Nightshadows

by William F. Nolan

Nineteen of the twenty-three stories in this present volume were written in our new century following the release of Nolan's retrospective collection Dark Universe, which covers almost all of his work into the year 2000. This is a new collection representing his best work in the genre of shock fiction over recent years right through 2007.

303 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2007

About the author

William F. Nolan is best known as the co-author (with George Clayton Johnson) of Logan's Run -- a science fiction novel that went on to become a movie, a television series and is about to become a movie again -- and as single author of its sequels. His short stories have been selected for scores of anthologies and textbooks and he is twice winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Special Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Nolan was born in 1928 in Kansas City Missouri. He attended the Kansas City Art Institute and worked as an artist for Hallmark Cards. He moved to California in the late 1940s and studied at San Diego State College. He began concentrating on writing rather than art and, in 1952, was introduced by fellow Missouri native (and established writer) Ray Bradbury to another young up-and-coming author, Charles Beaumont. Moving to the Los Angeles area in 1953, Nolan became along with Bradbury, Beaumont, and Richard Matheson part of the "inner core" of the soon-to-be highly influential "Southern California Group" of writers. By 1956 Nolan was a full-time writer. Since 1951 he has sold more than 1500 stories, articles, books, and other works.

Although Nolan wrote roughly 2000 pieces, to include biographies, short stories, poetry, and novels, Logan’s Run retains its hold on the public consciousness as a political fable and dystopian warning. As Nolan has stated: “That I am known at all is still astonishing to me... "

He passed away at the age of 93 due to complications from an infection.

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good collection of old school Twilight Zone-style dark fantasy stories, many of which take place in the Kansas City area. Living not that far away, it was cool to have seen some of the locations mentioned. I love Twilight Zone twists, and there are a lot of them in this book. Every story, in fact. The stories themselves are generally solid. There are a couple that didn't do much for me. Some of the twists have become cliche over the years, but Nolan has been writing for a long time. There is a very self-congratulatory tone to the introduction. I actually had to check to make sure Nolan had written it about himself. It was the sort of thing you sometimes see other writers write about those who inspired them. In this case, he was writing about himself. The introductions to the stories can be a bit that way, as well, but I didn't mind them. I like reading about the origin of inspiration for stories and how they were written. I think they added something, overall.

[John Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of these creepy-scary stories are told in first-person, connecting the author to the reader through an umbilical cord of blood. I met Nolan, a resident of Bend, OR, at the OryCon Science Fiction Convention in Portland, OR last September. He seems so quiet and reserved to have generated these shocking stories!

I especially liked "The Clown's Daughter," though not sure why everything associated with a clown just has to be scary!

In "The Alien," starts with a bang--a bang of an alien's craft crashing to earth, with the recovered alien heading for the Alien Autopsy table. A very short story (one page or so), but effective in evoking an incident that might look different when viewed from a future time.

Many great, scary stories here!

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good horror story is a meditation on the universal theme of the fear and loss that are inherent in the human condition. These are not good horror stories. These are mediocre, show-offy, smart-ass stories by an author who is terribly impressed with his own cleverness -- the little self-congratulatory introductions to the stories are insufferable, the stories probably would have come across a little better without them. Really, really disappointing.

[Joe Noir · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a Nolan fan, or a fan of Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, or the dark fantasy that Ray Bradbury used to write, this is the book for you. As good as his other collections: Dark Universe, and Nightworlds.
Beautiful cover and book design by Patrick Swenson.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Interesting. Kind of cool that the author lives in Bend, Oregon, since I'm from Oregon. A lot of the stories seemed like they could be episodes for "The Twilight Zone."

[Meegz · Rating 4 out of 5]

William F. Nolan is a great author.

[Stan Bartkus]

left the book in a rental car and did not get it back.
tents are mostly new short stories with 2 exceptions of stories written earlier but NOT published.