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Masters of Fantasy
This anthology contains: The Coming of the White Worm by Clark Ashton Smith; Nine Yards of Other Cloth by Manly Wade Wellman; Through a Glass - Darkly by Zenna Henderson; There Shall Be No Darkness by James Blish; They Bite by Anthony Boucher; Call Him Demon by Henry Kuttner; Daemon by C. L. Moore; One Ordinary Day with Peanuts by Shirley Jackson; The Woman of the Wood by A. Merritt; The Loom of Darkness by Jack Vance; Trouble with Water by H. L. Gold; The Rats in the Walls by H. P. Lovecraft; Thriteen O'Clock by C. M. Kornbluth; The Rag Thing by Donald A. Wollheim; Jeffty is Five by Harlan Ellison; Timothy by Keith Roberts; Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Richard Cowper; Yesterday Was Monday by Theodore Sturgeon; The Montavarde Camera by Avram Davidson; Within the Walls of Tyre by Michael Bishop; Four Ghosts in Hamlet by Fritz Leiber; Displaced Person by Eric Frank Russell; The Black Ferris by Ray Bradbury; Our Fair City by Robert A. Heinlein; My Dear Emily by Joanna Russ; Descending by Thomas M. Disch; Man Overboard by John Collier; Longtooth by Edgar Pangborn; Divine Madness by Roger Zelazny; Narrow Valley by R. A. Lafferty; Come and Go Mad by Fredric Brown; That Hell-Bound Train by Robert Bloch; and Sail On Sail On by Philip Jose Farmer. That Hell-Bound Train by Robert Bloch won the Hugo Award for best short story in 1959; Jeffty is Five by Harlan Ellison won the Nebula Award for best short story in 1977 and the Hugo Award for best short story in 1978.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
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About the author
Terry Carr
219 books31 followersCarr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended the City College of San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley from 1954 to 1959.
Carr discovered science fiction fandom in 1949, where he became an enthusiastic publisher of fanzines, which later helped open his way into the commercial publishing world. (He was one of the two fans responsible for the hoax fan 'Carl Brandon' after whom the Carl Brandon Society takes its name.) Despite a long career as a science fiction professional, he continued to participate as a fan until his death. He was nominated five times for Hugos for Best Fanzine (1959–1961, 1967–1968), winning in 1959, was nominated three times for Best Fan Writer (1971–1973), winning in 1973, and was Fan Guest of Honor at ConFederation in 1986.
Though he published some fiction in the early 1960s, Carr concentrated on editing. He first worked at Ace Books, establishing the Ace Science Fiction Specials series which published, among other novels, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin.
After conflicts with Ace head Donald A. Wollheim, he worked as a freelancer. He edited an original story anthology series called Universe, and a popular series of The Best Science Fiction of the Year anthologies that ran from 1972 until his death in 1987. He also edited numerous one-off anthologies over the same time span. He was nominated for the Hugo for Best Editor thirteen times (1973–1975, 1977–1979, 1981–1987), winning twice (1985 and 1987). His win in 1985 was the first time a freelance editor had won.
Carr taught at the Clarion Workshop at Michigan State University in 1978, where his students included Richard Kadrey and Pat Murphy.
Carr discovered science fiction fandom in 1949, where he became an enthusiastic publisher of fanzines, which later helped open his way into the commercial publishing world. (He was one of the two fans responsible for the hoax fan 'Carl Brandon' after whom the Carl Brandon Society takes its name.) Despite a long career as a science fiction professional, he continued to participate as a fan until his death. He was nominated five times for Hugos for Best Fanzine (1959–1961, 1967–1968), winning in 1959, was nominated three times for Best Fan Writer (1971–1973), winning in 1973, and was Fan Guest of Honor at ConFederation in 1986.
Though he published some fiction in the early 1960s, Carr concentrated on editing. He first worked at Ace Books, establishing the Ace Science Fiction Specials series which published, among other novels, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin.
After conflicts with Ace head Donald A. Wollheim, he worked as a freelancer. He edited an original story anthology series called Universe, and a popular series of The Best Science Fiction of the Year anthologies that ran from 1972 until his death in 1987. He also edited numerous one-off anthologies over the same time span. He was nominated for the Hugo for Best Editor thirteen times (1973–1975, 1977–1979, 1981–1987), winning twice (1985 and 1987). His win in 1985 was the first time a freelance editor had won.
Carr taught at the Clarion Workshop at Michigan State University in 1978, where his students included Richard Kadrey and Pat Murphy.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 24, 2016
This collection of 31 short stories absolutely blew me away. Modern readers might mistakenly pick this up expecting to find “fantasy” stories as we tend to define that term today but they would be disappointed. The word “fantasy” as used here is in the broadest sense of the term and in this volume, refers more to the “fantastic”, the “unexplained” and the “weird”. You will not find a single elf, dwarf, or warrior maiden in a chain mail bikini within these pages. No dragons, princesses, bearded wizards, or magic swords to be found. Rather, most of these stories are probably more appropriately classified as science fiction or even horror.
All stories contained within are reprinted from pulp magazines such as “Weird Tales”, “Stirring Science Tales”, “Famous Fantastic Mysteries”, etc. all the way up to “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” and are presented in chronological order as originally published (1924 – 1978).
The other part of the title, “Masters” could not be more accurate. Stories by such stratospheric authors of yesteryear as H.P. Lovecraft, Abraham Merritt (A. Merritt), Clark Ashton Smith, Anthony Boucher, Ray Bradbury, James Blish, Robert A. Heinlein, Philip José Farmer, Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, Shirley Jackson, and Roger Zelazny are included, making this one of the best collections out there. Stories include some absolute classics such as Theodore Sturgeon’s masterpiece, “Yesterday Was Monday” and perhaps my favorite Harlan Ellison story (although it is very difficult to select a favorite), “Jeffty is Five”.
Whenever I crack open a new collection of short stories, (unless it is a volume by a single author in whom I have supreme confidence) I worry that it will contain the usual bunch of OK stories but with more duds than treasures. This one, happily, does not suffer from that trope at all. There were a couple that were merely OK but the vast majority of these stories were…well…fantastic!
All stories contained within are reprinted from pulp magazines such as “Weird Tales”, “Stirring Science Tales”, “Famous Fantastic Mysteries”, etc. all the way up to “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” and are presented in chronological order as originally published (1924 – 1978).
The other part of the title, “Masters” could not be more accurate. Stories by such stratospheric authors of yesteryear as H.P. Lovecraft, Abraham Merritt (A. Merritt), Clark Ashton Smith, Anthony Boucher, Ray Bradbury, James Blish, Robert A. Heinlein, Philip José Farmer, Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, Shirley Jackson, and Roger Zelazny are included, making this one of the best collections out there. Stories include some absolute classics such as Theodore Sturgeon’s masterpiece, “Yesterday Was Monday” and perhaps my favorite Harlan Ellison story (although it is very difficult to select a favorite), “Jeffty is Five”.
Whenever I crack open a new collection of short stories, (unless it is a volume by a single author in whom I have supreme confidence) I worry that it will contain the usual bunch of OK stories but with more duds than treasures. This one, happily, does not suffer from that trope at all. There were a couple that were merely OK but the vast majority of these stories were…well…fantastic!
April 20, 2012
A terrific anthology, this, which I'd recommend to just about anybody, especially those who think that all of fantasy literature is just Various Shades of Tolkien. There's some tremendous work in here from genuine classic authors. many smiles from me, just reading the table of contents, for many of these authors are old favourites for me. But I'd never read some of these particular tales...the Sturgeon was new to me, and the Shirley Jackson, and I'd never read something so weird and horrific from Fredric Brown before!
What might surprise some is the inclusion of many stories that are also considered a part of the horror genre. Lovecraft's classic "Rats in the Walls" is here, and I'd consider Brown's "Come and Go mad" to be true existential-tinged horror, and the Thomas Disch piece in here is a terrible nightmare. But there are some lighthearted tales, too, and the important thing is that nearly every one of them in here ranges from startlingly good to brilliant. Get this one!
What might surprise some is the inclusion of many stories that are also considered a part of the horror genre. Lovecraft's classic "Rats in the Walls" is here, and I'd consider Brown's "Come and Go mad" to be true existential-tinged horror, and the Thomas Disch piece in here is a terrible nightmare. But there are some lighthearted tales, too, and the important thing is that nearly every one of them in here ranges from startlingly good to brilliant. Get this one!
May 11, 2014
I bought this book when I was in High School and absolutely LOVED it! It was my first introduction to quality fantasy short stories. It was such a pleasure to read and I found myself drawn in to its pages as a magical escape at a time when life isn't all too kind. I'm grateful that I had this compilation when I needed it.
July 4, 2011
Some of the best (earlier) fantasy stories. I think I've probably read most of them in other anthologies, but it was nice to see them all together.
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August 22, 2008Masters of Fantasy by Terry Carr (1994)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews