I’m not one for wanting to meet authors. I’m that type of person that sees people going gaga over getting signed copies and think “Er…okay? What’s the big deal?” (Other than maybe at some point they might be worth something.) So this Top Ten Tuesday topic (brought to you via Broke and Bookish) was a bit difficult for me, personally. However, my cohost got write on it –pun intended– and inspired me to come up with a few of my own. Just for giggles, I haven’t indicated who wants to meet which author below. Some of them won’t be too hard to figure out, but others might toss you.
These are ten dead sci-fi & horror writers that we just need to talk to. Whether it’s to pay a compliment, ask a question, or do a toe-rag assessment on, their spirit needs summoned asap.
Ten Dead Sci-Fi & Horror Writers We’d Totally Bring Back
(for a few minutes at least.)
William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918): I would love to meet him. He seemed to live an interesting life. He had a large written body of work, my favorite being ‘Carnacki, the Ghost Finder‘ although ‘House on the Borderlands‘ is a bit more famous. He was also a merchant mariner, photographer, and weight-lifter. He also started ‘W. H. Hodgson’s School of Physical Culture in Blackburn, England’. The Blackburn Police Force was one of it’s earliest members.
Edgar Allan Poe – Pic from Wikipedia
H.R. Wakefield (1888-1964): I’d like to meet him to see if he was really as bad as has been reported. Since most of his private papers were burned after his death, most of the reports come from a niece. I don’t like second-hand information about people so I’d like to meet him to see if he was bad as they say he was.
M.R. James (1862-1936): I really like his stories and a lot of them have a dry humour to them. He’s just someone I think would be interesting to talk to.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008): I love a lot of Clarke’s books, and I hate a lot of them too. I’d love to get a chance just to ask him how he approaches his series, and why they often turned out so uninteresting compared to the first books. My favorite of his books is, of course, Rendezvous with Rama.
Shirley Jackson (1916-1965): Mostly I’d like to meet her to talk about The Haunting of Hill House. What she intended with it. What some of the scenes meant. I’d also like to ask about some of her other books.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849): Everyone is familiar with Edgar Allan Poe, and most are familiar with the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. Who doesn’t want to bring him back/summon his spirit just long enough to answer “Dude, what happened?”
HP Lovecraft – Pic from Goodreads
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930): This guy could write. I mean, we all acknowledge it when we bask in the glory of Sherlock Holmes, but he didn’t just write Sherlock Holmes either. I can’t say there’s anyone specific question I want to ask him, but somewhere in there I’d poke about The Hound of the Baskervilles, of course.
H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937): I’d love to meet him to tell him just how famous his work is now and how influential his works would be on future writers, games, and movies.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1916): Mostly I’d like to meet him as a ghost (or whatever) just to know what happened to him. Was his disappearance intentional? Did he die? And if he did was it an accident or homicide? I’m just very curious to know what happened.
William Shakespeare (????-1616): Okay, he doesn’t really ‘belong’ on this list, but he’s another one I think anyone would bring back to life just to see what he was like. The man wrote some kick-ass insults, ya know? I’d like to hear him personally spew a few of them. I bet I could annoy him into it, if necessary.
What authors would you like to bring back to life for a quick chat or two? Tell us below!
I really like the way you tweaked this week’s topic! If you ever manage to somehow raise Edgar Allan Poe from the dead, let me know because I’d like to meet him too, haha.
Will do! Haha 🙂
Haha, bringing back a guy just to see how bad he was, love it! Oh and get insulted live by Shakespeare!
He would probably call me a foul-bottomed uncouth wench.
I’m all for bringing Jackson, Lovecraft, Poe, and Bierce back, for reasons similar to yours.
I’d also like to bring Bram Stoker back, to see if he understands why “Dracula” was a success but “Lair of the White Wyrm” was not, and just what WAS he thinking of when he wrote that?
Bring back Vernon Lee. Were you really a wonderful conversationalist, you cross-dressing music scholar and ghost story writer, or a long-winded bore?
Bring back Marghanita Laski. What was someone as clever as you who didn’t normally write stories of the supernatural doing with “The Victorian Chaise-Longue” anyhow?
And bring back Robert Louis Stevenson. The “Teller of Tales” wrote horror and ghost stories. But he WOULD be a fascinating conversationalist, without a doubt.
Oooh, this Vernon Lee fellow sounds interesting! And so do the other three you mentioned, actually! I can’t believe neither of us thought about Bram Stoker. As usual, Brian, you bring to light names and titles that are completely new to me!
Thanks for the compliment; always fun to chip in a few ideas when I can.
Though I have been thoughtless. Laski’s “The Victorian Chaise-Longue” features a pregnant woman in tragic circumstances; it might be unpleasant for you. Track down her short story “The Tower” from the 1950s instead; it creeped me out mightily when I first read it.
Vernon Lee is a woman’s pen name, incidentally. She’s best known for a long story/short novel variously titled “A Phantom Lover” or “Oke of Okehurst.”