The Early Long

by Frank Belknap Long

For a specific description of this book, please see each individual seller offering.

Genres: Horror

211 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1975

About the author

Aka Lyda Belknap Long.

Frank Belknap Long was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including early contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos. During his life, Long received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (at the 1978 World Fantasy Convention), the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement (in 1987, from the Horror Writers Association), and the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award (1977).

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not one of the considered Big Three Writers for Weird Tales magazine, but still very good was Frank Belknap Long who was also a good friend of H.P. Lovecraft. This book of short stories mainly are horror themed but some veer more towards a kind of humor if not fantasy.
My personal favorites are “The Space Eaters” which include more or less the author and HPL as the protagonists facing off against a nameless horror together, “The Flame Midget” about a scientist who calls a close friend to him to show and tell to him a threat from space, and “Grab Bags Are Dangerous” about a well meaning Santa playing man who purchases a burlap sack for presents but not knowing what else may reside in the bag.
Just great stuff from Long whose name I’ve heard mention of but never deep dived into until now. I’m glad I did!

[Kent Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ordered this book because I quite enjoy Long's story The Hounds of Tindalos and had read that he was a contemporary and friend of Lovecraft. I was expecting stories similar to those of HPL but, outside of the aforementioned Hounds, the stories bear few similarities. Not bad but not what I hoped.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine a lot of genre fans skip over Frank Belknap Long after they've sampled "The Hounds of Tindalos" and maybe "The Space Eaters", and while I'd say he rarely comes close to greatness, he has a very distinctive mark. There's a detached, wry quality to his prose, he enjoys throwing in a bit of wordplay, and he carefully observed character detail in a way rare for these sorts of stories, and he's especially interested in neurotic men struggling to cope in fast-moving modernity, who are often kept emotionally aloft by saintly women. Long's lifelong marriage and eventual impoverished death ought tip one off to the autobiographical slant, here. His position as a real "crank em out" workhorse does limit the quality, his stories get to feeling very similar, especially in the latter samples. Would have enjoyed more actual early Long and less WWII era stuff tbh. Lovecraft considered Long to have developed into a hack well before he died, which I think was unfair on Lovecraft's part, but Long's approach was a lot more of-the-moment than HPL's, feels at least as akin to Golden Age sci-fi writers as it does to the Weird Tales cohort. To be fair, "The Space Eaters" probably is my favorite story, and it's helped a lot by its indebtedness to Lovecraft, has a strange, sad, unreal aura to it. But I appreciated Long's later stuff, even if he has more personality than dynamite execution much of the time. Particularly enjoyed "A Visitor from Egypt", "Dark Vision", and "The Census Taker".

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

great collection of stories. while Lovecraft could be melodramatic and breathless with his prose, Long is to the point exploring high concepts with a pace that often gathers momentum and holds throughout. some of it is quite dated. the first story in the story was a jumpscare with its racism. the rest of the stories are a lot better in this aspect. hounds of tindalos is probably the story most people know him for and i can see why. however, The Space Leeches was probably my favorite and for me is a lot more effective in terms of horror. would like to read the rest of his work, too bad The Rim of the Unknown is such an expensive book to buy these days.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good stuff. A cut or two above the usual eldritch horrors and weird recountings. Might've even given it a 4-spot--except it got a bit monotonous and limited as time passed (maybe if it had been a shorter book!). I don't mean with the style--his style is very good, smooth and urbane; but just the subject matter always being kind of the same (should I even be reading horror?). Ones with a lighter touch tended to seem disposable.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this immensely! Thanks Brian Perry!