Elliott O\'donnell

The Sorcery Club Elliott O\'donnell

Publisher Marketing: Rain is responsible for a great deal more than the mere growth of vegetables-it is a controller, if a somewhat capricious controller, of man's destiny. It was mainly, if not entirely, owing to rain that the French lost the Battle of Agincourt; whilst, if I mistake not, Confucius alone knows how many victories have been snatched from the Chinese by the same factor. It was most certainly rain that drove Leon Hamar to take refuge in a second-hand bookshop; for so deep-rooted was his aversion to any literature saving a financial gazette or the stock and shares column of a daily, that nothing would have induced him to get within touching distance of a book save the risk of a severe wetting. Now, to his unutterable disgust, he found himself surrounded by the things he loathed. Books ancient-very ancient, judging by their bindings-and modern-histories, biographies, novels and magazines-anything from ten dollars to five cents, and all arrayed with most laudable tact according to their bulk and condition. But Hamar was neither to be tempted nor mollified. He frowned at one and all alike, and the colossal edition of Miss Somebody or Other's poems-that by reason of its magnificent cover of crimson and gold occupied a most prominent position-met with the same vindictive reception as the tattered and torn volumes of Whittier stowed away in an obscure corner. Contributor Bio:  O'Donnell, Elliott Elliott O'Donnell (February 27, 1872 - May 8, 1965) was an Irish author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He claimed to have seen a ghost, described as an elemental figure covered with spots, when he was five years old. He also claimed to have been strangled by a mysterious phantom in Dublin. He claimed descent from Irish chieftains of ancient times, including Niall of the Nine Hostages (the King Arthur of Irish folklore) and Red Hugh, who fought the English in the sixteenth century. O'Donnell was educated at Clifton College in Bristol, England, and later at Queen's Service Academy, Dublin, Ireland. In later life he became a ghost hunter. His first book, written in his spare time, was a psychic thriller titled "For Satan's Sake" (1904). From this point onward, he became a writer. He wrote several popular novels, including an occult fantasy, "The Sorcery Club" (1912) but specialised in what were claimed as true stories of ghosts and hauntings. O'Donnell wrote material for numerous magazines, including "Hutchinson Story Magazine, The Novel Magazine, The Idler, Weekly Tale-Teller, Hutchinson's Mystery-Story Magazine, Pearson's Magazine, Lilliput" and "Weird Tales". As he became known as an authority on the supernatural, he was called upon as a ghost hunter. He also lectured and broadcast (radio and television) on the paranormal in Britain and the United States. In addition to his more than 50 books, he wrote scores of articles and stories for national newspapers and magazines.