L. P. Davies
Leslie Purnell Davies was a British novelist whose works typically combine elements of horror, science fiction and mystery. He also wrote many short stories under several pseudonyms, including: L. Purnell Davies, Leo Berne, Richard Bridgeman, Morgan Evans, Ian Jefferson, Lawrence Phillips, Thomas Philips, G. K. Thomas, Leslie Vardre, and Rowland Welch.
Themes
Davies' books often deal with the manipulation of human consciousness, and in some ways are comparable to the works of Philip K. Dick. His protagonists frequently suffer from amnesia or other loss of identity, and their quest to find out who they really are drives the plot.Film adaptations
Davies' novels The Artificial Man and Psychogeist were adapted into the 1968 film Project X, and The Alien was loosely adapted into the 1972 film The Groundstar Conspiracy. The Paper Dolls was adapted by Hammer as an episode of its television series Journey to the Unknown.Personal life
Davies worked as a pharmacist, postmaster, optometrist, and gift shop owner, and served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in France, Italy and North Africa.Critical evaluation
A critical essay on Davies' novels can be found in S. T. Joshi's The Evolution of the Weird Tale.Novels
- The Paper Dolls
- Man Out of Nowhere
- The Artificial Man
- Psychogeist
- Tell it to the Dead
- Twilight Journey
- The Lampton Dreamers
- The Nameless Ones
- The Alien
- Dimension A
- Genesis Two
- Stranger to Town
- The White Room
- Adventure Holidays Ltd.
- The Shadow Before
- Give Me Back Myself
- What Did I Do Tomorrow?
- Assignment Abacus
- Possession
- The Land of Leys
- ''Morning Walk''
Short Story Collection
- ''Shadows Before: The London Mystery Stories of L.P. Davies''