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Collections of Short Stories, Poems and Essays by Arthur Porges

On this page you will find details of all the book collections of Arthur Porges' stories, poems and essays that have been published, as well as information on forthcoming titles.

• Three Porges Parodies and a Pastiche (1988)

• The Mirror and Other Strange Reflections (2002)

• Eight Problems in Space: The Ensign De Ruyter Stories (2008)

• The Adventures of Stately Homes and Sherman Horn: Being the Compleat Sherlockian Writings of Arthur Porges (2008)

• The Calabash of Coral Island and Other Early Stories (2008)

• The Miracle of the Bread and Other Stories (2008)

• Spring, 1836: Selected Poems (2008)

• The Devil and Simon Flagg and Other Fantastic Tales (2009)

• The Curious Cases of Cyriack Skinner Grey (2009)

• The Ruum and Other Science Fiction Stories (2010)

• The Rescuer and Other Science Fiction Stories (2014)

• Unusual Plants of the Galaxy (2014)

• No Killer Has Wings: The Casebook of Dr. Joel Hoffman (2017)

• These Daisies Told: The Casebook of Professor Ulysses Price Middlebie (2018)

• The Price of a Princess: Hardboiled Crime Fiction (2020)

• Collected Essays: Volume One (2021)

Three Porges Parodies and a Pastiche

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Michael H. Kean
Published by Magico Magazine, 1988

Cover illustration by Kerry Smith

Michael Kean's elusive but brilliant collection of Arthur Porges' Holmesian spoofs was published by Magico Magazine in 1988. In addition to the four stories, the book contains an informative introduction by the editor, a transcription of a letter from Frederic Dannay to Arthur Porges, and a rare article by Porges entitled "The Other Works of Arthur Conan Doyle." The pastiche, "The Singular Affair of the Aluminium Crutch," was first published in this volume.

Three Porges Parodies and a Pastiche contains the following stories:

• An Adventure of Stately Homes
• Another Adventure of Stately Homes
• Stately Homes ... and the Box
• The Singular Affair of the Aluminium Crutch

The Mirror and Other Strange Reflections

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Mike Ashley
Published by Ash-Tree Press, 2002

Cover painting by Paul Lowe

• The Mirror
• What Crouches in the Deep
• Solomon's Demon
• Swamp Demon
• The Shadowsmith
• Brilliant Career
• The Shakespeare Manuscript
• $1.98
• The Other Side
• In the Tomb
• Puddle
• The Fanatical Ford
• The Grom
• The Second Debut
• The Moths
• The Man Who Wouldn't Eat
• The Fanatic
• Nightquake
• Josephus
• Mystery and Magic on the Steppe
• The Lonesome Game
• The Forerunner
• Modelled in Clay
• Words and Music
• The Radio
• Two Lunchdates with Destiny
• 3rd Sister
• The Tidings

Eight Problems in Space:
The Ensign De Ruyter Stories

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2008

Cover painting by Ron Turner

Edited and with an introduction by Richard Simms, this book of science fiction stories was published in 2008 by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box. With a stunning cover painting by the late Ron Turner, Eight Problems in Space collects together all of Arthur Porges' legendary Ensign De Ruyter tales. Both ingenious and exciting, this book will delight fans of stories that feature a traditional "scientific puzzle." Seven of these tales, long out-of-print, have been culled from the pages of Amazing Stories and Fantastic magazines. The final story in the collection is the previously unpublished "Brain Slug."

This book can be ordered directly from The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box website.

Eight Problems in Space contains the following stories:

• Urned Reprieve
• Wheeler Dealer
• Ensign De Ruyter: Dreamer
• The Good Seed
• Dusty Answer
• Pressure
• The Dragons of Tesla
• Brain Slug

The Adventures of Stately Homes and Sherman Horn:
Being the Compleat Sherlockian Writings of Arthur Porges

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2008

Cover artwork by Paul Churchill

Editor Richard Simms has teamed up with The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box to compile a definitive collection of Arthur Porges' Sherlockian writings. Contained in this book are the four stories collected in Michael Kean's earlier compilation Three Porges Parodies and a Pastiche (1988), as well as five additional parodies originally published from 2001 to 2004. This superb volume includes an introduction by Sherlock Holmes enthusiast Michael Kean and features a wonderful cover by Paul Churchill.

This book can be ordered directly from The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box website.

The Adventures of Stately Homes and Sherman Horn contains the following stories:

• An Adventure of Stately Homes
• Another Adventure of Stately Homes
• Stately Homes ... and the Box
• The Singular Affair of the Aluminium Crutch
• Stately Homes and the Invisible Slasher
• Stately Homes and the Blunt Instrument
• Stately Homes and the Invisible Giant
• Stately Homes and the Impossible Shot
• Stately Homes and the Cutthroat Ghost

The Calabash of Coral Island and Other Early Stories

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2008

A collection of twenty-one previously unpublished short stories by Arthur Porges, dating from the 1930s and 1940s. The stories in this volume, compiled from Porges' original manuscripts, cover a wide range of themes and genres. This fascinating book gathers together a varied selection of stories that chronicle a young author developing and learning his craft in the years preceding his first professional sale.

This book was published in 2008 and is available to order through Amazon and other online booksellers.

The Calabash of Coral Island and Other Early Stories contains the following stories:

• The Crabs of Coral Island
• The Calabash of Coral Island
• Mind or Matter
• Was Peters' Watch Right?
• The Glass House Cure
• The Coward
• The Peasant Madonna
• Seaside Flirtation
• Pierre Renard's Christmas
• The True Story of Hercules
• The Tooth
• Return to Me
• The Surgical Cracksman and the Crime School
• A Dictator Dies
• When the Sleeper Wakes
• A Quick Death
• No Survivors
• The Terror of the Mindanao Depths
• Denizens of the Drop
• Monsters of the Grasslands
• The Soulless Ones: Vespa

The Miracle of the Bread and Other Stories

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2008

The second volume in an ongoing series of books, this collection gathers together twenty-four stories drawn from the full span of Porges' fifty-year writing career. The wide variety of themes and genres on display in this landmark collection illustrate the versatility of an author on the top of his form. This book includes several previously unpublished stories, in addition to such classic tales as "Masterpiece," "Stalemate" and "The Black Tyrant," which have never been reprinted since their original publication in magazines.

This book was published in 2008 and is available to order through numerous online booksellers such as Amazon.

The Miracle of the Bread and Other Stories contains the following stories:

• Treed by Terror
• Weeping Willie
• An Unlicensed Surgeon
• Reconstruction
• Masterpiece
• Morning After
• Night of the Puppet
• Man's Best Friend
• Secret Vice
• The Drum Major
• The Crime
• A Letter from Réjane
• Birthday in a Garden
• The Odyssey of Epeira
• The Black Tyrant
• The Fiery Patriot
• The Room
• Dressed to Kill
• Last Gasp
• Murder of a Priest
• Stalemate
• The Only Survivor
• The Most Dangerous Animal in the World
• The Miracle of the Bread

Spring, 1836: Selected Poems

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2008

A collection of fifty-nine poems, written by the author across many years. The majority of the poems assembled in this volume were originally published in The Monterey County Herald and other periodicals local to where Porges lived in the last few decades of his life. This book includes a varied selection of verses, encompassing poignant reflections on old age, bereavement and the loss of innocence, to more quirky and esoteric meditations concerning fate, mythology, the natural world and the inexorable passage of time.

This book was published in 2008 and is available to order through numerous online booksellers such as Amazon.

Spring, 1836: Selected Poems contains the following poems:

• The Other Smile
• Spring, 1836
• Listener
• Snapshot in Black-and-White
• The Corridor
• Of Ants and Men
• Broadcaster
• No Laughing Matter
• Connections
• Bishop Paul’s Vision
• Shadows
• Overheard in a Piano Store
• The Years
• Foxes—Meet the Hedgehog
• Foliot
• The News
• Creation and Osculation
• A Dream of Judgment
• Automatic Pistol
• Stone
• Effie Warvelle at the River Styx
• Sappho’s Lover Speaks
• Two Wrynesses
• Executing the Monster
• Departure
• The Amazonian Mail
• Physics for Fundamentalists
• The Sounds of Death
• Time’s Arrows
• The Worm Turns
• Immortality
• Captain Jobson
• A Red Dawn
• The Invitation
• To a Dear Lady Born on Midway Island
• A Satire of Circumstance
• A Dream
• Survivor
• Unwelcome Guests
• Apple
• The Real Bomb
• Six Death Sentences
• The Little Republic of Uforia
• Saraband
• Smashing the Mirror
• African Food-Chain
• Incident
• The Bridge
• How the World Will End
• Necrology
• The Shield
• Taking the More-Traveled Road
• On Gravity
• Time Gap
• Ah, Maureen!
• A Promise
• Fragrance as Memory
• Leaf and Stream
• Smiles

The Devil and Simon Flagg and Other Fantastic Tales

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2009

This book collection of Arthur Porges' stories collects twenty-three outstanding fantasy tales. Many of these stories have never been reprinted since their original somewhat ephemeral appearances in magazines. Featuring classic stories such as "One Bad Habit," "Mop-Up" and the unforgettable title story, this landmark collection will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of every Porges fan. Also included in this volume are four previously unpublished stories.

This book was published in 2009 and is available to order through numerous online booksellers such as Amazon.

The Devil and Simon Flagg and Other Fantastic Tales contains the following stories:

• The Devil and Simon Flagg
• Mop-Up
• Strange Birth
• The Liberator
• The Mozart Annuity
• One Bad Habit
• The Arrogant Vampire
• Dr. Blackadder's Clients
• Report on the Magic Shop
• A Devil of a Day
• Through Channels
• The Fiftieth Year of April
• The Crime of Mr. Sauer
• A Diversion for the Baron
• The Devil Will Surely Come
• I Met My Love Again
• The Man Who Had Everything
• Disgust
• Demonstration
• The Dwarf
• Free at Last
• The Oddmedod
• A Scary Printout

The Curious Cases of Cyriack Skinner Grey

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2009

This long-awaited volume in the series of Arthur Porges collections assembles sixteen "impossible crime" stories featuring the wheelchair-bound crime consultant Cyriack Skinner Grey. Thirteen of the tales included in this book have been reproduced from 1960s and '70s issues of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine while the remaining three stories are published here for the first time. Porges' Cyriack Skinner Grey mysteries are superb examples of the traditional "locked room" genre of detective fiction. An array of ingenious plots are on display in this fascinating collection of classic short stories by a master short story writer.

This book was published in 2009 and is available to order through numerous online sellers such as Amazon.

The Curious Cases of Cyriack Skinner Grey contains the following stories:

• The Scientist and the Bagful of Water
• The Scientist and the Wife Killer
• The Scientist and the Vanished Weapon
• The Scientist and the Obscene Crime
• The Scientist and the Multiple Murder
• The Scientist and the Invisible Safe
• The Scientist and the Two Thieves
• The Scientist and the Time Bomb
• The Scientist and the Platinum Chain
• The Scientist and the Exterminator
• The Scientist and the Missing Pistol
• The Scientist and the Stolen Rembrandt
• The Scientist and the Impassable Gulf
• The Scientist and the Poisoner
• The Scientist and the Heavenly Alibi
• The Scientist and the One-Word Clue

The Ruum and Other Science Fiction Stories

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2010

The first volume in a two-part collection of Arthur Porges' science fiction stories. The Ruum and Other Science Fiction Stories covers the 1950s period, when Porges was writing some of his best-ever science fiction tales. Featured in this book are stories reprinted from the pages of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction; among these are "The Rats," "Story Conference" and "The Fly." As well as the title story, which surely needs no introduction, another highlight is "The Mannering Report," which is published here for the first time. This latest addition to the ongoing series of Porges collections is a varied and thoroughly entertaining read.

This book was published in 2010 and is available to order through numerous online sellers such as Amazon.

The Ruum and Other Science Fiction Stories contains the following stories:

• The Ruum
• The Rats
• The Fly
• By a Fluke
• Emergency Operation
• Story Conference
• The Logic of Rufus Weir
• The Entity
• Whirlpool
• The Unwilling Professor
• Guilty as Charged
• The Mannering Report
• Security
• A Touch of Sun

The Rescuer and Other Science Fiction Stories

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2014

The second volume in a two-part collection of Arthur Porges' science fiction stories. The Rescuer and Other Science Fiction Stories cover the 1960s period, a particularly prolific era in the author's career. Drawn from the pages of Amazing Stories, Galaxy, Fantastic and other magazines, the stories assembled in this book showcase some of Porges' most accomplished work in the field of science fiction. Highlights include "A Specimen for the Queen" (a sequel to "The Ruum" which is reprinted here for the first time ever), the provocative title story, poignant pieces such as "Priceless Possession" and "Irresistible Attraction" and the wildly imaginative "Degree Candidate." Also included is the previously unpublished story "Doomsday Incident." This long-awaited follow up to The Ruum and Other Science Fiction Stories is a must-read for Porges fans everywhere.

This book was published in 2014 and is available to order through numerous online sellers such as Amazon.

The Rescuer and Other Science Fiction Stories contains the following stories:

• A Specimen for the Queen
• Turning Point
• The Rescuer
• Problem Child
• The Topper
• Controlled Experiment
• The Formula
• Degree Candidate
• The Auto Hawks
• Revenge
• Off His Rocker
• Mulberry Moon
• The Melanas
• A Civilized Community
• Alien
• Irresistible Attraction
• Doomsday Incident
• Priceless Possession

Unusual Plants of the Galaxy

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2014

The "Unusual Plants of the Galaxy" series of science fiction vignettes was first published in an obscure, now defunct periodical based in Mendocino County, California called Memo in the mid-1990s. In these seven intriguing and rare pieces, assembled here in book form for the first time, Porges imagines with fascinating detail and invention various imaginary plants that may exist on other worlds throughout the galaxy. This volume will surely delight Porges fans around the world and will be of particular interest to those who appreciate his work in the science fiction medium.

This book was published in 2014 and is available to order through numerous online sellers such as Amazon.

Unusual Plants of the Galaxy contains the following pieces:

• Vedius Flame-Lily
• Bio-Balloons
• Botanical Justice
• Redi's Squash Plant
• Deadly Shade
• Executioner Plant
• Wheel in the Sky

No Killer Has Wings: The Casebook of Dr. Joel Hoffman

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2017

The "locked room" mystery stories featuring the pathologist-sleuth Dr. Joel Hoffman are a favourite among Porges fans. All six of the Hoffman stories, which were originally published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, have now been assembled here in one volume. This collection includes two stories that have never been reprinted since their original publication in the early 1960s.

This book was published in 2017 and is available to order through numerous online sellers such as Amazon.

No Killer Has Wings: The Casebook of Dr. Joel Hoffman contains the following stories:

• Dead Drunk
• Horse-Collar Homicide
• Circle in the Dust
• No Killer Has Wings
• A Puzzle in Sand
• Birds of One Feather

These Daisies Told: The Casebook of Professor Ulysses Price Middlebie

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2018

This volume assembles in book form for the first time the eleven stories featuring the armchair criminologist Professor Ulysses Price Middlebie. These crime stories, originally published between 1962 and 1975, involve murders, attempted murders, thefts and arson and are all written in the tradition of the "impossible crime" mystery genre. Several of the stories in this collection have never been reprinted since their initial appearances in magazines and newspapers such as Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and The Los Angeles Times.

This book was published in 2018 and is available to order through numerous online sellers such as Amazon.

These Daisies Told: The Casebook of Professor Ulysses Price Middlebie contains the following stories:

• These Daisies Told
• The Unguarded Path
• The Missing Bow
• Small, Round Man From Texas
• Blood Will Tell
• Coffee Break
• A Model Crime
• To Barbecue a White Elephant
• The Puny Giant
• The Symmetrical Murder
• Fire for Peace

The Price of a Princess: Hardboiled Crime Fiction

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2020

A collection of thirteen noirish crime and mystery tales dating from the 1960s by a writer better-known for his ingenious "locked room" puzzle stories. Murders, unexplained suicides, mysterious disappearances, revenge and blackmail all feature in this landmark collection of stories written in a notably darker tone than is usual for Porges. The stories assembled in this book were originally published in magazines such as Bestseller Mystery Magazine, Fling, The London Mystery Selection and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

This book was published in 2020 and is available to order through numerous online sellers such as Amazon.

The Price of a Princess: Hardboiled Crime Fiction contains the following stories:

• Heat
• The Glint
• The Reason
• Born to Save
• The Price of a Princess
• Chain Smoker
• Swan Song
• A Small Favor
• Bet with a Witch
• A Change for the Better
• The Emperor's Dogs
• Mr. Kang vs. the Demon
• Too Young to Live

Collected Essays: Volume One

by Arthur Porges

Edited by Richard Simms
Published by Richard Simms Publications, 2021

The first book in a two-volume collection of essays, the majority of which originally appeared from 1986 to 1989 in The Monterey County Herald newspaper, while others are published here for the first time. This first volume contains a number of memoirs wherein Porges reflects candidly on various incidents from his long life, including several from his childhood in Chicago as well as recollections of the challenges he faced while serving in the U.S. Army during the World War Two. Other essays assembled in this book reveal the author's love of literature and among these are appreciations of some of his favorite authors, such as H. Rider Haggard and H. H. Munro.

This book was published in 2021 and is available to order through numerous online sellers such as Amazon.

Collected Essays: Volume One contains the following essays:

• Close Encounters With the Fool-Killer
• My First Bike
• Confessions of a Sports Klutz
• A Short and Inglorious Work Resume
• Grocery Shopping—The Way it Was
• The Fruit That Got Away
• Some Encounters With the Written Word
• The Sheik and I
• Fiction: Furry, Feathered and Finny
• A True Love That Seldom Fades Away
• Hooked by the Major
• From Bad Math Student to OK Math Teacher
• A Not-Very-Mighty Hunter Confesses
• John Barleycorn, Nick O'Teen and Me
• A Different Fear of Water
• The View From Rudyard Kipling's Toad
• In Praise of Sir Henry Rider Haggard
• The Prose Style of Hector Hugh Munro
• Victor Hugo's Loose Cannon
• A Car Crash—The "Total" Experience
• Finding Comfort in Antisocial Security
• One Man Searching for Light
• My Poisonous Pals
• Lessons Learned From a Pair of Cats
• Relating the Strange Story of a Story
• Love, Death and Mystery
• Not Necessarily the Britannica
• Confessions of a Biblioneurotic
• Moments of Poignancy
• Memoirs of a Harried Peninsula Hiker
• Still Writing and Selling at Eighty-Four
• Some of My Loose Ends and Minor Mysteries
• More Close Encounters With the Fool-Killer

Forthcoming Books by Arthur Porges

Collected Essays: Volume Two - Publication date to be advised