SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 11 July 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 7 July 2026
Sponsor of the day: The Telluride Institute
McLaren, Jack
(1884-1954) Australian author, in UK in later life, prolific in various genres, specializing in adventure tales, some of them exotic. Of direct sf interest is The Devil of the Depths: A Strange Story of the South Seas (1935), whose protagonist encounters a number of challenges Under the Sea and on a mysterious South Pacific Island, including Monsters, sentient ...
Journey to the Unknown
UK tv series (1968-1969). Production companies Hammer Films, 20th Century Fox. Executive producers Joan Harrison and Norman Lloyd. Produced by Anthony Hinds. Directors include Roy Ward Baker, Don Chaffey, Alan Gibson, Peter Sasdy and Robert Stevens. Writers include Michael J Bird, Robert Bloch, Julian Bond, Oscar Millard and Anthony Skene (1924-2000). Cast includes Barbara Bel Geddes, Michael Callan, Joseph Cotton, Patty Duke, Vera Miles, Stephanie ...
Kurimoto Kaoru
Working name of Sumiyo Yamada (1953-2009), sometimes known under her married name Sumiyo Imaoka or by her pseudonym Azusa Nakajima; an immensely prolific author, mainly in the Fantasy mode, but with strong enough connections to the sf community to ensure attention and accolades at the Seiun Awards. As a celebrity, commentator, critic and novelist, she was arguably one of the most influential ...
Blaisdell, Paul
(1927-1983) US painter, model-maker, actor and visual effects artist who designed the Monster suits for a number of 1950s US sf/Horror films. He often wore the creature suits as well, though almost always without any actor credit. Blaisdell served a stint with the US military after high school, then used the GI bill to attend the New England School of Art and Design. After graduation, he began submitting artwork to ...
Jason of Star Command
US juvenile tv series (1978-1980). Filmation Associates for CBS-TV. Created, directed and produced by Arthur H Nadel. Associate producer: Joe Mazzuca. Writers include Don Heckman, Chuck Menville, Ted Pedersen and Samuel A Peeples. Cast includes Charlie Dell (Professor E J Parsafoot), Tamara Dobson (Samantha, second season only), James Doohan (first season only), Sid Haig, Craig Littler, Susan Pratt and John Russell (second season only). 28 episodes in ...
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star ...