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Monday 13 April 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 6 April 2026
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Carolina Cannonball
Film (1955). Republic Pictures. Associate Producer: Sidney Picker. Directed by Charles Lamont. Written by Barry Shipman from a story by Frank Gill Jr. Cast includes Leon Askin, Judy Canova, Andy Clyde, Ross Elliott, Jack Kruschen and Sig Ruman. 73 minutes. Black and white. / In the ghost town of Roaring Gulch, Nevada, Judy (herself) and her grandfather Rutherford Canova (Clyde) are the only remaining residents. Nevertheless they maintain the Carolina Cannonball, a trolley train, in ...
VVitch: A New-England Folktale, The
Film (2015; vt The Witch). A24 presents a Parts and Labor, RT Features, Rooks Nest Entertainment, Maiden Voyage Pictures and Mott Street Pictures production in association with Code Red Productions, Scythia Films, Pulse Films and Special Projects. Written and directed by Robert Eggers. Cast includes Wahab Chaudhry, Lucas Dawson, Kate Dickie, Ellie Grainger, Ralph Ineson, Harvey Scrimshaw and Anya Taylor-Joy. 93 minutes. Colour. / The ...
Enmascarado de Plata, El
Mexican film (1954; vt The Silver Masked Man). Filmex. Directed by René Cardona. Written by René Cardona, José G Cruz and Ramón Obón. Cast includes Luis Aldás, Crox Alvarado, René Cardona Jr, Víctor Junco, Aurora Segura. 125 minutes. Black and white. IMDb gives the release year as 1954, but the end credits say MCMLIII, ie. 1953. This was originally intended as a twelve-part ...
Ayckbourn, Alan
(1939- ) UK playwright, active from 1959 with at least ninety plays produced; much of his work verges into Fantastika, some of which is of strong specific sf interest, including a triad of dramas which might almost (but not quite) be thought of as a loose series devoted to Androids in distressed English domestic environments. Henceforward (performed 1987; 1988) is set in an oppressive ...
Jaffery, Sheldon
(1934-2003) US attorney, editor and bibliographer. In the latter capacity he concentrated on Fantasy and Horror, beginning with Horrors and Unpleasantries: A Bibliographical History and Collector's Price Guide to Arkham House (1982; rev vt The Arkham House Companion) [for full subtitle see Checklist] (1989) a bibliography of Arkham House productions. His guides to ...
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 ...