Horrible Imaginings

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The editor would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Catherine Brown, Richard Curtis, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Allen Koszowski, Brian Metz of Green Rhino Graphics, Kathy Pelan, & David Read in the preparation of this volume.

Obviously, the author of these tales needs little introduction. Fritz Leiber was a master of imaginative fiction and a profound influence on the genres of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy. As comfortable putting his own unique spin on H.P. Lovecraft’s as he was creating his own worlds, Leiber’s stories display a rare mastery in all the fields he touched.

This collection is another volume of his darker tales, selected from different points in a forty-year career. From his 1940 tale “The Automatic Pistol” to “The Ghost Light” from 1984, this collection presents a retrospective sampling of Leiber’s horror fiction. No doubt there are some familiar pieces here; certainly several of these stories have been frequently anthologized and will be familiar to Leiber fans. However, we are pleased to offer up a selection of stories that had vanished into relative obscurity. His short fantasies “When Brahma Wakes” and “When Set Fled” are minor masterpieces of the short-short form. One tale was discovered among the Leiber papers and to my knowledge has never seen prior publication. “Skinny’s Wonderful” was found with a note from Leiber’s agent implying that he expected a sale to Esquire to be forthcoming… To the best of my knowledge, this sale never took place and the story languished in an envelope, unsubmitted elsewhere.

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