''The Survivor and Others'' is a collection of

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, ...

and horror

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

by American writer

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. He was the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. He made contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Lovecraftian horror, cosmi ...

. It was released in an edition of 2,096 copies. It was reissued in paperback by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

in 1962 and 1971. The stories were based on and inspired by unused ideas of

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 ...

, and billed as "posthumous collaborations" with him. Derleth was in fact Lovecraft's

literary executor The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film rights, film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially ...

after the latter's death in 1937.

* "The Survivor" * "Wentworth's Day" * "The Peabody Heritage" * "The Gable Window" * "The Ancestor" * "The Shadow Out of Space" * "The Lamp of Alhazred" Except as noted, the stories were original to this volume. "The Survivor" had been published originally in the July 1954 issue of ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, printe ...

''. "The Gable Window" had appeared in the May 1957 issue of the science fiction/fantasy pulp ''Saturn'' under the title of "The Murky Glass".

Reception

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dr ...

noted wryly that "I can't help feeling that H.P.L. knew very well what he was doing when he left the outlines uncompleted,"with the exception of "The Lamp of Alhazred," in which, according to him, "with a flash of inspiration" Derleth introduced Lovecraft as a character and produced "a warmly moving tribute." Floyd C. Gale of ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...

'' said that except for "The Shadow Out of Space" "Derleth generates unintended humor in most of his reconstructions", and that "Alhazred" "might aptly have been titled 'Eulogy' ... an idealized version of what Lovecraft's life and death ''should'' have been".

Avram Davidson Avram Davidson (April 23, 1923 – May 8, 1993) was an American writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy ...

concluded that Derleth "does his best to conjure up the late master's prose from its essential salts, but he doesn't make it ..because he is as sane as they come, and Lovecraft was as nutty as a five-dollar fruitcake."

Everett F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...

, noting that several of these pastiches were modeled on published Lovecraft stories, found all were "routine" except the "much more interesting 'The Lamp of Alhazred'".E. F. Bleiler, ''The Guide to Supernatural Fiction'', Kent State University Press, 1983, p.327-28

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Survivor and Others, The 1957 short story collections Fantasy short story collections Horror short story collections

Contents

Reception

References

Sources