The Fantasy Hall of Fame

by Robert Silverberg (Editor, Contributor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

The masque of the red death / Edgar Allan Poe --
An inhabitant of Carcosa / Ambrose Bierce --
The sword of Welleran / Lord Dunsany --
The women of the wood / A. Merritt --
The weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan / Clark Ashton Smith --
The valley of the worm / Robert E. Howard --
Black god's kiss / C.L. Moore --
The silver key / H.P. Lovecraft --
Nothing in the rules / L. Sprague De Camp --
A gnome there was / Henry Kuttner --
Snulbug / Anthony Boucher --
The words of Guru / C.M. Kornbluth --
Homecoming / Ray Bradbury --
Mazirian the magician / Jack Vance --
O ugly bird! / Manly Wade Wellman --The silken swift / Theodore Sturgeon --
The golem / Avram Davidson --
That hell-bound train / Robert Bloch --
Kings in Darkness / Michael Moorcok --
Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes / Harlan Ellison --
Gonna roll the bones / Fritz Leiber --
The ones who walk away from Omelas / Ursula K. Le Guin.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy, Horror

431 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 1983

About the author

There are many authors in the database with this name.

Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a few stories in this anthology, but really dug "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," by Ursula K. LeGuin (I heard about it from my Dystopian Goodreads Group). It was serendipitous to read this after reading THE SOCIOPATH NEXT DOOR--a nice fictional example of conscienceLESSness.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fine collection of older fantasy stories from the likes of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Ray Bradbury, C. L. Moore, and many more.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twenty-two stories and 431 pages. Some that I recognized from previous anthologies: Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death", "O Ugly Bird" by Manly Wade Wellman, "The Silver Key" by Lovecraft, "The Women of the Wood" by A. Merritt, "Gonna Roll the Bones" by Leiber, and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Le Guin. Some works by well-known authors were themselves not familiar and sometimes not up to level of other works I've read by those authors, among them stories by Jack Vance, Ray Bradbury, Ambrose Bierce, and some others. Most of the stories in this 1983 anthology were published between 1930 and 1960. Only two women are represented Ursula Le Guin and C.L. Moore. The stories were apparently chosen by "a panel of hundreds of experts". Overall I would say the choices of that panel reflect a mid-20th Century sensibility and as a result this collection might not be as appealing to readers in the 21st Century.

[Miriam James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite sure why my version has some different stories to the one in this description(?) but anyway, like most anthologies, there was a real mixture. I liked some, I wasn’t really into some of them, but it was a pretty good read. I’d like to see an updated version of this! Anyway, ending with Le Guin was fantastic (I’d give her 5*) and there were definitely some other gems in here.

[Jason Darrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this anthology from The Internet Archive. So glad I did.

The tales run the gamut of fantasy, from sci-fi romps to archaic wizardry, from the chronicles of Cthulhu to ghosts and the gothic horror of Poe.

There's not one weak tale. In fact, I'd go as far to say that many of the short stories compiled herein are amongst the finest examples of their type.

Each takes you on a journey of your mind and spirit. Some are utterly fantastical. Others are reflective and make you turn your critical eye on yourself and the (not so dystopian) world we've created today.

Although many authors contribute to The Fantasy Hall of Fame, the style—striking in its naivety, but brilliant in its descriptive quality—remains true throughout.

Definitely a tome I'm going to find now and add to my library. 5/5 all day long.

[Patrick]

10/16/09 - "That Hell-Bound Train" (1958) by Robert Bloch
10/20/09 - "The Sword of Welleran" (1908) by Lord Dunsany
11/02/09 - "Black God's Kiss" (1934) by C.L. Moore
1/08/10 - "The Silver Key" (1937) by H.P. Lovecraft
1/10/10 - "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan" (1932) by Clarke Ashton Smith

[bluetyson]

The Fantasy Hall of Fame (1983)