The Dark World

INTRODUCTION, by Eileen HammondHenry Kuttner wore many different hats as a writer. Science fiction writer? Check. Mystery writer? Check. Adventure writer? Check. War story writer? Check. He even worked as a literary agent (where he discovered another major talent—Leigh Brackett.) The facts are these: Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. He worked part time for his uncle, Laurence D’Orsay, at a Los Angeles-based literary agency. All the time he wanted to be a writer, and it wasn’t long before he sold his first story: “The Graveyard Rats,” which appeared in Weird Tales in 1936. Kuttner was part of the “Lovecraft Circle,” a group of writers and fans who corresponded with H.P. Lovecraft, and it was through this group that he met his future wife, fellow author C.L. Moore. They often collaborated throughout the 1940s and 1950s, often publishing work under pseudonyms such as Lewis Padgett and Lawrence O’Donnell. Other pseudonyms included Edward J. Bellin, Paul Edmonds, Noel Gardner, Will Garth, James Hall, Keith Hammond, Hudson Hastings, Peter Horn, Kelvin Kent, Robert O. Kenyon, C. H. Liddell, Hugh Maepenn, Scott Morgan, Lawrence O’Donnell, Lewis Padgett, Woodrow Wilson Smith, and Charles Stoddard. Henry Kuttner died of a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1958.