Davis, Frederick C
Entry updated 11 September 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1902-1977) US author of pulp fiction, sometimes under pseudonyms, from 1922 or earlier. He published detective fiction in book form from the mid-1930s until the end of his active career in the late 1960s. His most interesting early work of sf interest – mainly through explanations of the one-way Moon-shaped glass helmet worn as a disguise by the crimebusting hero – was the Moon Man sequence, 39 novellas published from 1933 to 1937 in Ten Detective Aces. After the publication, decades later, of The Moon Man (coll 1974 chap) and The Mole Men Want Your Eyes (April/May 1938 Horror Stories; 1976 chap), the sequence began to be released in book form with The Night Nemesis: The Complete Adventures of the Moon Man, Volume One (coll 1985) edited by Gary Hoppenstand and Garyn G Roberts; no further volumes appeared at the time but a different publisher eventually released The Compleat Adventures of the Moon Man – The Silver Spectre – Volume Two (coll 2004). Under the House Name Curtis Steele, Davis was responsible for the lead novels in the magazine Operator #5 from April 1934 to November 1935. Thirteen of these appeared in book form in three separate paperback series, the first beginning with Legions of the Death Master (1966), the second with The Masked Invasion (April 1934 Operator #5; 1974), and the third with Cavern of the Damned (1980). The series was continued by Emile C Tepperman. Much of Davis's later work, as by Stephen Ransome, was non-fantastic. [JC/PN]
Frederick Clyde Davis
born St Louis, Missouri: 2 June 1902
died St Petersburg, Florida: November 1977
works
series
Operator #5
- Legions of the Death Master (San Diego, California: Corinth Books, 1966), as by Curtis Steele [first appeared July 1935 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/Robert Bonfils]
- The Army of the Dead (San Diego, California: Corinth Books, 1966), as by Curtis Steele [first appeared March 1935 Operator #5 for: Operator #5: pb/Robert Bonfils]
- The Invisible Empire (San Diego, California: Corinth Books, 1966) [first appeared May 1934 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/Robert Bonfils]
- Operator 5 #2: The Invisible Empire (New York: Freeway Press, 1974) [vt of the above: first appeared April 1934 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/George Gross]
- Master of Broken Men (San Diego, California: Corinth Books, 1966), as by Curtis Steele [first appeared September 1934 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/Robert Bonfils]
- Hosts of the Flaming Death (San Diego, California: Corinth Books, 1966), as by Curtis Steele [first appeared August 1935 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/Robert Bonfils]
- Blood Reign of the Dictator (San Diego, California: Corinth Books, 1966), as by Curtis Steele [first appeared May 1935 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/Robert Bonfils]
- March of the Flame Marauders (San Diego, California: Corinth Books, 1966), as by Curtis Steele [first appeared April 1935 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/Robert Bonfils]
- Invasion of the Yellow Warlords (San Diego, California: Corinth Books, 1966), as by Curtis Steele [first appeared June 1935 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/Darrel Millsap]
- Operator 5 #1: The Masked Invasion (New York: Freeway Press, 1974) as by Curtis Steele [first appeared April 1934 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/]
- Operator 5 #3: The Yellow Scourge (New York: Freeway Press, 1974) as by Curtis Steele [first appeared June 1934 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/George Gross]
- Cavern of the Damned (Oak Forest, Illinois: Dimedia/Pulp Press, 1980) as by Curtis Steele [first appeared August 1934 Operator #5 as "The Cavern of the Damned": Operator #5: pb/]
- Legions of Starvation (Oak Forest, Illinois: Dimedia/Pulp Press, 1980) as by Curtis Steele [first appeared December 1934 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/]
- Scourge of the Invisible Death (Oak Forest, Illinois: Dimedia/Pulp Press, 1980) as by Curtis Steele [first appeared November 1935 Operator #5: Operator #5: pb/]
The Moon Man
- The Moon Man (Oak Lawn, Illinois: Robert Weinberg, 1974) [coll: chap: stories first appeared Ten Detective Aces in 1933 and 1934: The Moon Man: pb/Franklyn Hamilton]
- The Mole Men Want Your Eyes (North Hollywood, California: Shroud: Publishers, 1976) [story: chap: first appeared 1938 Horror Stories in April/May 1938: The Moon Man: pb/David Weiss]
- The Night Nemesis: The Complete Adventures of the Moon Man: Vol One (Bowling Green, Ohio: Purple Prose Press, 1985) edited by Gary Hoppenstand and Garyn G Roberts [coll: stories first appeared Ten Detective Aces in 1933 and 1934 and in Horror Stories in 1938: no further volumes from this publisher: The Moon Man: hb/]
- The Compleat Adventures of the Moon Man – The Silver Spectre – Volume Two (Shelburne, Ontario: The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2004) [coll: stories first appeared June 1933-January 1937 in Ten Detective Aces: The Moon Men: hb/]
The Green Lama
- The Green Lama: An Amazing Exploit Taken Right Out of the Case-book of the Green Lama, in which his Unusual Powers are Put to the Test (Chicago, Illinois: Robert Weinberg, 1976) with Kendell Foster Crossen as by Richard Foster [anth: chap: title usually listed incorrectly as a coll: contains "The Green Lama" as by Richard Foster, first appeared 1940 Double Detective in 1940, and "Crucibles of the Damned" by Davis, first appeared June 1936 Secret Agent "X" #4: The Green Lama: pb/montage of pulp magazine covers]
collection
- When the Bat Man Thirsts and Other Stories (Vancleave, Mississippi: Dancing Tuatara Press, 2013) [coll: pb/Gavin L O'Keefe]
about the author
- Nick Carr. America's Secret Service Ace: The Operator 5 Story (Chicago, Illinois: Robert Weinberg, 1974) [nonfiction: in the publisher's Pulp Classics series: pb/Franklyn E Hamilton]
links
previous versions of this entry