Manly Wade Wellman

Born in Portuguese West Africa, now Angola, in 1903, he moved to the United States as a child and later studied at what is now Wichita State University and at Columbia. Before turning fully to freelance writing, he worked as a newspaper reporter, and over the years he published fiction and nonfiction across an unusually wide range of subjects.

He is especially remembered for stories that blend the supernatural with American folk tradition, particularly the Appalachian-set tales featuring the wandering balladeer known as Silver John. He also published in major pulp magazines including Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, Startling Stories, and Unknown, building a reputation for fiction that was spooky, lively, and deeply grounded in place.

Although he wrote science fiction, horror, fantasy, history, biography, and regional nonfiction, his best work is often praised for the way it treats folklore as something living and close at hand. He died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1986, leaving behind a body of work that still feels welcoming to readers who like their strange fiction rich with legend and atmosphere.