Manly Wade Wellman

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-11-02

Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986) was an American writer born in Kamundongo, Portuguese West Africa, to a medical officer father. He grew up in the United States, earned degrees from Fairmount College and Columbia's School of Journalism, and sold his first story to Weird Tales in 1927. He is best remembered for his Weird Tales work and his Appalachian fantasy and horror stories, which draw on regional folklore. He also wrote science fiction, westerns, mysteries, juvenile fiction and histories of the Old South. His recurring characters include the balladeer John (Silver John), the occult detective Judge Pursuivant and John Thunstone. Wellman lived in North Carolina from 1951 until his death in Chapel Hill in 1986. Karl Edward Wagner called him the dean of fantasy writers.

Universe(s)

Books

• The Old Gods Waken (1979) · Silver John Core Canon
• After Dark (1980) · Silver John Core Canon
• The Lost and the Lurking (1981) · Silver John Core Canon
• The Hanging Stones (1982) · Silver John Core Canon
• The Voice of the Mountain (1984) · Silver John Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 5 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 0 (None recorded)

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