Joseph Payne Brennan



Joseph Payne Brennan (December 20, 1918 – January 28, 1990) was an American writer of fantasy and horror fiction, and also a poet. He lived most of his life in New Haven, Connecticut, and worked at the Yale Library for over 40 years.

Brennan's first professional sale came in December 1940 with the publication of the poem, "When Snow Is Hung", which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor Home Forum, and he continued writing poetry up until the time of his death. As a horror writer, Brennan started out writing stories for Weird Tales in 1952 and then began publishing his own magazine Macabre, which ran from 1957 to 1976. Several of his short stories concern an occult detective named Lucius Leffing. His 1958 collection Nine Horrors and a Dream, with classic stories like "Slime" and "Canavan's Back Yard", is celebrated in an essay by Stephen Gallagher in the book Horror: 100 Best Books, edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman.

Work and modern influence
Brennan's stories, though scarce and mostly out-of-print today, are widely considered by horror fiction enthusiasts to be classics. His best-known story, "Slime", follows a protoplasmic life form as it ascends from its home deep within the ocean and begins to prey upon coastal residents of a small New England town. Not only has this story been re-published more than any other Brennan story, many modern horror authors seem to have borrowed heavily from it, authors such as Dean Koontz in his novel Phantoms, which features a remarkably similar creature, and Stephen King in his short novellette The Raft, which also features a blob-like, water-dwelling organism.

Probably the book that borrows most heavily from "Slime", possibly to the point of plagiarism, is Night of the Black Horror (1962) by Victor Norwood (U.K., 1920–1983). This is a novel-length work; but for its first few chapters, the events and many of the descriptions parallel Brennan's work almost paragraph by paragraph, although the precise wording is often changed. After that it follows its own plot-line, separate from Brennan's work.

Another work featuring a similar creature is Slimer (1983) by Harry Adam Knight (a pseudonym for John Brosnan and Leroy Kettle). In this case, a group of four people are stranded on an abandoned oil rig where scientific experiments appear to have taken place, creating the blob-like creature that can consume people, whose personalities continue to remain alive inside it. This creature can change shape, and appear as any person it has consumed - which, while borrowing a similar type of creature from "Slime", goes well beyond the scope of the earlier work.

Brennan brought a lawsuit against Paramount for copyright infringement in regards to their release of the film, The Blob (starring Steve McQueen), and apparently received a minor settlement, however, according to a watered-down version of the court proceedings, since the pulp magazine Weird Tales was not named in the suit, Brennan's claims lacked a substantive weight.Les Daniels stated in his book, Living in Fear, that since "Weird Tales was legally defunct, the author has gone virtually unrewarded".

Another acclaimed story by Brennan, "Canavan's Back Yard", deals with a weedy back yard that seems small and unremarkable from the outside, but quickly becomes so large for anyone unfortunate to venture in there that they soon get lost and may never find their way out.

Brennan has stated in numerous autobiographical snippets that a chance encounter with the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe is what sparked his interest and ambition to engage in writing himself. Prior to his first professional sale, it is unknown how much time and effort was invested in honing his skills, however most of the poetry that Brennan was writing in the late 1930s and late Forties (apart from the intervening World War) was certainly compressed and polished, which has been the Brennan hallmark throughout his writing career. Little is known about how Brennan went about submitting his early manuscripts, although he did work with several agencies and independent agents, including the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, and much later, agent Kirby McCauley. Recognized editors of his work include Dorothy McIlwraith, Frank Belknap Long, Charles L. Grant, Peter Haining, Helen Hoke, Robert Arthur, Les Daniels, August Derleth, Ruth Iodice, Lilith Lorraine, Gustav Davidson, F. E. S. Finn, Stuart David Schiff, Gerald W. Page, George Abbe, and Loring Williams.

Brennan's first professional sale of fiction came along in the late Forties with the western yarn "Endurance", which appeared in the February 1950 issue of Masked Rider Western. Brennan's debut pulp western appearance came along in December 1948 with the yarn "Fast Gun Freedom", within the pages of Western Short Stories. A total of 26 western yarns can be found in 25 pulp titles. Brennan belatedly "broke into" the pages of Weird Tales with the short-short "The Green Parrot" in the July 1952 issue of that unique magazine. In fairly quick succession this tale was followed up by his fame-tag novelette, "Slime", the dark whimsy "On The Elevator", and the classic "The Calamander Chest". Much later in the cavalcade of attempted resurrections, Brennan was also collected in the Zebra Books Weird Tales #2, with the Leffing case, "The Nursing Home Horror", retitled "Fear". After the pulps died out Brennan brought out the first issue of the lean and legendary, Macabre, and continued with his near and dear, Essence, a bi-annual poetry soapbox which ran from 1950 to 1977. August Derleth had been an early correspondent and so, a few years later, Brennan went knocking on the door of Arkham House with a few friends---Henry Hossing, The Hypnotist and Frank, Ernest Maax, Henderson & Larrifer, Miss Meerchum, Canavan, Mr. Massington, Mr. Oricto, and Ed Hyerson with his Model-T and the mail for Juniper Hill. August Derleth assembled Brennan's first collection of Horror fiction, Nine Horrors and a Dream, from these.

Common themes
Almost all of Brennan's work takes place in or around New England, especially coastal and northwestern Connecticut. Many of Brennan's best tales are localized, within the environs of New Haven and East Hartland, and feature seemingly semi-autobiographical elements throughout. He often goes to great lengths describing vast stretches of forest, scenery, small towns, and so on. His characters are often seclusive, and stick to these desolate places.

In the tradition of the psychic or paranormal detective, Brennan introduced his good friend Lucius Leffing in the story "The Case of the Haunted Housewife", which made its debut in the Winter of 1962-63 issue of MACABRE. For several decades Brennan championed Leffing's skill, the results of which can be found in the three collections, CASEBOOK, CHRONICLES, and the ADVENTURES, as well as a full length investigation into the bizarre happenings at the First World Fantasy Convention in 1975, Act of Providence.

Works

 * HEART OF EARTH. (Prairie City, Illinois: The Decker Press, 1950); [James A. Decker]
 * ESSENCE. ( New Haven, Connecticut: The Author. 1950 - 1977, 47 issues, I - XLVII )
 * A Select Bibliography of H. P. Lovecraft. (N.P.: The Author, 1952)
 * H. P. Lovecraft: A Bibliography. (Washington, D.C.: Biblio Press, 1952)
 * THE HUMMING STAIR. (Denver, Colorado: Big Mountain Press, 1953); [Alan Swallow]
 * H. P. Lovecraft: An Evaluation. (New Haven, Connecticut: Macabre House, 1955)
 * MACABRE. ( New Haven, Connecticut: The Author. 1957 - 1976, 23 issues, I - XXIII )
 * 20,000 Feet Over History. (American Airlines, 1958)
 * Nine Horrors and a Dream. (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1958); [August Derleth]
 * THE DARK RETURNERS. (New Haven, Connecticut: Macabre House, 1959); [Donald M. Grant]
 * THE WIND OF TIME. (Place of Hawks, Sauk City, Wisconsin: Hawk & Whippoorwill Press, 1961); [August Derleth]
 * SCREAM AT MIDNIGHT (New Haven, Connecticut: Macabre House, 1963); [Donald M. Grant]
 * Nightmare Need. (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1964); [August Derleth]
 * A SHEAF OF SNOW POEMS. (Hamden, Connecticut: Pendulum Press, 1973)
 * THE CASEBOOK OF LUCIUS LEFFING. (New Haven, Connecticut: Macabre House, 1973); [Donald M. Grant]
 * STORIES OF DARKNESS AND DREAD. (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1973); [August Derleth]
 * DEATH POEMS. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Pilot Press Books, 1974); [L. Eric Greinke]
 * EDGES OF NIGHT. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Pilot Press Books, 1974); [L. Eric Greinke]
 * THE CHRONICLES OF LUCIUS LEFFING. (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. Donald M. Grant, 1977)
 * THE RIDDLE. (Warren, Ohio: Fantome Press (C. M. James), 1977.
 * AS EVENING ADVANCES. (Huntsville, Alabama: Crystal Visions Press, 1978); [Charles W. Melvin]
 * WEBS OF TIME. (New Haven, Connecticut: Macabre House, 1979); [Frederick J. Mayer]
 * ACT OF PROVIDENCE. (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M. Grant, 1979)
 * THE SHAPES OF MIDNIGHT. (New York, New York: Berkley Books, 1980)
 * CREEP TO DEATH. (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M. Grant, 1981)
 * EVIL ALWAYS ENDS. (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M. Grant, 1982)
 * SIXTY SELECTED POEMS. (Amherst, New York: The New Establishment Press, 1985); [W. Paul Ganley]
 * THE BORDERS JUST BEYOND. (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M. Grant, 1986)
 * LOOK BACK ON LAUREL HILLS. (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Jwindz Publishing, 1989); [Dwayne H. Olson]
 * THE ADVENTURES OF LUCIUS LEFFING. (Hampton Falls, New Hampshire: Donald M. Grant, 1990)

Rio Rancho, NM: Midnight House, 2008. Edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz and John Pelan
 * The Feaster From Afar: The Selected Weird Tales of Joseph Payne Brennan, Volume One.

Poetry: Anthology Appearances and Periodical Contributions

 * The Albemarle Book of Modern Verse, Vol. 2. London: J. Murray, 1961. Compiled by F. E. S. Finn
 * ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE. Atlanta, GA: Unnameable Press, 1986. Edited by David D. Deyo, Jr.
 * Amaranthus. Grand Rapids, MI: Pilot Press Books. Edited by L. Eric Greinke
 * The American Scholar. Washington, D. C.: The United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. Edited by Hiram Haydn
 * American Vanguard-1956. New York: Cambridge Publishing Company. Edited by J. Ernest Wright and Frederic Morton, with a preface by Joseph Kramm
 * American Weave. Cleveland, Ohio. Edited by Loring Williams and Alice Crane Williams
 * Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1958. New York: The Schulte Publishing Company, 1959. Edited by William Stanley Braithwaite and Margaret Haley Carpenter
 * The Arkham Collector. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, Publishers. Edited by August Derleth
 * ARX Literary Monthly. Austin, TX: Summit Press. Edited by Bill Brooks
 * Astral Dimensions. Staatsburg, NY. Edited by Chris Marler and Mark Jacobs
 * The Beloit Poetry Journal. Beloit, WI. Edited by Chad Walsh and Robert H. Glauber
 * BEST POEMS OF 1956: Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards, 1957. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 9th Annual Issue
 * Beyond The Fields We Know. No. 1, Autumn 1978. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Triskell Press. Edited and Published by Charles de Lint.
 * Bitterroot. Spring Glen, NY. Edited and Published by Menke Katz
 * Bleak December. Coloma, WI. Edited and Published by Jim Dapkus
 * Blue Unicorn. Kensington, CA. Edited by Ruth Iodice, B. Jo Kinnick, Harold Witt, and Daniel J. Langton.
 * Borderland. Markham, Ontario, Canada: Artimus Publications. Published by Raymond Alexander and Edited by R. S. Hadji
 * Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards 1955. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1955. 7th Annual Issue
 * Brown Penny Review. Michigan. Edited and Published by L. Eric Grienke
 * The Capital Times. Madison, WI. Regional Newspaper.
 * The Carolina Quarterly. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Edited by Harry R. Snowden, Jr.
 * THE CAT HATER'S HANDBOOK or The Allurophobe's Delight. New York: The Dial Press, 1963. Edited by William Cole with illustrations by Tomi Ungerer
 * A CELEBRATION OF CATS. New York: Paul S. Eriksson, Inc., October 1974. Compiled and Edited by Jean Burden
 * Chicago Review. Chicago, IL: Published at the University of Chicago. Edited by Joseph Lobenthal
 * The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, MA. The Home Forum Column
 * The Chronicle: The Official College Publication. New Haven, CT: Junior College of Commerce (later named Quinnipiac College)
 * Commonweal. New York: Commonweal Publishing Company. Edited by James O'Gara and Published by Edward S. Skillin. John Fandel was the poetry editor, also, later, Rosemary Deen and Marie Ponsot
 * COMPASS. The Verse Journal. Prairie City, IL: The Decker Press. Edited and Published by James A. Decker. Later issues were edited by Chad Walsh and Robert H. Glauber
 * Connecticut Artists. New Haven, CT: The Artists' Gallery
 * Connecticut Fireside Magazine and Review of Books. Hamden, CT: Albert E. Callan
 * Cross Plains. Yorba Linda, CA: Edited and Published by George T. Hamilton. A fanzine dedicated to the memory of Robert Ervin Howard
 * The Diamond Anthology. A Poetry Society of America Anthology. Cranbury, NJ: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1971. Edited by Charles Angoff, Gustav Davidson, Hyacinthe Hill, and A. M. Sullivan
 * Different. Rogers, AR: Avalon World Arts Academy. Edited and Published by Lilith Lorraine
 * Eerie Country. Amherst Branch, Buffalo, NY: Weirdbook Press. Edited and Published by W. Paul Ganley
 * Eleven. Hempstead, NY: Hofstra University. Edited by Jacques Jean
 * Epos. Lake Como, FL. Edited and Published by Will Tullos and Evelyn Thorne
 * Escape! Huntsville, AL: Crystal Visions Press. Edited and Published by Charles W. Melvin
 * ESSENCE. New Haven, CT: Edited and Published by Joseph Payne Brennan
 * Etchings & Odysseys. A Tribute to the Weird. Duluth, MN: MinnCon Publications
 * EVERY CHILD'S BOOK OF VERSE. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1968
 * The 2nd Falcon's Wing Press Anthology [Unconfirmed]. The Brennan appearances mentioned in a letter to August Derleth (30 June 1960), that were to have been published by Falcon's Wing Press, may have been published in The Various Light (1964) after great delay, and unfortunately, after the death of Leah Bodine Drake. Brennan does not appear in VOIX PRISMATIQUES/PRISMATIC VOICES: An International Anthology of Distinctive New Poets. Indian Hills, CO.: Falcon's Wing Press, December 1958, edited by Charles Arthur Muses
 * Fantasy & Terror. Uncasville, CT. Published by Richard H. Fawcett and Edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. (Early issues originally out of Zenith, WA).
 * Fantasy Crossroads. Lamoni, IA: Stygian Isle Press. Edited by Jonathan Bacon
 * Fantasy Review (formerly Fantasy Newsletter). Boca Raton, FL: Florida Atlantic University.
 * Fantome Press. Warren, Ohio. Editor and Publisher, C. M. James.
 * FIRE AND SLEET AND CANDLELIGHT: New Poems of the Macabre. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House Publishers, 1961. Edited by August Derleth
 * The First World Fantasy Awards. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, inc., 1977. Edited by Gahan Wilson.
 * FIVE CONNECTICUT POETS. Hamden, CT: Fireside Press, 1975. Edited and Published by A. E. Callan. Featuring the work of Wally Swist, Richard Geller, Gerene Freeman, Robert Shaw, and Joseph Payne Brennan
 * Flame. Floral Park, Long Island, NY (and later, Alpine, TX). Edited by Lilith Lorraine. Printed at the Press of Villiers Publications, Ltd., Holloway, London, England
 * FRESCO. The University of Detroit Quarterly. Detroit, MI. Edited by Gary Woditsch, Steve Eisner, and Jerome Mazzaro
 * Frog Fandango. Milton, Queensland, Australia: Jacaranda, 1979. Edited by Barbara A. Sullivan
 * The Georgia Review. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press
 * THE GOLDEN QUILL ANTHOLOGY FOR 1958. Francestown, New Hampshire: The Golden Quill Press, 1959. Edited by George Abbe, Gustav Davidson, and Loring Williams
 * THE GOLDEN YEAR. New York: The Fine Editions Press, 1960
 * GREAT OCCASIONS. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1968. Edited by Carl Seaburg
 * GRUE Magazine. New York: Hell's Kitchen Productions, Inc., 1986. Edited by Peggy Nadramia
 * HPL: A Tribute To Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Birmingham, AL: Meade & Penny Frierson, 1972
 * HALLOWEEN THROUGH TWENTY CENTURIES. New York: Abelard-Schuman, Ltd., 1950. Published by Henry Schuman, Inc. Edited by Ralph and Adelin Linton
 * Hawk & Whippoorwill: Poems of Man and Nature. Place of Hawks, Sauk City, WI: Published by Villiers Publications, Ltd., for August Derleth
 * Hawk & Whippoorwill Recalled. The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, Summer 1973
 * Icarus. Riderwood, MD: Icarus Press. Edited by Margaret Diorio
 * JAPAN: THEME & VARIATIONS. A Collection of Poems by Americans. Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1959. Edited and Published by Charles E. Tuttle
 * Kaleidograph. Dallas, TX: The Kaleidograph Press. Edited by Whitney Montgomery and Vaida Stewart Montgomery
 * The Laurel Review. Buckhannon, West Virginia: West Virginia Wesleyan College. Edited by Marjorie Mendenhall Hoffman
 * The Library Journal. Philadelphia, PA.: R. R. Bowker Company. Published by Daniel Melcher, and edited by Eric Moon, Shirley Havens, and Margaret E. Cooley. Features a review of Brennan's poetry collection, THE WIND OF TIME, Hawk & Whippoorwill Press, 1961, by Burton A. Robie
 * The Literary Magazine of Fantasy and Terror. Zenith, Washington. Edited and published by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
 * The London Evening Standard, London, England.
 * Lynx. Plainview, Texas. Edited by Paul Levine and Margaret Lee Johnson
 * MACABRE. New Haven, CT: Macabre House. Edited and Published by Joseph Payne Brennan
 * The Magazine of Fantasy & Terror. Uncasville, CT. (Alternating title for Fantasy & Terror)
 * Midland Poetry Review. Shelbyville, IN. Edited by Loren Phillips
 * Minnesota Fantasy Review. October 1988
 * MYRDDIN. Northbrook, IL.: Myrddin Press. Edited & Published by Lawson Hill
 * The New England Review/Connecticut Critic. Hamden, CT.
 * New Haven Info. New Haven, CT. Brennan edited the VerseCraft column for a time in the 1950s
 * NEW MASSES. New York: The New Masses, Inc. (1947)
 * NEW POETS: 1948. Prairie City, IL.: The Decker Press. Edited & Published by James A. Decker.
 * The New York Herald-Tribune. Week of Verse Column; Brennan appearances from the late 1940s through into the early 1960s
 * The New York Times. Brennan appearances in the 1950s and 1960s
 * Night Flights (i.e., Myrddin Five). Northbrook, IL.: Myrddin Press. Lawson Hill
 * Night Voyages. Edited and Published by Gerald Brown
 * NYCTALOPS. Albuquerque, NM.: Silver Scarab Press. Edited and Published by Harry O. Morris, Jr. Assistant Editor in charge of Fiction, Edward P. Berglund
 * OMNIUMGATHUM. An Anthology of Verse by Top Authors in the field of Fantasy. Lamoni, IA.: Stygian Isle Press, 1976. Edited by Jonathan Bacon & Steve Troyanovich
 * Orange Street Poetry Journal-of the New Haven Poetry Society. New Haven, CT.
 * THE OWL BOOK. New York & London: Frederick Warne & Company, Inc., 1970. Edited by Richard Shaw. (Note: Brennan appears only in the British printings)
 * The Poet's Pen. Bridgeport, CT. Managing Editor: John Hancock
 * The Poetry Chapbook. New York. Published by Gustav Davidson. Editorial Board: Sydney King Russell, Dorothy Quick, and Isabell Harriss Barr
 * Prairie Schooner. Lincoln, NE.: University of Nebraska Press. Edited (1955) by Lowry Charles Wimberly. Poetry Editor (1955): Bernice Slote
 * The Providence Sunday Journal. Providence, RI. (Possibly Winfield Townley Scott's "New Verse" column)
 * Recurrence. A Quarterly of Rhyme. Los Angeles, CA.: Variegation Publishing Company. Edited by Grover Jacoby
 * The Saturday Review of Literature. New York: The Saturday Review Associates, Inc. Edited by Norman Cousins. Brennan appears in the Phoenix Nest column
 * SHRIEKS AT MIDNIGHT: Macabre Poems, Eerie and Humorous. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1969. Edited by Sara Brewton and John E. Brewton. Drawings by Ellen Raskin
 * THE SHUTTERED ROOM AND OTHER PIECES. Sauk City, WI.: Arkham House Publishers, 1959. Compiled by August Derleth
 * Southern Poetry Journal (believed to be mistaken for the Southern Poetry Review)
 * Southern Poetry Review. Raleigh, NC.: North Carolina State University. Edited by Guy Owen
 * STARLANES. The International Quarterly of Science Fiction Poetry. Ferndale, MI. Edited and Published by Orma McCormick and Nan Gerding
 * STAR*LINE. Newsletter of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Cambridge, MA. Edited by Elissa Malcoln. Asst. Editor: Robert Frazier. Features a review by Suzette Haden Elgin of Brennan's poetry collection WEBS OF TIME (1979). Without a doubt the worst, and most inept, review of Brennan's work to date
 * The Step Ladder. Galesburg, IL. Published by the Order of Book Fellows. Edited by Benjamin B. Richards
 * TALES BY MOONLIGHT II. New York: TOR Books, July 1989. Edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
 * TOADSTOOL WINE. A Collection of Fantasy and Horror from Six Independent Magazines. Amherst Branch, Buffalo, New York, October 1975. Published by W. Paul Ganley. Sampling from Fantasy & Terror (Jessica Amanda Salmonson); Moonbroth (Dale Donaldson); Space & Time (Gordon Linzner); Weirdbook (W. Paul Ganley); Whispers (Stuart David Schiff); and Wyrd (Brian Crist)
 * TODAY THE STARS. Alpine, TX.: Different Press. Avalon Poetry Anthology, 1960. Compiled by Lilith Lorraine
 * The Twilight Zone Magazine. New York: TZ Publications, Inc. Editor-in-Chief: T.E.D.Klein
 * The University of Kansas City Review (also The University Review-Kansas City). Kansas City, MO. Edited by Alexander P. Cappon
 * Variegation. A Free Verse Quarterly. Los Angeles, CA.: Variegation Publishing Company. Edited by Grover Jacoby
 * THE VARIOUS LIGHT. An Anthology of Modern Verse in English. Lausanne, Switzerland: The Aurora Press, 1964. Edited by Leah Bodine Drake and Charles Arthur Muses.
 * VOICES. A Journal of Poetry. Portland, ME. Edited by Harold Vinal
 * Weirdbook. Amherst Branch, Buffalo, New York: Weirdbook Press. Edited and Published by W. Paul Ganley. (Earlier issues published from Chambersburg, PA)
 * Weird Tales. Philadelphia, PA: Terminus Publishing Company, Inc. Publisher: Warren Lapine. Editors: George H. Scithers and Darrell Schweitzer
 * WHEN THE BLACK LOTUS BLOOMS. Atlanta, GA.: Unnameable Press, 1990. Edited by Elizabeth A. Saunders. With an introduction by Robert R. McCammon
 * Whispers. Fayetteville, NC. Edited and Published by Stuart David Schiff
 * Wisconsin Academy Review, Spring 1960. Walter E. Scott mentions Brennan along with a few poetry lines
 * The Wisconsin Athenaean.
 * Wisconsin Poetry Magazine. Wauwatosa, WI. Edited by Clara Catherine Prince
 * Wisconsin Review. University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.
 * The World Fantasy Convention 1982 [Program booklet]. Ephrata, PA.: Science Press, 1982. Edited by Kennedy Poyser
 * Writers Festival Anthology. Milford, CT.: The Taylor Library, 1961
 * Yale Literary Magazine. New Haven, CT.

Fiction: Anthology Appearances and Periodical Contributions

 * 2-Gun Western. [Pulp magazine]. New York: Stadium Publishing Corporation
 * The 4th Pan Book of Horror Stories. London: Pan Books, 1963. Selected by Herbert van Thal
 * After Midnight. New York: TOR Books, April 1986. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * Acolytes of Cthulhu. Minneapolis, MN: Fedogan & Bremer, 2001. Edited by Robert M. Price
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Anthology, Volume 1. New York : Davis Publications, 1976. Edited by Eleanor Sullivan
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Sampler, Fall 1966. H. S. D. Publications
 * The Bank Street Book of Creepy Tales. New York: Pocket Books, September 1989. Edited by Howard Zimmerman, Seymour Reit, and Barbara Brenner. Illustrated by Lee Moyer
 * Best Western. [Pulp magazine]. New York: Stadium Publishing, March 1956. Edited by Robert O. Erisman.
 * Big Book Western. [Pulp magazine]. Kokomo, IN: Popular Publications
 * The Complete Masters of Darkness. Underwood/Miller, 1991. Edited by Dennis Etchison
 * The Complete Stephen King Encyclopedia. Stephen J. Spignesi. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1991.
 * Dark Mind, Dark Heart. Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1962. Edited by August Derleth
 * Dark Mind, Dark Heart. London: Mayflower Books, Ltd., 1963; 1966. Rpt.
 * Dark Things. Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1971. Edited by August Derleth
 * Death. New York: Playboy Paperbacks, August 1982. Edited by Stuart David Schiff
 * Demons! Fantastic Tales of Devilish Delights. New York: Ace Books, July 1987. Edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
 * The Disciples of Cthulhu. New York: DAW Books, October 1976. Edited by Edward P. Berglund
 * The Disciples of Cthulhu. Oakland, CA: Chaosium, February 1996. Edited by Edward P. Berglund. Brennan only appears in the Second Revised Edition
 * The Dodd/Mead Gallery of Horror. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1983. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * Doom City. The Second Chronicles of Greystone Bay. New York: TOR Books, December 1987. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * Dracula's Guest and Other Stories. Middletown, CT: Xerox Education Publications, Inc., 1972. Edited by Vic Ghidalia
 * Dying of Fright: Masterpieces of the Macabre. New York: Scribner's, 1976. Edited by Les Daniels. Illustrated by Lee Brown Coye
 * Eerie, Weird, and Wicked. Nashville/New York: Thomas Nelson, 1977. Edited by Helen Hoke
 * Esquire. Chicago: Esquire, Inc., February 1954
 * Etchings & Odysseys: A Tribute To The Weird. Duluth: MinnCon Publications, 1973. Edited by Eric Carlson & John Koblas
 * Fantasy Crossroads. Lamoni, Iowa: Stygian Isle Press, March 1977. Edited by Jonathan Bacon
 * Fantasy Macabre. Uncasville, Connecticut: Richard H. Fawcett. Number 5, 1985. Edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
 * Fifteen Western Tales. [Pulp magazine].
 * The First Chronicles of Greystone Bay. New York: TOR Books, October 1985. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * The Freak Show. London: Corgi, 1971. Edited by Peter Haining
 * Ghastly, Ghoulish, Gripping Tales. New York: Franklin Watts, 1983. Selected by Helen Hoke
 * Ghor, Kin-Slayer: The Saga of Genseric's Fifth-Born Son. West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press, August 1997. Chapter III of a Robert E. Howard fragment-round robin tale
 * Ghosts and Ghastlies. New York: Franklin Watts, 1976. Selected by Helen Hoke
 * The Goblins At The Bathhouse. New York: Caedmon, 1978. "The Calamander Chest". Performance by Vincent Price
 * Peter Haining Presents: The Freak Show. London: Rapp & Whiting Ltd., 1970
 * Peter Haining Presents: The Freak Show. Nashville/New York: Thomas Nelson, 1972. Rpt.
 * The Haster Cycle. Oakland, CA: Chaosium, February 1997. Introduction and prefaces by Robert M. Price. Brennan only appears in the 2nd edition
 * Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1968. Edited by Henry Mazzeo. Drawings by Edward Gorey
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents: More Stories My Mother Never Told Me. New York: Dell, November 1965
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories Not For The Nervous. New York: Random House, 1965
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories Not For The Nervous. New York: Dell, October 1966; March 1968; September 1971. Rpts.
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories To Stay Awake By. New York: Random House, 1971
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories To Stay Awake By. New York: Dell, September 1973
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories To Be Read With The Door Locked. New York: Random House, 1975
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Anthology. New York: Davis Publications, Fall-Winter 1978. Edited by Eleanor Sullivan
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Monster Museum. New York: Random House, 1965
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Riviera Beach, Florida: H. S. D. Publications.
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. [British] Alex White & Company, Ltd., July 1967. 2nd Series
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Stories To Be Read With The Door Locked, Book 2. Great Britain: Hodder & Stoughton, Coronet Books, 1979
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Tales To Keep You Spellbound. New York: The Dial Press, 1976. Edited by Eleanor Sullivan
 * Alfred Hitchcock's Tales To Make Your Blood Run Cold. New York: The Dial Press, 1978. Edited by Eleanor Sullivan
 * Horror-7. London: Corgi, 1965. Edited by Frederick Pickersgill
 * The Ithaqua Cycle: The Wind-Walker of the Icy Wastes: 14 Tales. Oakland, CA: Chaosium, July 1998. Selected and introduced by Robert M. Price
 * Living In Fear: A History of Horror in the Mass Media. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975. Edited by Les Daniels
 * Living In Fear: A History of Horror in the Mass Media. New York: Da Capo Press, 1983. Edited by Les Daniels. Rpt.
 * Macabre. New Haven, CT. Edited & Published by Joseph Payne Brennan
 * Mad Scientists: An Anthology of Fantasy & Horror. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1980. Edited by Stuart David Schiff
 * Magazine of Horror. New York: Health Knowledge, Inc., Robert A. W. Lowndes, Editor. January 1965 & Summer 1967
 * Masked Rider Western. [Pulp magazine]. New York: Better Publications, February 1950.
 * Masters of Darkness II. New York: TOR Books, January 1987. Edited by Dennis Etchison
 * Midnight. New York: TOR Books, October 1985. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * Midnight Sun 4. Columbus, Ohio: Gary Hoppenstand. August 1976
 * The Monster Book of Monsters: 50 Terrifying Tales. New York: Bonanza Books/Xanadu Publications, Ltd., 1988. Selected by Michael O'Shaughnessy
 * Monsters, Monsters, Monsters. New York: Franklin Watts, 1975. Selected by Helen Hoke
 * Mystery Stories I. Edited by James Higgins. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1973
 * Mystic Magazine. Evanston, Illinois: Palmer Publications, Issue #2, January 1954
 * Nameless Places. Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1975. Edited by Gerald W. Page
 * New Haven Advocate-New Haven's News & Arts Weekly. New Haven, CT: New Mass Media, Inc., October 28-November 3, 1993
 * Night Chills. New York: Avon Books, November 1975. Edited by Kirby McCauley
 * Night Visions 2. Niles, Illinois: Dark Harvest, 1985. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * Night Visions: Dead Image. New York: Berkley Books, September 1987. Edited by Charles L. Grant. [Reprint of Night Visions 2]
 * Over the Edge. New Stories of the Macabre. Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1964. Edited by August Derleth
 * Over the Edge. London: Victor Gollancz, Ltd., 1967. Edited by August Derleth. Rpt.
 * Over the Edge. London: Arrow, 1976. Edited by August Derleth
 * Pinnacle. Toledo, Ohio: Edited & Published by Elise Pinkerton Stewart. Autumn 1960
 * The Satyr's Head & Other Tales of Terror. London: Corgi Books, 1975. Edited by David A. Sutton
 * Selections from the Pan Book of Horror Stories #4. New York: Berkley Medallion Books, November 1970. Edited by Herbert van Thal
 * The Seventh Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories. Glasgow, Scotland: Fontana, 1971. Selected by Robert Aickman
 * Shadows 7. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1984. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * Shadows 7. New York: Berkley Books, February 1987. Edited by Charles L. Grant. Rpt.
 * Shadows 9. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1986. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * Shadows 9. New York: Berkley Books, May 1988. Edited by Charles L. Grant
 * The Shape Under The Sheet: The Complete Stephen King Encyclopedia. Woodstock, Georgia: The Overlook Connection Press, 1991. Edited by Stephen J. Spignesi
 * Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. New York: Renown Publications
 * Sixty-Five Great Tales of Horror. London: Octopus Books, Ltd., 1981. Edited by Mary Danby
 * Spectre 1: A Collection of Ghost Stories. London: Abelard-Schuman, 1973. Edited by Richard Davis
 * Strange Beasts & Unnatural Monsters: 13 Great Stories of the Macabre. Greenwich, CT: A Fawcett Crest Book, 1968. Selected and with an introduction by Philip Van Doren Stern
 * Tales from the Darkside: Volume One. New York: Berkley Books, October 1988. Edited by Mitchell Galin and Tom Allen
 * Texas Western. [Pulp magazine]. Kokomo, IN: Standard Magazines, Inc.
 * These Will Chill You: Twelve Terrifying Tales of Malignant Evil. New York: Bantam Books, February 1967. Selected by Lee Wright & Richard G. Sheehan
 * Thirteen Tales of Terror. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1977. Edited by Les Daniels and Diane Thompson
 * Thrillers and More Thrillers. New York: Random House, 1968. Selected by Robert Arthur. Illustrations by Saul Lambert
 * Thrillers and More Thrillers. New York: Windward Books/Random House, October 1973. Selected by Robert Arthur. Illustrations by Saul Lambert. Rpt.
 * A Tide of Terror: An Anthology of Rare Horror Stories. New York: Taplinger, 1972. Edited by Hugh Lamb
 * Travellers By Night. An Anthology of New Horror Stories. Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1967. Edited by August Derleth
 * Travellers By Night. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1968. Edited by August Derleth. Rpt.
 * Triple Western. [Pulp magazine]. Kokomo, IN: Best Publications, Inc.
 * The Twilight Zone Magazine. New York: TZ Publications, May/June 1984. Editor-In-Chief: T. E. D. Klein
 * Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters. New York: Curtis Publishing, 1974. Edited by Roger Elwood
 * WT50: A Tribute to Weird Tales. WEIRD TALES 50. Oak Lawn, Illinois: Robert Weinberg, 1974
 * Weird Tales. New York. Edited by Dorothy McIlwraith. July 1952; March 1953; July 1953; January 1954
 * Weird Tales #2. New York: Kensington Publishing/Zebra Books, Spring 1981. Edited by Lin Carter
 * Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors. New York: Bonanza Books, 1988. Edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, and Martin H. Greenberg. With an introduction by Robert Bloch
 * Weirdbook. Chambersburg, PA: W. Paul Ganley, #1, April 1968; #2, March 1969; #23/24, 1988; and combined with Whispers 30, April 1997
 * Weird Worlds. New York: Scholastic Magazines, Number 6, 1980
 * Western Novels & Short Stories. [Pulp magazine]. New York: Newsstand Publications. Edited by Robert O. Erisman
 * Western Short Stories. [Pulp magazine]. New York: Interstate Publishing Corporation/Stadium Publishing. Edited by Robert O. Erisman
 * Western Story Magazine. [Pulp magazine]. Kokomo, Indiana: (Popular) New Publications, October 1952
 * When Evil Wakes: A New Anthology of the Macabre. London: Souvenir Press, 1963. Edited by August Derleth
 * When The Black Lotus Blooms. Atlanta, Georgia: Unnameable Press, 1990. Edited by Elizabeth A. Saunders. With an introduction by Robert R. McCammon
 * Whispers. Fayetteville, North Carolina: Edited & Published by Stuart David Schiff, July 1973; June 1975; combined with Weirdbook 30, April 1997
 * Whispers: An Anthology of Fantasy & Horror. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1977. Edited by Stuart David Schiff
 * Whispers. New York: Jove Publications, February 1979. Edited by Stuart David Schiff. Rpt.
 * Whispers II. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1979. Edited by Stuart Davis Schiff
 * Whispers II. New York: Jove Publications, November 1987. Edited by Stuart David Schiff
 * The World Fantasy Convention 1982 Program Booklet. Ephrata, PA: Science Press, 1982. Edited by Kennedy Poyser
 * Yankee Witches. Augusta, Maine: Lance Tapley, 1988. Edited by Charles G. Waugh, Martin H. Greenberg, and Frank D. McSherry, Jr. Illustrated by Peter Farrow
 * The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series IV. New York: DAW Books, November 1976. Edited by Gerald W. Page
 * The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series V. New York: DAW Books, July 1977. Edited by Gerald W. Page

Brennan's fiction has been widely reprinted in Great Britain and several foreign languages, which include, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, Vietnamese, and Welsh. Additionally, several Brennan stories have been adapted for the visually and hearing impaired, although a listing of these is incomplete. The novelette "Slime" has been available in a Braille format for several decades.

Radio, Television, and Film

 * Thriller [Television adaptation], aired 16 April 1962. The Lethal Ladies episode presented "Good-Bye, Mr. Bliss" as "Good-Bye, Dr. Bliss", and "The Pool" as "Murder On The Rocks". Thriller also considered using "Apprehension" but apparently determined that it would be difficult to effectively adapt to performance media.
 * Tales from the Darkside [Television adaptation, 1984], presented "Levitation". This broadcast can be accessed at
 * Italiana Radio Televisione adapted the stories, "The Calamander Chest", "The House On Stillcroft Street", "Levitation", and "Long Hollow Swamp" for broadcast in 1982.
 * "Zombique" was adapted for radio and presented on THE HITCHCOCK HALF-HOUR airing on South African Broadcasting, 1981.
 * "The Calamander Chest" was recorded by Caedmon Educational Recordings in 1978 with a performance by Vincent Price. This tale is Side 2 on the LP recorded album (or "B" side on cassette) The Goblins At The Bathhouse, which is the Ruth Manning-Sanders tale being on the "A" side. This tale was also recorded by Houghton-Mifflin in 1973 for the Mystery Stories Listening Library, as a companion format to MYSTERY STORIES 1, edited by James Higgins. This recording can be accessed at
 * Supposedly, Brennan was recorded reading selected poems ("Heart of Earth"; "Black October"; "When Yellow Leaves"; "Return of the Young Men"; "The Closer Light"; and "Lines To H. P. Lovecraft") during a "Meet The Authors" gathering at the First World Fantasy Convention held in Providence, Rhode Island, October 31 - November 2, 1975. Thus far this is unsubstantiated.
 * Brennan was recorded as part of a panel discussion with several other authors at the First World Fantasy Convention, 1975. Some of this discussion appeared that year on a flexi-disc inserted into the fanzine Myrddin 3. The full recording can be accessed at

Recognition

 * Hartshorne Award for 1957. Wisconsin Poetry Magazine.
 * Leonora Speyer Memorial Award 1961, for "New England Vignette". The Poetry Society of America.
 * International Clark Ashton Smith Poetry Award 1978, (first recipient) awarded for Life Achievement. (An award created by Frederick J. Mayer and awarded yearly at the Fantasy Faire Convention in Southern California until the passing of co-founder William "Bill" Crawford in 1985).
 * World Fantasy Convention 1982. Brennan was awarded a Special Convention Award for Life Achievement, along with artist/illustrator, Roy Krenkel. The winner of the Life Achievement Award for 1982 went to Italo Calvino.
 * Brennan received numerous minor prizes from various literary journals over his 50 year span of writing poetry of distinguished quality.
 * Brennan was repeatedly turned down for grants to help produce and sustain his "little" magazines, ESSENCE and MACABRE. These two outlets were carried on for decades by his own determination and the assistance of numerous private contributions. The only organization to contribute substantially was the Virginia Humanities Foundation, most likely through the auspices of Dorothy Ulrich Troubetzkoy, who had worked with Brennan in the late Thirties on staff at the New Haven Journal-Courier, 1937-1939.