David H. Keller (1880–1966)
Author of Tales From Underwood
About the Author
Disambiguation Notice:
Surprisingly (or not) the weird/fantasy/horror/sf writer and the psychologist of sexual issues were the same person
Series
Works by David H. Keller
The revolt of the pedestrians 6 copies
THE LAST MAGICIAN: NINE STORIES FROM WEIRD TALES: VOLUME ONE: THE DAVID H. KELLER MEMORIAL LIBRARY (1978) 6 copies
The sexual education series 3 copies
The Feminine Metamorphosis 2 copies
The life everlasting 2 copies
The Lost Language 2 copies
The Yeast Men 1 copy
Hands of Doom 1 copy
Daughters in law 1 copy
The Dead Woman 1 copy
Shadows Over Lovecraft 1 copy
The Red Death 1 copy
Associated Works
American Fantastic Tales : Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps (2009) — Contributor — 290 copies, 4 reviews
Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy, Volume 5: Giants (1985) — Contributor — 93 copies, 2 reviews
Creatures from Beyond: Nine Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy (1975) — Contributor — 88 copies, 1 review
Arkham's Masters of Horror: A 60th Anniversary Anthology Retrospective of the First 30 Years of Arkham House (2000) — Contributor — 49 copies, 1 review
The Garden of Fear and Other Stories of the Bizarre and Fantastic: The Man with the Hour Glass / Celephais / Mars Colonizes / The Golden Bough (2007) — Contributor — 32 copies, 1 review
New Horizons: Yesterday's Portraits of Tomorrow : The Last Science Fiction Anthology (1999) — Contributor — 27 copies
Exploring Fantasy Worlds: Essays on Fantastic Literature (I.O. Evans Studies in the Philosophy & Criticism of Literature (1985) — Contributor — 24 copies
Weird Tales Volume 30 Number 4, October 1937 — Contributor — 4 copies
Weird Tales Volume 32 Number 1, July 1938 — Contributor — 2 copies
Grim death — Contributor — 2 copies
Invertebrata Enigmatica: Giant Spiders, Dangerous Insects, and Other Strange Invertebrates in Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy (2008) — Contributor — 2 copies
At Dead of Night — Contributor — 1 copy
Fantastic Story Magazine, Winter 1952 — Contributor — 1 copy
Short Ghost and Horror Collection 026 — Contributor — 1 copy
Short Ghost and Horror Collection 074 — Contributor — 1 copy
Kalki : Studies in James Branch Cabell — Contributor, some editions — 1 copy
Weird Tales Volume 34 Number 6, December 1939 — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Keller, David Henry
- Birthdate
- 1880-12-23
- Date of death
- 1966-07-13
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- psychiatrist
- Organizations
- National Fantasy Fan Federation [N3F]
- Short biography
- Works
Novels
The Human Termites (1929)
Part 1 (September 1929)
Part 2 (October 1929)
Part 3 (November 1929)
The Conquerors (1929-30)
Part 1 (December 1929)
Part 2 (January 1930)
The Evening Star (1930)
Part 1 (April 1930)
Part 2 (May 1930)
The Time Projector (1931)
The Metal Doom (1932)
Life Everlasting (1934)
The Devil and the Doctor (1940)
The Abyss (1948)
The Eternal Conflict (1949)
The Homunculus (1949)
The Lady Decides (1950)
Short works
Taine universe
Taine
The Feminine Metamorphosis (1929)
Euthanasia Limited (1929)
A Scientific Widowhood (1930)
Burning Water (1930)
Menacing Claws (1930)
The Cerebral Library (1931)
The Tree of Evil (1934)
Island of White Mice (1935)
Wolf Hollow Bubbles (1934)
Hands of Doom (1947)
The Menace
The Menace (1928)
The Gold Ship (1928)
The Tainted Flood (1928)
The Insane Avalanche (1928)
Wing Loo
The Ambidexter (1931)
The Steam Shovel (1931)
Tales from Cornwall
The Oak Tree (1969)
The Sword and the Eagle (1969)
Raymond the Golden (1969)
The Thirty and One (1938) [also as by David H. Keller]
The Battle of the Toads (1929)
The Tailed Man of Cornwall (1929)
No Other Man (1929)
The Bride Well (1930)
Feminine Magic (1970)
The Key to Cornwall (1941) [also as by David H. Keller]
Non-series fiction
The Little Husbands (1928)
The Revolt of the Pedestrians (1928)
The Yeast Men (1928)
A Biological Experiment (1928)
Unlocking the Past (1928)
The Dogs of Salem (1928)
Stenographer's Hands (1928)
The Psychophonic Nurse (1928)
The Damsel and Her Cat (1929)
The Jelly-Fish (1929)
The Thought Projector (1929)
The Worm (1929)
The Threat of the Robot (1929)
The Flying Fool (1929)
White Collars (1929)
The Bloodless War (1929)
The Boneless Horror (1929)
The Eternal Professors (1929)
Air Lines (1930)
A Twentieth Century Homunculus (1930)
The Flying Threat (1930)
Creation Unforgivable (1930)
The Ivy War (1930)
The Moon Rays (1930)
Boomeranging 'Round the Moon (1930)
Service First (1931)
The Seeds of Death (1931)
The Sleeping War (1931)
Free as the Air (1931)
Half-Mile Hill (1931)
The Rat Racket (1931)
The Hidden Monster (1932)
The Pent House (1932)
The Thing in the Cellar (1932)
The Last Magician (1932)
No More Tomorrows (1932)
Unto Us a Child is Born (1933)
The Tree Terror (1933)
A Piece of Linoleum (1933)
Life Everlasting (1934)
The Golden Bough (1934)
The Solitary Hunters (1934)
The Lost Language (1934)
The Literary Corkscrew (1934)
The Dead Woman(1934)
Binding Deluxe (1934)
The Doorbell (1934)
Rider by Night (1934)
Men of Avalon (1935)
One-Way Tunnel (1935)
The Life Detour (1935)
The Living Machine (1935)
The White City (1935)
"Tiger Cat," in Weird Tales (October 1937, vol. 30, no. 4)
The Fireless Age (1937)
Valley of Bones (1938)
The Mother (1938)
Dust in the House (1938)
The Moon Artist (1939)
No More Friction (1939)
The Toad God (1939)
Lords of the Ice (1939)
The Goddess of Zion (1941)
Speed Will Be My Bride (1941)
Calypso's Island (1941)
The Red Death (1941)
The Pit of Doom (1942)
Death of the Kraken (1942)
The Bridle (1942)
The Growing Wall (1942)
Bindings Deluxe (1943)
The Face in the Mirror (1947)
Heredity (1947)
The Perfumed Garden (1948)
The Door (1949)
The Final War (1949)
Chasm of Monsters (1951)
The Plot Machine (1951)
The Star (1952)
Fingers in the Sky (1952)
Sarah (1952)
The Folsom Flint (1952)
The God Wheel (1952)
The Opium Eater (1952)
The Question (1953)
The Golden Key (1953)
In Memoriam (1962)
Figment of a Dream (1962)
The Twins (1969)
The Landslide (1969)
The House Without Mirrors (1980)
The Purblind Prophet (1999) with Paul Spencer
The Beautiful Lady (2000)
Poetry
The Night The Red and Blue (1899)
Undo Everlasting (1902)
L'Envoi (1902)
A Melody (1902)
A Mother's Song (1902)
"Modern Science." in: Kotan September, 1948, Vol. 1, No. 1.
Non-Fiction
The Med-Lee: News Digest of the 9th Medical Battalion (1941) - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Disambiguation notice
- Surprisingly (or not) the weird/fantasy/horror/sf writer and the psychologist of sexual issues were the same person
- Associated Place (for map)
- Pennsylvania, USA
Members
Discussions
THE DEEP ONES: "The Thing in the Cellar" by David H. Keller in The Weird Tradition (February 2023)
Reviews
One of the first horror short stories I had read in my life! And one of the absolute best! It's a classic for a reason.
I had asked my horror-loving friend for scary short-fic recommendations and of the three names she had provided, this is the one that created the maximum impact. The haunting aftereffect still stays with me.
Little Tommy Tucker has always been unhappy in the kitchen, and his parents don’t know why. Right from when he was a baby, he did all he could to get out of the show more kitchen – cry or crawl or complain. When he learns to talk, he tries explaining his reasons to his parents, but they consider it foolish. After a few years, when his behaviour shows no signs of changing, his parents resort to calling the neighbourhood physician to rid Tommy of his irrational fear. What happens next? You have gotta read and find out!
Such tales are the perfect example of how horror can be written by using nothing but atmosphere. There’s no gore on the page, nor are there any paranormal entities jumping out of corners. And yet, the ending will leave you chilled. I have read this story thrice, and a small part of me still hopes for a different finale each time. The writing is spot on in generating a sense of fear without penning anything openly scary. In fact, it starts off very innocently, but soon it seems like only two people know something is drastically wrong – Tommy and the reader.
This isn’t a story for the faint-hearted. It is creepy. It is macabre. It is disturbing. It is brilliant. It is, by far, my favourite horror short. The ending doesn’t offer any closure.
5 spooky stars.
This story first appeared in Weird Tales Magazine in March 1932, and is in the public domain. As such, it can be read for free online. I read it from the below link:
https://weirdfictionreview.com/2012/03/the-thing-in-the-cellar-by-david-h-keller...
A fifteen-minute audio version is available on the below link, but I haven't tried it out. I prefer reading paranormal stories. :)
https://horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-thing-in-the-cellar
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter show less
I had asked my horror-loving friend for scary short-fic recommendations and of the three names she had provided, this is the one that created the maximum impact. The haunting aftereffect still stays with me.
Little Tommy Tucker has always been unhappy in the kitchen, and his parents don’t know why. Right from when he was a baby, he did all he could to get out of the show more kitchen – cry or crawl or complain. When he learns to talk, he tries explaining his reasons to his parents, but they consider it foolish. After a few years, when his behaviour shows no signs of changing, his parents resort to calling the neighbourhood physician to rid Tommy of his irrational fear. What happens next? You have gotta read and find out!
Such tales are the perfect example of how horror can be written by using nothing but atmosphere. There’s no gore on the page, nor are there any paranormal entities jumping out of corners. And yet, the ending will leave you chilled. I have read this story thrice, and a small part of me still hopes for a different finale each time. The writing is spot on in generating a sense of fear without penning anything openly scary. In fact, it starts off very innocently, but soon it seems like only two people know something is drastically wrong – Tommy and the reader.
This isn’t a story for the faint-hearted. It is creepy. It is macabre. It is disturbing. It is brilliant. It is, by far, my favourite horror short. The ending doesn’t offer any closure.
5 spooky stars.
This story first appeared in Weird Tales Magazine in March 1932, and is in the public domain. As such, it can be read for free online. I read it from the below link:
https://weirdfictionreview.com/2012/03/the-thing-in-the-cellar-by-david-h-keller...
A fifteen-minute audio version is available on the below link, but I haven't tried it out. I prefer reading paranormal stories. :)
https://horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-thing-in-the-cellar
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter show less
Here’s an oldie but a goodie—creepy, atmospheric, and still plenty disturbing. I enjoyed this short narrative immensely, and I recommend it to any horror fan looking for a quick tale. Although the short fiction form works well here, and the story is exceptionally well-crafted, there is a part of me that would have wanted this story to last a little longer. I felt the characters’ anguish, and I found I wasn’t ready to leave that world at the end of the brief journey. All in all, a show more gripping, horrifying tale.
A quick shout-out to my Goodreads friend Peter, whose review of this story made me drop everything and read it. I would never have heard of this book or this author if not for you. show less
A quick shout-out to my Goodreads friend Peter, whose review of this story made me drop everything and read it. I would never have heard of this book or this author if not for you. show less
Pequeno conto de terror, previsível mas elaborado com maestria, expondo a diferença entre uma psicologia senso comum e uma indagação mais psicanalítica, que abre de fato a possibilidade do perverso e do inexplicável de existirem... no porão. Como sempre, excelente leitura por Ian Gordon.
A little boy’s parents are given some bad advice by a doctor. The boy is drastically fearful of their basement, and when the parents seek help, their doctor tells them to keep the boy in the kitchen, which has access to the basement, for an hour. And, oh yes, nail the basement door open. This turns out to be very bad advice, indeed. Well constructed with a sense of growing horror as the story progresses, this tale is scary even if you anticipate the ending.
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Statistics
- Works
- 63
- Also by
- 53
- Members
- 239
- Popularity
- #94,924
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 7
- ISBNs
- 24
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- Favorited
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