FAMILIARS (1946)
You can see the Ugly Bird and John's
silver strings in this movie poster.
FAMILIARS (1946)
You can see the Ugly Bird and John's
silver strings in this movie poster.
SOURCES:
"Sin's
Doorway" by Manly Wade Wellman (Weird Tales, January 1946)
"O, Ugly Bird!" by Manly
Wade Wellman (Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1951)
The Lost and the Lurking
by Manly Wade Wellman (1981)
DESCRIPTION: "...It had big eyes, that shone, pale and ugly, and it had teeth bare in its mouth, pale and ugly, too. Those eyes and teeth like chips of feldspar ...One had horns like a goat, ears like a jack-ass. Another might could have been a black bear, a-trying to decide whether to walk on two feet or four. Another stirred as it crept along, and I made out that it had leathery wings of some sort, though it didn't fly just then, just looked like as if it was a-getting ready to." (The Lost and the Lurking by Manly Wade Wellman)
NOTES: Familiars can take on different forms: bird, dog, rat, snake, etc. All familiars will not look like real versions of these animals but twisted, ill-formed fakes. They are related to the ectoplasmic werewolf.
HISTORY: "O, Ugly Bird" was one of two stories used to make the 1973 film, The Legend of Hillbilly John, the only theatrical version of Silver John. It starred Severn Darden, Denver Pyle and Susan Strasberg. Don't expect too much of it.
