Worse Things Waiting by Manly Wade Wellman

Shadowridge Press has returned to print two important collections once published by Carcosa. Currently, there is no reader-friendly paperback in print at this time. Again, that’s the ebook version, as, due to a rights issue at the time with the Kuttner estate not allowing ebooks of his works, Baen substituted the John the Balladeer stories instead. Unfortunately, the ebook edition of the last few years has gone out of print, so the best way to read of John the Balladeer is still the ebook version of Mountain Magic. These short stories are collected in Who Fears the Devil?, a classic of Appalachian fantasy.

Today, Manly Wade Wellman is best known for his stories of John the Balladeer, also known as Silver John after the silver strings on his guitar.

This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, as not only have many of the collector’s editions gone out of print, the contents of a number of smaller public domain books can also be found in the larger collections. So, at the behest of a couple Twitter mutuals, here’s a list of what’s available at reader-friendly prices. Again, it seems like you have to know someone who knows of Manly Wade Wellman to find out where the good stuff is. Even I missed the 2020 return of Lonely Vigils, the collection of Judge Pursuivant and John Thunstone occult mysteries, until recently.

Wellman’s works appear these days in a number of small presses, however, so it is easy for the avid reader to miss the news of the return of a previously out-of-print favorite. Who Fears the Devil? was released as an independent ebook and several collections returned to print for the first time in years–and in more affordable paper than the hardcover collectors’ editions that still appear to this day. Up until recently, most of Wellman’s stories have been locked up in expensive small-print-run collector’s hardcovers or scattered in public domain collections.Ībout a couple years ago, that began to change. Wellman is highly regarded by those who have read his works–but finding them has been a challenge. Ever since then, reading Manly Wade Wellman has seemed like being a part of a secret club. I’ve been a Manly Wade Wellman fan ever since listening to a Baen Podcast where David Drake discussed the life and works of his friend–and dropped the little-known bombshell that John the Balladeer stories were included in the ebook version of Mountain Magic.

Worse Things Waiting by Manly Wade Wellman