Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc., or FPCI, was an American science fiction and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when a distinction ...

specialty publishing company established in 1946. It was the fourth small press company founded by William L. Crawford. Crawford's first company was Fantasy Publications which he started in 1935 in Everett, Pennsylvania, primarily to publish his magazines ''Marvel Tales'' and ''Unusual Stories''. However, three books were published under the imprint. In 1936, Crawford initiated his second company, Visionary Publishing Company, with the intention of publishing books with this imprint. Visionary is notable for publishing the only hardcover book by

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

that was published during his lifetime. Later in 1936, Crawford assumed management of publication of ''Fantasy Magazine'' from Conrad H. Ruppert and ceased all book publications in order to concentrate on the magazine. After relocating to California, Crawford again published books as "A Crawford Publication". Finally, he incorporated as Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in December 1946. Forrest J. Ackerman served as a partner for the company and many of the books published by FPCI were from authors Ackerman represented as agent. Undercapitalization was a major problem with FPCI and many of the books had a cheap look. FPCI reprinted a number of novels by

John Taine Eric Temple Bell (7 February 1883 – 21 December 1960) was a Scottish-born mathematician, educator and science fiction writer who lived in the United States for most of his life. He published non-fiction using his given name and fiction ...

, Ralph Milne Farley, Stanton Coblentz and

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscie ...

. FPCI continued publishing books until 1972. During this period, Crawford also used the Griffin Publishing Company to publish books which were not science fiction or fantasy. Two additional books were published by Crawford in 1978, but a publisher was not cited.

Books published by Fantasy Publications

* '' Men of Avalon / The White Sybil'', by

David H. Keller David Henry Keller (December 23, 1880 – July 13, 1966) was an American writer who worked for pulp magazines in the mid-twentieth century, in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. He was also a psychiatrist and physician to shell-sh ...

and

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an influential American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories and poetry, and an artist. He achieved early recognition in California (largely through the enthusiasm ...

(1935) * '' Mars Mountain'', by Eugene George Key (1935)

Books published by Visionary Publishing Company

* ''

The Shadow Over Innsmouth ''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' is a Horror fiction, horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in November – December 1931 in literature, 1931. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using its motif of a malign undersea civilizatio ...

'', by

(1936) * '' Behind the Evidence'', by Peter Reynolds, pseudonym of Amelia Reynolds Long and William L. Crawford (1936)

Books published as A Crawford Publication

* '' The Garden of Fear and Other Stories'', edited by William L. Crawford (1945) * '' The Creator'', by Clifford D. Simak (1946)

Books published by FPCI

* '' The Night People'', by

Francis Flagg George Henry Weiss (1898–1946) was an American poet, writer and novelist. His science fiction stories and poetry appeared under the pseudonym "Francis Flagg" in the magazines ''Amazing Stories'', ''Astounding'', '' Tales of Wonder'', ''Weird T ...

(1947) * ''

Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction and horror anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were dramatisations of s ...

'', by

A. E. van Vogt Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction writer. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of th ...

and E. Mayne Hull (1948) * '' The Sunken World'', by Stanton A. Coblentz (1948) * ''

Death's Deputy ''Death's Deputy'' is a fantasy novel by author L. Ron Hubbard. ''Death's Deputy'' was first published in book form in 1948 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 700 copies. The novel originally appeared in the February 1940 iss ...

'', by

(1948) * '' The Radio Man'', by Ralph Milne Farley (1948) * '' The Works of M. P. Shiel'', by A. Reynolds Morse (1948) * ''

The Cosmic Geoids and One Other ''The Cosmic Geoids and One Other'' is a collection of two science fiction novellas by author John Taine (pseudonym of American writer Eric Temple Bell). It was first published in 1949 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 1,200 co ...

'', by

(1949) * '' The Kingslayer'', by

(1949) * '' Planets of Adventure'', by Basil Wells (1949) * '' Murder Madness'', by

Murray Leinster Murray Leinster () was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975), an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of List of science fiction authors, science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 ...

(1949) * '' The Radium Pool'', by

Ed Earl Repp Ed Earl Repp (May 22, 1901 – February 14, 1979) was an American writer, including screenwriter and novelist. His stories appeared in several of the early pulp magazines including '' Air Wonder Stories'', ''Science Wonder Stories'' and ''Am ...

(1949) * ''

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus' ...

'', by

(1949) * '' Worlds of Wonder'', by

Olaf Stapledon William Olaf Stapledon (10 May 1886 – 6 September 1950) was an English philosopher and author of science fiction.Andy Sawyer, " illiamOlaf Stapledon (1886-1950)", in Bould, Mark, et al, eds. ''Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction''. New York ...

(1949) * '' The Stellar Missiles'', by

(1949) * ''

The Rat Race ''The Rat Race'' is a 1960 American drama film adapted from the play of the same name by Garson Kanin. Directed by Robert Mulligan, it stars Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as struggling young entertainment professionals in New York City. Filmi ...

'', by Jay Franklin (1950) * '' After 12,000 Years'', by Stanton A. Coblentz (1950) * ''

The Omnibus of Time ''The Omnibus of Time'' is a collection of science fiction short stories by Ralph Milne Farley. It was first published in 1950 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 1,500 copies. An additional 500 copies were bound as a Gnome Pre ...

'', by Ralph Milne Farley (1950) * ''

The Dark Other ''The Dark Other'' is a horror novel by Stanley G. Weinbaum. It was first published in 1950 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 700 copies. The manuscript, written in the 1920s, was originally titled ''The Mad Brain''. With ...

'', by Stanley G. Weinbaum (1950) * '' The Hidden Universe'', by Ralph Milne Farley (1950) * '' The Undesired Princess'', by

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...

(1951) * '' The Toymaker'', by

Raymond F. Jones Raymond Fisher Jones (15 November 1915 – 24 January 1994) was an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1952 novel ''This Island Earth (novel), This Island Earth'', which was adapted into the This Island Eart ...

(1951) * '' Doorways to Space'', by Basil Wells (1951) * '' The Iron Star'', by

(1951) * '' The Atom Clock'', by Cornel Lengyel (1951) * '' Drome'', by John Martin Leahy (1952) * ''

Green Fire ''Green Fire'' is a 1954 American CinemaScope and Eastmancolor adventure film, adventure drama (film and television), drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Andrew Marton and produced by Armand Deutsch, with original musi ...

'', by

(1952) * '' The Planet of Youth'', by Stanton A. Coblentz (1952) * '' Max Brand: The Man and His Work'', by Darrell C. Richardson (1952) * '' Science-Fantasy Quintette'', by

and

(1953) * '' From Death to the Stars'', by

(1953) * '' Fantasy Twin'', by

and Stanley G. Weinbaum (1953) * '' Quadratic'', by

and

(1953) * '' Strange Worlds'', by Ralph Milne Farley (1953) * '' Science and Sorcery'', edited by Garret Ford (1953) * '' Stardrift and Other Fantastic Flotsam'', by

Emil Petaja Emil Theodore Petaja (12 April 1915 – 17 August 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose career spanned seven decades. He was the author of 13 published novels, nearly 150 short stories, numerous poems, and a handful of b ...

(1971) * '' Atlantean Chronicles'', by Henry M. Eichner (1971) * '' Garan the Eternal'', by

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen na ...

(1972)

Books published by Griffin Publishing Company

* '' Griffin Science-Fantasy Booklet Number One'', edited by William L. Crawford (1947) * '' People of the Comet'', by Austin Hall (1948) * '' The Machine God Laughs'', edited by William L. Crawford (1949) * '' The Hypnotism Handbook'', by Charles Edward Cooke and

(1956) (The second edition with the Wehman Bros. is the first Griffin edition.)

Books published by William L. Crawford without imprint

* '' The Moon Maiden'', by Garrett P. Serviss (1978) * '' Index to Fantasy and Science Fiction in Munsey Publications'' (1978)

Notes

References

* * *{{cite book , last=Eshbach , first=Lloyd Arthur , authorlink=Lloyd Arthur Eshbach , title=Over My Shoulder: Reflections on a Science Fiction Era , location=Philadelphia, publisher=Oswald Train , pages=251–264 , year=1983, oclc=10489084 American speculative fiction publishers Small press publishing companies Book publishing companies based in Pennsylvania Science fiction publishers Fantasy book publishers Publishing companies established in 1946 1946 establishments in Pennsylvania