During my Artomatic shift on Saturday I finished Charles Stross’s The Atrocity Archives, the first in a series of scifi novels that I heard of via Paul Krugman’s blog, of all places. The book’s conceit is appealing: certain mathematical constructions possess mystical powers — often dangerous ones. Our humble protagonist is part of a highly specialized, highly secret, and highly bureaucratic arm of the British government devoted to suppressing such dangerous technology. It’s Lovecraft + spy thriller + ironic office comedy — brazenly so, to the point where the author breaks down his influences in an irritating postscript essay. Still, it was an enjoyable read.
As an unexpected bonus (though I probably should have seen it coming), the book’s villains include a cadre of Nazi occultists, the sorts of guys who’d love to see a restoration of the Reich, but who, if that doesn’t work out, would be perfectly content to settle for the apocalypse. If you’ve heard me prattle on about Hellboy you know that crazed Nazi sorcerors are among my all-time favorite pulp bad guys (seriously: how much more villainy can you ask of a villain?). So this was a pleasant way for the book to turn out.
It got me thinking, though, that there must be some source text that discusses the Nazis’ bizarre forays into the occult which has influenced people like Charles Stross, Mike Mignola, and anyone else who’s penned a story about Hyperborea, the Spear of Destiny or other WWII-era mystical weirdness. So naturally I started plopping search terms into Amazon, hoping to find a definitive account of the aforementioned malevolent hoodoo.
I’m still looking, but have at least stumbled on an interesting tangent: judging by the name, it’s entirely possible that the Nazis’ secret occult society escaped the war, laid low, and is now manufacturing car luggage. More as this story develops.
Check out “The Morning of the Magicians” (Pauwels and Bergier) or “The Spear of Destiny” (Ravenscroft) for the origins of the Nazi occult myths. Also, try “Black Sun” (Goodrick-Clark) for an academic overview of the genre…