In the late Sixties, a new generation of readers began to rediscover H. P. Lovecraft and other writers of the pulp fiction era as these authors’ stories found their way into a series of paperback reprints. The fact that many of their literary reputations survived at all was due in large part to the publishing efforts of August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, whose hardcover collections and anthologies, beginning with The Outsider and Others, kept the flame alive for three decades.

Ironically, Donald Wandrei’s own fiction was not part of this revival. The few stories that did find their way into print met with the author’s strenuous objections. Thus, while the writings of Roberet E. Howard, Clark Ahton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, and other members of the “Lovecraft Circle” were being rediscovered, Wandrei’s fiction languished.

Colossus: The Collected Science Fiction of Donald Wandrei was conceived shortly after Wandrei’s death in 1987 with several objectives in mind: to preserve the author’s fiction while it was still retrievable, to fulfill Wandrei’s long-held desire to see his Colossus stories published in hardcover, and to begin to set the record straight on his place in Twentieth Century imaginative fiction. It was published in 1989, widely reviewed by the specialty press, and went out of print within a year.

Wandrei wrote before bright lines were drawn between horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Some of his early efforts may seem quaint and dated, but there is an audaciousness of concept in his best work, coupled with a poet’s sense of language and a dark cosmic vision. In his lighter moments, he could spin a there’s-a-monster-on-the-loose pulp thriller, larded with sly wit and gun-blazing action to relieve the gloom.

In 1997 we released Don’t Dream, a horror-fantasy omnibus. With the reprinting of Colossus, the entire corpus of Wandrei’s imaginative short fiction is now in print. It is heartening to see his work beginning to appear in various new anthologies by other presses, including the one he co-founded. While a decade ago book-length, single-author collections of vintage fiction were considered publishing suicide, it is pleasing to see such collections becoming fashionable, again.

Colossus was our first book—and like most first-borns, it holds a special place in our hearts. This expanded second edition includes all the stories from the original collection, plus two previously unpublished tales: "A Stranger Passes" and "If——" In addition, Richard L. Tierney has updated his fine biographical introduction, and a short photo gallery has been added to the end.

Contents:
1. The Red Brain
2. The Holiday Act
3. Something from Above
4. Raiders of the Universes
5. A Race Through Time
6. Farewell to Earth
7. Colossus
8. Colossus Eternal
9. The Atom-Smasher
10. The Blinding Shadows
11. Life Current
12. The Whisperers
13. Murray’s Light
14. Earth Minus
15. Finality Unlimited
16. Infinity Zero
17. Black Fog
18. The Crystal Bullet
19. On the Threshold of Eternity
20. A Trip to Infinity
21. Requiem for Mankind
22. If——
23. A Stranger Passes