Derleth, August, 1909-1971

August Derleth (1909–1971) was an American writer known for horror, fantasy, and regional fiction, and was also one of the important editors and publishers of H. P. Lovecraft's work. Two of his books are included here: A Traveler in Time and McIlvaine's Star. The former has elements of time travel and science fiction, while the latter belongs to the kind of fantasy short fiction he often wrote. His writing tends to build suspense through restrained narration, introduces supernatural or alien elements against a realistic background, and pays attention to local settings and characters' psychology. Because public information is limited, the details of his life are difficult to describe in full, but the works at hand show that he had a certain influence in genre literature and fantasy publishing.