R. R. Ryan

Infobox Writer
name = R. R. Ryan


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birthdate = Unknown
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occupation = Novelist
nationality = British
period = 1936–1940
genre = Horror, psychological thriller
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movement = Dark romanticism
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R(ex) R. Ryan, a pseudonym of Evelyn Bradley (b. 1883, d. 1950), was the author of eleven published horror/thriller novels.

Identity

There can be few authors in the horror/thriller genre as elusive as R. R. Ryan. Until recently no biographical details about this author were known. Karl Edward Wagner believed the author might be a woman named Rachel R. Ryan. D. H. Olsen also maintains that Ryan was a woman, in part "due to Ryan's inability to depict convincing male characters, while her female characters are much more fully drawn," as well as "significant examples of typically female outlooks and attitudes pervading even the most male-dominated of her novels". [D. H. Olsen, "Honor, Sadism and Dysfunction: The Dark, Demented World of R. R. Ryan", in "Echo of a Curse" by R. R. Ryan (Seattle: Midnight House, 2002) ISBN 0-9707349-6-4.]

An article in the Ghost Story Society journal "All Hallows" revealed the existence of R. R. Ryan’s publishing contracts in the archives of Random House. [James Doig and Theo Paijmans, "Finding R. R. Ryan", "All Hallows: The Journal of the Ghost Story Society" 37 (2004).] The contracts indicate that one person appears to have been responsible for all of the Ryan novels, along with four others which appeared under two different names: three under the name Cameron Carr and one under the name John Galton. A children's book by Cameron Carr called "The Thought Reader" was published by W. Barton in the first half of the 1940s.

Recent research has shown that Rex R. Ryan was a pseudonym used by Evelyn Bradley, a theatrical manager who was born in Waterloo, Lancashire, in 1883, and who lived much of his adult life in Hove, Sussex. He took his own life in October 1950. R. R. Ryan's daughter also wrote four thrillers under a pseudonym in the 1940s. [James Doig, "R. R. Ryan Found", "All Hallows: The Journal of the Ghost Story Society" 44 (2008).]

Works

R. R. Ryan's work is variable in quality but much of it is literate, considering its often disturbing subject matter. In most of the books the plot device is the same: a menacing male father figure preys upon a vulnerable young girl. This is a standard device of gothic drama and early film (for example, as occurs in J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Uncle Silas').

The explicit threat of sexual violence is ever present in a Ryan novel, and this alone makes it unusual for a Herbert Jenkins book of the 1930s. Furthermore, the author controls the mounting tension in a way that can leave many readers feeling almost as traumatised as the fictional characters. These two aspects, coupled with the ingenuity of the plots, has made Ryan a popular author among connoisseurs of vintage weird fiction.

The novels published under the name Cameron Carr explore very similar though less fantastical paths. Although written with the same verve and style, these novels possess a deeper psychological depth than the R. R. Ryan books, suggesting that the author wished to compartmentalise his life by keeping the use of the names separate.

Bibliography

References