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Here they are: The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years!

Readers wrote us in record numbers last autumn when WeirdTalesMagazine.com asked you who, in your book, are the weirdest of the weird: the most influentially strange authors and artists and talespinners of all kinds to work their magic on the world in the 85 years since 1923, when Weird Tales was born. We asked that you not limit your suggestions to just fiction writers, and you responded enthusiastically, naming hordes of filmmakers, songwriters, cartoonists, and more. We took your ideas, added a few of our own, called some top fantasy professionals to put in their two cents, and then dove into the long and arduous process of winnowing the list down to a mere 85 names.

In our 85th anniversary issue — which also features fiction by Michael Moorcock, Sarah Monette, and Tanith Lee, nonfiction by Cherie Priest, and Jeff VanderMeer’s interview with China Míeville, and which is on sale now online and in stores in early April — we introduce you to each one of the 85 Weirdest Storytellers individually. We’ll also be discussing them here online, one a day for the next 85 days. But right now, here’s the complete list of names!

WEIRD TALES presents: The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years

 

Kudos to them all: creative geniuses whose work, in whatever form and flavor, has shown an affinity of spirit with the brilliantly freaky storytelling that’s been the hallmark of Weird Tales since the magazine was born 85 years ago this very month.

(Don’t see one of your favorites here? Help us compile more weirdness! Go to our new Share the Weird page and tell your fellow readers about the weird storytellers you love the most!)

Categories: The 85 Weirdest!

46 Responses to “ Here they are: The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years! ”

  1. WEIRD TALES: magazine of the gothic, fantastic & bizarre » Blog Archive » Share Your Weird! Mar 25th, 2008 at 10:15 am

    [...] one of your favorite weird storytellers not make our list of The 85 Weirdest? That’s okay — we want YOU to spread the word right here! This is our new permanent page [...]

  2. Josh Mar 25th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    That list is FREAKING AMAZING. So many I wouldn’t have remembered to include, but fit perfectly. Kudos to all involved.

  3. -> Ray Mar 25th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    I count 89 there.
    (That’s weird.)

  4. Weird Tales Mar 25th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    Well, Ray, if you’re going to be that way, you forgot to count every acrobat in Cirque du Soleil.

  5. Grant Stone Mar 25th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

    That is an incredible list. I love that Warren Zevon and Kate Bush both get mentions.

  6. Sivart Mar 25th, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    I was quite startled to find some of the selections here, but I can’t find myself disagreeing with many of them. I’m glad Thomas Ligotti is acknowledged. He deserves a wider readership outside of his small, but loyal cult following. “Weird Tales” has done a great deal to support his work over the years, and fortunately, it appears you will continue to do so.

  7. UncleDes Mar 25th, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    Wot no China Mieville? But yeah! Michael Moorcock!

  8. Kevin McCabe Mar 25th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    Don’t worry Uncle Des, they did give China an article. Good on you, Weird Tales, for the whole list, but especially for Michael Moorcock!

  9. Lawrence Person Mar 26th, 2008 at 12:35 am

    No R. A. Lafferty or Avram Davidson? For shame…

  10. FilmDickian Mar 26th, 2008 at 6:26 am

    Here’s some more: Allen Ginsburg, Yoko Ono, Zbigniew Rybczynski, Bela Lugosi, The Residents, Danny Elfman, H. R. Giger, The Brothers Quay, Ken Nordine, Matt Groening, Cordwainer Smith, R. U. Sirius, and Peter Jackson.

  11. Fred Kiesche Mar 26th, 2008 at 9:11 am

    What? No Edward Whittemore?

    I appreciate the fact that you went beyond just folks that write books and included other storytellers (David Bowie).

  12. Robert Atlas Mar 26th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    Jack Vance? Terry Pratchett? Ian Rankin? Fritz Leiber? There are several I’d remove to make room.

  13. Greg L Johnson Mar 26th, 2008 at 11:28 am

    I’d like to second FilmDickian’s mention of Cordwainer Smith, a name that definitely should be on the list. And even though I’m not a big fan, I was kind of surprised that Frank Zappa wasn’t included, especially since several other musicians were.

    All in all, though, an interesting and far-ranging list of names. Well done.

  14. Robert Atlas Mar 26th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    Sorry, meant Robert Rankin as in “Armageddon the Musical.”

    BTW, why 85? I’ll go along with avoiding trite numbers like 100, but why not some multiple of 13, for example?

  15. awake Mar 26th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    I figured L. Ron Hubbard would be on there, since his works of fiction have taken cult status to the extreme.

  16. Jesse Mar 26th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

    What, no Dr. Dooom, Black Elvis or Analog Brothers?!?! Oh, wait a minute…

    Seriously, though, great list. Obviously 85 is a low number to include all the great amateur and professional weirdos but this is stellar. I think this is the first time in a decade of scouring the internet where I’ve witnessed Kool Keith get the recognition he deserves. Thanks, Weird Tales!

  17. Marco Milone Mar 27th, 2008 at 6:59 am

    Good stuff!

  18. Weird Tales Mar 27th, 2008 at 7:09 am

    Robert: 85 because, as it says at the top, it’s Weird Tales’s 85th anniversary.

  19. astronomick Mar 27th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    Fab list! It makes me want to curl up with it and do some reading, research, viewing, etc. One writer that’s not on there: Stanislaw Lem.

  20. Mackan Andersson » Blog Archive » De 85 underligaste… Mar 28th, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    [...] som helst - de firar med att kora de 85 underligaste författarna, konstnärerna och kulturarbetarna här. Deras uppföljningsartiklar är väldigt läsvärda så om du inte redan har Weird Tales i din [...]

  21. stephanie Mar 28th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    what about the very odd lemony snicket/daniel handler??? i think we should add him to the list!

  22. Vic Mar 28th, 2008 at 3:44 pm

    I think Heinline is pretty weird.

  23. Manfred Arcane Mar 29th, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Good list but I would have liked to have seen Fritz Leiber, Karl Edward Wagner, Frank Frazetta and Christopher Lee make the cut too.

  24. Mario Milosevic Mar 29th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    Borges, Borges, Borges! Geez, how could you leave him off???

    Also Italo Calvino is fantastically weird.

    Maybe you should put up a second group of 85?

  25. Sean Gilroy Mar 29th, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    No Jack Kirby? No Walter Simonson? No Salman Rushdie? No Gene Wolfe? Great list, though. 85 is obviously too few to please everyone. Nice to see that people weren’t too snobbish to include Stephen King and Dr. Seuss.

  26. Tristan Mar 30th, 2008 at 1:17 am

    Ha ha ha ha ha!

    No Gene WOLFE?!!

    No Borges?!

    You are a joke.

  27. omnia exeunt in mysterium » Blog Archive » The 85 Weirdest Storytellers Mar 30th, 2008 at 10:58 am

    [...] Die Liste selbst findet sich hier. [...]

  28. John Allen Mar 30th, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    Glad Ligotti made the list too–but I wouldn’t leave out his predecessors: Dino Buzzatti and Leonid Andreyev.

  29. Peter Harkness Apr 1st, 2008 at 10:23 am

    Great list. But of course we must add Borges, and should probably add the Brothers Quay, Guy Maddin, Henry Darger, and perhaps Bruno Schultz. Also, what about Gary Gygax?

  30. PoopooLarson Apr 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm

    What about Georges Bataille? The Story of the Eye.

  31. Recommended Writers « Random and Sundry Things Apr 7th, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    [...] And for those with a penchant for the bizarre, Weird Tales lists the “85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years”. [...]

  32. Anderson and Walker Among 85 Weirdest at Art21 Blog Apr 9th, 2008 at 12:06 am

    [...] March/April 85th anniversary issue of Weird Tales magazine is featuring “The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years.” Each day since March 26th the Weird Tales website is posting an honoree, in no particular [...]

  33. mcadawg2000 Apr 24th, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    Great list…but I can think of a few more who are definitely worth mentioning:

    1) Bill Sienkiewicz
    2) Tool
    3) The Brothers Quay

    These cats *ooze* weird like it was sweat!

  34. Billy May 1st, 2008 at 4:35 am

    I’d add Bob Dylan (’Desolation Row’ alone should be enough to get him in). Also, is Richard Matheson missing? Dennis Wheatley and John Wyndham could be on there too. Great list, though. I like that people like Pynchon and Tom Waits make it.

  35. Kevin May 1st, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    I’m happy to see names like Charles Addams, David Bowie, Tim Burton, Roald Dahl, Salvador Dali, Terry Gilliam, Edward Gorey, Jim Hensen, Franz Kafka, Frida Kahlo, Stanly Kubrick, Dr. Seuss, Stephen Sondheim, and Kara Walker. I’m sure there are several others I could think of if I sat here for a bit to mull it over, but one that comes to mind that I’m kind of surprised isn’t here is Marilyn Manson, what with his three album arching rock-operas (”Holy Wood”, “Mechanical Animals”, “Antichrist Superstar”).

  36. Peter Jun 25th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    I was amazed that Fritz Leiber was not listed.

  37. Rich Jul 28th, 2008 at 3:30 am

    Flann O’ Brien, James Joyce, Slick Rick, Captain Beefheart, Lil Wayne, Patrick McCabe, Bob Shaw, George Bernard Shaw, Kool G Rap…

  38. Dan Lower Aug 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    Paul Bowles, Jane Bowles, John Cheever, Alfred Chester, Thomas M. Disch, Michael Haneke, K.W. Jeter, Francis Bacon, Colin Wilson, John Cassavetes…but, then, what is weird really? One man’s mausoleum, is another man’s living room.

  39. Cate Caldwell Feb 17th, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    That’s a lot of weird, and I love love love it all! Most of the weird artists closest to my heart have either made the list or have been mentioned by other readers. However, I think Don Hertzfeldt bears mentioning, as does Alejandro Jodorowsky. And, if a group (Cirque de Soleil) can be mentioned, then Mr. Bungle is pretty dang weird.

  40. Evv Wang Mar 19th, 2009 at 4:26 pm

    Caitlin R. Kiernan! We can’t forget about her!!

  41. Roger Dobson Apr 21st, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Where is Arthur Machen in your list? The greatest of them all…

  42. Weird Tales Apr 21st, 2009 at 9:53 am

    @Roger: you’re forgetting the “of the past 85 years” part. :)

  43. dgsutter Apr 23rd, 2009 at 4:22 pm

    What about Algernon Blackwood?

  44. Roger Dobson Apr 24th, 2009 at 7:05 am

    Well, Machen’s writing was not confined solely to the late Victorian era, and he continued way beyond 1924.

    Comedian and author Stewart Lee rates “The Green Round” (1933) as AM’s most enjoyable work. Machen’s fine late stories “N” and “Opening the Door” date from the 1930s; not to mention the wonderful “Islington Mystery” (1927).

  45. Robert Manchester May 1st, 2009 at 7:05 am

    And let’s not forget Machen’s late flowering collection “The Children of the Pool and Other Stories” (1936). Third-rate Machen perhaps but more impressive than much of the finest work of many another premier fantasy author. There is also Machen’s intriguing mystery “The Gift of Tongues”, written in the late 1920s. A true or fictional account? The latter, I would guess.

  46. Bill "Classic" Camp May 15th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    This has to be an oversite, because I don’t see Richard Matheson on the list, one of the greatest post Lovecraft weird writers. It doesn’t get much weirder than I am Legend or The Shrinking Man.

    I would also like to toss in directors James Whale and Roger Corman, but Matheson really NEEDS to be in there.

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