(1939-2020) UK author and book dealer best known for his prolific output of horror novels, generally rough-hewn but with a Pulp-ish or B-movie vigour that gained him a considerable cult following. His novel debut was the Werewolf tale Werewolf by Moonlight (1974) as Guy Smith, with two sequels following. He first achieved real commercial success with Night of the Crabs (1976; exp 2009), introducing what was to become his trademark Horror in SF trope of giant man-eating crabs; in this and subsequent volumes of the Crabs sequence these Monsters attack various UK coastal areas, causing mayhem and general alarm, though not without lapses into bathos as in the first book's invasion of a seaside holiday camp: "The crabs were spoiling everybody's holiday...."

This author's numerous variations on the monster theme include Bats out of Hell (1978) and Locusts (1979), in which Britain is afflicted with the respective titular plagues of bats (here disease-carrying Mutants) and devouring insects. Also of sf interest is Thirst (1980), in which a tanker-load of implausibly virulent (and flammable) weedkiller Poison enters the water supply of Birmingham and – amid widespread agony and death – there is a race to develop an antidote. Warhead (1981) features a Technofantasy interaction between advanced Weapons Technology and voodoo gods (see Gods and Demons).

In the twenty-first century Smith republished much of his earlier work, with new additions, through his Small Press Black Hill Books, named for his second-hand book dealing operation. [DRL]

see also: Nexus.

Guy Newman Smith

born Hopwas, Staffordshire: 21 November 1939

died Clunton, Shropshire: 24 December 2020

works (selected)

series

Werewolf

• Werewolf by Moonlight (London: New English Library, 1974) as Guy Smith [Werewolf: pb/Lucinda Cowell]
• Return of the Werewolf (London: New English Library, 1977) [Werewolf: pb/]
• Son of the Werewolf (London: New English Library, 1978) [Werewolf: pb/]
  • Werewolf Omnibus (no place given: Sinister Horror Company, 2019) [omni of the above three plus one short story: Werewolf: pb/]

Pit

• The Sucking Pit (London: New English Library, 1975) as Guy Smith [Pit: pb/Ian Miller]
• The Walking Dead (London: New English Library, 1984) [Pit: pb/]

Slime Beast

• The Slime Beast (London: New English Library, 1976) [Slime Beast: pb/]
• Spawn of the Slime Beast (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2015) [coll: Slime Beast: pb/]

Crabs

• Night of the Crabs (London: New English Library, 1976) [Crabs: pb/]
  • Night of the Crabs (Weymouth, Dorset: Ghostwriter Publications, 2009) [exp of the above: new chapter added: Crabs: hb/]
• Killer Crabs (London: New English Library, 1978) [Crabs: pb/]
• The Origin of the Crabs (London: New English Library, 1979) [Crabs: pb/]
• Crabs on the Rampage (London: New English Library, 1981) [Crabs: pb/]
• Crabs' Moon (London: New English Library, 1984) [Crabs: pb/]
• Crabs: The Human Sacrifice (London: New English Library, 1988) [Crabs: pb/]
• Crabs Armada (place not ascertained: Ghostwriter Publications, 2009) [story: chap: first appeared in The Cadaver (coll 1991 chap) as "The Crabs' Armada": Crabs: pb/]
• Killer Crabs: The Return (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2012) [Crabs: pb/]
• Crabs Omnibus (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2015) [coll: Crabs: pb/]

Death Bell

• Death Bell (London: Hamlyn Books, 1980) [Death Bell: pb/]
  • Deathbell (New York: Pocket Books, 1981) as Guy Smith [vt of the above: Death Bell: pb/]
• Demons (London: Arrow Books, 1987) [Death Bell: pb/Terry Oakes]

Thirst

• Thirst (London: New English Library, 1980) [Thirst: pb/David McAllister]
• The Plague (London: New English Library, 1987) [Thirst: pb/]

Sabat

• The Graveyard Vultures (London: New English Library, 1982) [Sabat: pb/]
• The Blood Merchants (London: New English Library, 1982) [Sabat: pb/]
• Cannibal Cult (London: New English Library, 1982) [Sabat: pb/]
• The Druid Connection (London: New English Library, 1983) [Sabat: pb/]
  • Dead Meat: The Complete Books of Sabat (London: Creation Books, 1997) [omni of the above four plus one short story: Sabat: pb/]

Sergeant John Mayo

• The Black Fedora (London: Sphere Books, 1991) [Sergeant John Mayo: pb/Luis Rey]
• The Knighton Vampires (London: Piatkus, 1993) [Sergeant John Mayo: hb/Luis Rey]

Jason Ford

• The Eighth Day (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2011) [ebook: Jason Ford: na/]
• Psalm 151 (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2013) [Jason Ford: pb/]

individual titles

• Der Ruf des Werwolfs (Germany: Pabel, 1976) as Guy Smith [chap: first appeared in German translation: in the publisher's Vampir Horror-Roman series: pb/Nikolai Lutohin]
  • Night of the Werewolf (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2011) [ebook: first English-language appearance: na/]
• The Ghoul (London: Sphere Books, 1976) [pb/Les Edwards]
• Bats out of Hell (London: New English Library, 1978) [pb/]
• Locusts (London: Hamlyn Books, 1979) [pb/]
• Satan's Snowdrop (London: Hamlyn Books, 1980) [pb/]
• Doomflight (London: Hamlyn Books, 1981) [pb/Les Edwards]
• Warhead (London: New English Library, 1981) [pb/]
• Wolfcurse (London: New English Library, 1981) [pb/]
• Manitou Doll (London: Hamlyn Books, 1981) [pb/]
• Entombed (London: Hamlyn Books, 1982) [pb/]
• The Pluto Pact (London: Hamlyn Books, 1982) [pb/]
• The Lurkers (London: Hamlyn Books, 1982) [pb/]
• Accursed (London: New English Library, 1983) [pb/]
• Blood Circuit (London: New English Library, 1983) [pb/]
• The Undead (London: New English Library, 1983) [pb/]
• The Wood (London: New English Library, 1985) [pb/Les Edwards]
• Throwback (London: New English Library, 1985) [pb/]
• Cannibals (London: Arrow Books, 1986) [pb/]
• The Neophyte (London: New English Library, 1986) [pb/]
• Abomination (London: Arrow Books, 1986) [pb/Terry Oakes]
• Snakes (London: New English Library, 1986) [pb/]
• Alligators (London: Arrow Books, 1987) [pb/]
• Bloodshow (London: Arrow Books, 1987) [pb/]
• The Island (London: Arrow Books, 1988) [pb/]
• Fiend (London: Sphere Books, 1988) [pb/]
• The Master (London: Arrow Books, 1988) [pb/]
• Mania (London: Sphere Books, 1989) [pb/Les Edwards]
• The Camp (London: Sphere Books, 1989) [pb/Les Edwards]
• The Festering (London: Arrow Books, 1989) [pb/]
• Phobia (London: Grafton Books, 1990) [pb/Luis Rey]
• The Unseen (London: Sphere Books, 1990) [pb/Les Edwards]
• Carnivore (London: Arrow Books, 1990) [pb/]
• The Resurrected (London: Grafton Books, 1991) [pb/Luis Rey]
• Witch Spell (New York: Zebra Books, 1993) [pb/]
• The Plague Chronicles (London: Piatkus, 1993) [hb/Luis Rey]
• The Dark One (New York: Zebra Books, 1995) [pb/]
• Dead End (New York: Zebra Books, 1996) [pb/]
• Water Rites (New York: Zebra Books, 1997) [pb/]
• The Busker (place not ascertained: Bulldog Books, 1998) [pb/]
• Blackout (London: Severn House, 2006) [hb/]
• The Cadaver (New York: Severn House, 2008) [hb/]
• Maneater (New York: Severn House, 2009) [hb/]
• Nightspawn (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books/Aswang Press, 2010) [pb/]
• Deadbeat (no place given: Redrum Horror, 2012) [pb/]
• Carnage (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2016) [pb/]
• Reaper (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2018) [pb/]

collections and stories

• The Cadaver (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 1991) [coll: chap: pb/Tara Hill]
• The Decoy (place not ascertained: Ghostwriter Publications, 2009) [story: chap: pb/]
• The Doll (place not ascertained: Ghostwriter Publications, 2009) [story: chap: pb/]
• Hangman's Hotel and Other Stories (Clunton, Shropshire: Black Hill Books, 2015) [coll: pb/]

nonfiction (highly selected)

• Writing Horror Fiction (London: A and C Black, 1996) [nonfiction: hb/]

links

• Guy N Smith
• Horrorpedia
• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

Previous versions of this entry

• 05/01/2018
• 08/01/2018
• 11/01/2018
• 24/01/2018
• 16/03/2018
• 12/08/2018
• 28/08/2018
• 25/05/2020
• 29/09/2020
• 28/12/2020
• 30/12/2020