One of the truly entertaining aspects of the Silver John stories is that they deal exclusively with American folk lore from the Appalachian Mountains. While John has no magical ability, his intelligence, bravery and integrity serve him well.ĥ. John is a veteran of the Korean War and follows a personal philosophy based largely on early Christian teaching. He uses his knowledge and musical talent to earn his way.

Silver John is a traveling singer who carries a guitar with silver strings and has a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of folklore and local legends and the folk songs that have been made up about them. All of the stories take place in the portion of the Appalachian Mountains in or around North Carolina and are set during the late 1950’s (though no exact date is ever given).Ĥ. Who Fears the Devils includes all 30 short stories and vignettes featuring Wellman’s most enduring character, Silver John.ģ.

Manly Wade Wellman is the greatest wrestler author name I have ever read.Ģ. *** 10 Mostly Important Facts about Who Fears the Devil***ġ. His hero Silver John is both gentle and fierce, his tales are invariably moral, and good inevitably triumphs-but never meretriciously-in the end. In addition, Wellman has an instinctive understanding of the black-and-white-almost Manichean-Christianity that informs their beliefs.Ĭome to think of it, any open-minded Evangelical Christian who likes a good ghost story could not choose a better collection than this book by Wellman, either for themselves or for their older children. Wellman's feel for the mountain 'hants' and his knowledge of the people-their fierce pride and essential generosity-give these tales a weight that they might not otherwise possess. Besides, whatever these tales lack in scare-power, they more than make up for both in ghostly and in Appalachian atmosphere. There are not many big scares in these stories still, Wellman has a knack-similar to Le Fanu's-of choosing the precise detail to deeply unsettle his reader. He bought himself a mountain cabin, and soon began to write stories about John the Balladeer-itinerant musician and collector of songs-who wars against the forces of evil, armed with his silver-stringed guitar. Wellman-already established as a successful author of genre fiction-traveled to North Carolina to teach writing at Chapel Hill, and fell in love with the music and culture of the Smokies. With this innovative and unique cycle of stories, Manly Wade Wellman became the first writer to use the legends and lore of the Appalachians to craft a body of weird tales.

Manly wade wellman who fears the devil