David H. Keller
Encyclopedia
David H. Keller was a writer for pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...

s in the mid-twentieth century who wrote science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

, fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 and horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

. He was the first psychiatrist to write for the genre, and was most often published as David H. Keller, MD, but also known by the pseudonyms Monk Smith, Matthew Smith, Amy Worth, Henry Cecil, Cecilia Henry, and Jacobus Hubelaire.

Keller was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 in 1903. He served as a neuropsychiatrist
Neuropsychiatry
Neuropsychiatry is the branch of medicine dealing with mental disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system. It preceded the current disciplines of psychiatry and neurology, in as much as psychiatrists and neurologists had a common training....

 in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World Wars I and II, and was the Assistant Superintendent of the Louisiana State Mental Hospital at Pineville
Pineville, Louisiana
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....

 until Huey Long
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...

's reforms removed him from his position in 1928.

That same year, Keller would travel to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to meet with Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback , born Hugo Gernsbacher, was a Luxembourgian American inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher, best remembered for publications that included the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with H. G...

, publisher of Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

, who had bought his first professionally published science fiction story, "The Revolt of the Pedestrians". Gernsback was impressed by Keller's quality of writing, unique insight, and ability to address sophisticated themes beyond the commonplace technological predictions or lurid alien encounters typically found in early pulp stories. He encouraged Keller's writing and would later call these distinctive short stories "Keller yarns".

In 1929, Gernsback founded the magazine Science Wonder Stories and not only published Keller's work in the first issue, but listed him as an Associate Science Editor. It was this issue of Science Wonder Stories that introduced the term "science fiction" to the world. This began an intense writing period for Keller, but he was unable to support his family solely on a writer's income and set up a small private psychiatric practice out of his home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Stroudsburg is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Poconos region of the state, approximately five miles from the Delaware Water Gap, at the confluence of the Brodhead and Pocono Creeks. It is the county seat of Monroe County. Stroudsburg is part of the...

.

Keller's work often expressed strong right-wing views (Everett F. Bleiler
Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler was an editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" series of science fiction anthologies, and his Checklist of Fantastic Literature has been called...

 claims he was "an ultra-conservative ideologically"
), especially hostility to feminists and African-Americans.

The level of complexity found in Keller's writing rises above many other pulp stories of the same period and holds the promise of "science fiction literature" that would be fulfilled during the Golden Age of Science Fiction
Golden Age of Science Fiction
The first Golden Age of Science Fiction — often recognized as the period from the late 1930s through the 1950s — was an era during which the science fiction genre gained wide public attention and many classic science fiction stories were published...

.

Keller wrote a number of horror and fantasy stories, which some critics regard as superior to his SF work. Most notable is his 1932 horror tale "The Thing In The Cellar". Keller also created a series of fantasy stories called the Tales of Cornwall sequence, about the Hubelaire family; these were influenced by James Branch Cabell
James Branch Cabell
James Branch Cabell, ; April 14, 1879 – May 5, 1958) was an American author of fantasy fiction and belles lettres. Cabell was well regarded by his contemporaries, including H. L. Mencken and Sinclair Lewis. His works were considered escapist and fit well in the culture of the 1920s, when his...

. Keller also wrote some fantasy work inspired by his interest in Freudian psychology
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...

, including
"The Golden Bough" (1934) and The Eternal Conflict (1939 in French;1949 English).

Novels

(1929) The Conquerors
Science Wonder Stories Dec 29 and Jan 30

(1929) The Human Termites
Science Wonder Stories Sep, Oct, Nov

(1930) The Evening Star
Science Wonder Stories April, May

(1931) The Time Projector (w/ David Lasser
David Lasser
David Lasser was one of the most influential figures of early science fiction writing, working closely with Hugo Gernsback. He was also heavily involved in the workers’ rights struggles of the Great Depression.-Early years:...

)
Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, when his media company Experimenter Publishing went...

Aug, Sep

(1932) The Metal Doom
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

May, June, July
Fantastic
Fantastic
The Fantastic is a literary term that describes a quality of other literary genres, and, in some cases, is used as a genre in and of itself, although in this case it is often conflated with the Supernatural. The term was originated in the structuralist theory of critic Tzvetan Todorov in his work...

Nov 1967, Jan 1968

(1934) Life Everlasting
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

July, Aug

(1940) The Devil and the Doctor

(1948) The Abyss

(1949) The Eternal Conflict
The Eternal Conflict
The Eternal Conflict is a fantasy novel by author David H. Keller, M.D.. It was first published in 1949 by Prime Press in an edition of 400 copies, all of which were signed, numbered and slipcased. The novel was originally serialized in French in Le Primaires under the title Le Duel Sans Fin, in...



(1949) The Homunculus
The Homunculus
The Homunculus is a fantasy novel by author David H. Keller, M.D.. It was first published in 1949 by Prime Press in an edition of 2,112 copies of which 112 were slipcased and signed by the author.-Plot introduction:...



(1950) The Lady Decides
The Lady Decides
The Lady Decides is a fantasy novel by author David H. Keller, M.D.. It was first published in 1950 by Prime Press in an edition of 400 copies, all of which were signed, numbered and slipcased....


Short Stories and Novellas

(1928) The Revolt of the Pedestrians Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Feb

(1928) White Collars Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

April

(1928) The Menace Amazing Stories Quarterly Summer

(1928) A Biological Experiment Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Jun

(1928) The Psychophonic Nurse Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Nov

(1928) Stenographer's HandsAmazing Stories Quarterly Fall

(1928) The Dogs of Salem Weird Tales September

(1929) The Yeast Men Amazing Stories Quarterly Summer

(1929) The Jelly Fish Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Jan

(1929) The Worm Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Mar

(1929) The Damsel and Her Cat Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Apr

(1929) The Bloodless War Air Wonder Stories Jul

(1929) The Boneless Horror Science Wonder Stories Jul

(1929) The Flying Fool Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Jul

(1929) The Feminine Metamorphosis (as Amy Worth) Science Wonder Stories Aug

(1929) The Battle of the Toads Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Oct

(1929) The Tailed Man of Cornwall Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Nov

(1929) Dragon's Blood Fanews

(1930) Air Lines Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Jan

(1930) Creation Unforgivable Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Apr

(1930) The Ivy War Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

May

(1931) The Cerebral Library Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

May

(1931) Free as Air Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Jun

(1931) The Rat Racket Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Nov

(1932) The Pent House Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Feb

(1932) The Thing in the Cellar Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Mar

(1932) The Hidden Monster Oriental Stories
Oriental Stories
Oriental Stories, later retitled The Magic Carpet Magazine, was a pulp magazine of 1930-34, an offshoot of the famous Weird Tales....

Sum

(1932) No More Tomorrows Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Dec

(1933) A Piece of Linoleum (as Amy Worth) 10 Story Book Dec

(1934) The Lost Language Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

Jan

(1934) The Dead Woman Fantasy Magazine Apr

(1934) The Literary Corkscrew Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, when his media company Experimenter Publishing went...

Mar

(1934) The Doorbell Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, when his media company Experimenter Publishing went...

Jun

(1934) The Golden Bough Marvel Tales
Marvel Tales
Marvel Tales is the title of three American comic-book series published by Marvel Comics, the first of them from the company's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics...

Win

(1935) The Living Machine Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, when his media company Experimenter Publishing went...

May

(1938) Dust in the House Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Jul

(1938) The Thirty and One Marvel Science Stories Nov

(1939) The Moon Artist Cosmic Tales Sum

(1941) The Goddess of Zion Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Jan

(1941) The Red Death Cosmic Stories Jul

(1942) The Bridle Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

Sep

(1947) Heredity The Vortex #2

(1948) Helen of Troy Loki

(1948) The Perfumed Garden The Gorgon v2 #4

(1949) The Door The Arkham Sampler
The Arkham Sampler
The Arkham Sampler was an American fantasy and horror fiction magazine first published in Winter 1948. The magazine, edited by August Derleth, was the first of two magazines published by Arkham House. The cover design was prepared by Ronald Clyne and was printed in alternating colors for the eight...

Sum

(1951) Chasm of Monsters

(1952) The Folsom Flint

(1952) Fingers in the Sky

(1953) The Golden Key Destiny Spring

(1953) The Question Fantastic Worlds Fall

Boomeranging 'Round the Moon

In Memoriam

The Face in the Mirror

The God Wheel

The House Without Mirrors

The Landslide

The Opium Eater

Early Works

1895 Aunt Martha (as Monk Smith)

1897 A Phenomenon of the Stars The Mirror Feb

1899 Judge Not, in The Red and Blue (University of Pennsylvania) Nov

1900 The Silent One, in The Red and Blue Nov

1901 A University Story (as Henry Cecil), in Presbyterian Journal (University of Pennsylvania) Dec

1902 The Birth of a Soul (as Henry Cecil), in The White Owl Jan

1902 A Three Linked Tail (as Matthew Smith), in The White Owl March

1902 The Winning Bride (as Henry Cecil), in The White Owl March

1902 The Great American Pie House (as Cecilia Henry), in The White Owl April

1902 Mother Newhouse (as Henry Cecil), in The White Owl May

1902 The Greatness of Duval, in Ursinus Weekly Oct

Poetry

1899 The Night The Red and Blue (University of Pennsylvania) Nov

1902 Undo Everlasting The White Owl March

1902 L'Envoi The White Owl March

1902 A Melody The White Owl March

1902 A Mother's Song The White Owl May

1948 "Modern Science." in: Kotan September, 1948, Vol. 1, No. 1. editor Gordon Mack.

Non-Fiction

(1941) The Med-Lee: News Digest of the 9th Medical Battalion
12 Nov, 19 Nov, 26 Nov, 10 Dec

See also

  • Homosexuality in speculative fiction
  • Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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