Horror

[August 6, 1970] A Spooky Spook: Larry Brent by Dan Shocker

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A color headshot of a white woman with long dark brown hair.  She is wearing a headband and a dark red turtleneck, and is smiling at the camera.
by Cora Buhlert

A Marriage of Necessity

For more than a hundred years, the two great German shipping companies Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft, Hapag for short, founded in Hamburg in 1847, and Norddeutscher Lloyd AG, founded in Bremen in 1857, have been rivals. My father, grandfather and great-uncle all worked for the Norddeutscher Lloyd, my grandfather as a captain, my great-uncle as a doorman and my father as a naval architect.

However, on July 28, 1970, what once seemed unthinkable, happened. The stockholders of Hapag and the Nordddeutscher Lloyd respectively voted to merge the two companies and form the Hapag-Lloyd AG.

A color photograph of the upper deck of a ship against a bright blue sky.  A man in a white jacket and black pants stands in front of a yellow smokestack which is about twice his height.  Most of it is painted yellow.  At the top three stripes are painted in blue, white, and red.  The man is raising a white flag with a blue symbol on it which shows a ship's anchor crossed with an old-fashioned skeleton key, with a wreath woven around the crossing point. The flag's rope is connected to a white mast pole to his right.
A symbolic image of the new union: The flag of the Norddeutscher Lloyd is being pulled up on a vessels with a smoke stack in Hapag's livery.
A black and white photo of a shipping container sitting on tarps on the deck of a ship.  Crane scaffolding and mast poles with myriads of cables stretched in multiple directions ascend out of the frame behind it.  The container is made of ten sheets of metal connected along the vertical edges with rivets.  Large black stickers with white letters have been placed on the middle six panels, forming the company name Hapag Lloyd.
A Hapag-Lloyd shipping container.

This union is not a marriage of love, but one of necessity. Because both Hapag and the Norddeutscher Lloyd have been facing a myriad of issues in recent years. Passenger travel across the Atlantic, once the bread and butter of both companies, is down, as more and more people opt for the much faster air travel instead. And in the less glamorous, but equally lucrative freight sector, the rise of the shipping container has rendered the general cargo vessels of both companies less profitable. The fact that one's of Hapag's freighters, the Münsterland, has been stuck in the Suez Canal for three years now, trapped there by the Six-Days-War (which turned into a three-years-war for the Münsterland and her fellow trapped vessels) doesn't help either.

A color photo of a container ship on a muddy river in Thailand.  A tree-lined bank and cloudy sky are in the background. The ship's black hull is labeled Munsterland in white block capitals.  Several white containers are visible on the deck.  A smokestack with blue, white, and red stripes painted along the top sits on top of a white cabin area.
The Hapag freighter Münsterland in happier times moored off the coast of Thailand

Nor did the merger happen completely out of the blue, for the former rivals Hapag and Norddeutscher Lloyd have been cooperating for a while now, operating a chain of travel agencies and their container shipping services under the Hapag-Lloyd name. They also jointly operate a shipping terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey.

A black and white photo of a single-story modernist building with rounded corners at the intersection of two tree-lined streets.  Cars, cyclists, and pedestrians are passing by on the street and sidewalk. An old windmill is visible above the trees in the top left of the frame, while more modern multi-story buildings are visible to the right.
This pavillion houses the Hapag-Lloyd travel agency in the Wallanlagen park in Bremen.

The fleet of the newly formed Hapag-Lloyd AG includes four brand-new container vessels, several general cargo freighters, some of whom will be retrofitted for container operations, others will be sold off, and the two remaining passenger liners of the Norddeutscher Lloyd, the Bremen and the Europa. Not a bad dowry for a marriage of necessity.

A black and white photo of a shipping dock.  Two container ships, the Weser-Express and the Elbe-Express, are pulled up next to it one in front of the other. A large flat area the size of several city blocks has been cut into the trees surrounding the dock, seemingly with nothing on it but dirt. In front of that, lines of shipping containers sit on two asphalt lots, separated by a road which passes through parallel to the river.  Two large cranes stand next to the ships.
Two of Hapag-Lloyd's four brand-new container vessels, the Weser-Express and the Elbe-Express
A black and white photo of two passenger ships, the MV Europa and the MV Bremen, on the river with New York skyscrapers on the shore behind them.  The ships are decorated with strings of small flags which attach at the bow and stretch upward across the tops of the two masts and then down to the stern. smoke rises from the smokestack of the nearer ship, but the calm water shows that they are not currently underway.
The crown jewels of the Norddeutscher Lloyd fleet, the passenger liners Bremen and Europa in front of the New York skyline.
A color photo of the MV Bremen sailing out of the fog, moving toward the right of the frame as though to pass next to the viewer. The photo is taken from the deck of another ship, whose cables and orange-painted deck fittings ascend upward in front of the viewer.
The stately passenger liner MV Bremen on the outer Weser, approaching Bremerhaven.

In the merger contract, it was explicitly agreed that the new company would retain both the Hapag headquarters in Hamburg and the Norddeutscher Lloyd headquarters in Bremen. However, maintaining two rather than a single head office is costly and so I fear that in the long run, one of the two headquarters will be closed. And most likely, it will be the Bremen office, because it is smaller (the beautiful Norddeutscher Lloyd headquarters was badly damaged in World War II and torn down last year to make way for a department store, while the shipping company moved operations to a secondary office building at the edge of the city center) and less prestigious than Hapag's headquarters directly by the waterfront in Hamburg. This would mean that many of employees at the Bremen office, including several friends and family members of mine, would either lose their jobs or be forced to relocate to Hamburg.

A color photograph of a multistory neoclassical building with long rows of four-paneled windows, a green roof and tan stone walls, sitting behind a neat row of trees along a riverbank.  Two flags fly from flagpoles at the top center of the building.
Hapag's impressive headquarters on Ballindamm in Hamburg, directly on the Binnenalster
A black and white photo of a large neorenaissance-style building which takes up an entire city block, with smaller buildings in the same style in front of it across the street intersection.  A tower ascends from the corner at the intersection with a bell tower at the top.  Multiple pointed gables are placed along the roof above the entrances, which are spaced along both visible sides of the building.
The palatial former Norddeutscher Lloyd headquarters in Bremen. I spent many a day visiting my father in his office here. Badly damaged in WWII, it was demolished last year to make way for a department store.
A black and white photo of a three-story Baroque revival-style building taken from across the street.  Cars are passing in front of it. An arch at the center of the roof frames a large stylized heraldic shield.  A cupola above the arch has a small weather vane on top.
After WWII, the Norddeutscher Lloyd moved its headquarters to this building next to Bremen Central Station, originally designed to house emigrants on their way to the new world. It is still impressive and I love walking the hallways with their soft carpets, but somewhat less so than the previous headquarters or Hapag's headquarters.

The "Heftroman" Gets Spooky

The West German shipping industry may be in rough waters, but it's smooth sailing for another, very different West German industry, namely "Heftroman" publishing.

A black and white photo of the front window and counter of a small newsstand, covered in advertising posters for beer and newspapers.  An elderly woman in a white smock adjusts a poster to the left of the window.  Inside the building a jumble of products for sale is visible.
A typical news stand in West Germany

I have written about the quite unique West German publishing phenomenon that is the "Heftroman" a few times in these pages already, mostly focussing on the various science fiction series such as the stalwart Perry Rhodan, now celebrating ten years of continuous publication, and his less successful competitors Ren Dhark, Rex Corda and Ad Astra, all of whom only lasted for a couple of years.

However, science fiction is only one of many "Heftroman" genres. Romance, westerns, war stories and crime and mystery are all a lot more popular with dozens of series vying for attention at newsstands around West Germany. One of these series is Silber-Krimi (Silver Mystery), a crime and mystery anthology series that has been chugging along since 1952. Over the years, Silber-Krimi acquired a couple of recurring sleuths such as FBI Agent Jeff Conter and the crime-solving Butler Parker. Two years ago, another recurring character joined the Silber-Krimi roster.

This character is Larry Brent. He started out as yet another FBI agent – FBI agents are popular "Heftroman" protagonists in West Germany due to the success of the G-Man Jerry Cotton series – and was quite typical of the FBI agents that populate West German "Heftromane". He is tall, handsome, smokes and drinks in moderation, is a thorough investigator and skilled martial artist, loves fast cars – his current ride is a bright red Lotus Europa – and hates paperwork. Larry Brent is basically Jerry Cotton, only blonde and with a German American background to make him more relatable to West German audiences.

But while Larry Brent's adventures started out like those of Jerry Cotton, Silber-Krimi's own Jeff Conter, and dozens of others, he quickly branched off into a very different realm, when he found himself tangling with vampires while on holiday in France and recruited by a mysterious organisation named PSA (short for Psychoanalytische Spezialabteilung, i.e. Psychoanalytic Special Unit) that deals with supernatural menaces. Of course, psychoanalysis has nothing to do with the occult and everything to do with Sigmund Freud – the word the author is looking for is "parapsychology".

The cover of Das Grauen schleicht durch Bonnards Haus.  At the top left, a green square with silver lettering says Silber-Krimi.  In the center, a circular aperture against the flat gray background suggests looking through a peephole in a door. A frightened-looking white woman with brown hair stares directly at the viewer, her fingers tense next to her face as though she is about to claw it, her mouth open as though screaming.  Behind her, an unnaturally large pair of human-looking eyes stare at the viewer from a dark nonhuman face, most of which is obscured by the woman's head.  Across the bottom, the title of the book is written in red letters against a white rectangular background.

I actually discussed the very first Larry Brent story, "Das Grauen schleicht durch Bonnards Haus" (Horror creeps through Bonnard's house) in these pages two years ago. I enjoyed the story quite a bit, and I clearly wasn't the only one, because Larry Brent quickly became one of the most popular of Silber-Krimi's revolving roster of sleuths. Indeed, Larry Brent was so popular right out of the gate that he was given his own subseries, billed as "Silber Grusel Krimi – Ein Roman für starke Nerven" (Silver Spooky Mystery – a novel for readers with strong nerves).

The Shudder-Inducing Adventures of Larry Brent

The cover of Nachts, wenn die Toten Kommen.  A black rectangle across the top holds a skeletal hand grasping toward the words Silber Grusel-Krimi.  The word Silber is in red, the rest in white.  Below, a black and white photo of a hand superimposed on an orange background has been manipulated such that it seems to be rising out of the ground like a pillar.  The palm is flat toward the sky with the fingers pointed up, as though forming a chair with the palm as the seat.  A stone pillar rises behind the hand. In front of the hand, a color photo of a blonde woman wearing a black ragged garment is superimposed.  Her head reaches just to the base of the hand's index finger.  She is reaching her right arm toward the viewer, palm up in invitation. Across the bottom, the title is written in red bubble lettering against a white background.

As of today, Larry Brent has solved twenty spooky cases to entertain readers with strong nerves: investigating mysterious murders and dealing with curses from beyond the grave, vampires both real and fake, mummies, mad scientists, fraudulent psychics, bloodthirsty cults and plenty of fog-shrouded mansions haunted by ghosts of the past and terrors of the present. The stories are a mix of crime thriller and horror tales, but always dripping with atmosphere. In many ways, they are quite reminiscent of the Edgar Wallace and Dr. Mabuse crime thrillers which were filling West German cinemas five to ten years ago, but have sadly petered out in recent years.

It is notable that the resolution of Larry Brent's cases isn't always supernatural, but the perpetrator is just as likely to be a plain old human disguising himself as some kind supernatural menace. In this respect, some of the Larry Brent adventures are reminiscent of the delightful new Hanna-Barbera cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, where a bunch of nosy teenagers and their dog travel around the US in a Volkswagen van to fight monsters, vampires, werewolves and other supernatural threats, which invariably turn out to be just a human in a rubber mask.

A color image of the cartoon logo for Scooby-doo, Where are you?.  Scooby-Doo is in red capitals with yellow outlines, and Where are you? is in smaller blue capitals.  Behind the title, Velma cringes away from something as Shaggy clutches her shoulder with one hand and Scooby-Doo with the other, his face showing distress.  Scooby also looks alarmed, lifting a front paw and pressing against Shaggy.  Fred points up to the top right of the frame, his face alarmed. Under his arm, Daphne tiptoes forward, her arms held loosely bent in front of her body.
Crime- and ghostbusting teens Velma, Shaggy, Fred and Daphne and Shaggy's dog Scooby-Doo from the delightful "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" cartoon—it still hasn't come to West Germany, but I've read about it.

The cover of Im Kabinett des Grauens.  Across the top, the Silber Grusel-krimi logo with the skeletal hand as in the previous cover image.  In the center, a photo of a grinning skull sitting on a small pedestal against a blood-red background. The title is in red across the bottom, against a white background.

Over the course of twenty adventures, Larry Brent has also assembled a supporting cast. His boss and head of the PSA is David Gallum, an American secret agent who was seriously injured while investigating Ron Silker, a mad scientist experimenting with dark magic. Gallum lost his eyesight due his injuries, but gained empathic abilities – shades of Marvel Comics' Daredevil. Gallum's career as a field agent was over, but his expertise was still invaluable and so Gallum was appointed as head of the newly formed PSA whose mission is to investigate seemingly unsolvable crimes with supernatural involvement, which – as Larry Brent and the reader are told – happen with increasing frequency all over the world, setting the stage for many adventures to come.

The cover of Der Fluch der blutenden Augen.  Across the top, the Silber Grusel-krimi logo with the skeletal hand as in the previous cover image.  The title is written in bright pink on three small white rectangles positioned at the top left of the image, which is a photo of a naked brunette woman with straight-cut bangs.  She is looking blankly at the viewer with her lips slightly parted.  Her left hand, wrapped in thin silver necklace chains, rests on her right shoulder.  Behind her, a cobwebbed human skull rests atop a chest behind a pile of coins.

Every hero needs a sidekick and Larry Brent's sidekick is Iwan Kunaritschew alias Agent X-Ray-7 (Larry Brent's codename is Agent X-Ray-3), a hard-drinking, hard-smoking Russian, for ideological differences don't matter when fighting supernatural menaces that threaten the entire world. Iwan is the muscle of the team, since he is extremely tough and strong and an excellent fighter, but like many "Heftroman" sidekicks, he also serves as the comic relief. Larry and Iwan first met in the second Larry Brent adventure "Die Angst erwacht im Todesschloss" (Fear awakens in the castle of death) and have worked together ever since.

The cover of Die Angst erwacht im Todesschloß. The Silber Grusel-krimi logo is across the top.  The title is written in pink letters against small white rectangles at the top left of the image, which shows a photo of a wh ite woman with brown hair leaning on the railing at the landing of a staircase, clutching it with one outstretched arm.  She is staring out of the frame to the right of the viewer with a frightened and angry expression.  The strap of her dark blue mini dress is sliding down her shoulder and she appears to be barefoot, although her foot is hidden behind a superimposed large blue eye at the bottom left of the image. The staircase disappears into shadows at both ends.

Of course, every hero also needs a love interest and Larry Brent even has two. The first is Detective Su-Hang of the Hongkong police, whom Larry met while investigating a series of murders committed by circus animals in "Der Satan schickt die Höllenbrut" (Satan deploys hell's spawn) and who reappeared a few issues later in "Die Mörderpuppen der Madame Wong" (The murderous dolls of Madame Wong). Larry Brent's other potential love interest is fellow PSA agent Morna Ulbrandson a.k.a. X-Girl-C (male and female PSA agents have different codenames), a Swedish model turned supernatural investigator. Morna debuted in the fifth Larry Brent adventure, "Nachts, wenn die Toten kommen" (At night, when the dead come) and has appeared a few times since then.

The cover of In den Katakomben des Wahnsinns.  The Silber Grusel-krimi logo is across the top.  Below, a color painting of a red-haired white woman in a neon green mini-dress with a cutout below the collar for her improbably-prominent cleavage, as well as knee-high boots of the same color, against a dark green background. She is running toward the left of the frame, her left arm flung backward as she looks in horror behind her at the oversized white hand reaching toward her. At the bottom, the title is written over a white background, all in small black print except for Wahnsinns, which is written in large bright red letters in a spiky font.

There is one more woman in Larry Brent's life: his younger sister Miriam. The aspiring actress was introduced in "Um Mitternacht im Leichenhaus" (At midnight in the house of corpses), when she got involved in the spooky going-ons in the home of a theatre director who died under mysterious circumstances.

The cover of Das Grauen von Blackwood Castle.  The Silber Grusel-krimi logo is across the top.  Below, a painting shows a young woman who appears to be wearing nothing but underpants and sandals.  She is huddled in the corner of a cinder-block cell, covering her breasts with her arms, staring in horror at a swarm of bright green caterpillars which are crawling toward her from both directions.  At the bottom, the title is written in small black block capitals against a white background, except for the word Grauen, which is written in a bright red font whose letters seem to be melting at the bottoms, arising from a black oily puddle.

Who is Dan Shocker?

A black and white author's headshot of a blonde white man with a close-cropped van-dyke beard, wearing a white dress shirt and striped necktie, looking at the camera with a neutral expression.
Dan Shocker a.k.a. Jürgen Grasmück

The author of the Larry Brent adventures is the very appropriately named Dan Shocker. A name like that can only be a pen name and indeed the person behind the Dan Shocker byline is West German author Jürgen Grasmück. Though only thirty years old, Grasmück/Shocker is already a "Heftroman" veteran who sold his first story, when he was only sixteen years old. Since then, Grasmück has written science fiction, mysteries, thrillers and westerns under a variety of pen names. Jürgen Grasmück suffers from muscular atrophy and has been using a wheelchair since he was fifteen, which makes it difficult for him to work a regular job, even though West Germany has legislation to support disabled people in the workplace. Writing "Heftromane" allows him to earn a living while following his passion for storytelling.

As Dan Shocker, Grasmück seems to have found his calling. Ever since he burst onto the scene some two years ago, Larry Brent's popularity has only grown, which is also evidenced by the fact that the Silber-Grusel-Krimi issues are getting painted covers by now rather than the cheaper stockphoto montages or repurposed movie stills that most regular Silber-Krimi issues feature, though the covers still have next to nothing to do with the stories themselves.

Success tends to beget imitators, as we saw with Perry Rhodan, G-Man Jerry Cotton and other popular "Heftroman" heroes. Therefore, I expect that we will see more supernatural detectives appearing in the newsstand spinner racks in the next few years. Indeed, there are rumours that Silber-Grusel-Krimi is planning to branch out beyond Larry Brent and introduce other paranormal investigators.

Newsstands around West Germany are going to become a lot spookier…

A black and white photo of a wooden-sided newsstand covered in advertising posters.  A man in a long white coat and a small boy in short pants pose on opposite sides of the newsstand window and door.  On the opposite side of the building, another man stands reading one of the advertising posters.
News stand in Wunstorf near Hannover
A black and white photo of a concrete newsstand next to a taller brick building.  A man in a business suit stands at the window speaking to the person inside.  Behind him, shelves are stocked with magazines and food items.
A news stand in the city of Langen in Hesse.
A black and white photo of a very small wooden newsstand about the size of a garden shed, in the middle of an empty lot. A woman with her two children stands at the window.  On the opposite side of the building, two men in business suits stand at the top of the steps leading away from the newsstand, looking toward the woman.
A news stand somewhere in the Ruhrgebiet
A black and white photo of a small newsstand decorated to look like a half-timber building, with a statue on the roof of a woman in long skirts holding up one arm as though raising a toast.  Several people wait in line at the window.
News stand in the city of Herne in the Ruhrgebiet
A faded color photo of a small round newsstand with windows all around the circumference and a bell-shaped roof that extends outward over the windows .  Two men wait in line at the open window. In the background, a three-story whitewashed building with a red roof and shuttered windows stands across the street.
News stand in the city of Darmstadt in Hesse

[New to the Journey?  Read this for a brief introduction!]


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