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The Ghost Light
His admirers include Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, John Jakes and Peter Straub. The New York Times called his work "fast moving, ironic and delightful." He is the winner of every major American accolade in the field of fantastic literature: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the World Fantasy Convention's Grandmaster Award. This incredible volume includes some of his greatest tales, a startling novella about ghosts in modern California, and a brilliant look at his own distinguished career. Here is Fritz Leiber at his best...
A Masterworks Edition, features beautiful illustrations by today's finest fantasy artists, including Robert Gould, David Wiesner, John Jude Palencar, Thomas Canty, and JoEllen Trilling.
Cover Illustration: John Jude Palencar.
A Masterworks Edition, features beautiful illustrations by today's finest fantasy artists, including Robert Gould, David Wiesner, John Jude Palencar, Thomas Canty, and JoEllen Trilling.
Cover Illustration: John Jude Palencar.
367 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
3 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Fritz Leiber
1,335 books1,053 followersFritz 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
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
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July 4, 2017This hardcover copy is numbered 41 of 350 copies printed and is signed by Fritz Leiber.
The book is the second volume in the Masterworks series and is published in association with Byron Price Visual Publications.
Cover painting by John Jude Palencar
interior illustrations by John Jude Palencar, Brian Humphrey, JoEllen Trilling, Pat Ortega, Thomas Canty, David Wiesner, Robert Gould, Steve Leialoha, Paul Rivoche
Contents:
011 - Introduction - Fritz Leiber (1984)
015 - "The Ghost Light" (1984)
055 - "Coming Attraction" (1950)
071 - "A Deskful of Girls" (1958)
099 - "Space-Time for Srpingers (1958)
113 - "Four Ghost in Hamlet" (1965)
149 - "Gonna Roll the Bones" (1967)
175 - "Bazaar of the Bizarre" (1970)
201 - "Midnight By the Morphy Watch" (1974)
223 - "Black Glass" (1978)
251 - "Not Much Disorder and Not So Early Sex: An Autobiographic Essay" (1984)
The book is the second volume in the Masterworks series and is published in association with Byron Price Visual Publications.
Cover painting by John Jude Palencar
interior illustrations by John Jude Palencar, Brian Humphrey, JoEllen Trilling, Pat Ortega, Thomas Canty, David Wiesner, Robert Gould, Steve Leialoha, Paul Rivoche
Contents:
011 - Introduction - Fritz Leiber (1984)
015 - "The Ghost Light" (1984)
055 - "Coming Attraction" (1950)
071 - "A Deskful of Girls" (1958)
099 - "Space-Time for Srpingers (1958)
113 - "Four Ghost in Hamlet" (1965)
149 - "Gonna Roll the Bones" (1967)
175 - "Bazaar of the Bizarre" (1970)
201 - "Midnight By the Morphy Watch" (1974)
223 - "Black Glass" (1978)
251 - "Not Much Disorder and Not So Early Sex: An Autobiographic Essay" (1984)
December 13, 2012
3.5 Originally posted at FanLit
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Fritz Leiber’s The Ghost Light, recently produced in audio format by Audible Frontiers, is a collection of nine short stories and novelettes and an autobiographical essay by Fritz Leiber. Only the first novelette, “The Ghost Light,” and the essay, “Not so Much Disorder and Not so Early Sex: an Autobiographical Essay,” are original to this collection. Most of the previously printed stories were nominated for, or won, major SFF awards. Here’s what you’ll find in The Ghost Light:
“The Ghost Light” — Young Tommy and his parents are visiting Cassius, his estranged grandfather, in California. There’s something creepy about the painting of Tommy’s dead grandmother that hangs in the living room and Tommy knows the bluish green nightlight in his bedroom has something to do with it. This is a spooky tale that I mostly enjoyed, even though it (not surprisingly) features a dirty old man lusting after his young female family members. “The Ghost Story” is original to this collection.
“Coming Attraction” — A British man visits post-WWIII Manhattan where radiation levels are high and society has completely changed. After he saves a masked woman from being hit by car, she invites him out and begs him to take her back to England so she can escape her abusive boyfriend. This story was bleak and depressing, but I will never forget the opening line: “The coupe with the fishhooks welded to the fender shouldered up over the curb like the nose of a nightmare.” “Coming Attraction” was originally published in 1950 in Galaxy Science Fiction and was nominated for a Retro Hugo Award in 2001.
“A Deskful of Girls” — A man manages to get an evening invitation to visit the lab of a famous psychologist and to see his work in the field of the psychophysiology of sex. This story is brimming with the blatant sexism and bad psychology of 1950s pulp magazines, but the excellent twist at the end appeased me. Unfortunately, I’ll never be able to listen to Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker with happy innocence again. “A Deskful of Girls” was originally published in 1958 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
“Space-Time For Springers” — This delightful story, written from the perspective of a kitten named Gummitch, was my favorite. Kitty has some funny ideas about the world, and he’s got data to back them up. This adorable story was first published in 1958 in Frederik Poul’s Star Science Fiction Stories No. 4 and has been reprinted many times since then. A must-read for all cat lovers.
“Four Ghosts in Hamlet” — The ladies in a company of Shakespearean actors start playing with a Ouija board backstage and then notice there are too many ghosts in their production of Hamlet. This is a good story with plenty of humor and suspense. This 1965 novelette, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, was nominated for a Nebula Award.
“Gonna Roll the Bones” — Joe Slattermill is a poor miner who would rather spend his evenings drinking, gambling, and whoring than sitting at home listening to his domineering wife and mother. But when he goes out this night, he finds a new gambling parlor and ends up dicing with Death. This folksy story is an unusual style for Leiber and though I’m not sure I got all the symbolism and allegory, I appreciated the imagery and atmosphere. “Gonna Roll the Bones” was originally published in Harlan Ellison’s highly decorated anthology Dangerous Visions in 1967. It won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novelette.
“Bazaar of the Bizarre” — I loved this novelette when I read it in Leiber’s Lankhmar collection Swords Against Death. In this story, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are sent by their patron gods to destroy a magic bazaar where customers are enchanted into believing that the trash for sale is valuable. When the Gray Mouser gets there first and falls under its spell, Fafhrd must save him while still carrying out the gods’ commands. This story has been in many collections but was first printed in 1963 in Fantastic Stories of Imagination.
“Midnight by the Morphy Watch” — Fritz Leiber loved to play chess, so it’s not surprising that he’d write a ghost story about what happened to chess champion Paul Morphy’s famous missing watch. Chess enthusiasts will enjoy this novelette. It was first published in Jim Baen’s Worlds of If in 1974 and was nominated for a Hugo Award.
“Black Glass” — First published in Peter Weston’s Andromeda 3 in 1978, this story begins as a man is walking through Manhattan musing that the black glass being used to construct the new sky scrapers could symbolize the doom of New York City as it experiences rising levels of violence and crime, filth and pollution, drugs and porn, and even union strikes and junk food. As he continues walking, he seems to travel to the future and discovers that things will be much worse than he imagined. The climax of this story occurs in the twin towers of the World Trade Center, which makes this story even sadder than Leiber intended.
“Not so Much Disorder and Not so Early Sex: an Autobiographical Essay” — This is a long (5.5 hours on audio) autobiographical piece written when Leiber was 71 years old. He begins by talking a little about his German ancestors and describing his parents’ work (his father owned a traveling Shakespearean theater) and his upbringing with his aunts in Chicago. He goes on to talk about his studies at the University of Chicago, his short careers as an actor and then a priest, his writing, his love of chess, his marriage to Jonquil, their cat (the real Gummitch), and his trouble with alcoholism. Throughout the essay he describes his boyhood fascination with women’s breasts, his long-lasting naiveté about female anatomy and the sex act, and his obsession with understanding what nobody would talk about in an era of sexual repression and lack of sex education. He’s quite candid about this hang-up and he explains how this issue, along with his experiences in the theater and with chess and cats, give a lot of context to the stories in The Ghost Light. “Not so Much Disorder and Not so Early Sex: an Autobiographical Essay” is original to The Ghost Light and was later reprinted in his autobiography Fafhrd & Me and in his novel Conjure Wife.
I listened to the audio version of The Ghost Light which was produced by Audible Frontiers and is read by a team of excellent narrators. The print version has some interior art (each story features an illustration by a different artist) and personal photographs which I missed, but I didn’t mind because I enjoyed the narration so much.
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Fritz Leiber’s The Ghost Light, recently produced in audio format by Audible Frontiers, is a collection of nine short stories and novelettes and an autobiographical essay by Fritz Leiber. Only the first novelette, “The Ghost Light,” and the essay, “Not so Much Disorder and Not so Early Sex: an Autobiographical Essay,” are original to this collection. Most of the previously printed stories were nominated for, or won, major SFF awards. Here’s what you’ll find in The Ghost Light:
“The Ghost Light” — Young Tommy and his parents are visiting Cassius, his estranged grandfather, in California. There’s something creepy about the painting of Tommy’s dead grandmother that hangs in the living room and Tommy knows the bluish green nightlight in his bedroom has something to do with it. This is a spooky tale that I mostly enjoyed, even though it (not surprisingly) features a dirty old man lusting after his young female family members. “The Ghost Story” is original to this collection.
“Coming Attraction” — A British man visits post-WWIII Manhattan where radiation levels are high and society has completely changed. After he saves a masked woman from being hit by car, she invites him out and begs him to take her back to England so she can escape her abusive boyfriend. This story was bleak and depressing, but I will never forget the opening line: “The coupe with the fishhooks welded to the fender shouldered up over the curb like the nose of a nightmare.” “Coming Attraction” was originally published in 1950 in Galaxy Science Fiction and was nominated for a Retro Hugo Award in 2001.
“A Deskful of Girls” — A man manages to get an evening invitation to visit the lab of a famous psychologist and to see his work in the field of the psychophysiology of sex. This story is brimming with the blatant sexism and bad psychology of 1950s pulp magazines, but the excellent twist at the end appeased me. Unfortunately, I’ll never be able to listen to Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker with happy innocence again. “A Deskful of Girls” was originally published in 1958 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
“Space-Time For Springers” — This delightful story, written from the perspective of a kitten named Gummitch, was my favorite. Kitty has some funny ideas about the world, and he’s got data to back them up. This adorable story was first published in 1958 in Frederik Poul’s Star Science Fiction Stories No. 4 and has been reprinted many times since then. A must-read for all cat lovers.
“Four Ghosts in Hamlet” — The ladies in a company of Shakespearean actors start playing with a Ouija board backstage and then notice there are too many ghosts in their production of Hamlet. This is a good story with plenty of humor and suspense. This 1965 novelette, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, was nominated for a Nebula Award.
“Gonna Roll the Bones” — Joe Slattermill is a poor miner who would rather spend his evenings drinking, gambling, and whoring than sitting at home listening to his domineering wife and mother. But when he goes out this night, he finds a new gambling parlor and ends up dicing with Death. This folksy story is an unusual style for Leiber and though I’m not sure I got all the symbolism and allegory, I appreciated the imagery and atmosphere. “Gonna Roll the Bones” was originally published in Harlan Ellison’s highly decorated anthology Dangerous Visions in 1967. It won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novelette.
“Bazaar of the Bizarre” — I loved this novelette when I read it in Leiber’s Lankhmar collection Swords Against Death. In this story, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are sent by their patron gods to destroy a magic bazaar where customers are enchanted into believing that the trash for sale is valuable. When the Gray Mouser gets there first and falls under its spell, Fafhrd must save him while still carrying out the gods’ commands. This story has been in many collections but was first printed in 1963 in Fantastic Stories of Imagination.
“Midnight by the Morphy Watch” — Fritz Leiber loved to play chess, so it’s not surprising that he’d write a ghost story about what happened to chess champion Paul Morphy’s famous missing watch. Chess enthusiasts will enjoy this novelette. It was first published in Jim Baen’s Worlds of If in 1974 and was nominated for a Hugo Award.
“Black Glass” — First published in Peter Weston’s Andromeda 3 in 1978, this story begins as a man is walking through Manhattan musing that the black glass being used to construct the new sky scrapers could symbolize the doom of New York City as it experiences rising levels of violence and crime, filth and pollution, drugs and porn, and even union strikes and junk food. As he continues walking, he seems to travel to the future and discovers that things will be much worse than he imagined. The climax of this story occurs in the twin towers of the World Trade Center, which makes this story even sadder than Leiber intended.
“Not so Much Disorder and Not so Early Sex: an Autobiographical Essay” — This is a long (5.5 hours on audio) autobiographical piece written when Leiber was 71 years old. He begins by talking a little about his German ancestors and describing his parents’ work (his father owned a traveling Shakespearean theater) and his upbringing with his aunts in Chicago. He goes on to talk about his studies at the University of Chicago, his short careers as an actor and then a priest, his writing, his love of chess, his marriage to Jonquil, their cat (the real Gummitch), and his trouble with alcoholism. Throughout the essay he describes his boyhood fascination with women’s breasts, his long-lasting naiveté about female anatomy and the sex act, and his obsession with understanding what nobody would talk about in an era of sexual repression and lack of sex education. He’s quite candid about this hang-up and he explains how this issue, along with his experiences in the theater and with chess and cats, give a lot of context to the stories in The Ghost Light. “Not so Much Disorder and Not so Early Sex: an Autobiographical Essay” is original to The Ghost Light and was later reprinted in his autobiography Fafhrd & Me and in his novel Conjure Wife.
I listened to the audio version of The Ghost Light which was produced by Audible Frontiers and is read by a team of excellent narrators. The print version has some interior art (each story features an illustration by a different artist) and personal photographs which I missed, but I didn’t mind because I enjoyed the narration so much.
December 3, 2023
I found the stories a bit of a mixed bag - some classics (eg Spacetime For Springers), some good (eg Coming Attraction - note to US readers, this is how the rest of the world sees you), some not so great (I didn't enjoy Black Glass). While most of the stories are creepy horror fantasy, there is also some realism and humour as in Four Ghosts In Hamlet. The most interesting part for me (and this is only for Leiber fans) was the autobiographical essay that comprises the last quarter of the book. This combined with the stories themselves tells you a lot about the author and I guess about the life of writers in general. Maybe things have changed now but for the most part Leiber lived a fairly modest existence. And just think about the life experience that would give you the inspiration to write this kind of story.
December 6, 2010
This is a great collection of short stories by Fritz Leiber, who was a true master of science fiction, fantasy and horror, as well as a long autobiographical essay by Mr. Leiber.
As the title would indicate, several of the stories are ghost stories (in fact, the title story is one of the best and most bizarre ghost stories I have ever read), some venture into magical realism, there is a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tale, plus "Space Time for Springers" (which every cat lover should read).
The autobiogaphical essay was interesting but left me wanting more. I wish it had been longer and had gone into more detail but, as Mr. Leiber pointed out, he preferred writing fiction to writing about himself.
As the title would indicate, several of the stories are ghost stories (in fact, the title story is one of the best and most bizarre ghost stories I have ever read), some venture into magical realism, there is a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tale, plus "Space Time for Springers" (which every cat lover should read).
The autobiogaphical essay was interesting but left me wanting more. I wish it had been longer and had gone into more detail but, as Mr. Leiber pointed out, he preferred writing fiction to writing about himself.
August 8, 2010
Two stand-out stories in this collection: the title story "Ghost Light" and "Four Ghosts in Hamlet." "Space-Time For Springers" (in which a kitten is the hero!), "Gonna Roll the Bones," and "Midnight by the Morphy Watch" are also well worth reading. There is one Fafrhd and Gray Mouser story included, "Bazaar of the Bizarre." The part of the book I found most interesting, however, is the autobiography comprising the last third, "Not Much Disorder and Not So Early Sex," a particularly candid self-assessment.
May 26, 2015
I'm reviewing 'Four Ghosts in Hamlet' story. It had a good character development, too good for a short story perhaps. William Shakespeare fans will either find this ground breaking or extremely offensive. However it wasn't a scary tale. Most important aspect I expect from a ghost story is the creepiness more than anything. This story failed to spook me. So I call this a little bit above the average thriller.
January 20, 2015
A great compilation of stories and also includes a lengthy autobiography. I particularly enjoyed the story about the psychiatrist and ghost girls.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews