Science Fiction Required Readings
21 Shambleau
C.L. Moore, the pen name for Catherine Lucille Moore, is most lauded for her invention of the female warrior heroine of sword and sorcery fantasy, Jirel of Joiry, a figure everyone from Xena to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Princess Laia have to thank. Here is one of her sci fi contributions. Scroll down to page 3, her’s is the first story. Make note of the visuals and other introductory information in this scanned artifact, we’ll be talking about it in class.
Notes from the Library
Also read by the author in 1980! Each part is 30 minutes, so give yourself some time to listen.
Side A of original LP
Side B of original LP
Original publication info:
Weird Tales. Popular Fiction Population Co. November 1933.
Some online articles that discuss this story:
- Not Sublimated, Not Fading to Black: C.L. Moore’s “Shambleau” The Lovecraft Reread, Tor. Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth. Wed Feb 17, 2016 1:00pm.
- Thomas F. Bertonneau, “Monstrous Theologies: The Theme of Anti-Sacrifice in the Sci-Fi Pulps” in Anthropoetics 6, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2000)
- Origin Stories: Feminist Science Fiction and C. L. Moore’s “Shambleau”. Thomas A. Bredehoft.
Science Fiction Studies #73. Volume 24, Part 3. November 1997.
