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Friday 12 June 2026
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for what we mean by Science Fiction; here for the masthead; here for some Statistics; here for the Acknowledgments; here for the FAQ; here for advice on citations. Find entries via the search box above (more details here) or browse the menu categories in the grey bar at the top of this page.
Site updated on 8 June 2026
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Duffy, Maureen
(1933-2026) UK author, active from around 1950, several of whose books focused on London, including Capital (1975), a complex set of era-switching meditations – including a Neanderthal man's thoughts about the future – on the deep mythos of the city. The novel influenced Michael Moorcock's Mother London (1988) (as the author acknowledged clearly), and similar later works by Iain ...
Science Fiction [Polish magazine]
Science Fiction was a Polish monthly SF Magazine launched in February 2001 by Robert J Szmidt, its first editor. The magazine published 51 issues; then in 2005 it changed its publisher and was rebranded as Science Fiction, Fantasy i Horror. The numbering of issues restarted from #1 (November 2005). In 2009, from issue #44, the publisher changed again; Szmidt retired as editor and was ...
Zombies
Of the three chief classes of Supernatural Creature most popular in fantastic fiction – the others being Vampires and Werewolves – zombies seem the least supernatural and the most easily rationalized in sf terms, though at its origin the term clearly described an entirely supernatural entity, and was so understood in the late nineteenth century, when it was used by such authors as ...
Cramps, The
A band combining rock'n'roll and punk, a sound they described as rockabilly voodoo, who inspired many subsequent bands (particularly those in the Psychobilly genre). Formed in 1976 by vocalist Lux Interior (1946-2009), real name Erick Lee Purkhiser, and guitarist Poison Ivy (1953- ), real name Kristy Marlana Wallace; this pair was the main creative force and ever-present until they disbanded in 2009, following Interior's death. Other key members included guitarist ...
Mason, F Van Wyck
(1901-1978) US author, who sometimes gave his name variously as F V W Mason, Van Wyck Mason, Frank Van Wyck Mason and Frank W Mason, and who published as well under at least two pseudonyms, Geoffrey Coffin and Ward Weaver; in active service during World War One and World War Two. Though now best known as a writer of historical novels with an emphasis on romantic adventure plots, he was initially prolific in shorter forms, ...
Langford, David
(1953- ) UK author, critic, editor, publisher and sf fan, in the latter capacity recipient of 21 Hugo awards for fan writing – some of the best of his several hundred pieces are assembled as Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (coll 1992 chap US; much exp vt The Silence of the Langford 1996; exp 2015 ebook) as Dave Langford, edited by Ben Yalow – plus five Best Fanzine Hugos ...