]

* PurpleEyes: In "Vandy, Vandy", the girl Vandy has violet eyes. They underline her exocticism, compared to the mountain folk who are her neighbors.

* PurpleEyes: In "Vandy, Vandy", the girl Vandy has violet eyes.

It inspired a movie, ''The Legend of Hillbilly John'', in the 1970s. [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible And the less said about THAT, the better.]]

* OurGiantsAreBigger: Rafe Enoch from "Walk Like A Mountain". He differs also in that he's rather cunning for a giant, and oh yes, he can control the weather. [[OlderThanTheyThink So you had a magic-using bard facing off with a storm giant literally decades before anyone even thought of]] DungeonsAndDragons.

* EldritchAbomination: Wellman was a fan of the CthulhuMythos and it shows in his work. A ''lot'' of the monsters John meets are described as something utterly ''alien'' to normal human life. [[NothingIsScarier That is, when they're described at all.

* OurGiantsAreBigger: Rafe Enoch from "Walk Like A Mountain". He differs also in that he's rather cunning for a giant, and oh yes, he can control the weather.

It inspired a movie, ''The Legend of Hillbilly John'', in the 1970s. [[SoBadItsHorrible And the less said about THAT, the better.]]

It inspired a movie, ''The Legend of Hillbilly John'', in the 1970s.

* MyFutureSelfAndMe: The whole point of the aptly-titled "Who Else Could I Count On".

* TimeTravel: Of all things, this shows up in "Ol' Devlins was A-Waitin'" when they meet [[{{Badass}} Captain Anderson Hatfield]]. Though it's also implied that they [[{{Necromancy}} conjured him up from the dead]].

* GeorgeWashington: His ghost, or perhaps more accurately the ghost of his myth, is summoned up in one story to smite down the villain.

* SummonBiggerFish: In "Vandy, Vandy" a warlock summons John by throwing a picture of him in a magic fire. Guess what John throws in the fire? ''[[GeorgeWashington A quarter.]]''

* GodWasMyCopilot: In "Over the Hills and Everywhere", John tells a story about an itinerent carpenter mending a feud between two brothers, and implies that it was Jesus taking an active hand.

* SummonBiggerFish: In "Vandy, Vandy" a warlock summons John by throwing a picture of him in a magic fire. Guess what John throws in the fire? ''[[OhCrap A]] [[GeorgeWashington quarter.]]''

* AfterlifeExpress: One appears in "The Little Black Train".

* GodWasMyCopilot: in "Over the Hills and Everywhere"

* SilverHasMysticPowers: In many of the stories.
** SilverBullet: In "You Know the Tale of Hoph".

* VictoriasSecretCompartment: "Trill Coster's Burden"