Back in September of 2019, prolific pulp horror author Guy N Smith handed out an exclusive chapbook entitled ‘The Power Of The Pendulum’ to all of those who attended that year’s annual GNS Fan Convention. Each one of these chapbooks was hand signed by Smith on the very last page of the chapbook.
The chapbook details Smith’s experiences with using a pendulum for both making decisions as well as tackling supernatural occurrences.
DLS Synopsis:
Many years ago, Smith had been given a pendulum by a White Witch with whom he was friendly at the time. She’d explained to Smith how to use the pendulum and that there was nothing specifically magical about them. How they worked was that they simply tapped into the energy of the users’ body.
The user would dangle the pendulum and then ask a question. If the pendulum spun in a clockwise motion, then this meant a positive answer. Anti-clockwise was a negative answer.
Smith explains how he first used the pendulum some forty-years-ago to help find water in his back yard. Later on, Smith tells us how he then utilised the pendulum to rid a supernatural apparition from frequenting a young friend’s bedroom...
DLS Review:
At the 2019 GNS Fan Convention, Smith handed out these chapbooks whilst also showing us all the very pendulum which he’d used in the aforementioned two events. The chapbook itself then provides an interesting little overview of the use of pendulums in this way (something I hadn’t previously been familiar with), and then a couple of classic Smith stories of how he used his pendulum.
The story in respect of banishing a supernatural presence from a young friends’ bedroom is by far and away the more interesting of the two stories. Here Smith tells the story, throwing in a host of wonderfully atmospheric details about lights flickering and experiencing a drop in the temperature as he held forth the pendulum. All very ‘The Exorcist’ (1973) in a very low-key way!
However, the chapbook is quite simply another great example of Smith’s rich and incredibly eventful life, and a lovely collector’s piece to have.
The chapbook runs for a total of 3 pages.
© DLS Reviews
