Joseph Payne Brennan was born 98 years ago on this date, December 20, 1918.  Brennan was a consistent writer of horror, dark fantasy, and weird fiction.  He passed away in 1990.  Primarily a short story writer and poet, Brennan’s work has fallen out of print.  While it’s not impossible to find copies of his work, much of it is moderately expensive.  It might be easier and/or cheaper to get copies of anthologies in which his work appeared.

I reviewed one of Brennan’s collections, the paperback Shapes of Midnight a few years ago.  I was amazed when I looked up how much it cost on the secondary market at the time.  It doesn’t appear to have gotten any more affordable.

Brennan’s work is worth seeking out.  It tends to be of the more quiet style of horror rather than the grisly and gore drenched variety.