Juju

"Juju" by Murray Leinster is a fictional novel written in the early 20th century. The narrative unfolds in the dense jungles of West Africa, exploring themes of colonialism, superstition, and the primal fear of the unknown. The story revolves around a white trader named Evan Graham and his plantation, where witchcraft influences the lives of the local natives, particularly focusing on a terrifying juju ritual and the subsequent events that threaten his life as well as those of the other characters. At the start of the book, we are introduced to a vivid juju ceremony during an African night, led by a witch doctor and featuring a terrified young girl. The protagonist observes this spectacle from the porch of Evan Graham’s plantation, which raises questions about his complicity in the native practices. As the story develops, Graham's unsettling behavior, his relationship with the natives, and the sinister atmosphere surrounding juju rituals seep into a growing tension when a monstrous gorilla, believed to desire revenge for a slain mate, becomes a looming threat. The early chapters set a foreboding stage of danger and mystery, hinting at both animal and human antagonism that challenges the characters' resolve for survival. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Murray Leinster was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.