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Frederic Brown
Milwaukee, WI Born: 1906 Died: 1972 Link to Wikipedia Page Link to Author's Website Listen to Brown's story "Knock" done by Oldtime Radio |
Biography:
Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was one of the boldest early writers in genre fiction in his use of narrative experimentation. While never in the front rank of popularity in his lifetime, Brown has developed a considerable cult following in the almost half century since he last wrote. His works have been periodically reprinted and he has a worldwide fan base, most notably in the U.S. and Europe, and especially in France, where there have been several recent movie adaptations of his work. He also remains popular in Japan.
Never financially secure, Brown - like many other pulp writers - often wrote at a furious pace in order to pay bills. This accounts, at least in part, for the uneven quality of his work. A newspaperman by profession, Brown was only able to devote 14 years of his life as a full-time fiction writer. His career began in the mid-1930s, while working as a proofreader and typesetter for the Milwaukee Journal. Brown was also a heavy drinker, and this at times doubtless affected his productivity. A cultured man and omnivorous reader whose interests ranged far beyond those of most pulp writers, Brown had a lifelong interest in the flute, chess, poker, and the works of Lewis Carroll. Brown married twice and was the father of two sons.
(Biography from https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51503.Fredric_Brown)
Works by Frederic Brown:
Short Stories
Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was one of the boldest early writers in genre fiction in his use of narrative experimentation. While never in the front rank of popularity in his lifetime, Brown has developed a considerable cult following in the almost half century since he last wrote. His works have been periodically reprinted and he has a worldwide fan base, most notably in the U.S. and Europe, and especially in France, where there have been several recent movie adaptations of his work. He also remains popular in Japan.
Never financially secure, Brown - like many other pulp writers - often wrote at a furious pace in order to pay bills. This accounts, at least in part, for the uneven quality of his work. A newspaperman by profession, Brown was only able to devote 14 years of his life as a full-time fiction writer. His career began in the mid-1930s, while working as a proofreader and typesetter for the Milwaukee Journal. Brown was also a heavy drinker, and this at times doubtless affected his productivity. A cultured man and omnivorous reader whose interests ranged far beyond those of most pulp writers, Brown had a lifelong interest in the flute, chess, poker, and the works of Lewis Carroll. Brown married twice and was the father of two sons.
(Biography from https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51503.Fredric_Brown)
Works by Frederic Brown:
Short Stories
- 1938
- The Moon for a Nickel.
- The Cheese on Stilts.
- Blood of the Dragon.
- There Are Bloodstains in the Alley.
- Murder at 10:15.
- Bloody Murder.
- The Prehistoric Clue.
- A Matter of Taste.
- Trouble in a Teacup (also published as "Teacup Trouble").
- Murder Draws a Crowd.
- Footprints on the Ceiling.
- Town Wanted.
- The Little Green Men.
- Herbie Rides His Hunch.
- The Stranger from Trouble Valley.
- The Strange Sisters Strange.
- Fugitive Impostor.
- The King Comes Home.
- Big-Top Doom.
- The Discontented Cows.
- Life and Fire.
- Big-League Larceny.
- Client Unknown.
- Homicide Sanitarium.
- Your Name in Gold.
- Here Comes the Hearse.
- Six-Gun Song.
- Star-Spangled Night.
- Wheels Across the Night.
- Armageddon.
- Little Boy Lost.
- Bullet for Bullet.
- Listen to the Mocking Bird.
- You'll End Up Buming.
- Selling Death Short.
- Thirty Corpses Every Thursday.
- Trouble Comes Double.
- Not Yet the End.
- Number Bug.
- Clue in Blue.
- Death is a White Rabbit.
- Twenty Gets You Plenty.
- Etaoin Shrdlu.
- Little Apple Hard to Peel.
- Pardon My Ghoulish Laughter.
- Death in the Dark (a/p/a "The Black Dark").
- Handbook for Homicide.
- The Incredible Bomber.
- Twice-Killed Corpse.
- Mad Dog!
- Moon Over Murder.
- The Star Mouse.
- A Cat Walks.
- Who Did I Murder .
- Murder in Furs.
- Suite for Flute and Tommy Gun.
- Three Corpse Parlay.
- A Date to Die.
- Red is the Hue of Hell.
- Two Biers for Two.
- You'll Die Before Dawn.
- Get Out of Town.
- A Little White Lye.
- Nothing Sinister.
- The Numberless Shadows.
- Satan's Search Warrant.
- Starvation (a/p/a "Runaround").
- Where There's Smoke.
- Boner.
- Legacy of Murder.
- The New One.
- The Santa Claus Murders (expanded into novel Murder Can be Fun a/p/a A Plot for Murder).
- Double Murder.
- A Fine Night for Murder.
- Heil, Werewolf.
- I'll See You At Midnight.
- The Monkey Angle.
- Satan One-and-a-Half.
- The Men Who Went Nowhere.
- A Lock of Satan's Hair.
- The Spherical Ghoul.
- The Wicked Flea.
- The Angelic Angleworm.
- Death is a Noise.
- The Hat Trick.
- Hound of Hell (a/p/a "Beware of the Dog").
- The Sleuth from Mars.
- A Change for the Hearse.
- Encore for a Killer.
- Trial By Darkness.
- Cadavers Don't Make a Fifth Column.
- Death of a Vampire.
- Death's Dark Angel.
- The Freak Show Murders.
- Market for Murder.
- The Corpse and the Candle.
- Madman's Holiday.
- Blue Murder.
- The Geezenstacks. .
- Tell 'em, Pagliaccio.
- Whispering Death.
- Daymare.
- Death Insurance Payment.
- The Motive Goes Round and Round.
- Paradox Lost.
- The Djinn Murder.
- Murder in Miniature.
- The Ghost of Riley.
- The Devil's Woodwinds.
- And the Gods Laughed.
- Nothing Sirius.
- The Yehudi Principle.
- Arena.
- The Jabberwocky Murders (incorporated into novel Night of the Jabberwock).
- The Ghost Breakers.
- The Gibbering Night (incorporated into novel Night of the Jabberwock).
- Murder While You Wait.
- The Bucket of Gems Case (a/p/a "Mr Smith Kicks the Bucket").
- To Slay a Man About a Dog (a/p/a "Shaggy Dog Murders").
- A Matter of Death.
- Pi in the Sky.
- The Night the World Ended.
- The Waveries.
- No Sanctuary.
- Compliments of a Fiend (expanded into novel The Bloody Moonlight).
- Ten Tickets to Hades (a/p/a "Murder in Ten Easy Lessons").
- Murder-on-the-Hudson.
- Dead Man's Indemnity (expanded into novel The Fabulous Clipjoint).
- Placet is a Crazy Place.
- Song of the Dead.
- Obit for Obie (expanded into novel The Deep End).
- Whistler's Murder.
- A Voice Behind Him.
- Don't Look Behind You.
- Miss Darkness.
- I'll Cut Your Throat Again, Kathleen.
- The Dead Ringer (expanded into novel The Dead Ringer).
- Four Letter Word (a/p/a "The Greatest Poem Ever Written").
- The Four Blind Men.
- What Mad Universe (expanded into novel What Mad Universe).
- The Laughing Butcher.
- If Looks Could Kill (a/p/a "The Joke").
- Cry Silence.
- Red-Hot and Hunted.
- Knock.
- This Way Out.
- All Good Bems.
- Mouse. First published in June 1949 in Thrilling Wonder Stories.
- Murder and Matilda.
- Come and Go Mad.
- Last Curtain (a/p/a "Cream of the Jest").
- Crisis, 1999.
- Each Night He Died (a/p/a "Cain").
- Letter to a Phoenix.
- The Cat from Siam.
- The Sinister Mr. Dexter (a/p/a "House of Fear").
- Deadly Weekend (expanded into novel The Screaming Mimi).
- The Bloody Moonlight (condensed from novel The Bloody Moonlight).
- Gateway to Darkness (a/p/a "Small World," incorporated into novel Rogue in Space).
- The Last Train.
- Death and Nine Lives.
- The Blind Lead.
- The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches.
- The Nose of Don Aristide.
- Vengeance Unlimited (a/p/a "Vengeance Fleet").
- From These Ashes (a/p/a "Entity Trap").
- The Undying Ones (a/p/a "Obedience").
- Walk in the Shadows.
- The Frownzly Florgels.
- Gateway to Glory (incorporated into novel Rogue in Space).
- The Last Martian.
- Honeymoon in Hell.
- Mitkey Rides Again.
- Night of the Jabberwock
- Device of the Turtle (a/p/a "Six-Legged Swengali"; with Mack Reynolds).
- Dark Interlude (with Mack Reynolds).
- Man of Distinction.
- The Switcheroo.
- The Weapon - published in the anthology The War Book (edited by James Sallis, 1969).
- Cartoonist (a/p/a "Garrigan's Bems"; with Mack Reynolds).
- Something Green.
- The Dome.
- A Word from Our Sponsor.
- The Gamblers (with Mack Reynolds).
- The Hatchetman (with Mack Reynolds).
- Me and Flapjack and the Martians (with Mack Reynolds).
- Witness in the Dark.
- The Pickled Punks (expanded into novel Madball).
- The Wench is Dead (expanded into novel The Wench is Dead).
- The Little Lamb.
- Rustle of Wings.
- Hall of Mirrors
- Experiment
- Sentry
- Two Timer
- Keep Out.
- Martians, Go Home (expanded into novel Martians, Go Home).
- Naturally.
- Voodoo.
- Answer
- Daisies.
- Pattern.
- Politeness.
- Preposterous.
- Reconciliation.
- Search.
- Sentence.
- Solipsist.
- Blood.
- Millennium.
- Premiere of Murder.
- The Perfect Crime (a/p/a "Fatal Error").
- The Letter (a/p/a "Dead Letter").
- The First Time Machine.
- Too Far.
- Imagine.
- Line of Duty (expanded into novel The Lenient Beast).
- Murder Set to Music.
- Expedition.
- Happy Ending (with Mack Reynolds).
- The Amy Waggoner Murder Case (expanded into novel One for the Road).
- Jaycee.
- Unfortunately.
- Who Was That Blonde I Saw You Kill Last Night? (expanded into novel His Name was Death) .
- The Late Lamented (expanded into novel The Late Lamented).
- Nasty.
- Rope Trick.
- Night of the Psycho (expanded into novel Knock Three-One-Two).
- Abominable.
- Bear Possibility.
- The Mind Thing (never completed serialization later published as novel The Mind Thing).
- Recessional.
- The Power (a/p/a "Rebound").
- Earthmen Bearing Gifts.
- Granny's Birthday.
- The House.
- Great Lost Discoveries I - Invisibility.
- Great Lost Discoveries II - Invulnerability.
- Great Lost Discoveries III - Immortality.
- The Hobbyist.
- Nightmare in Blue.
- Nightmare in Gray.
- Nightmare in Red.
- Nightmare in Time (a/p/a "The End").
- Nightmare in Yellow.
- Of Time and Eustace Weaver ("The Short Happy Lives of E. Weaver I-II-III")
- Bright Beard.
- Cat Burglar.
- Death on the Mountain.
- Fish Story.
- Horse Race.
- Nightmare in Green.
- Nightmare in White.
- The Ring of Hans Carvel.
- Second Chance.
- Three Little Owls.
- Before She Kills.
- Aelurophobe.
- Puppet Show.
- Fatal Facsimile .
- Double Standard.
- Instant Novellas (a/p/a "20 Stories in 60 Lines").
- It Didn't Happen.
- Tale of the Flesh Monger (a/p/a "Ten Percenter").
- The Missing Actor.
- Why, Benny, Why.
- Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (with Carl Onspaugh).
- The Office (1958)
- The Fabulous Clipjoint (1947), Edgar Award winner for best first novel.
- The Dead Ringer (1948), second "Ed & Am Hunter" novel
- Murder can be Fun (1948)
- The Bloody Moonlight (1949), third "Ed & Am Hunter" novel
- The Screaming Mimi (1949)
- Compliments of a Fiend (1950), fourth "Ed & Am Hunter" novel
- Here Comes a Candle (1950)
- Night of the Jabberwock (1950)
- Death Has Many Doors (1951), fifth "Ed & Am Hunter" novel
- The Far Cry (1951)
- The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches (1951), novella
- We All Killed Grandma (1952)
- The Deep End (1952)
- Mostly Murder (1953), collection
- Madball (1953)
- His Name Was Death (1954)
- The Wench Is Dead (1955)
- The Lenient Beast (1956)
- One for the Road (1958)
- The Late Lamented (1959), sixth "Ed & Am Hunter" novel
- Knock Three-One-Two (1959)
- The Murderers (1961)
- Five-Day Nightmare (1962)
- Mrs. Murphy's Underpants (1963), seventh "Ed & Am Hunter" novel
- The Shaggy Dog and Other Murders (1963), collection
- 4 Novels (1983), omnibus of The Fabulous Clipjoint, Knock Three-One-Two, Night of the Jabberwock and The Screaming Mimi
- Carnival of Crime (1985), collection
- Hunter and Hunted: The Ed and Am Hunter Novels, Part One (2002), published by Stewart Masters Publishing, omnibus of The Fabulous Clipjoint,The Dead Ringer, The Bloody Moonlight and Compliments of a Fiend.
- Homicide Sanitarium (1984)
- Before She Kills (1984)
- Madman's Holiday (1984)
- The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches (1985)
- The Freak Show Murders (1985)
- Thirty Corpses Every Thursday (1986)
- Pardon My Ghoulish Laughter (1986)
- Red is the Hue of Hell (1986)
- Sex Life on the Planet Mars (1986)
- Brother Monster (1987)
- Nightmare in Darkness (1987)
- Who was that Blonde I Saw You Kill Last Night? (1988)
- Three-Corpse Parley (1988)
- Selling Death Short (1988)
- Whispering Death (1989)
- Happy Ending (1990)
- The Water-Walker (1990)
- The Gibbering Night (1991)
- The Pickled Punks (1991)
- The Proofreaders' Page and Other Uncollected Items (2011), published by Galactic Central Publications
- What Mad Universe (1949)
- The Lights in the Sky Are Stars (1953), also published as Project Jupiter
- Martians, Go Home (1955), which was the basis for a 1990 movie of the same name, starring Randy Quaid and Margaret Colin
- Rogue in Space (1957)
- The Mind Thing (1961)
- Space on My Hands (1953)
- Angels and Spaceships (1954) also published as Star Shine
- Honeymoon in Hell (1958)
- Nightmares and Geezenstacks (1961)
- Daymares (1968)
- Paradox Lost, and Twelve Other Great Science Fiction Stories (1973)
- The Best of Fredric Brown (1976; edited and introduced by Robert Bloch)