Providence After Dark and Other Writings

T.E.D. Klein has become a legend in contemporary weird fiction, precisely because his output is so seemingly small. Known largely for a single novel (The Ceremonies, 1984) and a single short story collection (Dark Gods, 1985), Klein joins Ramsey Campbell and Thomas Ligotti as one of the pioneering writers of weird fiction in his time.

But Klein has written numerous essays over the course of his long career. The history and theory of weird fiction has been a persistent interest, and his lengthy essay “Dr. Van Helsing’s Handy Guide to Ghost Stories” is his answer to Lovecraft’s “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” Klein has also championed the work of a wide array of writers ranging from Arthur Machen to David J. Schow, and he has also written essays on such figures as Frank Belknap Long, Ramsey Campbell, Robert Aickman, and Donald Wandrei.

H. P. Lovecraft—the subject of his honors thesis at Brown University—is of perennial fascination for Klein, and this volume includes many of his writings on the Providence writer, including his long introduction to Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (1986) and his recollections of the First World Fantasy Convention, which largely focused on Lovecraft.

Klein wrote numerous pieces while editor of Twilight Zone (1981–85) as well as pungent editorials for Crime Beat magazine. He also wrote several searing articles in the 1970s exposing animal cruelty in films, leading the film industry to curtail this barbaric practice. As a book reviewer, he has dissected the works of Christopher Priest, Ruth Rendell, William Peter Blatty, and other writers.

In this volume T.E.D. Klein reveals his skill as an essayist and reviewer, covering a remarkably wide range of topics with perspicacity and elegance.

Table of Contents

I. On Lovecraft

Providence After Dark

The United Amateur

A Dreamer’s Tales

Remembering Arkham House

The Festival

The Old Gent

T.E.D. Klein: Master of Ceremonies

II. On Other Authors

Arthur Machen

Ramsey Campbell: An Appreciation

Slow

An Afternoon with Aickman

A Haunted House

Frank Belknap Long

Dr. Van Helsing’s Handy Guide to Ghost Stories.

Introduction to Dark Love

Introduction to David Schow’s Seeing Red

Whiskey, Popcorn, and Gold

Gaspard de la Nuit

A Connecticut Yankee

The Ceremonies, edition: A Note from the Author

A Conversation with T.E.D. Klein

III. The Twilight Zone

Stories from the Twilight Zone

Twilight Zone Magazine

The Most Terrifying Horror Stories

The Book of Hieronymus Bosch

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Horrors! An Introduction to Writing Horror Fiction

Standing Behind the Curtains: A Conversation with T.E.D. Klein

IV. On Film

They Kill Animals and They Call It Art

Animals in Movies— The Abuse Gets Worse

On Cutting Up Movie Classics

How I Flopped as a Paramount Script Reader

Annie Hall

Star Wares

Master of a Lost Art

And Many Happy Returns

T.E.D. Klein Interview

V. On Other Topics

Where Do We Go from Here?

Charles Manson, B.M.O.C.

The Joy of Losing

Working for the Brown Daily Herald

CrimeBeat

Crime and Punishment

A Higher Standard

A Couple of Letters on . . . Antarctica!

Quotation Misquotation

Silenced Voices

Three Letters to Brown

Spalding Gone Gray

Lament of an Aging English Instructor

Reassuring Words: An Interview with T.E.D. Klein

VI. Reviews

Legion by William Peter Blatty

The Face That Must Die and Incarnate by Ramsey Campbell

The Suburbs of Hell by Randolph Stow

More Books

The Glamour by Christopher Priest

Collected Stories by Ruth Rendell

The Terrors of Ice and Darkness by Christoph Ransmayr

Bring Me Children by David Martin

A Curate’s Egg

Sci-Fi Entertainment

A Swedish Podcast