Picture of author.

Groff Conklin (1904–1968)

Author of Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales

66+ Works 3,846 Members 65 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: Groff Conklin

Works by Groff Conklin

Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales (1963) — Editor — 455 copies
Science Fiction Omnibus (1952) — Editor — 340 copies
13 Great Stories of Science Fiction (1960) — Editor — 256 copies
A Treasury of Science Fiction (1948) — Editor — 175 copies
17 X Infinity (1900) — Editor — 160 copies
12 Great Classics of Science Fiction (1963) — Editor — 146 copies
The Golden Age Of Science Fiction (1946) — Editor; Introduction, some editions — 138 copies
Possible Worlds of Science Fiction (1939) — Editor — 133 copies
Great Science Fiction by Scientists (1962) — Editor — 113 copies
Seven Trips through Time and Space (1968) — Editor — 113 copies
Five-Odd (1954) — Editor — 113 copies
Great Stories of Space Travel (1963) — Editor — 110 copies
Science Fiction Terror Tales (1955) — Editor — 100 copies
13 Above the Night (1965) — Editor — 92 copies
Invaders of Earth (1953) — Editor — 89 copies
Giants Unleashed (1965) — Editor — 87 copies
5 Unearthly Visions (1952) — Editor — 85 copies
Seven Come Infinity (1950) — Editor — 83 copies
4 for the Future (1959) — Editor — 78 copies
Six great short science fiction novels (1960) — Editor — 68 copies
6 Great Short Novels of Science Fiction (1954) — Editor — 65 copies
The Supernatural Reader (1953) — Editor — 55 copies
Great Science Fiction about Doctors (1963) — Editor — 52 copies
Selections from Science-Fiction Thinking Machines (1955) — Editor — 47 copies
Science Fiction Oddities (1966) — Editor — 43 copies
Another Part of the Galaxy (1966) — Editor — 43 copies
The Graveyard Reader (1958) — Editor — 36 copies
Elsewhere and Elsewhen (1968) 35 copies
Operation Future (1955) — Editor — 34 copies
Dimension 4 (1964) — Editor — 32 copies
Twisted (1962) — Editor — 32 copies
The Science Fiction Galaxy (1950) 29 copies
BR-R-R-! : Ten Tales to Chill You to the Bone (1959) — Editor — 23 copies
Crossroads in Time (1953) 22 copies
Worlds of When (1962) — Editor — 20 copies
In the Grip of Terror (1951) — Editor — 17 copies
The Smart Set Anthology (1934) — Editor — 7 copies
Spionen utifrÃ¥n (collection) (1975) — Editor — 7 copies
The New republic anthology, 1915:1935 (1936) — Editor — 6 copies
Enemies in Space (1952) 5 copies
All about subways (1938) 4 copies
Science Fiction Elsewhere (1970) 4 copies
Great Detective Stories About Doctors (1965) — Editor — 3 copies
Extravagancias 2 copies
Science Fiction Special 9 (1974) — Editor — 1 copy
Strange Adventures in Science Fiction (1954) — Editor — 1 copy
4 Visiones Extraterrestres — Editor — 1 copy

Associated Works

Ten Great Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe (1993) — Editor — 1,134 copies
E Pluribus Unicorn (1953) — Introduction, some editions — 538 copies
A Way Home (1955) — Editor — 251 copies
The Island of Captain Sparrow (1928) — Foreword, some editions — 34 copies
Human and Other Beings (1963) — Introduction — 18 copies
Galaxy Science Fiction 1953 May, Vol. 6, No. 2 (1953) — Contributor — 10 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Novellas and novelettes of the 40's and 50's, mostly classics, although I'd not heard of a couple. My favorite of the six was Heinlein's "Coventry," but they were all enjoyable examples of their type.
 
Flagged
Jon_Hansen | Jul 28, 2023 |
Assorted SF authors including Fredric Brown, Ray Bradbury, Murray Leinster, Jack Vance
 
Flagged
mclalib | 6 other reviews | May 9, 2023 |
Published in 1951 this is a selection of horror stories edited by Groff Conklin. He says in his introduction that it is a pretty gruesome collection of horrors, some more subtle than others, but all calculated to strike terror one way or another. The stories are:

Maurice Level - The last Kiss
Ray Bradbury - The illustrated Man
Stephen Crane - The Upturned Face
Dorothy Sayers - The incredible elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey
E F Benson - The Horror Horn
Will F Jenkins - Night Drive
H P Lovecraft - In the Vault
Guy De Maupassant - The Diary of a Madman
William Fryer Harvey - The Tool
Theodore Sturgeon - Bianca's Hands
Walter Owen - The Cross of Carl
Margaret St Clair - Hathor's Pet
Wilkie Collins - A Terribly Strange Bed
W W Jacobs - The Well
Samuel Blas - Revenge
Edgar Alan Poe - The Pit and the Pendulum
Howard Wandrei - Macklin's Little Friend
H H Munro - The Easter Egg
H L Gold - Problem in Murder
H G Wells - The Moth
Ambrose Bierce - Resumed Identity
Wilbur Daniel Steele - Bubbles

This collection delves back into the 19th century for some of its stories and none are contemporary at the time of publication. The literary content is quite high as can be seen from the number of well known authors listed. Groff Conklin says that he has tried to find stories that have not been previously anthologised and certainly he has come up with one gem in Walter Owen's: The Cross of Carl, a story from the first world war which outdoes anything else here for gruesomeness by a country mile. He has not beeen so successful with Edgar Alan Poe's: The Pit and the Pendulum or H G Well's: The Moth which many people will have read. I made a point of reading these just before I went to bed, but nothing kept me awake. Some hoary old chestnuts here, but a solid collection and so 3.5 stars.
… (more)
½
 
Flagged
baswood | 1 other review | Apr 22, 2023 |
A collection of short stories that was published in 1951 although many of the stories were written some time earlier. Conklin says in his introduction that none of these stories had been published in book form; all had been selected from magazines. Many of the famous science fiction novelists made their name in the pulp magazines and so there are stories by Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury and Theodore Sturgeon. The Book is divided into two parts the first part contains stories that take place in our solar system and we have:

Raymond Z. Gallun; Operation Pumice
Robert A Heinlein: The Black pits of Luna
E. Van Vogt: Enchanted Village
Malcolm Jameson: Lillies of life
Ray Bradbury; Asleep in Armageddon
Isaac Asimov: Not Final
Frank Belknap Long: Cones
D. L. James: Moon of Delirium
Theodore Sturgeon: Completely Automatic
Nelson S Bond; The Day we Celebrate
Margaret ST Clair: The pilllows
Hal Clement: Proof

In this section the stories are arranged so that the first story by Raymond Z Gallun's tells a story of the first astronaut to orbit the moon and the next one is Heinlein's story of tourism on the moon and succeeding stories spread out through the solar system. Heinlein and Van Vogt's stories have subsequently appeared in other collections which I have read and they are both good solid stories. Other notable entries are Frank Belknap Long's Cones that describe electrical forces on the hostile environment of Mercury and D. L. James Moon of Delirium where intrepid astronauts must deal with telepathic creatures on one of Saturns moons. Margaret St Clair's The pillows is also good. There are a couple of Duds Asimov's: Not Final and Hal Clements: Proof; both of which move towards hard science fiction and were unintelligible to me.

The second section contains stories from The Galaxy; escaping from the limiting confines of the solar system where imagination can run wild:

Murray Leinster: Propagandist
H. B. Fyfe: In Value Deceived
Jack Vance: Hard-Luck Digging
John Berryman: Space Rating
Katherine Maclean: Contagion
Clifford D Simak: Limiting factor
Samuel Merwin Jr: Exit Line
James H. Schmitz: Second Night of Summer
Arthur C Clarke; A walk in the Dark
Poul Anderson; The Helping Hand

There were two standout stories in this section; Katherine Maclean's Contagion which I thought was original and in its short story format full of twists and turns. The other was Poul Anderson's The Helping Hand, which manages to introduce a more thoughtful aspect into space colonisation. I had previously read Clifford D Simak's Limiting factor which was good and Murray Leinster's Propagandist which verges on the cute. There were no real duds in this section although the stories by Jack Vance and Arthur C Clarke were workmanlike.

Short stories from pulp magazines are not going to have much literary merit, but that is not what I look for in these collections. I want to be amazed, surprised, be taken on an incredible journey, feel a sense of wonder and some of these stories had these elements. 3.5 stars.
… (more)
½
 
Flagged
baswood | 2 other reviews | Apr 16, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Theodore Sturgeon Contributor, Cover artist
Isaac Asimov Contributor, Author
Eric Frank Russell Contributor
Murray Leinster Contributor, Author
Arthur C. Clarke Contributor, Author
Poul Anderson Contributor, Author
William Tenn Contributor
Damon Knight Contributor
A. E. van Vogt Contributor, Author
Ray Bradbury Contributor, Author
Clifford D. Simak Contributor, Author
Alan E. Nourse Contributor, Author
Fredric Brown Contributor
Anthony Boucher Contributor
Edgar Allan Poe Contributor
Robert Sheckley Contributor
Fritz Leiber Contributor, Author
Peter Phillips Contributor
Alan Nelson Contributor
Mack Reynolds Contributor, Author
Edward Grendon Contributor
J. T. McIntosh Contributor
John D. MacDonald Contributor
Winston K. Marks Contributor, Author
Robert A. Heinlein Contributor
Katherine MacLean Contributor
Lester del Rey Contributor
Robert A. Heinlein Contributor
Idris Seabright Contributor
John Wyndham Contributor
Chad Oliver Contributor, Author
Ralph Williams Contributor
W. Hilton-Young Contributor
Donald A. Wollheim Contributor
Lewis Padgett Contributor
Cleve Cartmill Contributor
Lion Miller Contributor
Algis Budrys Contributor
Margaret St. Clair Contributor, Author
David H. Keller Contributor
Evelyn E. Smith Contributor
Wyman Guin Contributor
James H. Schmitz Contributor
Frank Herbert Contributor
Mildred Clingerman Contributor
Donald A. Wollheim Contributor
Arthur Porges Contributor
S. Fowler Wright Contributor
Alan Bloch Contributor
Jack Finney Contributor
H. B. Hickey Contributor
Richard M. Powers Cover artist, Cover Artist
Peter Cartur Contributor
Jack Vance Contributor
Richard Matheson Contributor
Paul Ernst Contributor
Philip K. Dick Contributor
J. F. Bone Contributor
H. P. Lovecraft Contributor
Roald Dahl Contributor
L. Sprague de Camp Contributor
William Morrison Contributor
G. C. Edmondson Contributor, Author
Edgar Pangborn Contributor
Malcolm Jameson Contributor, Author
Cordwainer Smith Contributor
Raymond F. Jones Contributor
Chan Davis Contributor
Howard Schoenfeld Contributor
T. P. Caravan Contributor
Will Stanton Contributor
James Causey Contributor
Albert Hernhuter Contributor
Roger D. Aycock Contributor
Marion Gross Contributor
Stuart Friedman Contributor
John P. McKnight Contributor
C. M. Kornbluth Contributor
Jack Lewis Contributor
Frank M. Robinson Contributor
Avro Manhattan Contributor
Arthur Feldman Contributor
Karen Anderson Contributor
Walter J. Sheldon Contributor
E. M. Forster Contributor
Frederik Pohl Contributor, Author
Raymond Z. Gallun Contributor
Ambrose Bierce Contributor
Arthur Conan Doyle Contributor
Robert F. Young Contributor
A. J. Deutsch Contributor
Robert Abernathy Contributor
H. B. Fyfe Contributor
Chester S. Geier Contributor
Ross Rocklynne Contributor
R. R. Winterbotham Contributor
Raymond E. Jones Contributor
Ann Griffith Contributor
John Leimert Contributor
Ralph Robin Contributor
Henry Slesar Contributor
Will H. Gray Contributor
Stanisław Lem Contributor
Alfred Bester Contributor
André Maurois Contributor
Fletcher Pratt Contributor
Mark Clifton Contributor
Jack London Contributor
Miles J. Breuer Contributor
F. L. Wallace Contributor
Judith Merril Contributor
John R. Pierce Contributor, Author
Jerome Bixby Contributor
Cyril M. Kornbluth Contributor
Avram Davidson Contributor, Author
Stephen Barr Contributor, Author
H. Beam Piper Contributor
Richard Gehman Contributor
William T. Powers Contributor
Henry Kuttner Contributor
C. L. Moore Contributor
John Collier Contributor
Fitz James O'Brien Contributor
Richard Goggin Contributor
Herbert Gold Contributor
Hollis Alpert Contributor
Howard Fast Contributor
Rudyard Kipling Contributor
Hal Draper Contributor
William W. Stuart Contributor
Zenna Henderson Contributor
Wallace West Contributor
H. F. Heard Contributor
Anson MacDonald Contributor
H. G. Wells Contributor
H. B. Fyte Author
Norbert Wiener Contributor
Louis N. Ridenour Contributor
Julian Huxley Contributor
Willy Ley Contributor
James V. McConnell Contributor
J. B. S. Haldane Contributor
Ralph S. Cooper Contributor
John Taine Contributor
Leo Szilard Contributor
Kingsley Amis Contributor
Larry Niven Contributor
Kris Neville Contributor
J. Lincoln Paine Contributor
Morton Klass Contributor
James White Contributor
Gordon R. Dickson Contributor
Allen K. Lang Contributor
Henry Norton Contributor
Howard Koch Contributor
Milton Lesser Contributor
William F. Temple Contributor
Richard Ashby Contributor
Lawrence Manning Contributor
Charles V. De Vet Contributor
James Blish Contributor
Stuart Cioete Contributor
Lord Dunsany Contributor
Leonard M. Lake Contributor
Herb Paul Contributor
Harold Lawlor Contributor
E. Nesbit Contributor
James S. Hart Contributor
May Sinclair Contributor
Babette Rosmond Contributor
Charles R. Tanner Contributor
M. R. James Contributor
F. Marion Crawford Contributor
Stephen Grendon Contributor
H. H. Munro Contributor
A. E. Coppard Contributor
Philip M. Fisher Contributor
Will Jenkins Contributor
Nigel Kneale Contributor
J.R. Shango Contributor
Clifton Dance Contributor
Joseph A. Winter Contributor
David Harold Fink Contributor
Paul Ash Contributor
R. Bretnor Author
Alan Arkin Author
Paul Clement Contributor
Charles Beaumont Contributor
Wallace Macfarlane Contributor
Herbert Goldstone Contributor
Michael Shaara Contributor
Karel ÄŒapek Contributor
E. C. Tubb Contributor
Bruce Bliven Introduction
Richard Powers Cover artist, Illustrator
Don Ivan Punchatz Cover artist
Tais Téng Cover artist
Ef Leonard Translator
Ton Stam Translator
M. Kok Translator
Karel Thole Cover artist
Harry Walton Contributor
Oscar J. Friend Contributor
Philip Latham Contributor
P. Schuyler Miller Contributor
Polton Cross Contributor
Paul Allen Carter Contributor
D. D. Sharp Contributor
Martin Pearson Contributor
Jack Williamson Contributor
F. N. Waldrop Contributor
Lawrence O'Donnell Contributor
Ron Walotsky Cover artist
Brigitte Kraus Translator
John Schoenherr Cover artist
David Stone Illustrator
William Sell Contributor
Lester Del Rey Contributor
William L. Bade Contributor
Robert Schulz Cover artist
Jack Gaughan Cover artist

Statistics

Works
66
Also by
6
Members
3,846
Popularity
#6,588
Rating
½ 3.8
Reviews
65
ISBNs
51
Languages
4
Favorited
1

Charts & Graphs