author
Best known for the eerie 1936 tale The Diary of Philip Westerly, this little-known writer left behind a small but memorable footprint in classic weird fiction. His work is still read today for its unsettling mood and old-school psychological horror.
Very little biographical information about Paul Compton could be confirmed from reliable sources consulted here, and he appears to be a largely obscure author. What can be confirmed is that he wrote "The Diary of Philip Westerly," a horror story published in Weird Tales in August–September 1936.
That story has had an afterlife well beyond its original magazine appearance. It is listed by bibliographic sources of speculative fiction, and it has also been preserved through public-domain archives, helping new readers discover it long after its first publication.
For readers who enjoy forgotten pulp-era fiction, Compton is interesting precisely because so much about him remains unclear. Even with only one firmly verified work to point to, he stands as one of those elusive authors whose reputation survives through a single striking, atmospheric story.