Hi folks,
"The Devil is a Gentleman, A talk on Dennis Wheatley by Phil Baker at the Dracula Society March Meeting."
Shane and I met at the Barley Mow on Horseferry Road, London, last Saturday nght at 5.30pm where we caught up on most things gothic and then at 6.30pm went upstairs to the function room and joined the Dracula Society meeting where we were made most welcome by a friendly bunch of gothic horror literary enthusiasts. And not a "Goth" in sight.
Phil Baker's talk began just after 8pm following a buffet meal and much chit chat - although as I have currently lost my voice due to a recent illness I didn't get up to much "chat", just a lot of listening, a skill which, as I was with Shane, was quite useful to have.
I won't go into detail about Phil's talk. It is the same riveting talk that has already been discussed elsewhere on this forum - Steve Whatley's excellent review of the talk in 2010 covers it exactly:
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In his long (but fun) introduction he set up the cultural background of the 60s and early 70s that provided the ideal circumstances for audiences enjoying the hint of eroticism in DW's black magic novels. Phil Baker mentioned that Professor John Sutherland (Academic specilising in Victorian fiction) when asked what the most erotic book he had ever read confessed that reading Wheatley "could always make me lively around the groin" and that Matthew Parris (Times' columnist) answered the same question with "I used to find Dennis Wheatley's satanic stuff very exciting." As Matthew Parris is gay this is an example of the broad appeal for Wheatley's writing at that time.
Phil Baker did state that he no longer keeps up to date with DW progress - he lived with the subject for 10 years and that is enough, so he still pushes that the Montague Summers archives are in Canada. But we now know they have been acquired by Georgetown University and are awaiting the official archiving process (copies of letters from DW to MS from the Georgetown Archive were displayed at the last DW convention).
There was an enjoyable discussion in the question and answer session about the hint of group sex in DW's black magic books that members of the audience confessed to enjoying in their youth and a member brought up La-Bas (Down There) by Joris K. Huysmans (publisjed 1891) followed by a knowledgable discussion between questioner and Phil Baker. Curiously Shane had discussed this book with me before the meeting - it is one his favourite horror novels.
Phil Baker adopted a relaxed conversational style and seemed to be enjoying his talk, and was generous with his time to talk to individuals afterwards. It was a pity I couldn't partake as I had no voice.
