Owls Hoot in the Daytime and Other Omens by Manly Wade Wellman

This volume contains all of the John the Balladeer stories (sometimes better known as Silver John), Manly's most famous character.

Wellman is best remembered as one of the most popular contributors to the legendary Weird Tales, and for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains, which draw on the native folklore of that region.

This collection contains all of Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John stories which are rooted in Appalachian folklore and are told by a captivating protagonist who battles evil with a song and sometimes with a silver quarter. The only print versions I could find were fabulously expensive so I was glad to see them available on Audible. The narrator is simply wonderful.

As another reviewer pointed out, we are never in doubt that John will win. The charm comes in how the story is imbued with Appalachian flavor and the imaginative nature of the predicaments and evil that John faces.

These are really great and I don't understand how they are so little known. I'm just glad that I came across them myself finally.

I discovered them when the Strange Studies of Strange Stories podcast covered one of the Silver John stories. This used to be the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast but with this new iteration, the hosts are now doing a lot more science fiction and I'm really enjoying it a lot.