Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction

Boyll, Randall(1962– ) The popularity that horror fiction enjoyed during the 1970s and 1980s came to a stunning halt in the earl ...

often wanders into mysticism and other nonra- tional fantasy. He began writing more frequently for general magazines during the ...

during the 1970s, Bradley’s fantasy fiction is domi- nated by the AVALON SERIES, in particular The Mists of Avalon(1982). The no ...

secret until the rash actions of one of their number leads a journalist to a startling discovery. Although the novel ends with t ...

stein himself, makes it possible for many ma- chines—led, of course, by the toaster—to cross the gap between worlds to confront ...

sores break out on the monster’s body, and he be- comes steadily weaker, as though wasting away from some mysterious disease. Ev ...

to protect the world from a horde of malevolent creatures. The next set of four Shannara novels, set some centuries after the ev ...

assassins’ guild but immediately threatened by up- sets within that organization and the efforts of his latest target to avoid h ...

more battle. Although primarily an adventure story, Bunch demonstrated considerable skill creat- ing his characters, whose motiv ...

41 C Cabell, James Branch (1879–1958) James Branch Cabell was the author of numerous books, not all fantasy, but the majority of ...

and sacrifices it in his own self-interest. His later adventures include an amusing sequence in which he sells fraudulent magica ...

for Street(1994), the story of a serial killer whose apprehension is accomplished only after some mild psychic events, and The O ...

supposedly buried with an unknown woman in an unmarked tomb. Clutching a stone taken from the cairn, O’Brien falls asleep and re ...

conceals these from his mother and never falters in his efforts to make her last days as comfortable as possible. Despite the go ...

Nazareth Hill (1996) is a mildly interesting haunted house variation. Pacts of the Fathers(2001) similarly reexamines the deal-w ...

their relationship grows more intense, Laura’s health begins to decline, and she experiences in- creasingly disturbing nightmare ...

had chosen other paths in life. In The Wooden Sea (2001), Carroll’s best novel, a police officer is con- fronted by a dead dog t ...

Doc Savage books, the Zarkon adventures involve genuine occult forces that clearly move them into the fantasy field. During the ...

doom planned for Dunning subsequently claims its author. Effective horror stories must usually include at least two conditions. ...

The melodrama cools down considerably in Castle Murders(1991), which spoofs conventions of both fantasy novels and the detective ...