''Night's Black Agents'' is a collection of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

short stories by American writer

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 ...

. It was released in 1947 and was the author's first book. The book's title is taken from ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', Act III, scene ii. It was published by Arkham House in an edition of 3,084 copies. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines ''

Unknown Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film * The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film * The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film) * The Unknown (1927 film), ''The Unknown'' (1 ...

'' and '' Weird Tales''. Three were first published in this book. The last two stories showcase Leiber's

Sword and Sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...

heroes

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber. They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories. One of his motives in writing them was to have ...

. Later editions added additional material under the same title. The Berkley (1978) reprint adds two stories "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" and "A Bit of the Dark World". The definitive version is the Gregg Press (1980) hardcover which adds a Foreword by Richard Gid Powers to the complete contents of the Berkley edition and is thus an expansion of the original Arkham House edition.

''Night's Black Agents'' contains the following tales: * "Foreword" * "Smoke Ghost" * "The Automatic Pistol" * "The Inheritance / The Phantom Slayer" * "The Hill and the Hole" * "The Dreams of Albert Moreland" * "The Hound / Diary in the Snow" * "The Man Who Never Grew Young" * "The Sunken Land" * "Adept's Gambit"

Sources

* * * * {{Fritz Leiber 1947 short story collections Nehwon books Short story collections by Fritz Leiber Fantasy short story collections Horror short story collections Arkham House books

Contents

Sources