“The Ghost-Writer” (Weird Tales, May 1940)

Bloch, Robert. “The Ghost-Writer.” Weird Tales, May 1940, pp. 35-45.
archive.org/details/Weird_Tales_v35n03_1940-05/page/n35/mode/2up

Luther Hawkins is a very effective writer of fantasy stories. Despite his upbringing as a South Dakota “country bumpkin” (36), he has transformed himself into an authority on the occult and witchcraft, he has bought a new wardrobe and has affected his manner so that he seems mysterious and otherworldly. He has attracted followers, including the narrator, who watches from afar as a creative hack and super-annoying fanboy named Steven Ayres worms his way into the affection of Hawkins, who offers him writing advice and entry into the profession. Ayres, to the narrator’s chagrin, becomes a skilled writer of fantasy. His reputation swells to the point that his ego inflates such that he begins taking public shots at his mentor, Hawkins, in the pages of the magazines they both publish in. Hawkins tries to handle things privately, but he publishes a public take-down of Ayres that effectively ends Ayres’s career. The incident seems to be over, but suddenly Hawkins dies. 

Ayers contacts the narrator, whose name is revealed to be Bloch, in a panic. Hawkins has left his typewriter to Ayres, and Ayres is disturbed by it. The narrator assures him that it is just a machine like any other and that he should just use it in memory of Hawkins. Ayres begins to publish excellent stories, all of which sound as if Hawkins had written them. he returns to Bloch emaciated and sobbing, telling Bloch that the typewriter is possessed, that he tries to write but the typewriter does whatever it wants. Ayres is terrified of the machine, terrified that he needs to continue feeding it paper and publishing he stories, terrified that the ghost of the vengeful Hawkins is somehow imbued with the machine. Bloch visits and discovers that the machine is, indeed, typing by itself and that nothing can stop it. Bloch feeds it a fresh sheet of paper, and the machine types a letter to Bloch explaining that it, the ghost of Hawkins, is bent on ruining the life of Ayres in revenge for his murder. Ayres breaks down and admits it: he poisoned a splinter of wood that he inserted into an envelope that he sent to Hawkins, who, through divination, knew something fatal was coming yet could not discover specifics in time. Ayres tore the accusation from Bloch’s hands and lifted the typewriter above his head intending to crash it to the floor. Instead, the typewriter fell on top of Ayres, crushed him to death, and then exploded. The final scrap of typing identified the scene as the body of Ayres and the soul of Hawkins. 

Here is another story about being a writer in this era, how the community of authors was a small one where everyone knew everyone. The idea that Hawkins invented his occult persona is an interesting one. It is not enough in this world, it seems, to write. One must be a “personality,” as well. The idea that Hawkins attracted acolytes through letters hits close to home for Bloch, still only three years removed from the unexpected death of HP Lovecraft. The idea that a more experienced and successful writer would take a neophyte under his wing and that beginner would imitate his mentor, well, that’s Bloch and HPL all over. One other point of interest is when the character of “Bloch” meets the panicked Ayres and diagnoses him:

“Now listen to reason, Ayres. First, Hawkins isn’t a ghost. His typewriter isn’t a ghost-typewriter either. It seems to me you’re suffering from the symptoms of an ordinary guilt complex. You wronged Hawkins. Your guilty conscience was profoundly stirred by his unexpected gift. His foolish babblings about expecting death upset you. Now, subconsciously, whenever you sit down at that typewriter it all springs back to your mind. Your subconscious directs you to atone, to recompense. Therefore, you unconsciously strive to duplicate his writing, his style. Now perhaps Hawkins did dislike you. I wouldn’t blame him for that. Perhaps he was an astute enough psychologist to figure out your reactions in just this way. He might have wanted this to happen. But still, it needn’t upset you. You’re doing good work, great work. As long as you keep it up, your stories will sell. You’ll make money. Be grateful to Luther Hawkins, Ayres, grateful for his gift or his revenge. It will be the making of you” (41).

Bloch’s growing knowledge of the field of psychology and his understanding of the horror that can arise form between one’s own ears is just in its infant stage right now. There really is a possessed typewriter in this story and a ghost is getting revenge for a murder; that’s all true as far as the reader knows. But the instinct is to rationalize it somehow, to make it go away with a wave of a psychologist’s pen. Bloch’s balance between supernatural and naturally occurring horrors has been fun to watch develop over the first decade of his career. Another fun story!