Short Fiction

In Short Fiction, Manly Wade Wellman offers a horror, science fiction, shorts first published in 1932-58. The work draws its energy from speculation, discovery, and the consequences of unfamiliar ideas, giving Manly Wade Wellman room to explore how people respond to pressure, desire, and change. Rather than depending on topical novelty, the book builds its interest through the interaction of character, situation, and idea. The reading experience is shaped by an imaginative style shaped by invention, tension, and intellectual curiosity. At roughly 151,277 words with a fairly easy reading profile, it offers a reading commitment that is easy to judge before beginning while still leaving room for close attention. Its continuing value lies in its place in the development of speculative literature and its continuing questions about progress and humanity. Readers drawn to horror, science fiction, shorts and speculation will find a work that combines a distinct period voice with questions that remain recognizable today.