SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Saturday 14 March 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 9 March 2026
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Howells, William Dean
(1837-1920) US author, best known for his many realist novels from 1870 onwards, and for his fairly numerous stories, several of them fantastic, like "Christmas Every Day" (January 1886 St Nicholas Magazine), a Time-Loop tale that Danny Rubin – scriptwriter for Groundhog Day (1993) – claimed was his only inspiration for that film. Some of Howells's tales of interest were assembled in ...
Squid Girl
Japanese animated tv series (2010-2014). Original title Shinryaku! Ika Musume. Based on the Manga by Masahiro Anbe. Diomedéa. Written by Michiko Yokote. Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima and Yasutaka Yamamoto. Voice cast includes Ayumi Fujimura, Hisako Kanemoto, Hitomi Nabatame, Miki Ōtani and Rie Tanaka. 24 24-minute episodes and five OVAs. Colour. / The routine of a beachfront cafe, the Lemon Beach House, is ...
Allingham, Margery
(1904-1966) UK author, daughter of H J Allingham, active from her teens, when she published her first novel Blackerchief Dick (1923), an adventure set in the seventeenth century as conveyed through séances (see Club Story). She remains best known for the popular and long-running Albert Campion sequence of detective novels beginning with The Crime at Black Dudley (1929; vt ...
Planet Terror
Film (2007). Dimension Films presents a Rodriguez International Pictures release in association with Troublemaker Studios and The Weinstein Company. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (uncredited). Written by Robert Rodriguez. Cast includes Naveen Andrews, Electra Avellan, Elise Avellan, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Rose McGowan, Michael Parks, Freddy Rodriguez, Marley Shelton and Bruce Willis. 103 minutes. Colour. / First conceived ...
Biggles
1. Nickname of airman James Bigglesworth, a character created by W E Johns (whom see) for a lengthy sequence of books and stories published from 1932, beginning with his exploits flying Sopwith Camels in World War One. Biggles's adventures continued through World War Two and well into the post-war era until the author's death in 1968, and after; a final book of uncollected stories appeared ...
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 ...