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Tuesday 17 February 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 16 February 2026
Sponsor of the day: Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books
Ohlson, Hereward
(1907-1955) UK author of the Thunderbolt Children's SF sequence comprising Thunderbolt of the Spaceways (1954) and Thunderbolt and the Rebel Planet: The Captain of the Spaceways Leads an Expedition to the Strange World of Pluvius (1954), both being undemanding Space Operas. [JC]
Dying Earth
A not uncommon category of sf story which has now developed its own melancholy mythology. Since the Sun is invariably moribund if not extinguished, this could also be called the dying-sun theme. Jack Vance gave this Far Future subgenre its name in The Dying Earth (coll of linked stories 1950). Important precursors are the section of H G Wells's ...
Village of the Damned
1. Film (1960). MGM. Directed by Wolf Rilla. Written by Sterling Silliphant, Rilla, George Barclay (Ronald Kinnoch, the producer), based on The Midwich Cuckoos (1957; rev 1958; vt Village of the Damned 1960) by John Wyndham. Cast includes George Sanders, Barbara Shelley and Martin Stephens. 77 minutes. Black and white. / In this faithful but pedestrian adaptation of Wyndham's novel, everyone in a UK village ...
Smith, Horace
Working name of UK stockbroker, playwright, parodist, poet and author Horatio Smith (1779-1849), whose novels of contemporary manners began to appear in 1800. "On a Stupendous Leg of Granite ..." (25 January 1818 The Examiner), a poem written in friendly competition with Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias" (11 January 1818 The Examiner) (see Ruins and Futurity), was collected in ...
BlöödHag
US death metal/grindcore band based in Seattle, Washington, which unusually focused on sf, fantasy and horror authors in short songs homaging and providing some sketchy bio-bibliographical information on their subjects; in live performances they would often throw books at the audience. The original 1996 band members were Jeff McNulty (guitar), Jake Stratton (vocals), Zachary Orgel (bass) and a drum machine subsequently replaced by Rod Karp (drums) and later by Brent Carpenter (drums). Their ...
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 ...