Weird Tales (anthology series)
Encyclopedia
Weird Tales was a series of paperback anthologies, a revival of the classic fantasy
and horror
magazine of the same title, published by Zebra Books from 1980 to 1983 under the editorship of Lin Carter
. It was issued more or less annually, though the first two volumes were issued simultaneously and there was a year’s gap between the third and fourth. It was preceded and succeeded by versions of the title in standard magazine form.
Each volume featured thirteen or fourteen novelettes, short stories and poems, including both new works by various fantasy authors and reprints from authors associated with the original Weird Tales
, together with an editorial and introductory notes to the individual pieces by the editor. Authors whose works were featured included Robert Aickman
, James Anderson
, Robert H. Barlow
, Robert Bloch
, Hannes Bok
, Ray Bradbury
, Joseph Payne Brennan
, Diane and John Brizzolara, Ramsey Campbell
, Mary Elizabeth Counselman
, August Derleth
, Nictzin Dyalhis
, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
, Robert E. Howard
, Carl Jacobi
, David H. Keller
, Marc Laidlaw
, Tanith Lee
, Frank Belknap Long, Jr.
, H. P. Lovecraft
, Robert A. W. Lowndes
, Brian Lumley
, Gary Myers
, R. Faraday Nelson
, Frank Owen
, Gerald W. Page
, Seabury Quinn
, Anthony M. Rud, Charles Sheffield
, Clark Ashton Smith
, Stuart H. Stock, Steve Rasnic Tem
, Evangeline Walton
, Donald Wandrei
, and Manly Wade Wellman
, as well as Carter himself.
Carter habitually padded out the volumes he edited with a few his own works, whether written singly or in collaboration (the latter generally "posthumous collaborations" with Clark Ashton Smith
in which he wrote stories on the basis of unused titles or story ideas from Smith’s notebooks).
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...
and horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
magazine of the same title, published by Zebra Books from 1980 to 1983 under the editorship of Lin Carter
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
. It was issued more or less annually, though the first two volumes were issued simultaneously and there was a year’s gap between the third and fourth. It was preceded and succeeded by versions of the title in standard magazine form.
Each volume featured thirteen or fourteen novelettes, short stories and poems, including both new works by various fantasy authors and reprints from authors associated with the original Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
, together with an editorial and introductory notes to the individual pieces by the editor. Authors whose works were featured included Robert Aickman
Robert Aickman
Robert Fordyce Aickman was an English conservationist and writer of fiction and nonfiction. As a writer, he is best known for his supernatural fiction, which he described as "strange stories".-Life:...
, James Anderson
James Anderson (author)
James Arthur Andersons first published short story appeared in Andrew J. Offutt's Swords Against V anthology in 1979. He has since published stories in Lin Carter's Weird Tales 4, Elditch Tales, Fantasy Tales, and Haunts. His nonfiction has appeared in Fangoria. In 1997 he began using his...
, Robert H. Barlow
R. H. Barlow
Robert Hayward Barlow was an American author, avant-garde poet, anthropologist and historian of early Mexico, and expert in the Nahuatl language....
, Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
, Hannes Bok
Hannes Bok
Hannes Bok, pseudonym for Wayne Francis Woodard , was an American artist and illustrator, as well as an amateur astrologer and writer of fantasy fiction and poetry. He painted nearly 150 covers for various science fiction, fantasy, and detective fiction magazines, as well as contributing hundreds...
, Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
, Joseph Payne Brennan
Joseph Payne Brennan
Joseph Payne Brennan was an American writer of fantasy and horror fiction, and also a poet. He lived most of his life in New Haven, Connecticut, and worked at the Yale Library for over 40 years....
, Diane and John Brizzolara, Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell
John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...
, Mary Elizabeth Counselman
Mary Elizabeth Counselman
Mary Elizabeth Counselman was an American writer of short stories and poetry.- Biography :Mary Elizabeth Counselman was born on November 19, 1911 in Birmingham, AL and began writing poetry as a child. She later moved to Gainesville, Georgia where her father was a faculty member at the Riverside...
, August Derleth
August Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
, Nictzin Dyalhis
Nictzin Dyalhis
Nictzin Wilstone Dyalhis was an American chemist and short story writer who specialized in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. He wrote as Nictzin Dyalhis...
, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
Lloyd Arthur Eshbach was an American science fiction fan, publisher and writer, secular and religious publisher, and minister....
, Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
, Carl Jacobi
Carl Richard Jacobi
Carl Richard Jacobi was an American author. He wrote short stories in the horror, fantasy, science fiction and crime genres for the pulp magazine market.-Biography:...
, David H. Keller
David H. Keller
David H. Keller was a writer for pulp magazines in the mid-twentieth century who wrote science fiction, fantasy and horror. He was the first psychiatrist to write for the genre, and was most often published as David H...
, Marc Laidlaw
Marc Laidlaw
Marc Laidlaw is an American writer of science fiction and horror and also a computer game designer with Valve Software. He is perhaps most famous for writing Dad's Nuke and The 37th Mandala, and for working on the popular Half-Life series.-Biography:Laidlaw was born in 1960 and raised in Laguna...
, Tanith Lee
Tanith Lee
Tanith Lee is a British writer of science fiction, horror and fantasy. She is the author of over 70 novels and 250 short stories, a children's picture book and many poems. She also wrote two episodes of BBC science fiction series Blake's 7...
, Frank Belknap Long, Jr.
Frank Belknap Long
Frank Belknap Long was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including early contributions to...
, H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
, Robert A. W. Lowndes
Robert A. W. Lowndes
Robert Augustine Ward "Doc" Lowndes was an American science fiction author, editor and fan. He was known best as the editor of Future Science Fiction, Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Quarterly, among many other crime-fiction, western, sports-fiction, and other pulp and digest-sized magazines...
, Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley is an English horror fiction writer.Born in County Durham, he joined the British Army's Royal Military Police and wrote stories in his spare time before retiring with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1980 and becoming a professional writer.He added to H. P...
, Gary Myers
Gary Myers (writer)
Gary Myers is an American writer of fantasy and horror. He is a resident of Fullerton, California. His first book, The House of the Worm, was a collection of Cthulhu Mythos stories in the fantasy manner of H. P. Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany; it was published by Arkham House in 1975 and is now out...
, R. Faraday Nelson
Ray Nelson
Radell Faraday "Ray" Nelson is an American science fiction author and cartoonist most famous for his 1963 short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning", which was later used by John Carpenter as the basis for his 1988 film They Live....
, Frank Owen
Frank Owen (author)
Frank Owen is a United States author, novelist and anthologist. He wrote 10 novels in the 1930s under the pseudonym Roswell Williams, a name which is sometimes erroneously listed as his real name. Owen is best known for his oriental fantasy short stories, many of which appeared in the magazine...
, Gerald W. Page
Gerald W. Page
Gerald W. Page is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, mystery and horror. He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on August 12, 1939. He sold his first story to the magazine Analog where it appeared in 1963....
, Seabury Quinn
Seabury Quinn
Seabury Grandin Quinn was an American pulp magazine author, most famous for his stories of the occult detective Jules de Grandin, published in Weird Tales.-Biography:...
, Anthony M. Rud, Charles Sheffield
Charles Sheffield
Charles Sheffield , was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical Society....
, Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
, Stuart H. Stock, Steve Rasnic Tem
Steve Rasnic Tem
Steve Rasnic Tem was born in Jonesville, Virginia, which is in the heart of Appalachia. He went to college at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and also at Virginia Commonwealth University. He got a B.A. in English education. In 1974, he moved to Colorado and studied creative...
, Evangeline Walton
Evangeline Walton
Evangeline Walton was the pen name of Evangeline Wilna Ensley, an American author of fantasy fiction. She remains popular in North America and Europe because of her “ability to humanize historical and mythological subjects with eloquence, humor and compassion”. Evangeline Walton (24 November 1907...
, Donald Wandrei
Donald Wandrei
Donald Albert Wandrei was an American science fiction, fantasy and weird fiction writer, poet and editor. He wrote as Donald Wandrei. He was the older brother of science fiction writer and artist Howard Wandrei...
, and Manly Wade Wellman
Manly Wade Wellman
Manly Wade Wellman was an American writer. He is best known for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains and for drawing on the native folklore of that region, but he wrote in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, detective...
, as well as Carter himself.
Carter habitually padded out the volumes he edited with a few his own works, whether written singly or in collaboration (the latter generally "posthumous collaborations" with Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
in which he wrote stories on the basis of unused titles or story ideas from Smith’s notebooks).
The series
- Weird Tales #1Weird Tales 1Weird Tales #1 is an anthology edited by Lin Carter, the first in his paperback revival of the classic fantasy and horror magazine Weird Tales. It is also numbered vol. 48, no. 1 in continuation of the numbering of the original magazine...
(1980) - Weird Tales #2Weird Tales 2Weird Tales #2 is an anthology edited by Lin Carter, the second in his paperback revival of the classic fantasy and horror magazine Weird Tales. It is also numbered vol. 48, no. 2 in continuation of the numbering of the original magazine...
(1980) - Weird Tales #3Weird Tales 3Weird Tales #3 is an anthology edited by Lin Carter, the third in his paperback revival of the classic fantasy and horror magazine Weird Tales...
(1981) - Weird Tales #4Weird Tales 4Weird Tales #4 is an anthology edited by Lin Carter, the fourth and last in his paperback revival of the classic fantasy and horror magazine Weird Tales...
(1983)