Frank Belknap Long (1901–1994)

Though published in 1962, the science fictional elements are as primitive as the weaker SF from the 30's. The hero travels to Mars on a "skyship" piloted by several giant robots -- all that's missing is Frank R Paul line drawing to illustrate. The weapon of choice is an "atomic gun" whatever that might mean, though most of the action is movie serial level fist fights. Some thug is dispatched pretty much once per chapter for the first three chapters. Mars is basically the desert, imported show more cacti and all, thanks to giant aerators that somehow provide a large breathable habitat for an entire city and surrounding environs, no dome needed. Lower gravity isn't mentioned as far as I recall.

Still, all this silliness might have been nostalgic fun if not for the constant speeches the narrator and everyone he meets indulges in. No one can just say something. They have to preface it with several paragraphs of observation about human foibles. Sometimes a whole chapter goes by with nothing happening except several speeches.

Long's earlier career was noted for his affiliation with Lovecraft and horror stories of that form. Science fiction came later but clearly was not his forte. At some point, I'll have to read his most famous story, The Hounds of Tindalos, but his better known SF book, John Carstairs, Space Detective, is gong to the end of a very long queue.

Not recommended. show less

A totally weird short story about a futuristic aircraft trapped in a mysterious bubble. It really wasn't a great story, but I liked the thought provoking twist at the end.

If aliens were planning to invade Earth, would they send ships full of green-skinned monsters, with guns blazing? Perhaps they would take their time and infiltrate Earth, altered to look and act human, working to undermine Earth from the "inside."

Bobby Jackson looks like your average teenager in Anytown, USA (but he really isn't). He has his suspicions about the Martin's, a married couple that just moved in next door. It's as if they are trying too hard to fit in. He sees Mrs. Martin at the show more local supermarket, holding a tomato like she has never seen one before in her life. No one knows just what Mr. Martin does for a living. Invited into the house for a glass of lemonade, while staring into Mrs. Martin's eyes, Bobby suddenly finds his consciousness transferred into a neighborhood cat that wandered into the house.

Bobby's intellectual abilities (his IQ is 150, but he doesn't act like a genius) have gotten Mr. Dyson, his teacher, very curious and a little spooked. After an encounter at the town library, where it seems as if Bobby has been telepathically communicating with Laura Hartley, the town librarian, she sees another man in the library re-arrange his face. She was not supposed to see that, so, soon afterwards, she is kidnapped by unseen forces, right through a blank wall. Bobby also talks to a local encyclopedia salesman, who, soon after ringing the doorbell at the Martin's, and hearing things he shouldn't have heard, finds his consciousness switched with that of a local cat.

The focus shifts to a complex of caves on the edge of town, where Bobby brings Mr. Dyson (with help from a telepathic suggestion planted in Mr. Dyson's brain). There they find "the Martin's", along with four other town residents who are not exactly what they seem to be.

This book is surprisingly good. It's a "quiet" tale of alien invasion, with real characters, that does a fine job of keeping the reader's interest. show less

La presente edición de Aristas Martínez, con selección, traducción y un interesante prólogo de Javier Calvo, nos acerca tres relatos y una novela corta. De estas cuatro obras, dos estaban inéditas en español hasta ahora. La prosa de Frank Belknap Long es muy fluida, va al grano, se nota que se fogueó en Weird Tales. Se basa sobre todo en los diálogos, y la lucha contra las criaturas que nos presenta es directa, nada ominosa, como la de su amigo y colega H.P. Lovecraft. Me ha gustado show more mucho esta antología, resulta muy agradable y divertida de leer, si te gustan estas “cosas”.

Frank Belknap Long y H.P. Lovecraft en Brooklyn, 1931.

Los devoradores del espacio (1928). Fabuloso relato donde se habla de seres interdimensionales que agujerean cabezas para extraer cerebros. El cuento está narrado por Frank, que relata las opiniones de su buen amigo Howard, escritor de historias lovecraftianas.

Despertar oscuro (1980). Narra el encuentro del protagonista con una mujer que pasea junto al mar junto a sus dos hijos, una niña y un niño. Hasta que uno de los críos comienza a hacer cosas extrañas. Buen relato.

Los perros de Tíndalos (1929). Relato clásico de los Mitos de Cthulhu donde los haya, que casi todos descubrimos en la ya mítica antología de Rafael Llopis, en Alianza Editorial. Vuelve a tratar de seres interdimensionales que únicamente pueden llegar hasta nosotros a través de los ángulos, las esquinas. Obra maestra.

El horror de las montañas (1963), Esta es la novela corta inédita de la que hablaba. Tiene momentos muy, muy buenos y otros no tanto, que se hacen algo aburridos. La narración recae sobre el joven Algernon Harris, experto en un museo de Manhattan, al que llega una estatua de piedra que representa a Chaugnar Faugn, sumamente grotesca e inquietante. Tras diversas explicaciones, se suceden crímenes tanto en el museo como en un lugar recóndito de los Pirineos españoles. Aquí es donde entra en escena Roger Little, ex criminal que ayudará a los estudiosos y arqueólogos. Bastante buena historia. show less