EnCrypted Episode 5: 'The Night Wire' by H.F. Arnold
Very little is known about H.F. Arnold, author of today's story. He is as much a mystery as the events described in The Night Wire , his most enduring work. By way of introduction, I reproduce Ann and Jeff VanderMeer's preface (from their excellent, exhaustive collection The Weird ): H.F. Arnold (1902-1963) was an American pulp-era writer who wrote only three published stories. Despite this low output, 'The Night Wire' (1926), first published in Weird Tales , is considered the most popular story from the first golden age of that magazine. Lovecraft is said to have loved this story... Details about the writer's life are scarce, without even confirmation that 'H.F. Arnold' was his real name. Some have speculated that he must have been a journalist^. If this is your first time with The Night Wire , I will give you the headlines. Two night wire guys are receiving news reports over the wire, a job that is usually boring mechanical, when one begins typing up in...