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If you’re an avid watcher of Stranger Things, or before that, Tales of the Unexpected, or whether you just like reading a chilling tale of the unknown, the supernatural, the occult, an alien universe; there’s bound to be a book for you in the dimly lit corners of Country House Library. We’ve selected ten of the best vintage ‘retro’, cross genre publications to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end!
H(oward) P(hillips) Lovecraft (1890-1937) was an American writer of fantasy, horror and sci-fi. A frail and often solitary man, he wrote popular science journalism and contributed to pulp magazines. Virtually unknown during his lifetime he since became famous for creating the fictional universe known as the ‘Cthuthu Mythos’. His stories were influenced by Edgar Allen Poe and Lord Dunsany and since his death at a young age, he’s waxed and waned in cult status. This 1964 publication from Panther Books is a collection of thirteen unique horror stories. As well as the title story, the creepy gems include 'The Shunned House', 'Cool Air', and 'The Unnameable'.
“once we had developed intelligence we weren’t satisfied with the world as we found it;” ― John Wyndham, The Kraken Wakes
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (1902 – 69) used various combinations of his names in different phases of his career. Before the Second World War he was active as John Beynon but became known as John Wyndham with his best known, post-war, science fiction beginning with The Day of the Triffids (1951). His plots tended to focus on the difficulty of preserving English ‘decency’ in hostile conditions, which found favour with the British public at the time, over and above the more colourful American science fiction. The Kraken Wakes was Wyndham’s second novel, first published in 1953, and tells the apocalyptic story of aliens invading from a gas-giant planet and finding their natural home deep under Earth’s oceans.
“we should remember how repulsive our carnivorous habits would seem to an intelligent rabbit.” ― H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds
Having won a first class honours degree in zoology in 1890 and started life as a schoolteacher, H(erbert) G(eorge) Wells (1866 – 1946) suffered an accident that changed his life. Determined to make a new career as a writer, he wrote his first novel The Time Machine in 1895. Three years later he wrote this fourth book of science fiction, The War of the Worlds. In the book, missiles from Mars land in England, disgorging fearful war machines that begin to devastate the country. This archetypal story of alien invasion set the template for countless imitations over the decades. A famous radio adaption by Orson Welles caused panic in the USA in 1938.
Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, 1912 – 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, and the first female writer to be awarded the now defunct Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy (named after the Tolkien wizard), although she wrote mainly under male noms de plume. Her biographers dubbed Norton ‘the Grand Dame of science fiction and fantasy’. She was certainly prolific, having over 300 titles published in her lifetime. This wonderfully ‘retro’ publication from 1976 would be a must for sci-fi and fantasy fans, and especially any budding female writer of the genre.
John Brunner (1934 – 1995) demonstrated remarkable foresight in his science fiction writing, predicting computer ‘worms’ (or viruses), genetic engineering, same-sex marriage, online encyclopaedias, the legalisation of cannabis, and the invention of Viagra! His novel The Jagged Orbit (1969) foresaw the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and his novel The Sheep Look Up (1972), ecological catastrophe. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar about world overpopulation won the Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. This 1974 title exploring the perils of time travel will assure science fiction readers they’re in a safe pair of hands with this master of the genre.
If you like archetypal ‘bug-eyed monsters’ in your science fiction – look no further! With a contributing roll call of SF masters including Fredric Brown, A. E. Van Vogt, James Blish and Frank Herbert (author of the Science fiction classic, Dune), the pages are infested with weird and wonderful nasties (and not-so-nasties).
Departing somewhat from the sci-fi flavour of this blog, but very much in keeping with the 'Stranger Things’ theme, this 1970 novel by prolific sci-fi/thriller/horror/war writer Peter Leslie (1922 – 2000) is a rich mix of a dead medium, poisoned darts, a millionaire plastics tycoon, a bi-sexual young woman and a coven of occultist Brazilian priestesses. Leslie was mainly a ghost writer of spin-off novels for popular TV series including The Avengers, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and The Invaders – a Sci-Fi series devoted to alien invasion. Fans of Leslie may also like to keep their eyes peeled for titles under his noms de plume ‘Ed Mazzaro’ and ‘Don Pendleton’.
The joint editor of the 1969 anthology of science fiction stories Sam Moskowitz (1920 – 97) deserves a special place in the heart of sci-fi fans. A recognised sci-fi expert and historian of the genre, he published articles and biographies, as well as amassing a huge collection of important early sci-fi works and rarities. Following his death, the contents of his library were auctioned off with worldwide interest. Interesting Moskowitz fact: under the name Sam Martin he was long-serving editor of trade publication Quick Frozen Foods International.
Imagine a heady mix of James Bond and Captain James T. Kirk of Star Trek fame, and you have an idea of the hero of this sci-fi adventure romp, ‘Commander John Craig’. When he’s not romancing the many beautiful women in his life, Craig has to rescue the world from the gaping maw of the hideous space beast – the Black Enigma! Armed with no less than three incredible protective inventions – will he overcome this awesome threat to Planet Earth?
“There is nothing so eternally adhesive as the memory of power.” - Isaac Asimov, ‘I, Robot’
Russian born but raised in the US, Isaac Asimov (1920-92), doctor of bio-chemistry, became one of the leading exponents of the popularization of science, producing many essays and books with his remarkable relish for technical enlightenment. His most famous works include the three volume Foundation series (1942-50) and this classic collection I, Robot from 1950, in which the author lays down his three inviolable laws of robotics. In these days of A.I., these nine creepy stories in this brilliant vintage collection from one of the masters of sci-fi, are a must-have.
The worlds beyond human understanding, and currently beyond the limits of exploration, have long been a source of inspiration for many great writers. Deep space, the supernatural, death – all twilight worlds we can only imagine. Select from one of Country House Library’s wide collection of the weird and wonderful here.
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