Boroughs of Fairgeth (3)

[Continued from posts on June 30, 2009 & July 5, 2009]

Appleton: The smallest borough of Fairgeth is Appleton, tucked in between the Village and Sawgeth. Once the home of many farmers’ markets, the neighborhood mysteriously attracted many spiritualists and psychics (and, according to some, many ghosts along with them) in the 19th century. More inexplicable happenings occur within Appleton than any other borough. Some claim that the curses that envelop Fairgeth originate from this area, which used to also house the slaughterhouses and tanneries in the late 18th century. Appleton’s most famous sons were the monster hunter Matthew Slate and his ghost- and hoax-busting descendant Max Medium.

First Appearance/Mention: “Homecoming,” by Craig Nordoff (4th MATTHEW SLATE™ story, first appearance of Barton Village (1789)), OCCULT THRILLS #169 (December 1927); “Hunting Blind,” by Paul Nordoff & Roger Ashwood (9th MATTHEW SLATE story/20th Max Medium story; brings Slate & Appleton into “modern” Fairgeth), OCCULT THRILLS #322 (September 1940)

Upton: The northeastern sector of Fairgeth, “Up-town” has steep streets to rival hilly San Francisco as the land rises to meet the eastern bluffs and mountains. Settled on these hills were the once-secluded Catholic boarding schools associated with Three Saints Cathedral—Saint Benedict’s School, the Academy (of Saint Brendan), and the Paduan School of Saint Anthony. This neighborhood also plays host to many art galleries, museums, parks, and the Druidica, gardens famous as much for their rare plants and statuary as the group of druids that built the stone circle at its center (and a few secretive cults rumored to dwell in the vicinity).

First Appearance/Mention: “Dread of the Drugged Druids,” by A.J. Soltare (2nd ACE BARRIGAN story), OCCULT THRILLS #269 (April 1936); “Mastromwood,” by Carson Cullen (links Upton schools and a woods to Fairgeth; look at a cult from the inside), OCCULT THRILLS #285 (August 1937)

Marcus Heights: Built as the exclusive domain of the leaders and richest citizens of Fairgeth, Marcus Heights rests upon a bluff overlooking the city to its west. Home to numerous expansive walled estates, there are allegedly more secrets among the cultivated woods and brambles on the Heights than among the shady alleyways in the city below.

First Appearance/Mention: “The Blue Haze Blues,” by Stan Plymouth (2nd THE CHANTEUSE story), OCCULT THRILLS #263 (October 1935); “Return of the Terror Tarot,” by Roger Ashwood (18th Max Medium story; Marcus Heights in Fairgeth), OCCULT THRILLS #315 (February 1940);

The Skirts: The Skirts stand either for what were once the outskirts of the city in the 1920’s or for the two prominent private schools for girls within it. A patchwork of bedroom communities and suburbs, the Skirts has become a web of highways among the many small businesses dominated by its longtime Mediterranean- and Balkan-American citizens.

First Appearance/Mention: “Missing Maidens & Medusas,” by A.J. Soltare (3rd ACE BARRIGAN story), OCCULT THRILLS #275 (October 1936); “Mysteries Matriculate, Immaculate, and Immolate,” by Steve Mark (15th MAX MEDIUM story, links Saint Theresa’s School for Wayward Girls to Fairgeth), OCCULT THRILLS #295 (June 1938)

Eastmore: The most recently built of the sections of Fairgeth, Eastmore grew from the “east moors” or swamps that used to make southeastern Fairgeth a bug-infested summer hell. This area is primarily residential, since the draining and redirecting of the Poole allowed development of the land. The continued growth of the city threatens to move the city through this borough and adding another neighborhood east along the Pierce Highway around Marcus Heights and into the surrounding mountains.

First Appearance/Mention: “Out of the Smoke, Into the Fire,” by A.J. Soltare (32nd ACE BARRIGAN story; 1st mention of Eastmore), OCCULT THRILLS #370 (September 1944)

Editors’ Note: All material above excerpted from Fairgeth on File: Travelogue of a City without Shame (Bulwark/Prospect, 1988) by Norman Crenshaw, Charles Pherris, and Edward Ullers.

July 7, 2009 Tags: "Dread of the Drugged Druids", "Homecoming", "Hunting Blind", "Mastromwood", "Missing Maidens & Medusas", "Mysteries Matriculate Immaculate and Immolate", "Out of the Smoke Into the Fire", "Return of the Terror Tarot, "The Blue Haze Blues", A.J. Soltare, Academy, ACE BARRIGAN, Appleton, Barton Village, bluffs, boroughs, Bulwark Publications, Bulwark/Prospect, Catholic, Charles Pherris, Chester Blythe, City without Shame, Craig Nordoff, cult, curse, cursed, druid, Druidica, Eastmore, Edward Ullers, estates, FAIRGETH, Fairgeth on File, farmer, gallery, Gangland Thrills, garden, ghost, haunted, hills, hoax, Marcus Heights, market, MATTHEW SLATE, MAX MEDIUM, monster, moors, mountain, museum, Norman Crenshaw, Occult Thrills, Paduan School, park, Paul Nordoff, Pierce Highway, private school, psychic, rich, Roger Ashwood, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint B's, Saint Benedict, Saint Brendan, Saint Theresa's School for Wayward Girls, San Francisco, Sawgeth, secrets, slaughterhouse, spiritualism, spiritualist, Stan Plymouth, Steve Mark, stone circle, swamps, tannery, THE CHANTEUSE, the Skirts, Three Saints Cathedral, Upton Posted in: Genre-Detective Fiction, Genre-Fantasy Fiction, Genre-Horror/Weird Fiction, Genre-Mystery Fiction, Medium-Audio/Radio, Medium-Books, Medium-Comics/Graphic Novels, Medium-Electronic Games, Medium-Magazines & Pulps, Medium-Role-Playing Games, Medium-TV/Movies, World-Bulwark Pulps, World-Seven Cities