Edmond Hamilton's Horror Fiction.

GOLLUM

GOLLUM

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Hi folks,

I get a general impression that Edmond Hamilton's (husband of Leigh Brackett) SF isn't that really that highly regarded (Moorcock's views aside) but what about his horror?

I never knew he had written any but trawling through the site of a newly disacovered niche publisher I came across a collection of his horror, so I was just wondering if anyone here has read it and if it's any good?..

http://www.haffnerpress.com/1893887065.html

Cheers...

Edit: Reading some of the comments on the site his horror doesn't seem that it may necessarily inspire me all that much LOL! At least he's not in the mould of a Lovecraft or Ashton Smith.
 
I've read a few of his horror stories in various anthologies over the years, one fairly recently but for the life of me can't remember what it was. Edmond Hamilton can be hit or miss, but when he hits it's out of the ball park. I'd be very interested in the name of the book of his horror stories you came across.

I just clicked the link you supplied and found out for myself. 32 bucks is a little steep. I'll keep my eye open for a used copy. Thanks for bringing it to (at least) my attention.
 
Lobolover said:
and this would be a bad thing?
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Not at all, I was merely pointing out that by all accounts he is different in style to those two authors and in a way that could make for a refreshing change. As I said I'm still to read his work but I hope to over the holiday period.

Cheers....:)
 
Ed Hamilton.... Well, he was very much a pulpsmith, and his work shows it. He was very prolific, and wrote a fair amount that really doesn't deserve reprinting. Lovecraft certainly didn't think highly of his work, feeling (on the whole rightly) that it was very formulaic and that he repeated himself a great deal.

On the other hand, Asimov, Moorcock, and various others have always had a fairly high regard for Hamilton (he is the only writer to be represented by three stories in Asimov's Before the Golden Age -- a really wonderful, not to mention huge, anthology of pre-Campbellian sf for anyone who's interested); and my own take on Hamilton's work is that he is uneven, but usually enjoyable and sometimes quite memorable. I don't recall many of his horror tales being in the latter category... but then, I've not read that many of them, either; having come across much more of his sf over the years.

A good taste of his work would be the Best of collection done back in the 1970s, which can be found in both pb and hb for very low prices still; it also includes one of the few stories by him which Lovecraft felt worthwhile....
 
Even though it's not horror I'd like to suggest a story of his called "The Starcombers." This is very dark sf, not just for Hamilton but for anyone. The good guy doesn't win, the bad guy doesn't lose, and everythings ends on a very unresolved note. Superb Hamilton, and can be found in a little Lancer paperback called GREAD SCIENCE FICTION ADVENTURES edited by Larry T. Shaw.

The three other stories in the book are: "Hunt The Space-Witch by Robert Silverberg; "The Man From The Big Dark" by John Brunner; "The World Otalmi Made" by Harry Harrison. All bright spots but the Hamilton really shines.

And now we return to Edmond Hamilton's HORROR Fiction already in progress...:eek:
 
dask: I wouldn't feel too badly about bringing that up here; most of Hamilton's sf bleeds over into horror to some degree, and vice versa. Even the stories in Asimov's Before the Golden Age have their horrific elements, and certainly, like the story you mention, they have something of a bleak outlook: in one, the final result of human evolution is to return to the amoebal state, while in another all organic life is a disease of nature resulting from experimentation by a truly alien, non-organic, being... and so on.... Not exactly the "optimistic" view most people associate with the sf of the time....
 
I've got that book too. Gonna have to start reading it, if only a couple stories at a time betwixt slimmer volumes. :)
 
The only Hamilton I've read so far is Starwolves. And from what my friends told me of the story I've read called "The Earth Brain" that was written by him. So, I'm wondering if there's that story somewhere in his story collections. That story was Lovecraftian of sorts in its construction.
 
brsrkrkomdy said:
The only Hamilton I've read so far is Starwolves. And from what my friends told me of the story I've read called "The Earth Brain" that was written by him. So, I'm wondering if there's that story somewhere in his story collections. That story was Lovecraftian of sorts in its construction.
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Didn't see it in THE BEST OF EDMOND HAMILTION. Jack Vance wrote a story called "The Brains of Earth." Oversight of some sort perhaps?
 
dask said:
Didn't see it in THE BEST OF EDMOND HAMILTION. Jack Vance wrote a story called "The Brains of Earth." Oversight of some sort perhaps?
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I said, "The Earth Brain" not "The Brains Of Earth". Not an oversight at all. I read that story and recalled that title. I just forgot who wrote it. And some of my friends told me the title story was written by Hamilton. There was a short story collection called The Earth Brain and Other stories. I may not have gotten part of the title right. But I still remember reading it with that title of the story.
 
brsrkrkomdy said:
I said, "The Earth Brain" not "The Brains Of Earth". Not an oversight at all. I read that story and recalled that title. I just forgot who wrote it. And some of my friends told me the title story was written by Hamilton. There was a short story collection called The Earth Brain and Other stories. I may not have gotten part of the title right. But I still remember reading it with that title of the story.
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Sorry for the mix-up. My fault, I apologize. Wasn't trying to be a jerk or anything.
 
By him Ive read Doomstar which is a very good science fiction novel And a Horror short story The Earth Brain which is an excellent horror story. :cool:
 
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