The Phantom Bus and Others: Edited by S. T. Joshi

By W. Elwyn Backus

The work of W. Elwyn Backus was one of the more distinctive contributions to the pulp magazines, especially Weird Tales. He wrote two long serials-- The Waning of a World (1926) and "Behind the Moon" (1929-30)--that chronicle voyages to Mars and the moon, with dramatic results as the explorers encounter alien entities that are both friendly and menacing. In short stories Backus was equally innovative. "The Hall Bedroom" is a complex mix of psychological and supernatural horror; in "The Youth Maker" a scientist appears to have found an elixir of youth; "Subterranea" recounts an expedition under the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Backus's most famous story is "The Phantom Bus," an atmospheric piece that anticipates the weird fiction of the 1950s in being grounded in mundane reality and veering subtly into the supernatural. This is the first time that W. Elwyn Backus's weird stories have been collected; he has waited far too long to receive the recognition he deserves.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0F5QBG7GG
• ISBN13: 9798280684706
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 337 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"