Night monsters

by Fritz Leiber

190p hardback, red cloth with bright yellow jacket, fair condition, some wear to covers and endpapers, library label on front endpaper, marks and foxing to the sides and edges of many pages, spine separating but binding intact, a used copy of the first edition of this very rare anthology, this copy published in the year 1974 in the series entitled Gollancz Science Fiction

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

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was one of the more interesting of the young writers who came into HP Lovecraft's orbit, and some of his best early short fiction is horror rather than sf or fantasy. He found his mature voice early in the first of the sword-and-sorcery adventures featuring the large sensitive barbarian Fafhrd and the small street-smart-ish Gray Mouser; he returned to this series at various points in his career, using it sometimes for farce and sometimes for gloomy mood pieces--The Swords of Lankhmar is perhaps the best single volume of their adventures. Leiber's science fiction includes the planet-smashing The Wanderer in which a large cast mostly survive flood, fire, and the sexual attentions of feline aliens, and the satirical A Spectre is Haunting Texas in which a gangling, exo-skeleton-clad actor from the Moon leads a revolution and finds his true love. Leiber's late short fiction, and the fine horror novel Our Lady of Darkness, combine autobiographical issues like his struggle with depression and alcoholism with meditations on the emotional content of the fantastic genres. Leiber's capacity for endless self-reinvention and productive self-examination kept him, until his death, one of the most modern of his sf generation.

Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ran out of steam doing individual reviews of the stories in this anthology, which is no reflection on these tales. The last one, in particular, was very good: A Bit of the Dark World is a thoughtful story of Cosmic Horror, with nods to Lovecraft, but very much with its own sensibility.

Overall, a good collection of stories with some intriguing angles on society and the human experience, viewed through a dark lens.

The Black Gondolier: If Lovecraft wrote Cosmic Horror, then in "The Black Gondolier" Leiber wrote Cthonic Horror. Set in the oil town of Venice, California, it is an oozing and choking horror in which humankind are complicit pawns of a Lower Power. It's an environmental horror about the greed and corruption of the oil industry, right-wing conspiracy theories and ecological shortsightedness evident in 1964 when Leiber wrote this, and of which he'd likely recognise Trumpism as its dreadful culmination.
There's a reference to the John Birch Society which I had to look up, finding it to be a far-right, ultra-conservative organisation, sadly still operating, and setting itself against "the Deep State", and happily proclaiming itself as having shaped the ideology of the Trump administration. Horror indeed, and surprising where a presciently good writer like Leiber can take you. 4

[Edgar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the best of the Lovecraft imitators/successors/improvers I've read. Brilliant at smoothly moving the spotlight from Gothic musky New England to South California and not making it look like heresy. Original stories that don't feel like experiments. And beautifully exposed theories.

One of the ugliest Pennington covers and one of the best collections from Panther's horror series. (It's got a bit of sci-fi thrown in as well.)

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous collection of weird and spooky stories, some psychological, some paranormal, spanning genres, by a master storyteller. This is the first like this I have read by Fritz Leiber, having read only his sword and sorcery books previously, but this ranks easily alongside Lovecraft et al. An absorbing read.

[Krista Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost gave it 4 stars (fantastic), but had to guve it 5 (mind-blowing, best ever) because of “The Black Gondolier”, “The Creature from the Cleveland Depths” and “A Bit of the Dark World”, the three of which will stick with me and bear revisiting. Lovecraft would be proud.

[Bob Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best. Four short stories of which the first, "The Black Gondolier", was the hardest to read.

[Chuck McKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific collection of tales from one of the 20th Century's masters of dark fantasy. Every story an absolute classic.

[Alien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Die meisten Stories drehen sich um Übersinnliches oder Mysteriöses.
Gefallen haben mir eigentich nur die Gruselgeschichte "Die Spiegelwelt" (Midnight in the morror world) und die SF-Satire "Die Geschöpfe von Cleveland Depths" (The creature from Cleveland Depths).

Ich habe die deutsche Übersetzung "Die Spiegelwelt" von Goldmann gelesen.

[Kevin Gallan]

57/187