Darker Tides: The Weird Tales of Eric Frank Russell

Edited by John Pelan and Phil Stephensen-Payne. Cover art by Allen Koszowski.

The name of Eric Frank Russell is synonymous with the "Golden Age of Science Fiction". From his first published tale in 1937 to the middle of the 1960s, Eric Frank Russell was one of the most highly-acclaimed authors in the genre. As such, much of his best science fiction remains in print today. However, there was another side to the great writer, that of being one of the modern masters of the weird tale. As an admirer of the work of Charles Fort, Eric Frank Russell was also keenly interested in the supernatural or unexplainable. His novel Sinister Barrier was credited with inspiring John W. Campbell to launch Unknown so that stories of this type would have a home. Over the next two decades, Eric Frank Russell wrote more stories that are more in the realm of the "weird tale" than the more logical world of science fiction. Several of these tales were collected over thirty years ago in a fabulously rare volume entitled Dark Tides. This new collection contains all of these elusive tales and doubles their number with a selection of similar stories from sources such as Weird Tales, Fantastic, Strange Stories, and Science Fantasy. Whether you come to this book as an Eric Frank Russell fan seeking out his rare stories or come as a devotee of the weird tale, we are certain that you'll find much here to enjoy!

Contents:

• Preface by John Pelan
• Introduction by Eric Frank Russell
• The Sin of Hyacinth Peuch
• With a Blunt Instrument
• The Ponderer
• The Rhythm of the Rats
• Me and My Shadow
• Displaced Person
• Vampire from the Void
• Hell's Bells
• The Big Shot
• Appointment at Noon
• Take a Seat
• Bitter End
• Down, Rover, Down
• A Divvil with the Women
• I Hear You Calling
• I'm a Stranger Here Myself
• A Matter of Instinct
• It's in the Blood
• Poor Dead Fool
• Seat of Oblivion
• Sole Solution
• Storm Warning
• This One's on Me
• Wisel