David H. Keller (December 23, 1880 — July 13, 1966), David Henry Keller (most often published as David H. Keller, MD, but also known by the pseudonyms Monk Smith, Matthew Smith, Amy Worth, Henry Cecil, Cecilia Henry, and Jacobus Hubelaire), was a writer for pulp magazines in the mid-twentieth century who wrote science fiction, fantasy and horror. He was the first psychiatrist to write for the genre.
Keller was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1903. He served as neuropsychiatrist in U.S. Army Medical Corps during World Wars I and II, and was the Assistant Superintendent of the Louisiana State Mental Hospital at Pineville until Huey Long’s reforms removed him from his position in 1928.
That same year, Keller would travel to New York City to meet with Hugo Gernsback, publisher of Amazing Stories, who had bought his first professionally published science fiction story, "The Revolt of the Pedestrians". Gernsback was impressed by Keller’s quality of writing, unique insight, and ability to address sophisticated themes beyond the commonplace technological predictions or lurid alien encounters typically found in early pulp stories. He encouraged Keller’s writing and would later call these distinctive short stories “keller yarns”.
In 1929, Gernsback founded the magazine Science Wonder Stories and not only published Keller’s work in the first issue, but listed him as an Associate Science Editor. It was this issue of Science Wonder Stories that introduced the term “science fiction” to the world. This began an intense writing period for Keller, but he was unable to support his family solely on a writer’s income and set up a small private psychiatric practice out of his home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
Keller's work often expressed strong right-wing views (Everett F. Bleiler claims he was "an ultra-conservative ideologically"), especially hostility to feminists and African-Americans.
While a number of Keller’s works are considered dated and utilize plot lines or ideas that have since been dismissed as too simplistic or clichéd, other stories contain the detailed ramifications of future technology and address taboo issues of that era (such as bisexuality) that a reader might expect in a modern science fiction story. The level of complexity found in Keller’s writing rises above many other pulp stories of the same period and holds the promise of “science fiction literature” that would be fulfilled during the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
Keller wrote a number of horror and fantasy stories, which some critics regard as superior to his SF work.Most notable is his 1932 horror tale "The Thing In The Cellar". Keller also created a series of fantasy stories called theTales of Cornwall sequence, about the Hubelaire family; these were influenced by James Branch Cabell.
(1928) The Revolt of the Pedestrians Amazing Stories Feb(1928) White Collars Amazing Stories April(1928) The Menace Amazing Stories Quarterly Summer(1928) A Biological Experiment Amazing Stories Jun(1928) The Psychophonic Nurse Amazing Stories Nov(1928) Stenographer's HandsAmazing Stories Quarterly Fall(1928) The Dogs of Salem Weird Tales September(1929) The Yeast Men Amazing Stories Quarterly Summer(1929) The Jelly Fish Weird Tales Jan(1929) The Damsel and Her Cat Weird Tales Apr(1929) The Bloodless War Air Wonder Stories Jul(1929) The Boneless Horror Science Wonder Stories Jul(1929) The Flying Fool Amazing Stories Jul(1929) The Feminine Metamorphosis Science Wonder Stories Aug(1929) The Battle of the Toads Weird Tales Oct(1929) The Tailed Man of Cornwall Weird Tales Nov(1929) Dragon’s Blood Fanews(1930) Air Lines Amazing Stories Jan(1930) Creation Unforgivable Weird Tales Apr(1930) The Ivy War Amazing Stories May(1931) The Cerebral Library Amazing Stories May(1931) Free as Air Amazing Stories Jun(1931) The Rat Racket Amazing Stories Nov(1932) The Pent House Amazing Stories Feb(1932) The Thing in the Cellar Weird Tales Mar(1932) The Hidden Monster Oriental Stories Sum(1932) No More Tomorrows Amazing Stories Dec(1933) A Piece of Linoleum [as Amy Worth] 10 Story Book Dec(1934) The Lost Language Amazing Stories Jan(1934) The Dead Woman Fantasy Magazine Apr(1934) The Literary Corkscrew Wonder Stories Mar(1934) The Doorbell Wonder Stories Jun(1934) The Golden Bough Marvel Tales Win(1935) The Living Machine Wonder Stories May(1938) Dust in the House Weird Tales Jul(1938) The Thirty and One Marvel Science Stories Nov(1939) The Moon Artist Cosmic Tales Sum(1941) The Goddess of Zion Weird Tales Jan(1941) The Red Death Cosmic Stories Jul(1942) The Bridle Weird Tales Sep(1947) Heredity The Vortex #2(1948) Helen of Troy Loki(1948) The Perfumed Garden The Gorgon v2 #4(1949) The Door The Arkham Sampler Sum(1951) Chasm of Monsters(1952) The Folsom Flint(1952) Fingers in the Sky(1953) The Golden Key Destiny Spring(1953) The Question Fantastic Worlds Fall
Boomeranging ‘Round the MoonIn MemoriamThe Face in the MirrorThe God WheelThe House Without MirrorsThe LandslideThe Opium Eater
1895 Aunt Martha (as Monk Smith)1897 A Phenomenon of the Stars The Mirror Feb1899 Judge Not, in The Red and Blue (University of Pennsylvania) Nov1900 The Silent One, in The Red and Blue Nov1901 A University Story (as Henry Cecil), in Presbyterian Journal (University of Pennsylvania) Dec1902 The Birth of a Soul (as Henry Cecil), in The White Owl Jan1902 A Three Linked Tail (as Matthew Smith), in The White Owl March1902 The Winning Bride (as Henry Cecil), in The White Owl March1902 The Great American Pie House (as Cecilia Henry), in The White Owl April1902 Mother Newhouse (as Henry Cecil), in The White Owl May1902 The Greatness of Duval, in Ursinus Weekly Oct
(1899) The Night The Red and Blue (University of Pennsylvania) Nov(1902) Undo Everlasting The White Owl March(1902) L’Envoi The White Owl March(1902) A Melody The White Owl March(1902) A Mother’s Song The White Owl May