Karl Edward Wagner was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. He wrote numerous dark fantasy and horror stories. As an editor, he created a three-volume set of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian fiction restored to its original form as written, and edited the long-running and genre-defining The Year's Best Horror Stories series for DAW Books. His Carcosa publishing company issued four volumes of the best stories by some of the major authors of the so-called Golden Age pulp magazines. He is possibly best known for his creation of a series of stories featuring the character Kane, the Mystic Swordsman.
Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dread.
Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. is a fantasy and science fiction small press publisher in New Hampshire that was founded in 1964. It is notable for publishing fantasy and horror novels with lavish illustrations, most notably Stephen King's The Dark Tower series and the King/Peter Straub novel The Talisman.
The Hour of the Dragon, also known as Conan the Conqueror, is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian. It was one of the last Conan stories published before Howard's suicide, although not the last to be written. The novel was first published in serial form in the December 1935 through April 1936 issues of the pulp magazine Weird Tales. The first book edition was published by Gnome Press in hardcover in 1950. The Gnome Press edition retitled the story Conan the Conqueror, a title retained by all subsequent editions until 1977, when the original title was restored in an edition issued published by Berkley/Putnam in 1977. The Berkley edition also reverted the text to that of its original Weird Tales publication, discarding later edits. Later editions have generally followed Berkley and published under the original title.
Red Nails is a 1977 collection of three fantasy short stories and one essay by American writer Robert E. Howard, featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The collection was edited by Karl Edward Wagner. It was first published in hardcover by Berkley/Putnam in 1977, and in paperback by Berkley Books the same year. It was reprinted in hardcover for the Science Fiction Book Club, also in 1977, and combined with the Wagner-edited The Hour of the Dragon and The People of the Black Circle in the book club's omnibus edition The Essential Conan in 1998. The stories originally appeared in the fantasy magazine Weird Tales in the 1930s.
The People of the Black Circle is a 1977 collection of four fantasy short stories by American writer Robert E. Howard, featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The collection was edited by Karl Edward Wagner. It was first published in hardcover by Berkley/Putnam in 1977, and in paperback by Berkley Books the same year. It was reprinted in hardcover for the Science Fiction Book Club, also in 1977, and combined with the Wagner-edited The Hour of the Dragon and Red Nails in the book club's omnibus edition The Essential Conan in 1998. The stories originally appeared in the fantasy magazine Weird Tales in the 1930s.
The Essential Conan is a collection of fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The book was published in 1998 by the Science Fiction Book Club. It collects the editions of the Conan books, edited by Karl Edward Wagner and published by Berkley Books in 1977. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines Weird Tales, The Phantagraph and The Howard Collector. The Wagner editions were the first to virtually reproduce Howard's original stories without any editorial changes other than typo fixes.
Death Stalks the Night is a collection of fantasy, horror, and mystery short stories by author Hugh B. Cave. It was originally to have been the fifth volume published by Carcosa, the North Carolina joint publishing venture founded by Karl Edward Wagner, Jim Groce and David Drake. However, Lee Brown Coye, who was completing the illustrations for the volume, died, stalling its publication by Carcosa.
Exorcisms and Ecstasies is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by author Karl Edward Wagner. The collection also includes a number of memoirs and articles about Wagner and is edited by Stephen Jones. It was released in 1997 by Fedogan & Bremer in an edition of 2,100 copies, of which 100 included Wagner's signature taken from a canceled check or contract. The limited edition was also signed by the artist, editor and other contributors to the collection. Many of the stories originally appeared in a number of different anthologies and collections or in the magazines Beyond Fantasy & Science Fiction, Kadath, Weird Tales, The Centralite, Midnight Sun, Fantasy Crossroads and Gauntlet.
Without Sorcery is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American writer Theodore Sturgeon. The collection was first published in 1948 by Prime Press in an edition of 2,862 copies of which 80 were specially bound, slipcased and signed by the author and artist. The stories first appeared in the magazines Astounding and Unknown.
William Levi Crawford was an American publisher and editor.
The Kingslayer is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer L. Ron Hubbard. It was first published in 1949 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 1,200 copies. The title story first appeared in this collection. The other stories had previously appeared in the magazine Astounding SF.
Triton is a collection of fantasy short stories by author L. Ron Hubbard. It was first published in 1949 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 1,200 copies. The title novella first appeared in the April 1940 issue of the magazine Unknown under the title "The Indigestible Triton" and under Hubbard's pseudonym "René Lafayette". The other story first appeared in the magazine Fantasy Book.
Red Shadows is a collection of Fantasy short stories and poems by Robert E. Howard. It was first published in 1968 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 896 copies. The stories and poems feature Howard's character, Solomon Kane. Many of the stories first appeared in the magazine Weird Tales.
Daughter of Regals is a fantasy novella by Stephen R. Donaldson. It tells of a young woman called Chrysalis, the nominal ruler of three kingdoms who is about to come of age. To claim her throne, Chrysalis must exhibit the magical abilities of her ancestors the Regals - who combined the attributes of human men and mythical creatures - or else her dominions will collapse into civil war. While the kings of the individual kingdoms plot against her, Chrysalis struggles to release the magic inherent within her and claim her inheritance.
The Far Islands and Other Tales of Fantasy is a collection of fantasy short stories by John Buchan, edited by John Bell. It was first published in 1984 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher in an edition of 1,100 copies. The stories originally appeared in the magazines Blackwood's, The Atlantic Monthly, The Pall Mall Magazine and Adventure.
The Curious Quests of Brigadier Ffellowes is a collection of fantasy short stories by American writer Sterling E. Lanier. The stories take the form of tall tales told in a bar or club, similar to the Jorkens stories of Lord Dunsany. It was first published in 1986 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 1,200 copies, all of which were signed by the author and artist. The last story is original to this collection. The other stories first appeared in the magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction.
The Adventures of Lucius Leffing is a collection of supernatural, detective short stories by American writer Joseph Payne Brennan. It was first published in 1990 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 1,000 copies, all of which were signed by the author and the artist. The stories feature Brennan's supernatural detective, Lucius Leffing. All but four of the stories first appeared in this collection. The others were taken from the magazines Weird Tales and Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine or from the anthology Night Visions 2, edited by Charles L. Grant.
The Haunted Pampero is a collection of fantasy and other short stories by William Hope Hodgson. It was first published in 1992 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 500 copies, all of which were signed by the editor, Sam Moskowitz. The stories first appeared in the magazines The Premier Magazine, The Red Magazine, Cornhill Magazine, The Idler, Shadow: Fantasy Literature Review, The Royal Magazine, The Blue Magazine, Sea Stories, The New Age, Everybody’s Weekly and Short Stories.
The Dark Between the Stars is a 1981 collection of previously-published science fiction short stories by American writer Poul Anderson.
