Henry Kuttner

Henry Kuttner is one of the underrated horror writers of the 20th century. Besides being friends with H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and other members of the Lovecraft Circle, Henry Kuttner was influential in the development in a number of later horror and science fiction writers. Richard Matheson dedicated the novel I Am Legend to Henry Kuttner in 1954, while Ray Bradbury dedicated his first novel, The Dark Carnival, to "the Kuttner." Roger Zelazny also attributed heavy influence of Henry Kuttner's The Dark World on Zelazny's own Amber novels.

Henry Kuttner Lovecraft Tales

Henry Kuttner Books One reason Henry Kutter might not be grouped along with so many others in the Lovecraft Circle is he only began publishing Lovecraftian stories late in the Golden Age of Weird Tales, in 1936. He produced several stories that added to the Cthulhu Mythos, including "The Salem Horror," "The Hunt," "The Invaders," "The Secret of Kralitz," and "The Eater of Souls."

In these stories, several lasting monsters and gods of the Lovecraft mythos made their first appearance, including Nyogtha, Iod, and Vorvadoss. These tales are well-integrated into the Lovecraftian universe. For instance, a character from "The Salem Horror" (Abigail Prinn) is descended from the fictional author of De Vermis Mysteriis, Ludvig Prinn. That same book is mentioned later in Henry Kuttner's fiction.

Another reason Henry Kuttner isn't the first name many people think about when you hear "Cthulhu Mythos" or "Lovecraft Circle" is the fact that most of Kuttner's fiction falls under the science fiction category. Kuttner's early writing was heavily influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and Lovecraftian cosmic horrors, but he eventually wrote more about science than horror themes.

The Best of Henry Kuttner

You can buy a Best of Henry Kuttner anthology online which includes short stories such as "The Twonky", "Or Else", "The Proud Robot", "The Iron Standard", "Housing Problem", and the classic "Mimsy Were the Borogroves". These are science fiction stories which appeared in magazines like Amazing Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and Astounding Science Fiction from 1939 to 1955. Buy one copy and you'll even get a tape version of William Shatner hamming it up as he reads "Mimsy Were the Borogroves". This story was turned into the 2007 film "The Last Mimsy", though anyone interested in time travel stories should read the original.

Mimsy Were the Borogroves

Anyone interested in Alice in Wonderland should also read "Mimsy Were the Borogroves," since (a part of) the story involves an alternate depiction of Alice Liddell (the real-world inspiration for Alice) and Charles Dodgson (also known as "Lewis Carroll"). The main story revolves around a scientist from the future conducting a time travel study by sending two boxes of children's toys into the past: one to the 19th century and the other to the 1940s.

Lewis Padgett Stories

"Lewis Padgett" was a pseudonym that Henry Kuttner and his wife, C.L. Moore, used when they collaborated on fiction. Much of Henry Kuttner's fiction first appeared under the name Lewis Padgett, such as the aforementioned "Mimsy Were the Borogroves", which first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine in February of 1943.

It's possible that a significant amount of Kuttner's fiction (though no one can say how much) was written by C.L. Moore and not Henry Kuttner. Kuttner himself mentions the two would sell stories using his name instead of hers because they could sell his stories for more money (higher page rate).

C.L. Moore Collaborations

In fact, one observer mentioned Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore would finish each other's sentences (or at least paragraphs) in writing. If one walked away from the typewriter without finishing their project, the other was likely to come along and write the next section of the story. According to L. Sprague De Camp, the two often wrote in such collaboration, making it difficult to say which wrote what. The Portal in the Picture (or Beyond Earth's Gates) and "Clash by Night" might have been written by C.L. Moore. Fans of the Lovecraft Circle should note that Kuttner and Moore are said to have met through the Lovecraft Circle in the first place.

Novels like The Fairy Chessmen, Earth's Last Citadel, The Dark World, and Valley of the Flame are also recommended. For collections that give you a good place to start reading Henry Kuttner, you might try A Gnome There Sas. An original review called this Kuttner's "best and most characteristic" collection.

Henry Kuttner had a number of recurring protagonists in his short stories. These included Tony Quade (4 stories), Elak of Atlantis (4 stories), Thunder Jim Wade (5), and Baldie (5 short stories).

Robots Have No Tails - Gallegher Stories

Gallegher might be Henry Kuttner's most loved character. The Gallegher tales, originally released under Lewis Padgett's name, include "The Proud Robot", "Gallegher Plus", "The World Is Mine", "Ex Machina", and "Time Locker". These stories delight in science fiction and have a certain zany quality. While not always appreciated by the more literal-minded science fiction critics, fans have loved Robots Have No Tails for decades.

Vintage Season by Lawrence O'Donnell

Lawrence O'Donnell was another pseudonym of Catherine L. Moore and Henry Kuttner. Perhaps the most famous stories released under that name is the "Vintage Season" novella, about a man selling a house to a mysterious trio of perfect-looking people. This story appeared to acclaim and has continued to impress readers to this day. Though Henry Kutter gets co-credit, it's thought this story was written almost exclusively by C.L. Moore.