The Other Place (Priestley)
Encyclopedia
The Other Place, subtitled "And Other Stories of the Same Sort", is a collection of science fiction
and fantasy
stories by J. B. Priestly published in hardcover by Harper & Brothers
and Heinemann in 1953. The title story, original to the collection, was adapted as an episode of the television series Westinghouse Studio One in 1958, starring Cedric Hardwicke
as "a sorcerer with chin whiskers"
"Mr. Strenberry’s Tale" was originally published as “Doomsday”.
praised the science fiction stories for their "quality of thrown-away understatement" but found the other pieces marked by "the old familiar themes of fantasy, smoothly and competently but not very originally handled."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
stories by J. B. Priestly published in hardcover by Harper & Brothers
Harper & Brothers
Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins.-History:James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishing business J. & J. Harper in 1817. Their two brothers, Joseph Wesley Harper and Fletcher Harper, joined them...
and Heinemann in 1953. The title story, original to the collection, was adapted as an episode of the television series Westinghouse Studio One in 1958, starring Cedric Hardwicke
Cedric Hardwicke
Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was a noted English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly fifty years...
as "a sorcerer with chin whiskers"
Contents
- "The Other Place" (original)
- "The Grey Ones" (LilliputLilliput (magazine)Lilliput was a small-format British monthly magazine of humour, short stories, photographs and the arts, founded in 1937 by the photojournalist Stefan Lorant. The first issue came out in July and it was sold shortly after to Edward Hulton, when editorship was taken over by Tom Hopkinson in 1940....
1953) - "Uncle Phil on TV" (Lilliput 1953)
- "Guest of Honor" (original)
- "Look After the Strange Girl" (Colliers 1953)
- "The Statues" (original)
- "The Leadington Incident" (original)
- "Mr. Strenberry’s Tale" (The London Magazine 1930)
- "Night Sequence" (original)
"Mr. Strenberry’s Tale" was originally published as “Doomsday”.
Reception
New York Times reviewer William Peden reviewed the collection favorably, describing it as "a series of very competent stories depicting the effect of the supernatural on the lives of ordinary English people . . . combin[ing] time-proven narrative methods and meaningful, if frequently obvious, social commentary." Reviewing for a genre audience, P. Schuyler MillerP. Schuyler Miller
Peter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...
praised the science fiction stories for their "quality of thrown-away understatement" but found the other pieces marked by "the old familiar themes of fantasy, smoothly and competently but not very originally handled."