Anthony Boucher

Anthony Boucher (1911–1968) began publishing stories in 1941. His first published story was “Snulbug,” which was published in Unknown Worlds, and he was a regular contributor to that magazine and to Astounding Science Fiction for the next two decades.

As a writer and reviewer Anthony Boucher had a considerable effect on science fiction, but it was as cofounder (with J. Francis McComas) and longtime editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, which he edited until his retirement in 1958, that he really became a seminal influence on the field. Founded in 1949, F&SF soon became a showcase for the most literate and sophisticated work being done in the field, and Boucher earned himself a secure place in the pantheon of science fiction’s greatest editors.

Boucher wrote one science fiction novel—Rocket to the Morgue, under the pseudonym of H.H. Holmes—but as a writer he is best remembered for wry and ironic stories such as “The Quest for St. Aquin,” “Barrier,” “Snul-bug,” and “The Compleat Werewolf.”

He also had a separate and very successful career as a writer and critic in the mystery genre, and was a recipient of the prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Award of the Mystery Writers of America, and became the namesake for the Boucher Award.