Who Fears the Devil? explained

Who Fears the Devil?
Author:Manly Wade Wellman
Cover Artist:Lee Brown Coye
Country:United States
Language:English
Genre:Fantasy, horror
Publisher:Arkham House
Release Date:1963
Media Type:Print (hardback)
Pages:213

Who Fears the Devil? is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American author Manly Wade Wellman. It was released in 1963 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,058 copies and was Wellman's only book released by Arkham House. The collection consists of all of Wellman's Silver John stories that had been published at the time. They had all previously appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Wellman contributed new short sketches to the collection. The book is dedicated to Wellman's friend, the North Carolina folkorist and musician Bascom Lamar Lunsford.

Darrell Schweitzer has described the book as a classic of fantasy literature, stating Who Fears The Devil? "has genuinely enriched the field because of its unique subject matter and Wellman's heartfelt enthusiasm for it".[1]

Contents

Who Fears the Devil? contains eleven short stories, each preceded by a "sketch" about half a page in length and with no obvious connection to the stories preceding and following it.

Sketch Story
1 John's My Name O Ugly Bird!
2 Why They're Named That One Other
3 Then I Wasn't Alone Shiver in the Pines
4 You Know the Tale of Hoph Old Devlins Was A-Waiting
5 Find the Place Yourself The Desrick on Yandro
6 The Stars Down There Vandy, Vandy
7 Blue Monkey Dumb Supper
8 I Can't Claim That The Little Black Train
9 Who Else Could I Count On Walk Like a Mountain
10 None Wiser for the Trip On the Hills and Everywhere
11 Nary Spell Nine Yards of Other Cloth

Sources

. Sheldon Jaffery . The Arkham House Companion . Mercer Island, WA . Starmont House, Inc.. 67. 1989 . 1-55742-005-X.

. Jack L. Chalker . Mark Owings . The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998 . Westminster, MD and Baltimore . Mirage Press, Ltd.. 40 . 1998.

. S.T. Joshi . Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography . Sauk City, WI . Arkham House. 80–81 . 1999 . 0-87054-176-5.

Notes and References

  1. Darrell Schweitzer, "Wellman, Manly Wade," in St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers, edited by David Pringle. St. James Press, 1996, (pp. 596-8) .