With this volume I start developing Professor Vorchek and Jacob Bleek in a big way. They are truly the stars of this set; Vorchek gets some of his best cases, while Bleek leads the reader through his many adventures in my only novel to date. I also began writing poetry again, but sporadically, as has been my way since.

My Copy of Bleek

Canyon Diablo (ss)
Here Vorchek is in full stride investigating a mystery, this one involving rumors of a lost Indian tribe in northern Arizona. Canyon Diablo is a real place, but the scenery of this short story is more derived from the badlands of the Little painted desert County Park north of Winslow. In this adventure Vorchek is accompanied by a type of fellow-- the hapless graduate student-- who reappears in later excursions. Vorchek's students do not fare well, as this example proves, also serving to reveal the darker side of Vorchek's lust for knowledge.

Fay Canyon
This canyon is a real place, a lovely one located in the heart of the Red Rock Country near Sedona, AZ.

Then Blug Will Call

The Seventeenth Extract From the Black Book of Jacob Bleek

A Vision of Blug

The Man Who Sought Blug (ss)
This may be my favorite Vorchek story, in which he, with Theresa in tow, is approached by a high paying client with an extremely unusual request. Anything associated with Blug is going to be nasty, and I admit that this story delivers the goods. Vorchek resolves matters satisfactorily, but who benefits, save himself?
Published by Chimaera Serials. This publication, sadly, no longer exists. I say this tale is ready for a reprinting.

The Legend of the Vulture Mine (ss)
Vorchek and Theresa are once more on the trail of weirdness, this time at the historic Vulture Mine, located near picturesque Vulture Peak outside of Wickenburg, AZ. Vorchek learns the truth behind the hideous tales connected with the mine's early history, much to his satisfaction, at least.
Published by The Harrow.

The Eighteenth Extract From the Black Book of Jacob Bleek

The Rocks On Humphrey's Peak
The peak referred to is the highest mountain in Arizona, one point on the rim of a gigantic ancient volcano that blew itself to bits long ages ago. The remnants of that single geological structure make up what are now known as the San Francisco Peaks.

An Old Cave Springs Story
Cave Springs is a minor feature within Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona. It is not open to the public. I liked the name.

The Nineteenth Extract From the Black Book of Jacob Bleek

The Twentieth Extract From the Black Book of Jacob Bleek

The West Fork
The title refers to the west fork of Oak Creek, which flows through a gorgeous slot canyon before it empties into the main stream.

The Lair of the Vampire

Conjunction Night

Cathedral Rock (ss)
This short piece alludes to the magnificent red rock bluff near Sedona, one of the most eye-catching formations in an area famous for them. Professor Vorchek briefly appears in this tale of malicious influences from remote eons surviving to the present day.

The Discovery of the X Force (ss)
This very short tale, although it stars Professor Vorchek, is really a kind of end-of-the-world story, bearing no great similarity to his other stories except for the use of his name. Clever Vorchek discovers a cosmic principle which should offer enormous benefits to mankind. Unfortunately, for reasons that have nothing to do with science or logic, it brings stark tragedy.

Jacob Bleek On the Mountain (ss)
Another very short story, a "quickie" dealing with the gloomy wizard attempting to wrest eternal secrets from the gods. He gets what he demands, yet he gets nothing.

The Journey of Jacob Bleek (n)
The theme of the last story, so quintessentially Bleek, sufficiently tantalized me that I decided to go for broke and devote an entire novel to the idea. The Journey of Jacob Bleek is an episodic novel of that antique mage's quest for the unbounded knowledge and power that only the gods may bestow, divided into ten chapters, each recounting an adventure along the way to his goal. The Chapters are:

• I. The Haunted Village: The young Bleek sets out on his journey, with no definite idea how to reach his destination, armed only with the olden lore of his studies and his already well developed magical abilities. He hones those skills in an isolated German village plagued by murderous spirits. Bleek must determine why the ghosts prowl by night, then choose a solution that pleases him.
• II. The Error of Helvetius: Bleek travels to the University of Heidelberg, hoping to acquire vital information, but there he falls afoul of the master magician Helvetius, who schemes to destroy this upstart rival.
• III. At the Court of the Graf Von Waldorff: Bleek is taken prisoner by a greedy Austrian nobleman who hopes to wring from him the alchemical secret of manufacturing gold. Bleek, while promising everything, sets in motion plans of his own.
• IV. The Hermit's Curse: In the old Jewish quarter of Krakow, Bleek teams up with a reclusive sorcerer who offers the young man the secret of immortality, in return for an especially personal favor.
• V. The Countess Kronnberg: In the wilds of Hungary, Bleek is drawn by a dream vision to a shunned castle of which the natives fear to speak. There he meets a desirable noblewoman who claims to know secrets of value to his quest. She harbors other secrets too, dangerous ones.
• VI. Into the Catacombs: Tracking leads to Rome, Bleek descends into the ancient Catacombs where he uncovers evidence of sinister horrors lurking even deeper. Down he goes into a realm unsuspected by man, a mysterious subterranean world of dead cities hailing from a morbid, forgotten past. Unfortunately, all is not dead there.
• VII. The Conclave of the Telkonians: Having emerged from the bowels of the earth far from where he descended, Bleek, newly supplied with vital clues, faces his most fearsome opponents yet, the ruthless ruling wizards of the Telkon League, who brook no interlopers in their domain.
• VIII. The City of Dyrezan: Many years pass-- a surprising number-- as Bleek travels far to the east, searching for the fabled location of the eternal City of Dyrezan, the center of magical knowledge where all of his questions will be answered. This chapter is chiefly a prose re-write of the poem of the same name.
• IX. The Vault of Azamodias: Once more eagerly on the trail, Bleek ventures into the frozen north on the track of a long dead mage who once undertook a quest identical to his own. Bleek wishes to know what Azamodias knew, and why his predecessor failed. He hears the answer from a surprising source.
• X. The Mountain of the Old Ones: With all of the pieces of the puzzle finally in place, Bleek sets out on a hazardous voyage across the western ocean, then on an arduous trek through a primitive land, ever with the terrestrial gateway to the gods beckoning. What Jacob Bleek finds there, what happens when he passes beyond, and what he ultimately learns on the other side, form the culmination of his quest and the story.

Certain scenes in the final chapter are set in the Red Rock Country around Sedona, specifically Cathedral Rock and Courthouse Butte, the latter the model for the stupendous Mountain of the Gods.

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