Schweitzer, Darrell
Entry updated 4 December 2023. Tagged: Author, Critic, Editor.
(1952- ) US critic, editor, bookseller and author who was early active in sf Fandom, publishing some amateur fiction, though his first professional story of genre interest was "Come to Mother" for Weirdbook #4 in 1971, but who has spent his energies very variously for many years, coming initially to notice with a series of critical studies [they are broken down in the Checklist below] including Lovecraft in the Cinema (1975 chap), The Dream Quest of H.P. Lovecraft (1978 chap), Conan's World and Robert E. Howard (1979 chap), On Writing Science Fiction (The Editors Strike Back!) (1981) with John M Ford and George H Scithers, Constructing Scientifiction & Fantasy (1982 chap) with John Ashmead and Scithers, Pathways to Elfland: The Writings of Lord Dunsany (1989), and several instalments of the ongoing Reader sequence of critical essays on individual authors, including The Neil Gaiman Reader (anth 2006). During this period he also served as editorial assistant at Asimov's 1977-1982 and at Amazing 1982-1986. With John Betancourt and Scithers he then restarted Weird Tales in 1987 with #290, being variously involved afterwards, their last issue being released for February-March 2007. This run of magazines has also been listed as a sequence of Anthologies, but its editors do not deem it an anthology series, and it is not therefore listed as a whole in the Checklist below (selected titles sometimes referred to as anthologies are, however, given). Also with Scithers, he edited two anthologies of Club Stories: Tales from the Spaceport Bar (anth 1987) and Another Round at the Spaceport Bar (anth 1989).
Schweitzer is not essentially an sf writer [the Checklist below is highly selected]; some of his work tends to a grimly brisk Science-Fantasy diction, including We Are All Legends (coll of linked stories 1981); the Goddess sequence comprising The Shattered Goddess (1982) and Tom O'Bedlam's Night Out, and Other Strange Excursions (coll 1985), and set in a fantasy version of the far future; The Meaning of Life (coll 1988 chap), which assembles a few sf stories; The White Isle (1975 Weirdbook #9; exp April-June 1980 Fantastic; rev 1990) and Living with the Dead: (The Tale of Old Corpsenberg) (2008 chap). The merits of this work are clear enough; but Schweitzer is not an author much interested in Equipoisal exploitations of genre-mixing, and they are not therefore discussed here. [JC]
Darrell Charles Schweitzer
born Woodbury, New Jersey: 27 August 1952
works (fiction is highly selected)
series
Goddess
- The Shattered Goddess (Norwalk, Virginia: The Donning Company/Starblaze, 1982) [Goddess: pb/Stephen E Fabian]
- Tom O'Bedlam's Night Out, and Other Strange Excursions (Buffalo, New York: W Paul Ganley Publisher, 1985) [coll: Goddess: illus/pb/Stephen Fabian]
- Echoes of the Goddess (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2012) [fixup: Goddess: pb/Stephen E Fabian]
individual titles
- The White Isle (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Owlswick Press, 1990) [early version appeared 1975 Weirdbook #9; full version appeared April-July 1980 Fantastic: illus/hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Sekenre : The Book of the Sorcerer (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2004) [illus/hb/Stephen Fabian]
- Living with the Dead: (The Tale of Old Corpsenberg) (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2008) [novelette: chap: hb/Jason Van Hollander]
collections
- We Are All Legends (Norfolk, Virginia: The Donning Company/Starblaze, 1978) [coll: introduction by L Sprague de Camp: illus/pb/Stephen E Fabian]
- The Meaning of Life and Other Awesome Cosmic Revelations: Three Curious Tales (Polk City, Iowa: Chris Drumm Books, 1988) [coll: chap: pb/Tim Marion]
- Transients and Other Disquieting Stories (Holicong, Pennsylvania: W Paul Ganley, 1993) [coll: hb/Stephen E Fabian]
- Necromancies and Netherworlds: Uncanny Stories (Berkeley Heights, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 1999) with Jason Van Hollander [coll of co-authored short fiction: hb/Jason Van Hollander]
- Refugees from an Imaginary Country (Buffalo, New York: W Paul Ganley Publisher, 1999) [coll: illus/hb/Stephen Fabian]
- The Emperor of the Ancient Word and Other Fantastic Stories (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2013) [coll: pb/Jason Van Hollander]
- Awaiting Strange Gods: Weird and Lovecraftian Fictions (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fedogan and Bremer, 2015) [coll: hb/Tim Kirk]
- The Mysteries of the Faceless King: The Best Short Fiction of Darrell Schweitzer Volume 1 (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2020) [coll: hb/Jason Van Hollander]
- The Last Heretic: The Best Short Fiction of Darrell Schweitzer Volume 2 (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2020) [coll: hb/Jason Van Hollander]
nonfiction
- The Dream Quest of H P Lovecraft (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1978) [nonfiction: coll: chap: H P Lovecraft: pb/Judy Cloyd]
- Conan's World and Robert E Howard (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1978) [nonfiction: coll: chap: Robert E Howard: H P Lovecraft: pb/Judy Cloyd]
- On Writing Science Fiction (The Editors Strike Back!) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Owlswick Press, 1981) with John M Ford and George H Scithers [nonfiction: coll: hb/]
- Constructing Scientifiction & Fantasy (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR Hobbies, 1982) with John Ashmead and George H Scithers [nonfiction: coll: chap: pb/]
- Pathways to Elfland: The Writings of Lord Dunsany (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Owlswick Press, 1989) [nonfiction: Lord Dunsany: hb/Tim Kirk]
- Lord Dunsany: A Bibliography (Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1993) with S T Joshi [bibliography: Lord Dunsany: hb/]
- Windows of the Imagination (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 1998) [nonfiction: coll: pb/Dan Campbell]
- The Fantastic Horizon: Essays and Reviews (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2004) [nonfiction: coll: pb/Catmando]
- The Threshold of Forever (Cabin John, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2017) [nonfiction: coll: pb/Grandfailure]
works as editor
series
Spaceport Bar
- Tales from the Spaceport Bar (New York: Avon Books, 1987) with George H Scithers [anth: Spaceport Bar: pb/James Warhola]
- Another Round at the Spaceport Bar (New York: Avon Books, 1989) with George H Scithers [anth: Spaceport Bar: pb/Doug Beekman]
Weird Tales (quasi-journals sometimes listed as anthologies; so listed here for convenience)
- Weird Tales: Spring 1988 Number 290 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Terminus Publishing, 1988) with John Gregory Betancourt and George H Scithers [anth: Weird Tales: hb/]
- Weird Tales: Fall 1988 Number 292 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Terminus Publishing, 1988) with George H Scithers [anth: Weird Tales: hb/]
- Weird Tales 317-320 (Fall 1999-Summer 2000) (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2003) with George H Scithers [anth: Weird Tales: pb/Jill Bauman]
individual titles as editor
- Lord Dunsany. The Ghosts of the Heaviside Layer and Other Fantasms (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Owlswick Press, 1980) [coll: edited with introduction by Schweitzer: illus/hb/Tim Kirk]
- The Secret History of Vampires (New York: DAW Books, 2007) [anth: Vampires: pb/]
- Full Moon City (New York: Pocket Books, 2010) with Martin H Greenberg [anth: pb/]
- Cthulhu's Reign (New York: DAW Books, 2010) [anth: Cthulhu Mythos: H P Lovecraft: pb/]
- The Mountains of Madness Revealed (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2019) [anth: hb/J K Potter]
- That Is Not Dead: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Through the Centuries (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2015) [anth: hb/Jason Van Hollander]
- Shadows Out of Time (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2023) [anth: hb/Bob Eggleton]
nonfiction works as editor
series
Discovering
- Essays Lovecraftian (Baltimore, Maryland: T-K Graphics, 1976) [anth: H P Lovecraft: Discovering: pb/Richard Huber]
- Discovering H.P. Lovecraft (Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont House, 1987) [nonfiction: anth: rev vt of the above: Discovering: pb/]
- Discovering Modern Horror Fiction #1 (Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont House, 1985) [nonfiction: anth: Discovering: pb/]
- Discovering Modern Horror Fiction #2 (Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont House, 1988) [nonfiction: anth: Discovering: pb/]
- Discovering Stephen King (Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont House, 1985) [nonfiction: anth: Stephen King: Discovering: pb/Stephen E Fabian]
- Discovering Classic Horror Fiction I (Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont House, 1992) [nonfiction: anth: Discovering: pb/Bruce Timm]
- Discovering Classic Fantasy Fiction (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1996) [nonfiction: anth: Discovering: hb/]
SF Voices
- SF Voices (Baltimore, Maryland: T-T Graphics, 1976) [nonfiction: anth: SF Voices: pb/]
- SF Voices: Interviews with Science Fiction Masters (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2009) [nonfiction: anth: vt of the above: SF Voices: pb/]
- Science Fiction Voices #1: Interviews with Science Fiction Writers (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1979) [nonfiction: anth: chap: SF Voices: hb/Judy Cloyd]
- Science Fiction Voices #5: Interviews with American Science Fiction Writers of the Golden Age (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1982) [nonfiction: anth: chap: SF Voices: hb/Judy Cloyd]
Speaking of Horror
- Speaking of Horror: Interviews with Writers of the Supernatural (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1994) [nonfiction: anth: chap: Speaking of Horror: pb/]
- Speaking of Horror II: Interviews with 18 Masters of Horror! (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2015) [nonfiction: anth: Speaking of Horror: pb/]
Speaking of the Fantastic
- Speaking of the Fantastic: Interviews with Writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2002) [nonfiction: anth: Speaking of the Fantastic: pb/]
- Speaking of the Fantastic II: Interviews with Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2004) [nonfiction: anth: Speaking of the Fantastic: pb/]
- Speaking of the Fantastic III: Interviews with Science Fiction Writers (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2012) [nonfiction: anth: Speaking of the Fantastic: pb/Angela Harburn]
- Speaking of the Fantastic IV (Cabin John, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2018) [nonfiction: anth: Speaking of the Fantastic: pb/]
Reader
- The Thomas Ligotti Reader (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2003) [nonfiction: anth: Reader: pb/Jason Van Hollander]
- The Neil Gaiman Reader (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2006) [nonfiction: anth: Neil Gaiman: Reader: pb/Kirk Alberts]
- The Robert E Howard Reader (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press/The Borgo Press, 2010) [nonfiction: anth: Robert E Howard: Reader: pb/]
individual titles
- Exploring Fantasy Worlds: Essays on Fantastic Literature (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1985) [nonfiction: anth: hb/Mary Cleland]
- Philcon 2003 Program Book (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, 2003) [nonfiction: anth: chap: pb/Greg Hildebrandt and Tim Hildebrandt]
- Tales from the Miskatonic University Library (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2017) with John Ashmead [anth: hb/J K Potter]
links
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