Giesy, J U

Entry updated 8 June 2026. Tagged: Author.

(1877-1947) US physiotherapist, screenwriter and Pulp-magazine writer, author of many stories, most not sf, in Argosy and All-Story Weekly 1914-1934. He began to publish sf with the Utopian sf tale "In 2112" in The Cavalier for 10 August 1912, written with his frequent collaborator, the Utah lawyer Junius B Smith. With Smith he also wrote the lengthy Semi Dual sequence about the titular Occult Detective [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below], also known as Prince Abdul of Persia, which began with the three-part serial "The Occult Detector" (17 February-2 March 1912 Cavalier) and ran in this magazine and others of the Frank A Munsey stable until 1934.

All for His Country (21 February-14 March 1914 Cavalier; 1915), which combines Future War and Edisonade elements, pits a young inventor's radium-powered plane (see Elements), complete with Antigravity, against the treacherous Japanese, who burn Los Angeles (see California) to the ground, and who boast their own Weapon, an advanced aerial torpedo; ominously, Giesy also accuses Japanese-Americans from California of betrayal (see Yellow Peril). The Jason Croft or Palos trilogy – Palos of the Dog Star Pack (13 July-10 August 1918 All-Story Weekly; cut 1965), The Mouthpiece of Zitu (5 July-2 August 1919 All-Story Weekly; cut 1965) and Jason, Son of Jason (16 April-21 May 1921 Argosy; cut 1966) – features Croft's adventures on Palos, a planet of Sirius. Derivative of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Martian stories, these novels are also highly practical, for Croft triumphs not through his own strength but because of an encyclopedic knowledge of Earth's technologies of destruction. Giesy's further sf includes a handful of Humorous stories about the eccentric Dr Xenophon Xerxes Zapt, beginning with "Indigestible Dog Biscuits" (3 July 1915 All-Story Weekly).

Giesy's sf – tempered as it is by a devout belief in astrology – has dated and is now of historical interest, but for years he was considered second only to Burroughs as an author of the Planetary Romance. Of his several screenplays, of most interest is perhaps that for The Eyes of Mystery (1918), a haunted house tale directed by Tod Browning. [RB/JC/DRL]

John Ulrich Giesy

born Chillicothe, Ohio: 6 August 1877

died Salt Lake City, Utah: 8 September 1947

works

series

Jason Croft/Palos

Palos of the Dog Star Pack (New York: Avalon Books, 1965) [Jason Croft/Palos: hb/Gray Morrow]
The Mouthpiece of Zitu (New York: Avalon Books, 1965) [Jason Croft/Palos: hb/Gray Morrow]
Jason, Son of Jason (New York: Avalon Books, 1965) [Jason Croft/Palos: hb/Gray Morrow]
- Palos of the Dog Star Pack: The Complete Trilogy (Boston, Massachusetts: Altus Press, 2008) [omni of the above three: Jason Croft/Palos: pb/]

Semi Dual

The Complete Cabalistic Cases of Semi Dual, the Occult Detector, Volume 1: 1912 (Boston, Massachusetts: Altus Press, 2013) with Junius B Smith [coll: stories first appeared 17 February and 1 June 1912 Cavalier: Semi Dual: pb/P J Monahan]
The Complete Cabalistic Cases of Semi Dual, the Occult Detector, Volume 2: 1912-1913 (Boston, Massachusetts: Altus Press, 2016) with Junius B Smith [coll: stories first appeared 5 October 1912, 25 January and 5 July 1913 Cavalier: Semi Dual: pb/]
The Opposing Venus (Boston, Massachusetts: Altus Press, 2018) with Junius B Smith [first appeared 13 October-3 November Argosy All-Story Weekly: Semi Dual: pb/P J Monahan]
The House of Invisible Bondage (place not given: Steeger Books, 2019) with Junius B Smith [first appeared 18 September-9 October 1926 Argosy All-Story Weekly: in the publisher's The Argosy Library series: pb/D'Armeris]
The Ledger of Life (place not given: Steeger Books, 2020) with Junius B Smith [first appeared 30 June-21 July 1934 Argosy: pb/Robert A Graef]
The House of the Ego: The Complete Cabalistic Cases of Semi Dual, Volume 3 (place not known: Popular Publications, 2021) with Junius B Smith [coll: stories first appeared 20 September and 20 December 1913 Cavalier: in the publisher's The Argosy Library series: Semi Dual: pb/W B King]
The Web of Destiny: The Complete Cabalistic Cases of Semi Dual, Volume 4 (place not known: Popular Publications, 2024) with Junius B Smith [coll: stories first appeared 28 November 1914 and 20 March 1915 Cavalier: in the publisher's The Argosy Library series: Semi Dual: pb/]
Box 991: The Complete Cabalistic Cases of Semi Dual, Volume 5 (place not known: Popular Publications, 2024) with Junius B Smith [coll: stories first appeared 11 December 1915 and 3 June 1916 Argosy All-Story Weekly: in the publisher's The Argosy Library series: Semi Dual: pb/]
The House of the Hundred Lights (Normal, Illinois: Black Dog Books, 2026) with Junius B Smith [first appeared 22 May-12 June 1920 Argosy All-Story Weekly: Semi Dual: pb/Paul Stahr]

individual titles

All for His Country (New York: The Macaulay Company, 1915) [first appeared 21 February-14 March 1914 Cavalier: hb/]

links

previous versions of this entry

Internet Archive