Calvin Alden

Author of the popular Harry Love series of occult mysteries.

Calvin Alden in the 1920s

A noted author who resides in the Hollywood Hills, Alden is a former war correspondent and the author of a popular series of mystery novels. He studied literature and philosophy at Miskatonic University, graduating in 1916. Alden began his writing career as a reporter during the Great War. After repeated attempts to join the RAF in 1918, a British Army general offered Alden the chance to travel with him throughout the European theatre as an American observer. While touring Europe and witnessing the war firsthand, Alden wrote a series of letters which were published in his hometown newspaper, the New Orleans Picayune. The letters were later collected and published as a book, Behind the Front (1920).

After the war Alden purchased property in the hills above Los Angeles. He worked under contract with several studios, but only one film was produced from his numerous scripts. The Dark Gods is a suspense thriller set in an unknown Polynesian island, where the passengers and crew of a shipwrecked pleasure cruise discover a tribe who worship terrible creatures that live beneath the ocean. The film is notable for a number of unique elements: a protagonist who is inept and fails to save the day, characters who are petty and who doom themselves with their selfishness, and an unethical scientist who attempts to save himself at the expense of the others. The Dark Gods is most known for its unhappy ending – none of the central characters survive, the hero is beheaded and eaten by cannibals, and the heroine – a gorgeous redhead Hollywood actress named Emily Redmond – is in the end sacrificed to the titular gods.

In 1920 Alden received some attention during a scandal involving a Hollywood starlet and a secret sex cult. He was arrested and charged with manufacturing alcohol, but the charges were dropped before trial. Later that year Alden began publishing a series of mystery novels featuring a protagonist named Harry Love. The detective investigates cases which have a definite occult flavor, often involving devil-worshipers and evil sorcerers. The first two volumes of the series contained no supernatural elements and merely used the occult milieu as atmospheric background.

With the third volume, Harry Love and the Cult of the Serpent (1921), Alden introduced a telepathic character known only as Bob. The telepath had the ability to touch objects and see their past and future. This volume became the best-selling of the series and was the first to go into repeat printings. Each book thereafter would feature a number of supernatural elements, including telepathy, working magic, and creatures such as vampires and demons.

Alden spends most of his time at his Hollywood home. He is unmarried but has a reputation for womanizing and carousing. Among his friends are Hollywood director Thomas Ince and the actor Charles Chaplin.

Books by Calvin Alden

1920 Behind the Front

1920 Harry Love and the Sorcerer Stone

1920 Harry Love and the Tomb of Despair

1921 Harry Love and the Cult of the Serpent

1922 Harry Love and the Temple of Darkness

1923 Harry Love and the Number of the Beast

1924 Harry Love and the Cult of the Dark Gods

1929 Wendigo