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Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)
Grant, Charles L

Tagged: Author, Editor.

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(1942-    ) US writer and editor, married to Kathryn Grant. He began writing sf in the late 1960s, publishing several novels in that genre in the 1970s. Since then Grant has concentrated on Horror, crafting subtle, atmospheric works that eschew overt violence in favour of the powerful terrors of the imagination. He has acquired a deserved reputation for creating strong, credible female protagonists, a quality especially apparent in his Oxrun Station series, which comprises 11 books and several stories. Oxrun Station is an imaginary town in Connecticut beset by a variety of evils, including an ancient Welsh religious cult in The Sound of Midnight (1978), a satanic cult in The Hour of the Oxrun Dead (1977), and a fierce elemental wind that assumes the form of a large beast in The Bloodwind (1982). Other titles are The Last Call of Mourning (1979), The Grave (1981), a nineteenth-century trilogy internal to the Oxrun sequence – The Soft Whisper of the Dead (1982), The Dark Cry of the Moon (1986) and The Long Night of the Grave (1986) – Nightmare Seasons (fixup 1982) – a 1983 World Fantasy Award-winner as Best Collection – The Orchard (1986), Dialing the Wind (1989) and The Black Carousel (1994).

Grant's other horror and Dark-Fantasy novels typically contain a meaningful subtext and explore a variety of themes, such as the Caucasian-Native American conflict at the heart of The Nestling (1982), in which a flying creature terrorizes a small Wyoming community. In The Pet (1986), the teenage protagonist's angst and frustration take the physical form of a supernatural black stallion that acts out the boy's aggressions.

Although Grant is a talented novelist, his careful utilization of language and manipulation of mood are perhaps best showcased at shorter lengths. Prime fantasy examples include: "When All the Children Call My Name" 1977 Year's Best Horror Stories, wherein a group of young children acquire Magic abilities that allow them Vengeance against older tormentors; "Come Dance with Me on My Pony's Grave" 1973 F&SF, in which magic is again used by a child for vengeance; and "The Three of Tens" 1975 F&SF, involving a magical artifact which, thrown into a river, proceeds to give life to a river-bottom corpse (see Revenant).

As Lionel Fenn, Grant has written, among others, the four-volume Quest for the White Duck comic-fantasy series (see Humour): Blood River Down (1986), Web of Defeat (1987), Agnes Day (1987) and The Seven Spears of the W'dch'ck (1988). As Geoffrey Marsh Grant wrote the four-volume Lincoln Blackthorne series, which features an Indiana Jones-style protagonist whose adventures often involve the fantastic and the supernatural: The King of Satan's Eyes (1984), The Tale of the Arabian Knight (1986), The Patch of the Odin Soldier (1987) and The Fangs of the Hooded Demon (1988).

As editor, Grant is responsible for over 20 anthologies, most notably the Shadows series, comprising 11 original volumes and a "best of" collection; one volume won a 1979 World Fantasy Award. The series specializes in "quiet horror" and includes some excellent fantasy, including work by John Crowley, Jack Dann, Tanith Lee and Lisa Tuttle. [BM]

other works: The Curse (1977); A Quiet Night of Fear (1981); Tales from the Nightside (coll 1981); A Glow of Candles and Other Stories (coll 1981); Night Songs (1984); The Teaparty (1985); Black Wine (coll 1986) with Ramsey Campbell; For Fear of the Night (1988); In a Dark Dream (1989); Stunts (1990); Fire Mask (1991); Something Stirs (1991); Raven (1993); Jackals (1994); The X Files: Goblins * (1994) and The X Files: Whirlwind * (1995), tied to the tv series.

as Felicia Andrews: River Witch (1979); Moon Witch (1980); Mountain Witch (1980).

as Steven Charles: The Private Academy sequence of YA sf/horror novels: Nightmare Session (1986), Academy of Terror (1986), Witch's Eye (1986), Skeleton Key (1986), The Enemy Within (1987) and The Last Alien (1987).

as Lionel Fenn: The Kent Montana series of comic sf tales, which invoke Hollywood Icons through the adventures of a failed actor – Kent Montana and the Really Ugly Thing from Mars (1990), Kent Montana and the Reasonably Invisible Man (1991), Kent Montana and the Once and Future Thing (1991), The Mark of the Moderately Vicious Vampire (1992) and 668: The Neighbor of the Beast (1992) – and the Diego series, featuring a gunslinger who travels through time: Once Upon a Time in the East (1993), By the Time I Get to Nashville (1994) and The Semi-Final Frontier (1994).

as Simon Lake: The Midnight Place sequence: Midnight Place: Daughter of Darkness (1992), #2: Something's Watching (1992), #3: Death Cycle (1993) and #4: He Told Me To (1993).

as Deborah Lewis: The Eve of the Hound (1977); Kirkwood Fires (1977); Voices out of Time (1977); The Wind at Winter's End (1979).

Sf: The Parric Family series: Shadow of Alpha (1976), Ascension (1977), Legion (1979); The Ravens of the Moon (1979).

Nonfiction: Writing and Selling Science Fiction (anth 1976).

as editor (series): The Shadows anthologies, comprising Shadows (anth 1978; vt Shadows II 1987 UK), #2 (anth 1979), #3 (anth 1980), #4 (anth 1981; vt Shadows 1987 UK), #5 (anth 1982), #6 (anth 1983), #7 (anth 1984), #8 (anth 1985), #9 (anth 1986) and #10 (anth 1987) plus Final Shadows (anth 1991) and The Best of Shadows (anth 1988); two Night Visions anthologies, Night Visions 2 (anth 1985; vt Night Visions: Dead Image 1987; vt Night Terrors 1989 UK); the Greystone Bay anthologies, comprising The First Chronicles of Greystone Bay * (anth 1985), Doom City * (anth 1987), The Sea Harp Hotel * (anth 1990) and In the Fog: the Final Chronicle of Greystone Bay (anth 1993).

as editor (singletons): Nightmares (anth 1979); Horrors (anth 1981); Terrors (anth 1983); The Dodd, Mead Gallery of Horror (anth 1983; vt Gallery of Horror 1983 UK); Midnight (anth 1985); After Midnight (anth 1986).

Charles Lewis Grant

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