Saxon, Peter
Entry updated 13 April 2026. Tagged: Author, House name.
Initially the personal pseudonym of UK author W Howard Baker, under which he wrote many titles for Amalgamated Press, mainly stories in the Sexton Blake series before the cancellation of its fourth series in 1964 (see Sexton Blake Library). He then took the name to Mayflower Books, where the series continued, written by him and others under what was now a House Name. The claims of Scottish writer Wilfred McNeilly to have written most of the Saxon titles are unjustified. Other writers who used the name included Rex Dolphin, Stephen Frances, Ross Richards and Martin Thomas. Titles of sf interest include The Slave Brain (1967) by Richards; Black Honey (1968) and Corruption (1968); whose authors have not been identified, and the Guardians psychic-investigators sequence [for Occult Detectives see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below]: Through the Dark Curtain (1968) by Richards, The Curse of Rathlaw (1968) by Martin, Dark Ways to Death (1968) by McNeilly, The Haunting of Alan Mais (1969) by Baker and McNeilly, The Killing Bone (1969) by Baker, and The Vampires of Finistère (1970) by Dolphin.
The most memorable Saxon title (written by Baker with Frances) may be The Disoriented Man (1966; vt Scream and Scream Again 1967), filmed as Scream and Scream Again (1969) directed by Gordon Hessler; the film became something of a cult classic. [JC/DRL]
"Peter Saxon"
works
series
Guardians
- Through the Dark Curtain (New York: Lancer Books, 1965) by Ross Richards [Guardians: pb/]
- The Curse of Rathlaw (New York: Lancer Books, 1968) by Thomas Martin [Guardians: pb/Jeff Jones]
- Dark Ways to Death (London: Howard Baker, 1968) by W Howard Baker and Wilfred McNeilly [tie: Guardians: pb/]
- The Haunting of Alan Mais (New York: Berkley Books, 1969) by W Howard Baker and McNeilly [tie: Guardians: pb/Jeff Jones]
- The Killing Bone (New York: Berkley Books, 1969) by W Howard Baker [tie: Guardians: pb/Jeff Jones]
- The Vampires of Finistere (New York: Berkley Books, 1970) by Rex Dolphin [Guardians: pb/Jeff Jones]
Sexton Blake Library
- The Slave Brain (London: Mayflower-Dell, 1967) by Ross Richards [tie to the Shared World franchise: Saxon given on title page: Desmond Reid given as author on cover: Sexton Blake Library: pb/]
individual titles
- The Disorientated Man (London: Mayflower, 1966) by W Howard Baker and Stephen Frances [pb/]
- Scream and Scream Again (New York: Paperback Library, 1967) by W Howard Baker and Stephen Frances [vt of the above: pb/Victor Kalin]
- Satan's Child (New York: Lancer Books, 1967) by Wilfred McNeilly [pb/Jeff Jones]
- Satan's Child / The Darkest Night (place not given: Ferox Press, 2018) [omni of the above two: pb/Jeff Jones]
- Black Honey (London: Mayflower, 1968) by W Howard Baker [pb/]
- Vampire's Moon (New York: Belmont Books, 1970) by W Howard Baker [pb/]
links
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Occult Detectives
- Picture Gallery
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