Bixby, Jerome

Entry updated 3 March 2025. Tagged: Author, Editor.

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(1923-1998) US author and editor; an extremely prolific story-writer; he produced not only a respectable number of sf, fantasy, horror and western stories, but also contributed large quantities of somewhat salacious stories to men's magazines of the 1960s, which have so far escaped bibliographic attention. Pseudonyms used on stories of genre interest include Jay B Drexel, Thornecliffe Herrick, D B Lewis, Harry Neal and AlgerRome, the last in collaboration with AlgisBudrys. Bixby also wrote or co-wrote sf andHorror screenplays and teleplays, includingIt! the Terror from Beyond Space (1958),Curse of the Faceless Man (1958),TheLost Missile (1958), the original story forFantastic Voyage (1966), an episode ofMen into Space (1959-1960), and four episodes ofStar Trek; he claimed that IsaacAsimov'sFantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (1987) was heavily borrowed, perhaps unintentionally, from a film treatment by him and his son (Jan) Emerson Bixby (1963- ). A final screenplay, about a contemporary man who claims to be thousands of years old, was released asJerome Bixby's The Man from Earth (2007; vtThe Man from Earth) directed by Richard Schenkman, who also adapted Bixby's script as a stage play [see Checklist below].

Bixby editedPlanet Stories Summer 1950-July 1951 and initiated its companion magazine,Two Complete Science-Adventure Books, editing its first three issues; he also worked onGalaxy Science Fiction,Thrilling Wonder Stories,Startling Stories and several comics, includingPlanet Comics.

Bixby began publishing sf with "Tubemonkey" forPlanet Stories in Winter 1949, and collected some of his output in this genre inSpace by the Tale (coll1964).Devil's Scrapbook (coll1964; vtCall for an Exorcist1974) is horror and fantasy. His best-known story, which he never himself collected but which has been widely anthologized, is sf/horror: "It's aGood Life" (inStar Science Fiction Stories 2, anth1953, ed FrederikPohl) features a malignant superchild withPsi Powers (see alsoChildren in SF); it was dramatized on television inTheTwilight Zone, and later as a segment, directed by JoeDante, ofTwilight Zone: The Movie (1983); an episode of the 2002-2003 revival ofThe Twilight Zone, "It's Still a Good Life", is a sequel featuring performers from the original episode.

Bixby's work is professional and imaginative, but he clearly wrote too hurriedly and all too often excellent ideas fail to generate memorable stories. However, the filmJerome Bixby's The Man from Earth, and a collection of his best stories asThe 18th Golden Age of Science Fiction Megapack: 10 classic stories by Jerome Bixby (coll2015), may yet inspire a reassessment of his work. [JC/GW]

Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby

born Los Angeles, California: 11 January 1923

died San Bernardino, California: 28 April 1998

works

Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth (New York: Samuel French,2008) [play: adapted by Richard Schenkman from film screenplay by Jerome Bixby: pb/]

collections and stories

Space by the Tale (New York: Ballantine Books,1964) [coll: pb/RalphBrillhart]
Devil's Scrapbook (North Hollywood, California: Brandon House,1964) [coll: pb/Miller]
- Call for an Exorcist (North Hollywood, California: Brandon Books,1974) [vt of the above: pb/]
Star Trek Fotonovel #10: Day of the Dove (New York: Bantam Books,1978) [tie: illustrated story:Star Trek: pb/]
Zen (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2009) [story: ebook: first appeared October 1952Galaxy: na/]
Where There's Hope (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2009) [story: ebook: first appeared November 1953If: na/]
The Draw (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2010) [story: ebook: first appeared March 1954Amazing: na/]
The Holes Around Mars (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2010) [story: ebook: first appeared January 1954Galaxy: na/]
The Slizzers (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2010) [story: ebook: first appeared June 1953Science Fiction Stories: na/]
"One Way Street" and Other Tales (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction,2014) [coll: in the publisher'sMasters of Science Fiction series: pb/Harold McCauley]
Mirror, Mirror (Hillsboro, New Hampshire: Strange Particle Press,2015) [coll: pb/Laura Givens]
The 18th Golden Age of Science Fiction Megapack: 10 classic stories by Jerome Bixby (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press,2015) [coll: ebook: na/]