Tod Robbins

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Clarence Aaron “Tod” Robbins (1888–1949) was an American author of horror and mystery fiction. Robbins attended Washington and Lee University (Lexington, Virginia) and -- along with Mark W. Sheafe (1884?-1949) and Thornton Whitney Allen (1890–1944) -- wrote the college song "Washington and Lee Swing." Sheafe wrote the tune in 1905, Allen set the music down on paper in 1909 and Robbins provided the words. The completed version was published in 1910.

He authored two short story collections and several novels. His book The Unholy Three (1917) was twice adapted for the screen, a silent version directed by Tod Browning in 1925 and a sound version directed by Jack Conway in 1930. Both adaptations starred Lon Chaney, Sr. Robbins was also the author of the short story "Spurs", which Browning used as the basis for his 1932 cult film Freaks.

Robbins emigrated to the French Riviera from New York and refused to leave during the Nazi occupation of France. He spent the war in a concentration camp and died in 1949.

Contents

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Novels

  • 1912 The Spirit of the Town: A Novel Presentation in Fiction Form of the Impulse and Desire Which Mould the Lives of Men
  • 1912 Mysterious Martin: A Fiction Narrative Setting Forth the Development of Character Along Unusual Lines
  • 1917 The Unholy Three
  • 1929 In the Shadow
  • 1933 The Master of Murder
  • 1935 The Three Freaks (rpt. The Unholy Three)
  • 1949 Close Their Eyes Tenderly
  • 1950 To Hell and Home Again (advertised for release, but unpublished)

[edit] Short story collections

  • 1920 Silent, White and Beautiful and Other Stories
    Includes:
    • "Silent, White and Beautiful"
    • "Who Wants a Green Bottle?"
    • "Wild Wullie, the Waster"
    • "For Art's Sake" (revised version of Mysterious Martin (1912))
  • 1926 Who Wants a Green Bottle? and Other Uneasy Tales
    Includes:
    • "Silent, White and Beautiful"
    • "Who Wants a Green Bottle?"
    • "Wild Wullie, the Waster"
    • "Toys" (aka "The Toys of Fate")
    • "A Bit of Banshee"
    • "The Son of Shaemas O'Shea"
    • "Cockcrow Inn"
    • "Spurs"
  • 2007 Freaks and Fantasies
    Includes:
    • "Crimson Flowers"
    • "Silent, White and Beautiful"
    • "Who Wants a Green Bottle?"
    • "The Bibulous Baby"
    • "Wild Wullie, the Waster"
    • "The Toys of Fate"
    • "An Eccentric"
    • "The Whimpus"
    • "A Bit of Banshee"
    • "The Son of Shaemas O'Shea"
    • "A Voice from Beyond"
    • "Cock-crow Inn"
    • "The Confession"
    • "Spurs"

[edit] Poetry collections

  • 1915 The Scales of Justice and Other Poems

[edit] Pulp magazine appearances

  • Parisienne, February 1917, 1917 (inc. Married)
  • All-Story Weekly, July 14, 1917 (inc. The Terrible Three, aka The Unholy Three)
  • The Smart Set, April 1918 (inc. "Silent, White and Beautiful")
  • All-Story Weekly, April 5, 1919 (inc. "The Living Portrait")
  • All-Story Weekly, October 25, 1919 (inc. "The Whimpus")
  • The Thrill Book, vol. 2 no. 5, September 1919 (inc. "Fragments")
  • Munsey's Magazine, January 1921 (inc. "The Toys of Fate")
  • Munsey's Magazine, February 1923 (inc. "Spurs")
  • Everybody's Magazine, November 1923 (inc. "For His Lady Friend")
  • The Forum, 1925 (inc. "The Child and The Man")
  • Famous Fantasic Mysteries, vol. 1 no. 1, September 1939 (inc. "The Whimpus")
  • Famous Fantasic Mysteries, vol. 4 no. 5, September 1942 (inc. "Wild Wullie, the Waster")
  • Super Science and Fantastic Stories, vol. 1 no. 18, June 1945 (inc. "The Toys Of Fate")
  • Fantastic Novels Magazine, vol. 2 no. 4, November 1948 (inc. "The Terrible Three")
  • Fantastic Novels Magazine, vol. 2 no. 6, March 1949 (inc. "The Toys Of Fate")
  • Fantastic Novels Magazine, vol. 3 no. 4, November 1949 (inc. "The Living Portrait")
  • Zoetrope: All-Story, Fall 2002 (inc. "Spurs")

[edit] Anthology appearances

[edit] External links