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Search - List of Books by Will Murray

Will Murray (born April 28, 1953) is the author of more than fifty novels and a scholar of pulp fiction. Much of his fiction has been published under pseudonyms.

Murray is the literary executor for the estate of Lester Dent, the creator of Doc Savage, and has published seven Doc Savage novels from Dent's outlines under Dent's pseudonym, Kenneth Robeson.[1] He was one of the ghostwriters for The Destroyer series, writing or co-writing more than 40 of the novels.[2] He has written Cthulhu Mythos stories, including a pair of stories about Nug and Yeb, the Twin Blasphemies, and contributed single novels in the Executioner and Mars Attacks series.

Murray is also a prolific author of nonfiction about pulp writers like Dent, Shadow creator Walter B. Gibson and H. P. Lovecraft. He edited the fanzines Duende and Skullduggery, and co-authored The Duende History of The Shadow Magazine and The Assassin's Handbook, a Destroyer sourcebook. For Necronomicon Press, he edited Tales of Zothique and The Book of Hyperborea, two collections of stories by Clark Ashton Smith. His essays have appeared in books ranging from S. T. Joshi's compedium on H. P. Lovecraft, An Epicure in the Terrible, to Jim Beard's forthcoming survey of the classic 1960s Batman TV show, Gotham City 14 Miles.

A contributor to numerous anthologies, Murray has written stories about such classic characters as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, The Hulk, The Spider, The Avenger, The Green Hornet, The Secret 6, Sherlock Holmes, Sky Captain, Honey West, and Lee Falk's immortal Ghost Who Walks, The Phantom.

Other Murray stories have appeared in The UFO Files, Future Crime, Miskatonic University, 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, 100 Creepy Little Creature Stories, 100 Vicious Little Vampire Stories, The Cthulhu Cycle, Disciples of Cthulhu II, Cthulhu's Reign, The Yig Cycle, and many others.

He wrote the retro-pulp collection Spicy Zeppelin Stories under various pen names.

For National Public Radio, he adapted Lester Dent's 1934 novel, The Thousand-Headed Man as a six-part serial for The Adventures of Doc Savage, which aired in 1985, and was released on CD by Radio Archives in October 2010.

For Marvel Comics, he scripted The Destroyer black & white magazine, as well as single stories starring Iron Man and The Punisher.

With artist Steve Ditko, Murray co-created Squirrel Girl, and in her debut, Murray scripted an over the top story of a 14 year old girl who supposedly defeated Dr. Doom, one of the most powerful comic book villains of all time, by commanding ordinary squirrels to somehow chew through armor that is tough enough to withstand direct blows by the Incredible Hulk. Subsequent writers have continued this humorous conceit until the seemingly unbeatable mutant is now arguably the most powerful superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe.

Recently Murray wrote the introduction to the Marvel Comics Omnibus volume, which celebrates the 70th anniversary of Marvel Comics, as well as introductions to Volume 2 of Daring MysteryComics, Mighty Thor Masterworks Volume 9, and the forthcoming Mystic Comics Volume 1

In 1979, he received the Lamont Award (named after Lamont Cranston) for his contributions to the furtherance of pulp fiction research. And in 1999, he earned the Comic Book Marketplace awardfor research excellence in the area of comics history.

As former contributing editor to Starlog magazine, Murray visited movie sets and locations all over the world, interviewing the casts and crews of Hollywood genre films ranging from 1985's the Adventure Begins to Watchmen in 2009. For Starlog Press, he single-handedly wrote most or all of the souvenier magazines and pressbooks for Rambo III, Total Recall and The Shadow.

With S. T. Joshi and Jon L. Cooke, Murray organized The Friends of H. P. Lovecraft, which raised funds to place a memorial plaque dedicated to the Providence fantasy writer on the grounds of Brown University's John Hay Library on the centennial of Lovecraft's birth in August, 1990.

Murray's Year 2000 novel, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Empyre (which identifies him as a trained coordinate remote viewer) accurately predicted many of the operational details of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, including the use of hijacked airliners to target U. S. cities. One of his Destroyer novels, Rain of Terror (1989) told the tale of an Arab despot's attempts to attack America using magnetically-propelled steam locomotives as makeshift ICBMs. After the first strike failed to hit the White House, a second pulversizes the fictional Magnus Building and the multi-tower North Am complex in lower Manhattan, resulting in scenes of destruction and rescue that today read like excerpts from the September 11 tragedy. A later Destroyer, Angry White Mailmen (1996), focused on a terrorist group allied with the Taliban attempting to blow up the World Trade Towers. In one scene, a terrorist named Al Ladeen hires a private plane and after shooting the pilot, in a suicide strike flies the aircraft into a highrise hotel in lower Manhattan. It is to be noted that this book was released after the World Trade Towers were attacked in 1993. The Taliban did not come into power in Afghanistan until 1999, however.

Interviewed by Ralph Dula on Home.gate.net in July 2000 just before the publication of Empyre, Murray noted that since writing the book, some of it had already come true, specifically citing the Egypt Air 990 incident, where the co-pilot apparently threw his passenger jet into a fatal suicide dive with reciting verses from the Koran. Murray went on to warn, "No one should be surprised if other elements of Empyre don't prove uncannily precognitive."

Murray currently acts as consulting editor for Sanctum Books' successful Doc Savage, Shadow, Avenger and Whisperer reprints. He has also written several introductions to the reprints being published by Altus Press, covering characters such as Secret Agent X, The Cobra and Lester Dent's Lee Nace. With Off-Trail Publications' John Locke, he has co-edited the three-volume The Gangland Sagas of Big Nose Serrano, which collects all 12 of Anatole Feldman's rare Big Nose Serrano stories, featuring the legendary Prohibition gangster of early 1930s Chicago. For Black Dog Books, he penned introductions to their ongoing Lester Dent Library series of pulp magazines reprints.

He also trains people to become "super psychics", including "How to become a Tarot Tiger." Murray has been described as "A professional psychic and medium with over 10 years experience." His own training includes six years at a Spiritualist Church, and four years with former Star Gate Remote Viewer and author of Psychic Warrior,David Morehouse.
This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Will Murray", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 103
Angry White Mailmen
Angry White Mailmen [Destroyer, Bk 104] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780373632190
ISBN-10: 0373632193
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 4

The Avenger Roaring Heart of the Crucible
The Avenger Roaring Heart of the Crucible Ltd HC
The Best of Blood 'n' Thunder Selections from the AwardWinning Journal of Adventure Mystery and Melodrama in American Popular Culture
Bidding War
Bidding War [Destroyer, Bk 101] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780373632169
ISBN-10: 0373632169
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 3

The Black Bat Companion
The Black Bat Companion (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781618270108
ISBN-10: 1618270109
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  ?

Blood 'n' Thunder Presents Pulpourri
Blood 'n' Thunder Presents Pulpourri [Volume 4] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781718759688
ISBN-10: 1718759681
Genre: Crafts, Hobbies & Home
  ?

Blood 'n' Thunder Spring 2012
Blood 'n' Thunder Spring 2012 [Volume 33] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781475218978
ISBN-10: 1475218974
  ?

Blood 'n' Thunder Summer 2016
Blood 'n' Thunder Summer 2016 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781535386548
ISBN-10: 1535386541
Genre: Crafts, Hobbies & Home
  ?

Blood 'n' Thunder Winter 2012 AllWesterns Double Issue
Blood 'n' Thunder Winter 2012 Allwesterns Double Issue [Volume 32] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781475205152
ISBN-10: 1475205155
  ?

The Book of Hyperborea
The Book of Hyperborea (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780940884878
ISBN-10: 0940884879
  ?

Brand Storm A Tale of Passion Betrayal and Revenge
The Cobra The King of Detectives
The Cobra the King of Detectives (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781442139374
ISBN-10: 1442139374
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
  ?

Color of Fear
Color of Fear [Destroyer, Bk 99] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780373632145
ISBN-10: 0373632142
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 4

The Color of Fear
The Color of Fear [Destroyer, Bk 99 - Audio Unabridged] (Audio CD)
ISBN-13: 9781599501741
ISBN-10: 1599501740
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1

The Consultations of Sherlock Holmes
The Consultations of Sherlock Holmes (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9798852171405
ISBN-10: N/A
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
  ?

Corporate Denial Confronting the World's Most Damaging Business Taboo
The Devil is in the Details Examining Matt Murdock and Daredevil
Dime Detective Companion
Dime Detective Companion (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781453824269
ISBN-10: 145382426X
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
  ?

Doc Savage 10 Dust of Death / The Stone Man
Doc Savage 10 Dust of Death / the Stone Man [Doc Savage Nostalgia Ventures] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781932806779
ISBN-10: 1932806776
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

Doc Savage Death's Dark Domain
Doc Savage Death's Dark Domain (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781618270825
ISBN-10: 1618270826
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  ?

Doc Savage Empire of Doom [The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage] (Paperback)
Doc Savage Flight Into Fear [The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage] (Paperback)
Doc Savage Glare of the Gorgon [The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage] (Paperback)
Doc Savage Mr Calamity [The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage] (Paperback)
Doc Savage the Frightened Fish [The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage] (Paperback)
Doc Savage the Jade Ogre [The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage] (Paperback)
Doc Savage the Secret of Satan's Spine [The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage] (Paperback)
Doc Savage the Whistling Wraith [The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage] (Paperback)
Empyre [Nick Fury, Agent of Shield] (Paperback)
Engines of Destruction [Destroyer, Bk 103] (Paperback)
Feast or Famine [Destroyer, Bk 107] (Paperback)Audio Cassette
High Priestess [Destroyer, Bk 95] (Paperback)
Identity Crisis [Destroyer, Bk 97] (Paperback)
Infernal Revenue [Destroyer, Bk 96] (Paperback)
Last Rites [Destroyer, Bk 100] (Paperback)
Legacy of the Reanimator [Call of Cthulhu Fiction] (Paperback)
The Phantom Generations [Phantom Moonstone Numbered] (Paperback)
Red Horse [Executioner, No 226] (Paperback)
Scorched Earth [Destroyer, Bk 105] (Paperback)
The Spider the Doom Legion [The Wild Adventures of The Spider - Volume 1] (Paperback)
Target of Opportunity [Destroyer, Bk 98] (Paperback)
Tarzan Conqueror of Mars [The Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs] (Paperback)
Tarzan Return to Paluldon [The Wild Adventures of Tarzan - Volume 1] (Paperback)
Unite and Conquer [Destroyer, Bk 102] (Paperback)
White Water [Destroyer, Bk 106] (Paperback)