Pronzini, Bill
Entry updated 16 September 2024. Tagged: Author.
Working name of US author William John Pronzini (1943- ), prolific and admired in several genres, notably crime fiction, since his first book, The Stalker (1971). Though he has published some very effective Horror, including Masques: A Novel of Terror (1981), and several other novels – including Night Screams (1979) and Prose Bowl (1980), both with Barry N Malzberg, the former featuring ESP and the latter being outright sf – as well as Beyond the Grave (1986) with Marcia Muller, his main importance to the field of the fantastic lies in his anthologies. Relevant titles include: Dark Sins, Dark Dreams: Crime in Science Fiction (anth 1978) with Malzberg; Midnight Specials (anth 1978); Werewolf! (anth 1979); The End of Summer (anth 1979; vt The Fifties: The End of Summer 1979), Shared Tomorrows: Science Fiction in Collaboration (anth 1979) and Bug-Eyed Monsters (anth 1980), these last three being with Malzberg; Voodoo!: A Chrestomathy of Necromancy (anth 1980), Mummy!: A Chrestomathy of Crypt'ology (anth 1981) and Creature!: A Chrestomathy of "Monstery" (anth 1981), all assembled as The Arbor House Necropolis – Voodoo! Mummy! Ghoul! (omni 1981; with 1 story cut, vt Tales of the Dead 1986); The Arbor House Treasury of Mystery and Suspense (anth 1981; with 1 story cut, vt Great Tales of Mystery and Suspense 1985) with Malzberg and Martin H Greenberg; The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural (anth 1981; with 1 story cut, vt Great Tales of Horror & the Supernatural 1985; text restored, vt Classic Tales of Horror and the Supernatural 1991; again cut, vt The Giant Book of Horror Stories 1991) with Malzberg and Greenberg; Specter!: A Chrestomathy of "Spookery" (anth 1982); and Witches' Brew: Horror and Supernatural Stories by Women (anth 1984) with Muller. [JC]
William John Pronzini
born Petaluma, California: 13 April 1943
works (highly selected)
- The Running of Beasts (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1976) with Barry N Malzberg [hb/]
- Acts of Mercy (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1977) with Barry N Malzberg [hb/Stan Zagorski]
- Night Screams (New York: Playboy Press, 1979) with Barry N Malzberg [hb/Anthony Russo]
- Prose Bowl (New York: St Martin's Press, 1980) with Barry N Malzberg [hb/John Clarke]
- Masques (New York: Berkley Books, 1983) [pb/]
collections
- Graveyard Plots: The Best Short Stories of Bill Pronzini (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985) [coll: hb/]
- Night Freight (New York: Leisure Books, 2000) [coll: pb/]
- On Account of Darkness and Other Sf Stories (Waterville, Maine: Five Star, 2004) with Barry N Malzberg [coll: hb/Charles Bernard]
- Cream of the Crop: Best Mystery & Suspense Stories of Bill Pronzini (Eureka, California: Stark House, 2024) [coll: pb/Mark Shepard]
nonfiction
- Gun in Cheek (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1982) [nonfiction: hb/]
- Son of Gun in Cheek (New York: The Mysterious Press, 1987) [nonfiction: hb/Pamela Noftsinger]
works as editor
- Tricks and Treats (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1976) with Joe Gores [anth: hb/]
- Midnight Specials (Indianapolis, Indiana: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1977) [anth: hb/Don Carroll]
- Dark Sins, Dark Dreams: Crime in Science Fiction (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1977) with Barry N Malzberg; [anth: hb/Robert Korn]
- The End of Summer: Science Fiction in the Fifties (New York: Ace Books, 1979) with Barry N Malzberg; [anth: pb/David Egge]
- The Fifties: The End of Summer (New York: Baronet Publishing Company, 1979) with Barry N Malzberg; [anth: vt of the above: pb/Segrelles]
- Shared Tomorrows: Science Fiction in Collaboration (New York: St Martin's Press, 1979) with Barry N Malzberg [anth: hb/Gary La Sasso]
- Bug-Eyed Monsters (New York: HBJ/Harvest, 1980) with Barry N Malzberg [anth: Bug-Eyed Monsters: pb/Ruby Mazur]
- The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural (New York: Arbor House/Priam Books, 1981) with Martin H Greenberg and Barry N Malzberg [anth: hb/Antler and Baldwin Inc]
- Great Tales of Horror & the Supernatural (New York: Galahad Books, 1985) with Martin H Greenberg and Barry N Malzberg [anth: cut vt of the above: hb/]
- Classic Tales of Horror and the Supernatural (New York: William Morrow/Quill, 1991) with Martin H Greenberg and Barry N Malzberg [anth: vt of the above: pb/James Victorie]
- The Giant Book of Horror Stories (London: Magpie Books, 1991) with Martin H Greenberg and Barry N Malzberg [anth: vt of the above: hb/Les Edwards]
- Manhattan Mysteries (New York: Avenel Books, 1987) with Martin H Greenberg and Carol-Lynn Rössel Waugh [anth: New York: hb/Hector Garrido/Mendola]
- Mummy Stories (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 1990) with Martin H Greenberg (Greenberg anonymous) [anth: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry