The Dark Side of G.K. Chesterton: Gargoyles and Grotesques

222 Pages·2021·21.246 MB·English

by  John C. Tibbetts (author)

The Dark Side
of G.K. Chesterton
“Young Chesterton” (painting by John C. Tibbetts).
The Dark Side
of G.K. Chesterton
Gargoyles and Grotesques
John C. Tibbetts
Foreword by Dale Ahlquist
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
Also by John C. Tibbetts
and from McFarland
The Furies of Marjorie Bowen (2020)
The Gothic Worlds of Peter Straub (2016)
All photographs and artwork are by John C. Tibbetts unless otherwise indicated.
Excerpt from “The R.B., G.K.C. and G.B.S. Forever Orient Express” from The Cat’s
Pajamas by Ray Bradbury, published by William Morrow © 2004 by Ray Bradbury;
Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
Excerpts from “O What I’d Give to Hear and See Wry G.B.S., Spry G.K.C.” and “Behold
the Beast: Shaw/Chesterton,” published in The Shaw Review, © 1984 Ray Bradbury;
Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Names: Tibbetts, John C., author. | Ahlquist, Dale, writer of foreword.
Title: The dark side of G.K. Chesterton : gargoyles and grotesques /
John C. Tibbetts ; foreword by Dale Ahlquist.
Description: Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc.,
Publishers, 2021 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
♾
Identifiers: LCCN 2021044623 | ISBN 9781476684970 (paperback : acid free paper)
ISBN 9781476643977 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936—
Criticism and interpretation. | Gargoyles in literature. | Grotesque in literature.
| BISAC: LITERARY CRITICISM / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh |
LITERARY CRITICISM / Mystery & Detective | LCGFT: Literary criticism.
Classification: LCC PR4453.C4 Z768 2021 | DDC 828/.91209—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021044623
British Library cataloguing data are available
ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-8497-0
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-4397-7
© 2021 John C. Tibbetts. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Front cover: painting of G.K. Chesterton (John C. Tibbetts)
Printed in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Once again my thanks and love go to the Enchanter
and Muse of my life, Mary Lou Pagano.
“It is their play now … the most monstrous of all monsters are marching
across your stage, shaking the earth like dragons and chimeras; the
most towering, the most terrible creatures that life ever let loose upon
chaos. Stand back—stand out of their way. They are living men.”
—G. K. Chesterton, The Surprise (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1953), 45.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Chesterton Page References x
Foreword by Dale Ahlquist 1
Prologue: “Under a Crooked Sky” 3
Introduction: The Table Is Set 5
Chapter One. Chesterton and His Gargoyles: “A Gnarled Fancy” 13
Chapter Two. “Let the Tale Be Told”: The Weird Tales 21
Chapter Three. “Sometimes I See Things in the Dark”:
The Detective Stories 37
Chapter Four. “Will Someone Please Explain the Explanation?”
Locked Rooms and Miracle Crimes 87
Interlude: Chesterton and Jorge Luis Borges: “The Precarious Subjection
of a Demoniacal Will” 115
Chapter Five. “It is a new planet and it shall bear my name”
Chesterton and Science Fiction 120
Chapter Six. Thursday’s Children: Job, The Man Who Was Thursday
and The Surprise 146
Epilogue 159
Appendix A. “On the Road to Top Meadow” 161
Appendix B. “The Man Who Knew Too Much”: The Story
of Ignatius Press’ Collected Chesterton 168
Appendix C. “A Mastery of Miracles”: G.K. Chesterton
and John Dickson Carr (by Douglas G. Greene) 174
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viii Table of Contents
Appendix D. “G.K. Chesterton, Ray Bradbury, and George Bernard Shaw”
by Jonathan Eller 181
Appendix E. Father Brown’s S pace-Age Adventure: “The Spear
of the Sun” G.K. Ch*st*rt*n 185
Chapter Notes 191
Bibliography 205
Index 209
Acknowledgments
My heartfelt thanks go to all those friends, colleagues, and specialists who joined
me at Chesterton’s round table and have patiently read portions of this book and
generously responded with comments, Michael Dirda, T.E.D. Klein, Greg Bear, Mike
(Frances) Nevins, Pasquale Accardo, M.D.; Professors Stephen R.L. Clark, Brian
Atterbery, Ralph C. Wood, Nils Clausson, and Stephen Doyle. Special thanks for the
unfailing guidance and support of Douglas Greene, who knows more about John
Dickson Carr than anyone on (and off) the planet, and whose publishing imprint,
Crippen & Landru, carries the torch of the tradition of the “impossible crime” that
Chesterton helped pioneer; to Jonathan Eller, Director of the Center for Ray Brad-
bury Studies, in Indianapolis; to David Langford, the Hugo A ward–winning science
fiction writer who has made available to this book a marvelous Father Brown pas-
tiche; to Jon Lellenberg, agent of the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd and historian of the
Baker Street Irregulars; to Joel Silver, of the Lilly Library, for permission to include
the four Chesterton illustrations to Sherlock Holmes stories; to Cristina Concepcion
of Don Congdon and Associates, who arranged permission for the Bradbury quote
at the beginning of this book. And, of course, my own friends, associates, and fellow
Jayhawks at the University of Kansas—Film Studies Chair Michael Baskett; Professor
and Oscar winner Kevin Willmott; Professors Matt Jacobson, Tamara Falicov, Cathy
Preston; Department Executive Secretary Karla Conrad; and Pam Lerow (who once
again has shepherded this manuscript to completion); Kij Johnson, Chris McKitter-
ick and James Gunn from the KU Center for the Study of Science Fiction. More for-
mer Jayhawks are Brian Faucette, Rodney Hill, Baerbel Goebel.
I want to acknowledge the following editors and personnel at McFarland for
their assistance and support throughout the complicated gestation of this book.  First
of all, Natalie Foreman, who initially gave me the “g o-ahead,” and then, Beth Cox,
Dré Person, David Alff, Kristal Hamby, and Lori Tedder.  Finally, this book would not
have been possible without the support of Dale Ahlquist, president and c o-founder
of the Society of G.K. Chesterton (http://www.chesterton.org), who also serves as the
editor of its magazine, Gilbert!
Portions of this book appeared in my article, “The Gargoyles of G.K. Chester-
ton,” Weird Fiction Review, Vol. 11, Fall (2020). Permission granted by request.
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