The Little People

[rayocass]

So I'm a total sucker for tales of diminutive "lost race" subterranean dwellers who rise from the loam to waylay the unlucky, worship their strange gods, and strike weird terror into the hearts of modern man.

Outside of the classic stories by Machen, Howard, Wellman, and Lovecraft and more recent works like T.E.D Klein's masterpiece "Children of the Kingdom" what other, perhaps more obscure, little people stories would you suggest for an anthology?

[Dr Strange]

Can't think of any recent short stories on this theme, but the whole pagan survival / folk horror genre is a great favourite of mine. A couple of old ones you might have missed are John Buchan's No Man's Land (1902) and Grant Allen's Pallinghurst Barrow (1892).

A more modern take, but at novel length, is The Good People by Steve Cockayne (2006) - this gets very dark but is beautifully written. (And don't be put off by the fact that it's supposed to be for "young adults" - I didn't even realise that when I was reading it!)

[Craig Herbertson]

Jack Vance the SF/fantasy author uses little people and creatures quite a lot in his tales. In one of the Cugel saga there's a good section with tiny ratlike cannibals. Forget which bit though. The chapters tend to be self sufficient as shorts.

[rayocass]

Thank you both, Dr. Strange and Craig.

Dr. Strange -- I share your enthusiasm for pagan/folk survival horror indeed. Both of these older stories are, surprisingly, new to me. Thank you. And Cockayne's novel looks perfect. I'm ordering it immediately.

Craig -- Vance is an excellent suggestion. I've always loved his Dying Earth works. Thank you.

I've gone ahead and started a running list of short stories and novels with this general theme. I'm sure I'm missing many but:

Little People / Lurking Pagans in the Hills Anthology

Short Stories:
John Buchan "No Man's Land"
Grant Allan "Pallinghurst Barrow"
Robert E. Howard "The Little People"
Robert E. Howard "Worms of the Earth"
Robert E. Howard "Beyond the Black River"
Robert E. Howard "People of the Dark"
Robert E. Howard "The children of the Night"
Robert E. Howard "The Shadow Kingdom"
Arthur Machen "The White People"
Arthur Machen "Novel of the Black Seal"
Arthur Machen "Out of the Earth"
Arthur Machen "The Great God Pan"
Arthur Machen "The Shining Pyramid"
Arthur Machen "Out of the Picture"
Arthur Machen "Change"
H. P. Lovecraft "Whisperer in the Darkness"
H. P. Lovecraft "The Lurking Fear"
T.E.D. Klein "Children of the Kingdom"
Manly Wade Wellman "The Shonokins"
Manly Wade Wellman "Shonokin Town"

Novels:
Jack Vance - The Dying Earth
Jack Vance - Cugel's Saga
Steve Cockayne - The Good People
Manly Wade Wellman - After Dark

[dem bones]

you might like to consider

Karl E. Wagner - .220 Swift .
Dorothy K, Haynes - Changeling
Frank Belknap Long - The Refugees
J. S. Le Fanu's The Child That Went With The Fairies might at first seem a little whimsical but there's an underlying nastiness and the little people are utterly malevolent.

I'm sure Algernon Blackwood wrote one, but the title escapes me.

[jamesdoig]

John Christopher, The Little People, where the little bastinos are the product of a nazi experiment.

[Dr Strange]

James, you must be wishing you had this version -

tinyurl.com/chwvam


Oh, and there's another Machen not on the list above - The Red Hand

[rayocass]

Thanks, Demonik. Those are excellent additions. I'd forgotten about Wagner's brilliant little tale.

And Jamesdoig, Christopher's "Little People" is a natural as well. I'd never seen the cover you posted above, only the infamous Avon one. But it's a sure add.

The Blackwood story is "The Trod."

[cw67q]

Sarban- Ringstones
Sarban - the King of the lake
Walter S Masterman - the Flying Beast

- chris

[rayocass]

Excellent adds, Chris. Thanks.

I recalled another: Karl Wagner's Legion From the Shadows.

A Bran Mak Morn pastiche. In which it is discovered that the lost Roman Ninth Legion has, in fact, gone underground to breed with Howard's "worms of the earth."

[H_P_Saucecraft]

Jun 30, 2011 13:56:00 GMT Dr Strange said:

James, you must be wishing you had this version -

tinyurl.com/chwvam


Oh, and there's another Machen not on the list above - The Red Hand

Nazi Gnomes? now I've seen it all

[jamesdoig]

Jun 30, 2011 13:56:00 GMT Dr Strange said:

James, you must be wishing you had this version -

tinyurl.com/chwvam

Yes, I am - an instant classic.

[kane]

Greetings.
Excuse me for my English.
I'm interested in 'little people' theme for a long time, but I know a little stories about this. Thanks for new names and new titles for me.

My additions:
Robert E. Howard "The Valley of the Lost" (II)
Robert E. Howard "The Dwellers Under the Tombs"
Clark Ashton Smith "The Dweller in Martian Depths"
Zealia Bishop (ghost written by H. P. Lovecraft) "The Mound"

[oatcakeredux]

There's a tale that I read a long time ago in an anthology, about two scientists in a subterranean lab who find themselves attacked by a technologically-advanced, superhumanly-strong race of little people, who can also effortlessly melt/walk their way through solid rock and carry deadly laser-like weapons. The story ends with one scientist dead and his corpse dragged off (presumably for dissection by the miniature terrors), and the survivor concluding (paraphrased): "Will they ever return? If so, then I hope that it will not be during my lifetime!"

Can anyone identify that one? It'd surely be a cert for such an anthology as this!

[doug]

Hi!

ooh ooh ooh!
I know this!!!

It's "The Microscopic Giants" by "Paul Ernst"!

It was originaly published in "Thrilling Wonder Stories" back in 1936 and was later reprinted in "Alfred Hitchcock's Monster Museum" and "Science fiction Terror Tales"

Take care.

Doug







And you can read it here!

www.unz.org/Pub/ThrillingWonder-1936oct-00078

Jul 9, 2012 1:40:49 GMT oatcakeredux said:

There's a tale that I read a long time ago in an anthology, about two scientists in a subterranean lab who find themselves attacked by a technologically-advanced, superhumanly-strong race of little people, who can also effortlessly melt/walk their way through solid rock and carry deadly laser-like weapons. The story ends with one scientist dead and his corpse dragged off (presumably for dissection by the miniature terrors), and the survivor concluding (paraphrased): "Will they ever return? If so, then I hope that it will not be during my lifetime!"

Can anyone identify that one? It'd surely be a cert for such an anthology as this!