| Intro | American author |
| A.K.A. | J. Vernon Shea |
| Is |
Writer Poet |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Literature |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | Dayton |
Joseph Vernon Shea (1912–1981) was an American author of horror, fantasy, poetry, and essays; and a correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and August Derleth.
Shea was born in Dayton, Kentucky, the son of a professional magician. When corresponding with Lovecraft in 1931–1937, he resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Shea later served overseas in the Army Medical Corps, then returned to civilian life and worked as a metallurgist in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a long-time member of the “Esoteric Order of Dagon” Amateur Press Association at the time of his sudden accidental death.
Works
Stories
- “The Necronomicon” at the Wayback Machine (archived October 20, 2009). (Written before Lovecraft’s death in 1937; Lovecraft read and annotated the manuscript.)
- “The Old Lady’s Room”. August Derleth, ed., Over the Edge. Arkham House, 1964.
- “Five-Year Contract”. Magazine of Horror, September 1964.
- “The Flaw”. Magazine of Horror, Spring 1967.
- “The Haunter of the Graveyard”. August Derleth, ed., Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. Arkham House, 1969.
- “Icarus Climbs Toward the Sun”. The Dark Brotherhood Journal, No. 2, 1972.
- “Dead Giveaway”. Outré, 1976. Reprinted in Robert M. Price, ed., The New Lovecraft Circle. Fedogan & Bremer, 1996. ISBN 1-878252-16-X.
- ‘”The Snouted Thing”. 1979. Reprinted in In Search of Lovecraft, 1991. Posthumous collaboration with Lovecraft.
- “Nemo Me Impune Lacessit”. Whispers, No. 15–16 (Vol. 4, No. 3–4), March 1982.
Poems
- “When Artists Die”
- “Look to the Skies”
- “The Dream-World of H.P. Lovecraft”
- “We tire of tyrants…”
- “A Walk in Providence”
- “H.P.L.’s Gravestone”
- “So Little Time Beneath the Stars”
- “Impermanence”
- “Better Days?”
- “What Good Is a Book?”
- “Roses Blooming in November”
- “Here at Swan Point”
- “Tomorrow”
-
- (All above reprinted in In Search of Lovecraft, 1991.)
Essays
- “H. P. Lovecraft: The House and the Shadows.” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1966. (Memoir of Lovecraft.)
- “H.P.L. and Films”. 1972. Reprinted in In Search of Lovecraft, 1991.
- “The Lovecraftian Saga”. 1976. Reprinted in In Search of Lovecraft, 1991.
- “H. P. Lovecraft and Samuel Johnson: A Comparison”. 1978. Reprinted in In Search of Lovecraft, 1991.
- “The Timeless Lovecraft”. 1979. Reprinted in In Search of Lovecraft, 1991.
- “‘The Outsider‘“. 1979. Reprinted in In Search of Lovecraft, 1991.
- “On the Literary Influences Which Shaped Lovecraft’s Works”. S.T. Joshi, ed., H. P. Lovecraft: Four Decades of Criticism. Ohio State University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-8214-0577-2, ISBN 978-0-8214-0577-2.
- “An Introduction to the Cthulhu Mythos”. Fantasy Empire Presents H. P. Lovecraft. Tampa FL: New Media Publishing, 1984.
Books
- Strange Desires. Lion Books, 1954. (Edited short-story anthology.)
- Strange Barriers. Lion Books, 1955. Reprinted: Pyramid Books, 1961. (Edited short-story anthology.)
- H.P. Lovecraft: The House and the Shadows. West Warwick RI: Necronomicon Press, 1982. ASIN B0006YAHLC. (1966 essay in chapbook.)
- In Search Of Lovecraft. West Warwick RI: Necronomicon Press, 1991. ISBN 0-940884-39-9, ISBN 978-0-940884-39-7. (Collection of essays, fiction, and poetry.)
Periodicals
- Outré. (Science fiction fanzine.)