Groping Toward the Light

Darrell Schweitzer is an American writer, editor, critic, and scholar of fantasy, horror, and speculative literature. Long associated with the study and preservation of classic fantastic fiction, he has written fiction, essays, criticism, and introductions that connect older works of genre literature with modern readers. His work often explores the traditions of weird fiction, fantasy, Gothic literature, and early speculative writing, making him a useful guide for classic texts whose influence extends across mystery, horror, fantasy, and popular fiction.As an editor and commentator, Schweitzer has helped keep attention on important authors, magazines, and literary traditions that shaped twentieth-century genre fiction. His introduction to A Study in Scarlet adds context for readers approaching Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novel not merely as a famous mystery, but as a formative work in the development of detective fiction and the popular literature of deduction.