Bernard C. Gilford’s The Liquid Man

Bernard C. Gilford’s novel The Liquid Man appeared in Fantastic Adventures in September 1941.

Bernard C. Gilford (1920-2010) was an American writer, mostly in the suspense genre. The Liquid Man seems to have been his only novel (and it’s really not much more than a novella).

The Liquid Man begins with a murder. There’s a witness. It’s a dark night and it’s raining but somehow the killer doesn’t look quite human - more of a vague human-like shape with a disturbing liquid quality.

There’s another murder soon afterwards.

To the police it seems straightforward. A man named Ferdinand Silva thought his girl was two-timing him. He killed the faithless girl and the other man. A very ordinary murder, apart from the odd description of the suspect.

Juan worked in a laboratory, doing routine research on cleaning wax. It appears he was also working on some mysterious project of his own.

There are other murders, and all the witnesses insist that the killer seemed more like a man made out of liquid than an ordinary man. It’s ridiculous of course, but Lieutenant Quante starts to think that there really is something strange about these murders.

Of course tracking down and capturing a man in liquid form would present certain challenges. There’s also the possibility that such a man would be rather difficult to kill.

Even worse, such a man could find unexpected places to hide.

This liquid man seems intent on continuing his murderous rampage, so Lieutenant Quante is under plenty of pressure.

There’s also Priscilla. She is the only one of the liquid man’s victims who escaped, and Lieutenant Quante has fallen for her. There’s a possibility the monster may strike at her again.

The liquid man is a monster, but monsters have feelings too. They need love just like everybody else.

This is a straightforward monster terror tale with a science fictional gloss to it. The difficulties presented by such an unconventional manhunt are handled reasonably well by the author, with the police displaying considerable ingenuity and facing continual frustration.

The story does at least have the virtue of originality.

It’s a very pulpy tale, but that’s all it was ever intended to be. It’s a bit like a 1950s monster movie, but written more than a decade before such movies became popular.

Armchair Fiction have paired this title with Fritz Leiber’s short novel You're All Alone in of their terrific two-novel paperback editions.

This is not a neglected gem. It’s really not very good, but if you’re going to buy the book for the Fritz Leiber novel (and you should) then The Liquid Man might provide some mild entertainment if you’re in the right mood.