Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994) was an American author and editor, best known for his contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos. In the 1920s and 1930s, he wrote for a wide variety of pulp magazines, and also published some volumes of poetry, with the help of his friend H. P. Lovecraft and others. In the 1940s, he added comic-book writer to his resume, writing scripts for Superman, Green Lantern, and many more. In the 1950s, he started working as an editor for several magazines. He continued writing throughout his life. Though most of his work was science fiction and/or horror, he covered a wide variety of other genres over the years, from mystery to gothic romance. He wrote a biography of his old friend, H. P. Lovecraft in the 1970s.
His best known contribution to the Cthulhu Mythos is the Hounds of Tindalos, creatures first introduced in his short story of the same name. The story was the first Mythos story written by someone other than Lovecraft. The Hounds have appeared in several other stories by Long, Lovecraft, and many others.
He was given a lifetime achievement World Fantasy Award in 1978, and a lifetime achievement Bram Stoker Award (from the Horror Writers of America) in 1987.
Works by Frank Belknap Long with their own pages:
Other works by Frank Belknap Long contain examples of:
- Cruel Elephant: His other big contribution to the Cthulhu Mythos, Chaugnar Faugn, an unthinkably ancient blood-drinking flesh-warping elephant-headed horror.
- Fictional Colour: In The Space Eaters, the narrator and his friend discuss Eldritch Abominations, one property of which is being of a color unknown on Earth.
- Spacetime Eater: The Space Eaters begins with a conversation between the narrator and his friend on such Eldritch Abominations:"Suppose there were a greater horror? Suppose evil things from some other universe should decide to invade this one? Suppose we couldn't see them? Suppose we couldn't feel them? Suppose they were of a color unknown on Earth, or rather, of an appearance that was without color?... What could we do? Our hands would be tied. You cannot oppose what you cannot see or feel. You cannot oppose the thousand-dimensional. Suppose they should eat their way to us through space!"
