Hubbry Logo
Basil CopperBasil CopperMain
Open search
Basil Copper
Community hub
Basil Copper
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Basil Copper
Basil Copper
Basil Copper
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Basil Frederick Albert Copper (5 February 1924 – 3 April 2013) was an English writer and former journalist and newspaper editor.[1][2][3][4] He became a full-time writer in 1970. In addition to horror and detective fiction, Copper was perhaps best known for his series of Solar Pons stories continuing the character created as a tribute to Sherlock Holmes by August Derleth.[4]

Key Information

Copper's interests included swimming, gardening, travel, sailing and historic film material. One of England's leading film collectors, his private archive contained over one thousand titles (at 1989). He founded the Tunbridge Wells Vintage Film Society which ran for 20 years showing only films from Copper's collection. He often gave talks at various film organisations in London.[5] He was a member of the British Film Society and the Vintage Film Circle of London.[4] Copper was a longtime resident of Sevenoaks in Kent. His wife was the French-born Annie Copper (née Guerin), to whom he had been married since 1960.[2]

Career

[edit]

Copper had his very first short story, "The Curse", published when he was 14 years old; however his first professionally published short story was "The Spider" in the Fifth Pan Book of Horror Stories (1964).[3] His first book was the Mike Faraday novel The Dark Mirror (1966).[4]

The first of Copper's stories published by editor August Derleth was "The House by the Tarn" in Dark Things (1971). Copper went on to have a long-lived relationship with Derleth's Arkham House, which published his collections From Evil's Pillow (1973) and And Afterward, the Dark (1977) and his novels Necropolis (1980) and The House of the Wolf. His work drew praise from Donald Wandrei who said of him: "He beguiles the mind as he lures the imagination beyond the outposts of reality."[6] Copper's work was also championed by editor Peter Haining.

Copper's best-known macabre tales include: "The Academy of Pain", "Amber Print", "The Recompensing of Albano Pizar" (dramatised by BBC Radio 4) "The Candle in the Skull' (read over Hallowe'en on BBC Radio 4), "Better Dead", the acclaimed Lovecraftian novella "Beyond the Reef", "Bright Blades Gleaming" and "Ill Met by Daylight".

Copper's novel The Great White Space (1975) describes an expedition into a remote part of Asia to discover the location of the mysterious Old Ones. The Great White Space was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft and includes elements of the latter author's Cthulhu Mythos stories.[3] The novel also features a character called Clark Ashton Scarsdale who appears to be an affectionate tribute to Clark Ashton Smith.

Copper is also noted for his Cthulhu Mythos short story "Shaft Number 247" in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (1980).

Though his important work was in the domain of the macabre, he also wrote a long-running novel series featuring hard-boiled Los Angeles private detective Mike Faraday (58 novels from 1966 to 1988). Copper had not visited Los Angeles when he wrote the earliest Faraday novels. Instead, he used maps of the city and films based there to supply background detail for the series.[4]

Copper also ghostwrote two novels about the comics hero the Phantom for Lee Falk.[4]

Copper's work has been translated into many languages, reprinted in leading anthologies and filmed for television by Universal Pictures.[7] The TV adaptation was of his well-known macabre story "Camera Obscura", filmed as an episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery in 1971.

His novels Necropolis (a crossover between a Victorian Gothic and a detective story) and The House of the Wolf (a novel of lycanthropy) were both illustrated by Stephen Fabian.[3] Necropolis received a 1981 nomination for the Locus Award Best Fantasy novel category.

Copper edited a 1982 two-volume omnibus collection of Derleth's stories of the 'Pontine' canon, published by Arkham House; in that edition, Copper "edited" most of the tales in ways that many Solar Pons aficionados found objectionable.[citation needed] A later omnibus, The Original Text Solar Pons Omnibus Edition, was issued in 2000 under the imprint of Mycroft & Moran.

In early 2008, a bio-bibliography was published on him: Basil Copper: A Life in Books, compiled and edited by Stephen Jones. The volume received the 2009 British Fantasy Award for Best Non-Fiction.

In March 2010, Darkness, Mist and Shadow: The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper was launched at the Brighton World Horror Convention as a two-volume set by PS Publishing.

Works

[edit]
  • Not After Nightfall (Four Square Books, 1967)
  • From Evil's Pillow (Arkham House, 1973)
  • The Vampire: In Legend, Fact and Art (Robert Hale, 1973)
  • The Great White Space (Robert Hale, 1974)
  • When Footsteps Echo (Robert Hale, 1975)
  • The Curse of the Fleers (Harwood-Smart, 1976)
  • And Afterward, the Dark (Arkham House, 1977)
  • The Werewolf: In Legend, Fact and Art (Robert Hale, 1977)
  • Here Be Daemons (Robert Hale, 1978)
  • Voices of Doom (Robert Hale, 1980)
  • Necropolis (Arkham House, 1980)
  • Into the Silence (Sphere Books, 1983)
  • The House of the Wolf (Arkham House, 1983)
  • The Black Death (Fedogan & Bremer, 1991). Illustrations by Stefanie Kate Hawks.
  • Whispers in the Night: Stories of the Mysterious & Macabre (Fedogan & Bremer, 1999)
  • Cold Hand on My Shoulder (Sarob Press, 2002). Nine stories, four previously unpublished. Limited ed of 352 copies comprising 300 trade hardcovers and 52 signed lettered copies in slipcase.
  • Darkness, Mist and Shadow: The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (PS Publishing, 2010)

Solar Pons

[edit]

Mike Faraday

[edit]
  1. The Dark Mirror (1966)
  2. Night Frost (1966)
  3. No Flowers for the General (1967)
  4. Scratch on the Dark (1967)
  5. Die Now, Live Later (1968)
  6. Don't Bleed on Me (1968)
  7. The Marble Orchard (1969)
  8. Dead File (1970)
  9. No Letters from the Grave (1971)
  10. The Big Chill (1972)
  11. Strong-Arm (1972)
  12. A Great Year for Dying (1973)
  13. Shock-Wave (1973)
  14. The Breaking Point (1973)
  15. A Voice from the Dead (1974)
  16. Feedback (1974)
  17. Ricochet (1974)
  18. The High Wall (1975)
  19. Impact (1975)
  20. A Good Place to Die (1975)
  21. The Lonely Place (1976)
  22. Crack in the Sidewalk (1976)
  23. Tight Corner (1976)
  24. The Year of the Dragon (1977)
  25. Death Squad (1977)
  26. Murder One (1978)
  27. A Quiet Room in Hell (1979)
  28. The Big Rip-Off (1979)
  29. The Caligari Complex (1980)
  30. Flip-Side (1980)
  31. The Long Rest (1981)
  32. The Empty Silence (1981)
  33. Dark Entry (1981)
  34. Hang Loose (1982)
  35. Shoot-Out (1982)
  36. The Far Horizon (1982)
  37. Trigger-Man (1983)
  38. Pressure-Point (1983)
  39. Hard Contract (1983)
  40. The Narrow Corner (1983)
  41. The Hook (1984)
  42. You Only Die Once (1984)
  43. Tuxedo Park (1985)
  44. The Far Side of Fear (1985)
  45. Snow-Job (1986)
  46. Jet-Lag (1986)
  47. Blood on the Moon (1986)
  48. Heavy Iron (1987)
  49. Turn Down an Empty Glass (1987)
  50. Bad Scene (1988)
  51. House-Dick (1988)
  52. Print-Out (1988)


The Phantom

[edit]
  • The Slave Market of Mucar (Avon, 1972; as Lee Falk)
  • The Scorpia Menace (Avon, 1972; as Lee Falk)

Honours

[edit]

Copper received many honours over the years. In 1979, the Mark Twain Society of America elected him a Knight of Mark Twain for his outstanding "contribution to modern fiction", while the Praed Street Irregulars twice honoured him for his work on the Solar Pons series. He was a member of the Crime Writers' Association for over thirty years, serving as chairman in 1981/82 and on its committee for a total of seven years. At the 2010 World Horror Convention in Brighton, he was awarded the first WHC Lifetime Achievement Award.[2][8]

See also

[edit]
  • Copper, Basil (1977). And Afterward, the Dark. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-079-3.
  • Reginald, Robert (1992). Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature 1975-1991. Detroit: Gale Research. pp. 206. ISBN 0-8103-1825-3.
  • Sullivan, Jack (1986). The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural. New York: Viking Press. pp. 96. ISBN 0-670-80902-0.
  • Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 117. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Basil Copper

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Basil Copper was a British writer known for his macabre short stories, supernatural novels, and hard-boiled detective fiction. He produced a prolific body of work that drew influences from classic authors like M. R. James and Edgar Allan Poe, while establishing his own distinctive voice in supernatural and crime genres. Copper is particularly recognized for his long-running series of private-eye novels featuring Mike Faraday and his continuations of August Derleth’s Solar Pons stories, alongside acclaimed supernatural novels and collections of eerie tales. Born in London in 1924, Copper moved to Kent as a boy and developed an early interest in fiction through school magazine contributions and amateur dramatics. He trained as a journalist in his teens, served in the Royal Navy as a radio operator during World War II—including operations off the Normandy beaches on D-Day—and later worked as a news editor on regional newspapers for many years. He left journalism in 1970 to write full-time, having already debuted in fiction with the short story “The Spider” in 1964 and begun his Mike Faraday series with The Dark Mirror in 1966. Copper’s supernatural fiction often featured atmospheric horror and the uncanny, with notable novels including The Great White Space (1974), Necropolis (1980), and Into the Silence (1983), as well as collections such as Not After Nightfall (1967) and And Afterward, the Dark (1977). His Mike Faraday novels, set in Los Angeles despite the author never visiting California, paid homage to Raymond Chandler’s style and ran to over fifty titles. He also edited collections of Solar Pons stories and contributed new ones, including the novel Solar Pons Versus the Devil’s Claw (2004). In recognition of his contributions, he served as chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association and received a lifetime achievement award from the World Horror Convention in 2010. Copper died in 2013 at the age of 89 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, leaving behind a legacy of more than fifty books and numerous short stories that continue to attract readers and reissues in the horror and detective fields.

Early Life

Birth and Family Background

Basil Frederick Albert Copper was born on 5 February 1924 in London, England. Born in London, he moved with his family to Kent as a boy. Details about his parents, siblings, or broader family origins are not widely documented in available biographical sources. The relocation to Kent marked the beginning of his formative years outside the capital.

Childhood and Education

Basil Copper moved with his family to Kent as a boy, where he attended the local grammar school. At the school, he contributed short fiction to the magazine, participated in amateur dramatics, and played on the football team. Copper was a voracious reader during this period, frequently visiting bookshops and libraries, where he discovered the ghost stories of M.R. James and the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. These early encounters with supernatural and macabre literature sparked his lifelong interest in horror and mystery fiction. Following grammar school, Copper attended a local commercial college, where he studied bookkeeping, economics, shorthand, and touch-typing. No record exists of university-level education.

Journalism Career

Entry into Journalism

Basil Copper began his career in journalism in his teens by training as an apprentice journalist. This early training marked his entry into the profession following his education. He went on to work as a journalist for approximately 30 years. During this extensive tenure in the field, Copper progressed through roles that culminated in his appointment to news editor positions.

Newspaper Editing Roles

Basil Copper held senior editorial positions in regional newspapers in Kent, England, during his journalism career. He served as editor of the Sevenoaks edition of the Kent Messenger, where he oversaw content and operations for that local edition. This role reflected his advancement into newspaper management and editing responsibilities within the regional press. Sources also describe him as having worked as a news editor for a Kent county newspaper over an extended period, contributing to his expertise in editorial processes and team leadership. His editing roles formed part of a broader thirty-year tenure in journalism before transitioning to full-time writing.

Transition to Full-Time Writing

Decision to Leave Journalism

After serving as a news editor with a county newspaper in Kent for many years, Basil Copper left journalism in 1970 to become a full-time writer. This transition marked his shift from regional press roles, including his editorship of the Sevenoaks edition of the Kent Messenger, to dedicating himself exclusively to literary pursuits. The decision reflected the point at which his writing had developed sufficiently to support him as a professional author.

Early Publications as a Writer

In 1970, Basil Copper resigned from his position as editor of the Sevenoaks edition of the Kent Messenger to pursue writing full-time. His early publications following this transition included a series of short stories that appeared primarily in anthologies, reflecting his continued focus on macabre and supernatural themes. Among the first were "Out of the Fog" (1970), "The House by the Tarn" (1971), and "The Knocker at the Portico" (1971), with additional stories such as "A Very Pleasant Fellow," "The Gossips," and "The Second Passenger" published in 1973. Copper's first short story collection after becoming a full-time writer was From Evil's Pillow, issued in 1973 by Arkham House in an edition of 3,468 copies. This volume gathered several of his tales of the strange and terrible. Two years later, he released When Footsteps Echo (1975), another collection of his supernatural and macabre short fiction. These early post-1970 collections marked the beginning of a prolific period in which Copper consolidated his reputation through carefully crafted stories of unease and the uncanny.

Horror and Supernatural Fiction

Macabre Short Stories

Basil Copper established a significant reputation through his macabre short stories, which masterfully evoked supernatural dread, psychological unease, and themes of mortality without resorting to overt violence. His tales typically built atmosphere slowly through detailed sensory descriptions and first-person narration, creating a sense of encroaching darkness and the uncanny breaking into everyday reality. Copper's early macabre fiction frequently appeared in British horror anthologies during the 1960s, including the Pan Book of Horror Stories series, where his debut story "The Spider" was published in 1964. His first collection, Not After Nightfall: Stories of the Strange and Terrible, appeared in 1967 and gathered his initial explorations of strange and terrifying narratives. This was followed by From Evil's Pillow in 1973 from Arkham House, which introduced his work to American readers and featured five stories centered on cursed objects, haunted locations, and diabolical influences. The collection earned a World Fantasy Award nomination and included standout pieces such as "The Grey House," depicting a rural home with lingering malevolent occupants, and "The Gossips," which generated profound dread through a sinister Sicilian sculpture. Arkham House published And Afterward, the Dark: Seven Tales in 1977, collecting supernatural stories unified by their focus on death as an enveloping darkness, with notable inclusions such as "Camera Obscura" and "The Janissaries of Emilion." These early collections exemplified Copper's macabre style—evocative, methodical, and nerve-straining—drawing on Gothic and cosmic horror traditions. Subsequent volumes, including Here Be Daemons: Tales of Horror and the Uneasy in 1978, maintained this emphasis on the uneasy and tormented, while his complete macabre short fiction received renewed attention through the Darkness, Mist and Shadow series beginning in 2010.

Horror Novels and Themes

Basil Copper authored a number of horror novels that engage with themes of supernatural terror, cosmic dread, and dark fantasy, frequently incorporating atmospheric tension and encounters with ancient or malevolent forces. Some works reflect Lovecraftian influences with elements of cosmic horror and the pursuit of forbidden knowledge, as in The Great White Space. His macabre and supernatural fiction also shows strong influence from M.R. James in its atmospheric build-up and sense of the uncanny. Prominent among these is The Great White Space (1974), a novel centered on an expedition to a remote plateau where explorers confront evidences of prehistoric entities known as the Old Ones. Other horror novels include The Curse of the Fleers (1976), Necropolis (1980), The House of the Wolf (1983), Into the Silence (1983), and The Black Death (1991). Necropolis earned a nomination for the 1981 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. These novels showcase Copper's recurring motifs of gothic atmosphere, otherworldly threats, and the psychological toll of confronting the unknown, establishing his distinctive voice in supernatural horror.

Detective and Mystery Series

Mike Faraday Private Investigator Series

Mike Faraday Private Investigator Series Basil Copper's Mike Faraday series is a long-running collection of hard-boiled detective novels featuring the Los Angeles private investigator Mike Faraday. The series launched with The Dark Mirror in 1966 and continued through 1988, encompassing 52 novels. Mike Faraday is depicted as a tough, cynical private eye operating in the classic American hard-boiled tradition, tackling cases involving gangsters, corruption, and violent crime in the gritty urban landscape of Los Angeles. The novels emphasize fast-paced action, atmospheric descriptions of the city, and Faraday's no-nonsense approach to solving mysteries, often relying on street smarts and resilience rather than formal procedures. Many entries were published as paperback originals by Robert Hale, contributing to the series' prolific output and popularity among readers of private eye fiction. The series stands as Copper's primary contribution to the detective and mystery genre.

Solar Pons Pastiches

Basil Copper was authorized by the Derleth Estate to continue August Derleth's Solar Pons detective series following Derleth's death in 1971. These pastiches feature the consulting detective Solar Pons, based in Praed Street, London, and his Boswell-like narrator Dr. Lyndon Parker, solving mysteries in the Sherlockian tradition. Copper produced approximately 25 original stories across multiple collections, along with one novel, marking a substantial extension of the canon. Copper's early contributions appeared through Pinnacle Books in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These include The Dossier of Solar Pons (1979) containing six stories, The Further Adventures of Solar Pons (1979) with four stories, The Secret Files of Solar Pons (1979) with four stories, and The Uncollected Cases of Solar Pons (1980) with four stories. Later volumes were issued by Fedogan & Bremer and Sarob Press, notably The Exploits of Solar Pons (1993) with four stories, The Recollections of Solar Pons (1995) including three new stories plus a restored earlier tale, the standalone novel Solar Pons Versus the Devil's Claw (2004), and Solar Pons: The Final Cases (2005). Copper's stories differ markedly from Derleth's originals in length and style, typically novella-length (40–70 pages) with a slower, more descriptive pace influenced by Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series rather than the concise, Doyle-like brevity of Derleth's tales. Copper occasionally deviated from the standard "The Adventure of..." title format and expressed dissatisfaction with editorial changes in some early editions, later restoring his preferred texts in subsequent publications. A comprehensive collection of his Solar Pons material, exceeding 1,350 pages, appeared in a limited 2017 edition from PS Publishing. In addition to his original Mike Faraday private investigator novels, Copper's authorized Solar Pons pastiches represent his principal achievement in detective fiction.

Other Works and Contributions

Additional Genres and Publications

In addition to his primary output in horror and detective fiction, Basil Copper explored other genres through non-fiction studies and contributions to pulp adventure series. He authored two non-fiction books examining legendary creatures: The Vampire in Legend, Fact and Art (1973) and The Werewolf in Legend, Fact & Art (1977). These volumes analyze the historical origins, folklore, and cultural depictions of vampires and werewolves, respectively. Copper also wrote in the adventure genre with The Phantom and the Scorpia Menace (1972), a novel in the long-running pulp hero The Phantom franchise. His overall literary production exceeded 50 books across various categories.

Scripts and Media Adaptations

Several of Basil Copper's macabre short stories were adapted for television and radio, though his own scriptwriting efforts often remained personal or unproduced. His well-known story "Camera Obscura" was dramatised as a segment of the American anthology series Rod Serling's Night Gallery in 1971, with the episode credited to his original story and featuring Ross Martin as the miserly banker tormented by a supernatural optical device that replays past sins. In the UK, Copper's tale "The Recompensing of Albano Pizar" was adapted for BBC Radio 4 as Invitation to the Vaults and broadcast in 1991. Copper also created original scripts for media, including a personal short film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" made in the 1950s as a passion project; the approximately twenty-six-minute film remained private and unseen during his lifetime until it was discovered after his death in 2013, professionally transferred to digital format, and given a new score by In the Nursery for inclusion in a limited-edition publication. He additionally wrote a complete television script adapting M. R. James' classic horror story "Count Magnus" for potential BBC production, though it was never filmed; the script was later included in a posthumous collection alongside the Usher film. No major feature films or ongoing series were based on his works, and his contributions to media largely reflect isolated adaptations and unrealized projects.

Awards and Recognition

Lifetime Achievement Award

In 2010, Basil Copper was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Horror Convention in Brighton, England. This honor, presented by the World Horror Convention, recognizes lifetime achievement and outstanding contributions to the horror genre. The award acknowledges Copper's extensive body of work in horror and supernatural fiction, spanning decades of influential short stories, novels, and other writings that have shaped the field. As one of the convention's prestigious lifetime accolades, it underscores his status as a master of atmospheric and macabre storytelling.

Other Honours and Legacy

Copper maintained a long association with the Crime Writers' Association, serving as a member for more than thirty years, on its committee for seven years, and as chairman from 1981 to 1982. In his later years and after his death in 2013, Copper's work experienced a resurgence of interest, particularly through publications by PS Publishing, including the biography and bibliography Basil Copper: A Life in Books in 2008 and the comprehensive collection Darkness, Mist and Shadow: The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper (initially released in hardcover in 2010 and reprinted in trade paperback in 2013), which gathered his scattered supernatural stories from various out-of-print anthologies and volumes into an accessible set regarded as a treasure trove of classic British horror. Copper's contributions to detective fiction are notably exemplified by his continuation of the Solar Pons series, where he is considered a worthy successor to August Derleth, producing admirable extensions to the canon despite a slower pace and more detailed style that divided some enthusiasts. His macabre tales continue to be appreciated for their atmospheric quality and craftsmanship, solidifying his reputation as a master of British horror whose work rewards thoughtful rereading.

Personal Life and Death

Marriage and Family

Basil Copper married Annie Renee Guerin in 1960. He met his French-born wife while she was a student learning English. The couple's marriage lasted throughout his life, with Guerin remaining his spouse. No further details about children or extended family members are documented in available biographical sources.

Later Years and Death

In his later years, Basil Copper suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He died on 4 April 2013 at the age of 89, with complications arising from Alzheimer's disease. Some sources report the date as 3 April 2013. His passing marked the end of a prolific career in horror and mystery fiction that spanned several decades.
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.