Manley Wade Wellman

The Wellman family spent their early years in Portuguese West Africa (now Angola); Manley Wade Wellman was born in the town of Kamundongo, where their father was a medical missionary. He spoke Bantu fluently (English was actually Manley’s second language). The family moved to DC when he was still young, and they lived in this house and he attended grade school in DC. After his parents’ divorce, he and his older brother, Paul Wellman (also a writer), moved with their mother to Kansas.

Manley Wade Wellman wrote science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories, and is best known for stories that draw on the folklore of the Appalachian Mountains. He lived most of his adult life in North Carolina. He contributed to Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, and other pulp magazines, and won the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Award and the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Manley’s numerous books include: The Invading Asteroid (1929), Giants from Eternity (1959), Who Fears the Devil? (1963), Worse Things Waiting (1973), Lonely Vigils (1981), and The Voice of the Mountain (1984). In addition to novels and short fiction, Manley wrote stories for young adults, a play, and nonfiction, including books about Confederate soldiers of the Civil War. Some of his stories were adapted for television specials and for the TV series The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery.