Frank Belknap Long

Frank Belknap Long - a member of the Lovecraftian school of the weird and macabre tales, Frank Belknap Long was a highly visual and entertaining writer, though the quality of his output declined with the end of the Pulp Era. During the Golden Age of Science Fiction and Fantasy (1930s-1950s), however, his stories were highly entertaining and thrilling pieces. ---------------------------------------------- "...And Others Shall Be Born" (nv) © 1968, Lancer Books --/ cool sf novel "Critters" © Astounding, Nov 1945 Rim of the Unknown, 1972 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award "The Flame Midget" © Astounding Stories, Dec 1936 The Hounds of Tyndalos, 1946 --Groff Conklin' story selection --/ third place sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea: microscopic invasion --/ style award --/ emotion award --/ rare find ---------------------------------------------- "The Flame of Life" © Future, June 1959 Odd Science Fiction, Belmont 1964 --/ fourth place sf story --/ romance award --/ wonder award --/ rare find Very cool story, very romantic - a flame of love versus the kind of radioactive mysterious glow from space, enveloping the ex-astronaut. Frank Belknap Long is a ticket to solid, highly visual pulp entertainment. An unexpected and rare treat from the sadly declining days of good old "Future" pulp magazine. review: 11-Nov-07 (read in 2007) ---------------------------------------------- "Giant in the Forest" © Science Fiction Quarterly, Feb 1955 Odd Science Fiction, Belmont 1964 ---------------------------------------------- "The Great Cold" © Astounding Stories, Feb 1935 Rim of the Unknown, 1972 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award "A Guest in the House" © Astounding Stories, Mar 1946 Rim of the Unknown, 1972 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award ---------------------------------------------- "The Horror from the Hills" © Weird Tales, Jan-Feb 1931 Odd Science Fiction, Belmont 1964 Night Fear, 1979 --/ third place sf novella --/ adventure award --/ wonder award --/ awesome scale --/ rare find When I started to read "The Horror from the Hills" I was expecting a great deal of vintage Lovecraft-ian atmosphere and wide-eyed sense of wonder (it was published first in "Weird Tales" in 1931), and the story lived up to all these expectations, and more. Technically, it is science fiction as well as fantasy, as it rationalizes its thrills as travel between multiple dimensions by means of some intimidating machine. "Unspeakable" and "unmentionable" beings (all decked out in a true H. P. Lovecraft's descriptive style) abound in this novella, flaunting their blob-like, octopus-like and living hills-like manifestations - all wrapped up in a greatly entertaining mix. A blob-buster indeed, from the golden period of "Weird Tales": ancient mysteries, horror in a museum, mad scientist with his multi-dimensional machine, spectral "Others" haunting past and present, hills come alive... A classic. ---------------------------------------------- "Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall" © Startling Stories, Nov 1948 Rim of the Unknown, 1972 Night Fear, 1979 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award "Invaders from the Outer Suns" © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Feb 1937 --/ fourth place space sf story --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ rare find "It Will Come to You" © Unknown, Dec 1942 The Hounds Of Tindalos, 1946 --/ cool dark f story --/ rare find ---------------------------------------------- "The Last Men" © Astounding Stories, Aug 1934 Rim of the Unknown, 1972 --/ cool apocalyptic sf story --/ wonder award Widely anthologized, this short story features giant mutant insects and the last humans subjected to them. As you can imagine, it's a classic, but hardly original. However, this being Frank Belknap Long (one of the masters of pulp colorful prose), the narrative is engaging and... check out this illustration! Who cares that bugs can't grow this big? In this story they did, and so did their appetites. ---------------------------------------------- "The Man Who Died Twice" © Ghost Stories, Jan 1927 "Night Fear" © Dynamic Science Fiction, Oct 1953 Night Fear, 1979 --/ cool f story "Temporary Warp" © Astounding Stories, Aug 1937 --/ cool sf story --/ rare find "Step Into My Garden" © Unknown, Aug 1942 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ humour award --/ rare find "This Strange Tomorrow" (nv) © 1966, Belmont Books "Survival World" (nv) © 1971, Berkley Books "The Unfinished" © Super Science Stories, Apr 1951 Night Fear, 1979 --/ cool sf story "The World of Wulkins" © Thrilling Wonder Stories, Apr 1948 Rim of the Unknown, 1972 --/ fourth place space sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award -----------------------------------

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