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Friday 10 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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Stacpoole, H de Vere
(1863-1951) UK medical doctor and author, younger brother of William Henry Stacpoole; best known for his South Sea romances, including non-sf Robinsonades like, most famously, The Blue Lagoon: A Romance (1908), filmed as The Blue Lagoon (1923, 1948, 1950 and 1980), or The Chank Shell: A Tropical Romance of Love and Treasure (1930; vt ...
Skin I Live In, The
Spanish film (2011); original title La piel que habito. El Deseo, Blue Haze Entertainment, FilmNation Entertainment. Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, based on Thierry Jonquet's novel Mygale (1984; rev 1995; trans by Donald Nicholson-Smith as Tarantula 2002). Cast includes Roberto Álamo, Elena Anaya, Antonio Banderas, Jan Cornet and Marisa Paredes. 120 minutes. Colour. / Plastic surgeon Robert ...
Moore, F Frankfort
(1855-1931) Irish journalist, playwright and author, active from 1875, some of whose eighty or more novels contain supernatural elements; his satires against the idea of Irish Home Rule are not fantastic. Tales of sf interest include The Secret of the Court: A Romance of Life and Death (1895), in which a vast Underground complex is discovered beneath contemporary Egypt, home of the remnants of an ancient Lost Race ...
Taxandria
Belgian/French/German/Dutch live-action/animated film (1994). Iblis Films, Bibo Films, Les Productions Dussart. Directed by Raoul Servais. Written by Frank Daniel, Raoul Servais and Alain Robbe-Grillet. Cast includes Daniel Emilfork, Richard Kattan, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Andrew Sachs, Elliott Spiers and Katja Studt. 82 minutes. Colour. / In the present day, Jan (Kattan), a prince, arrives incognito with his tutor (Sachs) at a coastal resort ...
Escape from New York
Film (1981). Avco Embassy/International Film Investors/Goldcrest. Directed by John Carpenter. Produced by Larry Franco and Debra Hill. Written by Carpenter, Nick Castle. Cast includes Adrienne Barbeau, Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hayes, Donald Pleasence, Kurt Russell, Harry Dean Stanton and Lee Van Cleef. 99 minutes. Colour. / The idea is wonderful. In 1997 the whole of Manhattan Island (see New York) is a ...
Nicholls, Peter
(1939-2018) Australian editor and author, primarily a critic and historian of sf through his creation and editing of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction [see below]; resident in the UK 1970-1988, in Australia from 1988; worked as an academic in English literature (1962-1968, 1971-1977), scripted television documentaries, was a Harkness Fellow in Film-making (1968-1970) in the USA, worked as a publisher's editor (1982-1983), often broadcast film and book reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...