Occult detective fiction Occult detective fiction Occult detective fiction combines the tropes of detective fiction with those of supernatural horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective, the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, curses, and other supernatural elements. Some occult detectives are portrayed as being themselves psychic or in possession of other paranormal powers. Edgar Allan Poe wrote three stories featuring a detective involved with the occult named C. Auguste Dupin, starting with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" which was first published in 1841. Fitz James O’Brien’s character Harry Escott is another contender for first occult detective in fiction. A specialist
C. Auguste Dupin deduces what his friend is thinking despite their having walked together in silence for a quarter of an hour, Holmes remarks: "That trick of his breaking in on his friend's thoughts with an apropos remark... is really very showy and superficial"; nevertheless, Holmes later performs the same 'trick' on Watson in "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box". Dupin next appears in a series of seven short stories in "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine" by Michael Harrison in the 1960s. The stories were collected by the Publishers Mycroft & Moran in 1968 as "The Exploits of Chevalier Dupin". The stories include "The