Fritz Leiber

Fritz Leiber is often thought of as a science fiction writer, or the creator of the incredible sword & sorcery characters Fafhrd & Gray Mouser but to me, he'll always be one of the very finest practitioners of the weird tale.

I've always been in tune with Leiber's idea of strange geometries and predatory monsters from other dimensions. As much as HPL used similar science to explain his entities, I think Leiber was far more successful at utilizing such ideas. His stories, even the early ones, always seemed strangely possible. Lovecraft, with whom he was a correspondent, would no doubt have appreciated Leiber's work into 1940's and beyond.

Reading it now, it seems hard to believe that CONJURE WIFE was written for UNKNOWN WORLDS in 1943. It still holds up as a superior novel of witchcraft.

All the more incredible is that Leiber released my all-time favorite horror novel OUR LADY OF DARKNESS in 1977, when he was 67 years old. This novel (which first appeared in shorter form as THE PALE BROWN THING and has much in common with the early weird tale THE SMOKE GHOST) is about "paramental" beings and a modern San Francisco distorted by "megapolisomancy". It just blows me away every time I read it.

It's amazing to read the progression of Leiber's writing, from his unique early 1930's weird stories (look for THE DEALINGS OF DANIEL KESSERICH, a fine Lovecraftian novel written in approx. 1936) all the way to the very early 90's.

A Master of the Weird Tradition.

I'm only familiar with the Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories, which are fantastic (in all senses of the word!). Any suggestions for collections of short stories?

Hello drneutron. Thanks for joining this fledgling little group!

Unless you can find a coveted copy of NIGHT'S BLACK AGENTS, the most accessible collection of Leiber's weird tales would probably be THE BLACK GONDOLIER (try Amazon or Alibris). There are also various BEST OF FRITZ LEIBER collections in hardcover and paperback. These usually contain a mix of SF, fantasy, and weird tales, and often contain pieces like THE SMOKE GHOST. A nice little pbk collection to look for is HEROES AND HORRORS.

OUR LADY OF DARKNESS and CONJURE WIFE can be found in an easily obtainable two-in-one paperback collection, and I recently received GUMMITCH AND FRIENDS, a collection of Leiber's cat-tales, from Donald M. Grant, publisher.

Oddly enough, despite the popularity of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser and the SF novels, and with the exception of the 1947 Arkham House NIGHT'S BLACK AGENTS, there has yet to be a definitive, collectible edition of Leiber's Weird fiction!

I'm just waiting for the day when Centipede Press or some such specialty publisher does an OUR LADY OF DARKNESS special edition.

My public library has The Leiber Chronicles: fifty years of Fritz Leiber. Here's the blurb from Publishers Weekly. It looks like a reasonable starting point...

The year 1939 was a turning point for science fiction and fantasy. It saw the first publication of stories by Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt and Theodore Sturgeon, who, with a few others, virtually created modern science fiction, and by Fritz Leiber, one of the fathers of modern fantasy. In celebration of his 50-year career, this hefty volume features 44 of his best shorter works. Included are his first story, ``Two Sought Adventure,'' which introduced the swashbucklers Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, of ancient, imaginary Lankhmar, as well as three other stories about this colorful duo; four horror stories, including ``The Girl with the Hungry Eyes,'' an eerie meditation on the connections between sex, death and advertising; the science-fictional ``Sanity,'' ``A Pail of Air'' and the cautionary ``Coming Attractions''; the hilarious spoof of Mickey Spillane, ``The Night He Cried''; and the joyful, chilling ``Gonna Roll the Bones,'' about a confrontation with the Devil over a gambling table, for the highest of stakes. A literate and effective writer, Leiber is one of the two best fantasists to come out of the pulps--the other is Bradbury--but he remains under-appreciated. This volume should be something of a corrective.

That does sound like a good place to start. I'll need to see if I can find a copy for my collection.

Be on the lookout for stories such as "The Dreams of Albert Moreland", "The Black Gondolier", "Spider Mansion", "The Man Who Made Friends with Electricity", and "The Button Molder", in addition to those mentioned previously.

Kenton,

Did you ever get that 4 issue "prestige" (squarebound) format Fafhrd & Gray Mouser mini-series put out by Marvel/Epic in the late 1980's or early 1990's? The art was by Mike Mignola when he was still a young turk.

- Barney Dannelke

B-

I was actually looking at the Mignola Fafhrd book the other day. It did look like a fairly successful adaptation. I've never seen the prestige format you mention.

Lieber was a master. OUR LADY OF DARKNESS was indeed brilliant, and I love many of his horror short stories, as well as the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tales. I have a lot of Lieber I haven't read yet, including many of his sf novels. The pleasure awaits...

Leiber's great novel Conjure Wife was filmed twice, most famously as BURN WITCH BURN (a.k.a NIGHT OF THE EAGLE) in 1962, but also as WEIRD WOMAN in 1944, starring Lon Chaney, Jr.

BURN WITCH BURN has not been released on DVD in the U.S., but I was able to find a R2 PAL version at Amazon UK. WEIRD WOMAN was actually released last year as part of the R1 2-disc set THE INNER SANCTUM MYSTERIES COMPLETE MOVIE COLLECTION. 6 movies, all starring Chaney, Jr.

Night Shade Books is going to be releasing a 'Best of Fritz Leiber' volume in 2010!

http://www.nightshadebooks.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=158

Subterranean Press will also be releasing a Leiber volume in 2010. Looks like a good year for Fritz fans!

"We’ve been busy of late, acquiring projects for late in our 2010 schedule. Collectors will rejoice at Strange Wonder, a collection of uncollected and unpublished Fritz Leiber material, some dating from the 1930s and 1940s, over 70,000 words worth of fiction, fragments and poetry, including a lengthy Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser rarity, as well as two poems about the latter half the duo."

http://subterraneanpress.com/index.php

Subterranean just announced their Leiber book. Sounds great! Details are here:

http://tinyurl.com/ygwogfh

Table of Contents

* Introduction—The Cream of the Damned by Benjamin Szumskyj

Fragments, Drafts and Miscellanea

* Tale of the Grain Ship—A Fafhrd and Gray Mouser Fragment
* Insanity
* Opaque Corridor
* Preadator Universe
* Social Inventor
* The Adventurer
* The Communicants
* The Feeler
* The Wrong Track
* Trap
* Boom, Boom, Boom!
* Concerning Tribalism and Loving the World
* Final Commentary
* Insanity 2
* Night Ramble
* Privacy
* Semicentennial
* The Unhuman
* To Jonquil
* Let’s Pursue Happiness
* Notes for Study of Mac
* Practice Writing
* The Lust of the Alien
* Over Twenty Titled and Untitled Fragments

In the Beginning

* Introduction by Fritz Leiber
* Adventures of a Balloon
* Further Adventures of a Balloon
* Riches and Power
* Children of Jerusalem
* The Road to Jordan
* After the Darkness

Poetry

* Demons of the Upper Air
* Ghosts
* The Recognition of Death
* Challenge
* Night of Death
* The Gray Mouser: I
* The Gray Mouser: II
* The Midnight Wall
* 5447 Ridgewood Court
* The Other Side
* Past Druid Guards
* The Voice of Man
* Poor Little Ape
* Santa Monica Beach at Sunset
* 1959: the Beach at Santa Monica

Other Works

* The Mystery of the Japanese Clock
* Quicks around the Zodiac - A Farce

Wow, i must get this book.

Stephen King's latest, Full Dark, No Stars contains a novellete called "Big Driver", which features, to a certain extent, a cat named "Fritzy". I wonder if.....

I recently received the new catalog from Centipede Press. The big news is that they'll be doing TWO Leiber editions in 2011/2012: a collection of works, including some very rare stuff, and... Our Lady of Darkness!!! Finally, this truly great novel will get the edition it deserves!

Just found this group and this thread: wow. I'll be looking out for the new Fritz titles. Thanks for posting this fabulous (if not fabulist) information.

#2: I haven't finished The best of Fritz Leiber yet, but it's an easily available collection Leiber's stories, and the big complaint seems to be that it has none of the Grey Mouser stories, which is probably a plus for you.

elenchus - thanks for posting. Hope to hear more from you in the future!

prosfilaes - The Best of Fritz Leiber is a great collection. I do like the Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stories very much. - the duo are included to some extent in the Night Shade and Subterranean books mentioned above.

Thanks, KentonSem.

I'd forgotten Leiber wrote "A Pailful of Air". I read that in school when I was ten or younger, it's always stuck with me but never that it was Fritz. I'm pretty sure I came to the Fafhrd & Grey Mouser tales well afterwards, and probably didn't connect the dots. But it says a lot about his range as a writer.

Another reason to seek out the "weird" tradition tales. I'm not big on horror, but I've a weakness for Lovecraft & M.R. James, so I think it likely there'll be something to enjoy.

Leiber is probably the writer I return to most often. Obsessively in some cases: I recently spent a happy hour scouting locations for Our Lady of Darkness on Google Streetview. I'm intrigued by the Subterranean Press miscellany, though it's now sold out. I'd also like to see a collection of his fanzine writings and the book reviews for Fantastic.

Here is an excellent Leiber interview from 1977 on the HOUR 25 program. The focus is on Our Lady of Darkness.

https://cthulhuwho1.com/2010/10/07/fritz-leiber-audio-files-part1-being-intervie...

https://cthulhuwho1.com/2010/10/07/fritz-leiber-audio-files-part-2-reading-from-...

And here is a link to the new Swan River Press special edition of "The Pale Brown Thing":

http://swanriverpress.ie/title_palebrown.html

Thanks to LT member Dannelke for these.

ETA

This interview is also of interest:

http://www.swanriverpress.ie/interview_palebrown.html

Many thanks for posting these links. Set aside a couple of hours at dusk to listen to the broadcasts with a bottle of wine. I recommend the experience. I had never heard Leiber's voice before, and it's all I could have wished it to be.

>22 Soukesian:

A great voice, definitely. As theatrical as one would expect. A friend of mine compared it to that of Joseph Cotten, which isn't too far off!

Man, this is an old thread. I keep forgetting that LT has been around as long as it has, and that The Weird Tradition been around almost as long as LT!

I just wanted to add that if anyone reading this is unfamiliar with Leiber's work, a painless and inexpensive (read: free) way of introducing oneself to his impressive body of work is to visit his page at Project Gutenberg. The stories posted here include some of his best work, such as the aforementioned "A Pail of Air", the brief, sardonic, and hilarious "A Bad Day for Sales", The Big Time (winner, Hugo Award for Best Novel, 1958; recently republished in the Library of America's American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s), and "Coming Attraction" (selected by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the greatest SF stories of all time). They're all right here, along with many others:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25421

Just found a REALLY in-depth article on JSTOR that looks interesting. Seems to be free. Placing it here for safe keeping.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26812136?seq=5#metadata_info_tab_contents