Ol’ John he was a wanderer,
Not a penny to his name.
Seeking country shelter,
Not glory or his fame.

Entertained his hosts would he,
With guitar of silver string.
Regaling forgotten country lore,
And wisdom he did sing.

Many queer encounters,
Did Silver John face down.
From other worldly horrors,
And an ugly avian frown.

But, nay a man of action,
He fought not with his fists.
Instead he tricked away the spirits,
Back into Appalachian mists.

So next time you hike the trails,
Spare a thought for John.
Singing his age old ballads,
And ensuring the horrors were gone.

A true masterwork of folk fantasy, the heartwarming tales of John the Balladeer stretch from the 1950’s to the 1980’s and are perhaps some of the great unsung classic stories of the genre. There are vague comparisons to The Witcher here as the supernatural collide with ordinary lives in rural lands, but whereas Geralt fights in dreary, imaginary lands with alchemy and blades of silver and steel, John is grounded in a more familiar world (free of modern trappings), relying on his wits and fireside stories—using these old tales to outsmart and trap ghosts or monsters and lay to rest any curses upon the damned.

It’s this lack of action and emphasis on old folk tales and a ready supply of catchy songs that make this such a refreshing and upbeat read. The stories appear to read mostly sequentially, often referring to previous adventures of John and gradually expanding his world with its own unique folklore.

There is no doubt that this collection deserves a higher place of recognition, with Silver John endearing himself to be the equal of any iconic literary hero.
Thanks to Valancourt, these are stories that can be handed down all over again. John would be proud. ( )

This is one of those great pieces of fantasy that has slipped into obscurity. Silver John, the minstrel, walking the hills and forests of Appalachia. dealing with whatever he finds. Excellent and a must for any fan of fantasy. ( )

Over the years, I've read most (perhaps all) of the Wellman fiction concerning the North Carolina mountains, and John the Balladeer. This collection is representative of those stories (but merely that; you should still read others). I loved the evocative language, and had trouble remembering that this was fiction, and not just someone's memories.

This collection was published not long after his death, and I bought it from love, and for his memory. It contains the very last Silver John story, "Where Did She Wander." ( )

I've been looking for some Appalachian-based science fiction, and aside from Andy Duncan's short stories, I haven't found much. But in my varied searches, the name Manly Wade Wellman kept coming up. Wellman's character Silver John was a roving balladeer living in North Carolina's Appalachian mountains. The Silver John stories are a mixture of folklore, religion, fantasy, and horror.

John the Balladeer collects about twenty Silver John short stories. I didn't particularly like or dislike the collection. I liked the folklore aspect, with John a keeper of the old traditions in a very recognizable area. He's also a man with a conscience; he meets up with evil yet is never tempted to do wrong. But I'm not a fan of fantasy-horror, especially things that aren't explainable, and the book is filled with mysterious evils. There's also a bit of repetition reading all the stories together: John enters a community, sings a song, is confronted by an evil person (or thing), realizes the song has some connection to solving his immediate problem, and ultimately defeats the evil before moving on to a different community. However, I think it speaks volumes that the stories are interesting enough -- even with my purported dislike of the genre -- that I might be tempted to read one of the Silver John novels.

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LT Haiku:

Traveling John brings
His silver string'd guitar to
Cast away evil.