John C. Pelan (July 19, 1957 – April 12, 2021) was an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

in the

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. Independent press is general ...

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

weird Weird derives from the Anglo-Saxon word Wyrd, meaning fate or destiny. In modern English it has acquired the meaning of “strange or uncanny”. It may also refer to: Places * Weird Lake, a lake in Minnesota, U.S. People *"Weird Al" Yankovic (b ...

and

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

genres. He first founded Axolotl Press in 1986 and published several volumes by authors such as

Tim Powers Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels ''Last Call (novel), Last Call'' and ''Declare''. ...

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer of Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese ancestry. He is married to, and plays music with, MaryAnn Harris. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, cont ...

, Michael Shea and

James P. Blaylock James Paul Blaylock (born September 20, 1950) is an American fantasy author. He is noted for a distinctive, humorous style, as well as being one of the pioneers of the steampunk genre of science fiction. Blaylock has cited Jules Verne, H. G. W ...

. Following this, he founded Darkside Press, Silver Salamander Press and co-founded Midnight House. Darkside Press printed classics of Science Fiction, Midnight House published classic horror fiction (including

Charles Birkin Sir Charles Lloyd Birkin, 5th Baronet (24 September 1907 – 1985) was an English writer of horror short stories and the editor of the ''Creeps Library'' of anthologies. Typically working under the pseudonym Charles Lloyd, Birkin's tales tende ...

, Jane Rice and R. R. Ryan) and Silver Salamander Press was devoted to new works of modern horror, but all three have been inactive since 2006. Pelan has edited over two dozen single-author collections and novels by such authors as

Russell Kirk Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...

Violet Hunt Isobel Violet Hunt (28 September 1862 – 16 January 1942) was a British author and literary hostess. She wrote feminist novels. She founded the Women Writers' Suffrage League in 1908 and participated in the founding of International PEN. Biog ...

and

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...

for various publishers including

Ash-Tree Press Ash-Tree Press is a Canadian company that publishes supernatural and horror literature. The press has reprinted notable collections of ghostly stories by such writers as R. H. Malden, A. N. L. Munby, L. T. C. Rolt, Margery Lawrence, and Elea ...

. He was working on assembling collections by,

Uel Key Uel Key was the pseudonym of British author Samuel Whittell Key (1874–1948), who wrote short stories regarding Prof. Arnold Rhymer, the Spook Specialist. These tales appeared in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in 1917 and 1918 and were later collected ...

, Daniel F. Galouye and Richard B. Gamon. He was also the editor of several "new fiction" anthologies, including ''Darkside: Horror for the Next Millennium'', ''The Devil Is Not Mocked'', ''The Last Continent: New Tales of Zothique'', '' The Children of Cthulhu'' and the

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since 1 ...

-winning ''

The Darker Side ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. Pelan's short stories have appeared in ''Carpe Noctem, The Urbanite'', ''Enigmatic Tales'', and on-line at Gothic.net and Horrorfind.com. His first novella, the Lovecraftian work ''The Colour Out of Darkness'', was published by

Cemetery Dance Publications Cemetery Dance Publications is an American specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with ''Cemetery Dance'' magazine, whic ...

. Pelan died on April 12, 2021, from a heart attack.

Select bibliography

Short stories

* "The Piano Player Has No Fingers" co-authored with Edward Lee and published in '' Palace Corbie'' #7 (

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

) * "Genesis Revisited" published in ''Palace Corbie'' #7 (

) * "Girl's Night Out" co-authored with Edward Lee and published in '' Brutarian'' #23 (

) * "The Case of the Police Officer's Cock Ring and The Piano Player Who Had No Fingers", co-authored with Edward Lee, Dark Raptor Press ( 1998) * "Stillborn" co-authored with Edward Lee and published in '' Imagination Fully Dilated'', editors Alan M. Clark & Elizabeth Engstrom (

, 1998) * "TV Eye" published in '' Nasty Piece of Work'' #10 ( 1998) * "Twins" published in '' The Urbanite'' #10 ( 1998)

Novels

* ''Goon'' co-authored with Edward Lee,

Necro Publications Necro may refer to: * necro-, the Greek prefix meaning death * Necromancy, a type of magic * Necrophilia, the sexual attraction to corpses * Necropolis, a large ancient cemetery * Necro (Street Fighter), a character from the ''Street Fighter III'' ...

(

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

) :''Goon'' co-authored with Edward Lee, The Overlook Connection (

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

) * ''Shifters'' co-authored with Edward Lee, Obsidian Books,( 1998) * ''Splatterspunk: The Micah Hayes Stories'' co-authored with Edward Lee, Sideshow Press ( 1998) * ''An Antique Vintage'', The Gargadillo Press (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

) * ''The Colour Out of Darkness'',

(

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

)

Anthologies edited

* ''Axolotl Special 1'', Axolotl Press ( 1989) * ''Darkside: Horror for the Next Millennium'', Darkside Press (

) :''Darkside: Horror for the Next Millennium'',

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

) * ''The Last Continent: New Tales of Zothique'', Shadowlands Press (

) * '' The Children of Cthulhu'' co-edited with Benjamin Adams,

Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It ...

(

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

) * ''The Darker Side: Generations of Horror'', Penguin Books (

) * ''

Shadows Over Baker Street ''Shadows Over Baker Street'' is an anthology of stories, each by a different author and each concerning an exploit of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes set against the backdrop of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. The collection is edited ...

'' co-edited with

Michael Reaves James Michael Reaves (born September 14, 1950) is an American writer, known for his contributions as scriptwriter and story editor to a number of 1980s and 1990s animated television series, including '' Disney's Gargoyles'' and '' Batman: The An ...

, Del Rey Books (

) * '' Lost on the Darkside'', Roc Books (

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

)

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelan, John 1957 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American book editors American horror writers American literary critics American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male short story writers American science fiction writers American short story writers Cthulhu Mythos writers Novelists from Washington (state) 21st-century American non-fiction writers Writers from Seattle 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers