WEINBERG, Robert E(dward) 1946-

PERSONAL: Born August 29, 1946, in Newark, NJ; son of David (an accountant) and Dorothy (a secretary) Weinberg; married Phyllis Horsky, May 27, 1973; children: Matthew Phillip. Education: Stevens Institute of Technology, B.S., 1968; Fairleigh Dickinson University, M.S., 1970; doctoral study at Illinois Institute of Technology.

ADDRESSES: Office—c/o Weinberg Books, 1515 Oxford Dr., Oak Forest, IL 60452.

CAREER: Freelance writer, 1969—. FAX Collector's Editions, West Linn, OR, associate editor, 1973; Robert Weinberg Editions, Hillside, NJ, editor and publisher, 1973; Book dealer in Chicago, IL, 1974; coowner, Pulp Press and Science Fiction Graphics.

AWARDS, HONORS: World Fantasy Award in nonprofessional category, 1977; World Fantasy Award in special award—professional category, 1989, for A Biographical Dictionary of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists; Bram Stoker Award nominee, illustrated narrative category, 2003.

WRITINGS:

nonfiction

(With Joel Frieman) A Tribute to "Unknown Worlds," Frieman (Newark, NJ), 1969.

(With Edward P. Berglund) Reader's Guide to the Chthulhu Mythos, Robert Weinberg Editions (Hillside, NJ), 1969, revised edition, Silver Scarab Press (Albuquerque, NM), 1973.

(With Lohr McKinstry) The Hero-Pulp Index, Robert Weinberg Editions, 1970 (Hillside, NJ), revised edition, Opar Press (Evergreen, CO), 1971.

Lester Dent: The Man behind Doc Savage, Robert Weinberg Editions (Oak Forest, IL), 1974.

Annotated Guide to Robert E. Howard's "Sword and Sorcery," Starmont House (Mercer Island, WA), 1976.

The "Weird Tales" Story, FAX Collector's Editions (West Linn, OR), 1977.

A Biographical Dictionary of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1988.

The Louis L'Amour Companion, Andrews & McMeel (Kansas City, MO), 1992.

(With Lois H. Gresh) The Computers of Star Trek, Basic Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Horror of the Twentieth Century: An Illustrated History, Collector's Press (Portland, OR), 2000, compiled into Art of Imagination: Twentieth Century Visions of Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy, 2002.

(With Lois H. Gresh) The Science of Superheroes, Wiley (New York, NY), 2002.

fiction

The Devil's Auction, Owlswick Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1988.

The Armageddon Box, Wildside Press (Newark, NJ), 1991.

The Black Lodge, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.

The Dead Man's Kiss, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1992.

A Logical Magician, Ace (New York, NY), 1993, published as A Modern Magician, Raven (London, England), 1995.

A Calculated Magic, Ace (New York, NY), 1994.

Blood War, White Wolf (Clarkston, GA), 1995.

Unholy Allies, White Wolf (Clarkston, GA), 1995.

The Unbeholden, White Wolf (Clarkston, GA), 1996.

The Road to Hell, White Wolf (Clarkston, GA), 1997.

(With Lois H. Gresh) The Termination Node, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1999.

Dial Your Dreams and Other Nightmares, DarkTales (Grandview, MO), 2001.

Dark Earth: The Torch, Boulevard (New York, NY), 2002.

editor

Far Below and Other Horrors, FAX Collector's Editions (West Linn, OR), 1974.

WT50: A Tribute to "Weird Tales," Robert Weinberg Editions (Chicago, IL), 1974.

Dr. Satan: Pulp Classics No. 6, Robert Weinberg Editions (Chicago, IL), 1974.

Revelry in Hell: Pulp Classics No. 3, Robert Weinberg Editions (Chicago, IL), 1974.

Seabury Quinn, The Casebook of Jules de Grandin, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1976.

Seabury Quinn, The Devil's Bride, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1976.

Seabury Quinn, The Horror Chambers of Jules de Grandin, Popular Library (New York, NY), 1977.

The Corpse Factory: Weird Menaces No. 1, Robert Weinberg Editions (Chicago, IL), 1977.

Satan's Roadhouse: Weird Menaces No. 2, Robert Weinberg Editions (Chicago, IL), 1977.

Devils in the Dark: Weird Menaces No. 4, Robert Weinberg Editions (Chicago, IL), 1979.

G. Wayman Jones, The Emperor of Death, Borgo Press (San Bernardino, CA), 1980.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors, Bonanza (New York, NY), 1988.

The Eighth Green Man (and Other Strange Folk), Starmont House (Mercer Island, WA), 1989.

(With Martin H. Greenberg) Lovecraft's Legacy, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) Rivals of Weird Tales: 30 Great Fantasy and Horror Stories from the Weird Fiction Pulps, Bonanza (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) Famous Fantastic Mysteries: 30 Great Tales of Fantasy and Horror from the Classic Pulp Magazines "Famous Fantastic Mysteries" and "Fantastic Novels," Gramercy (New York, NY), 1992.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) Weird Vampire Tales: 30 Blood-Chilling Stories from the Weird Fiction Pulps, Gramercy (New York, NY), 1992.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) A Taste for Blood, Dorset (New York, NY), 1992.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) The Mists from Beyond, Roc (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) Nursery Crimes, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) To Sleep, Perchance to Dream … Nightmare, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Dastardly Little Detective Stories, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Creepy Little Creature Stories, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Wild Little Weird Tales, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) Between Time and Terror, Roc (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Vicious Little Vampire Stories, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Martin H. Greenberg and Jill M. Morgan) Great Writers and Kids Write Spooky Stories, illustrations by Gahan Wilson, Random House (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Martin H. Greenberg and Jill M. Morgan) Great Writers and Kids Write Mystery Stories, illustrations by Gahan Wilson, Random House (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Tiny Terror Tales, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1996.

(With John Betancourt) The Best of Weird Tales, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) 100 Fiendish Little Frightmares, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Stefan R. Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) Girls' Night Out: Twenty-nine Female Vampire Stories, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Stefan Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) Horrors!: 365 Scary Stories, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1998.

Also editor of Death Orchids: Pulp Classics No. 13, The Angel: Pulp Classics No. 10, The Adventures of Jules de Grandin, The Skeleton Closet of Jules de Grandin, The Hellfire Files of Jules de Grandin, The Chair Where Terror Sat: Weird Menaces No. 3, Slaves of the Blood-Wolves: Weird Menaces No. 5, Famous Fantastic Classics No. 1, Famous Fantastic Classics No. 2, and Famous Pulp Classics No. 1.

other

(With Mark Rein-Hagen) Vampire Diary: The Embrace (graphic novel), 1995.

Also creator of computer game Clan Novel: Toreador: The World of Darkness Exposed. Contributor to magazines, including Worlds of If.

SIDELIGHTS: Robert E. Weinberg has turned his interests in pulp fiction into a career as a writer, editor, and publisher. The owner of one of the world's largest collections of pulp magazines and fantasy art, he has simultaneously edited volumes of genre fiction while writing his own complex and eclectic novels. According to Stefan Dziemianowicz in the St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers, Weinberg's works "show a familiarity with the panorama of fantastic fiction produced in the twentieth century, both in their … combinations of well-known motifs and their clever variations on classic themes."

A native of New Jersey, Weinberg began writing short stories in the 1960s and had some success getting them published. Even so, he felt that he could not support himself on what he could earn as a writer, so he earned two degrees in mathematics and went into business. He was so successful in business that he was able to indulge his passion for collecting pulp fiction, and eventually he bought the rights to Weird Tales, one of the most memorable of the horror pulp magazines. Weinberg told Amazon: "My first novel was published when I was forty and I have had ten more novels and numerous short stories published since. I write to entertain. And because it's fun to do."

Weinberg's fiction often revolves around magicians, witches, and other practitioners of occult lore, many of whom use present-day technology to foil ancient forces of evil. As Dziemianowicz noted, the author's novels "are memorable for complex plots that synthesize textbook history, current events and literary references, and for their engaging series characters." Dziemianowicz observed that Weinberg's "trademark narrative pattern" as revealed in his longer works consists of "interleaving illuminating discussions of occult arcana (both genuine and imagined) among his characters with action sequences involving supernatural menaces."

Weinberg likes to write series novels, and he has created a variety of series protagonists as well as recurring minor characters. One of these, Jack Collins, is a mathematician who also happens to have an encyclopedic knowledge of horror and fantasy fiction, a self-portrait of the author if ever there was one. Whatever Weinberg's preoccupation might be at the moment, concluded Dziemianowicz, all of his writing "pays tribute to the weird-fiction tradition even as it explores hitherto undiscovered possibilities in the tradition's most sacred icons."

Weinberg's endurance as a writer may be due in part to his ability to capitalize on current trends yet remain ingenuous in his writing style. Library Journal contributor Rachel Singer Gordon commented that in Termination Node, "Gresh and Weinberg have crafted a cyberthriller that captures the current fascination with computer crime." In a review of Dial Your Dreams and Other Nightmares, a Publishers Weekly contributor stated that although the story collection was "a mixed bag," "contemporary horror fiction is so riddled with pretensions that it's refreshing to encounter a story collection this straightforward." In the Dallas Morning News, reviewer Steve Power described The Computers of Star Trek, which was cowritten by Weinberg and Lois H. Gresh, as "disjointed" but nonetheless stated that its "fascinating analyses blend hard science with the psyches of the crew members of the original Star Trek and its spinoff TV shows and movies."

Weinberg's Horror of the Twentieth Century: An Illustrated History was praised by Library Journal reviewer Neal Baker as "informative and assured," with "exquisite graphic design and a welter of lurid magazine and comic book covers, book jackets, and film posters." While Booklist reviewer Ray Olson described the book as a "none too well written tome," Washington Post reviewer Michael Dirda called Weinberg a "veteran anthologist" who "provides a sprightly survey of horror in fiction and movies during the past century."

Weinberg once told CA: "In 1977, I bought the title and remaining rights to Weird Tales magazine, probably the most important fantasy magazine ever published…. Weird Tales will be revived as a paperback magazine and I have been negotiating for television rights. In the future I hope to continue this important revival, and through Pulp Press, a new publishing company, I hope to present major works of mystery and detective fiction from the pulp magazines as well as important nonfiction works on the subject."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost, and Gothic Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1998, pp. 623-25.

periodicals

Booklist, December 15, 2000, Ray Olson, review of Horror of the Twentieth Century: An Illustrated History, p. 777.

Dallas Morning News, February 10, 2000, Steve Power, review of The Computers of Star Trek, p. 7F.

Library Journal, February 15, 1999, Rachel Singer Gordon, review of The Termination Node, p. 188; January 1, 2001, Neal Baker, review of Horror of the Twentieth Century: An Illustrated History, p. 109.

Publishers Weekly, September 24, 2001, review of Dial Your Dreams and Other Nightmares, p. 74.

Washington Post, October 29, 2000, Michael Dirda, review of Horror of the Twentieth Century, p. X05.

online

Amazon,http://www.amazon.com/ (June 4, 2003), interview with Robert Weinberg.*