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'''Theodore "Eibon" Donald Klein''' (born July 15, 1947) is an American [[horror fiction|horror]] writer and editor.

Klein has published very few works, but they have all achieved positive notice for their meticulous construction and subtle use of horror. Critic [[S. T. Joshi]] writes, "In close to 25 years of writing Klein has only two books and a handful of scattered tales to his credit, and yet his achievement towers gigantically over that of his more prolific contemporaries."<ref>S.T. Joshi,
''The Modern Weird Tale'', 2001, (p. 114)</ref>

==Biography==
Klein was born and lives in New York City and attended [[Brown University]], where he wrote his honors thesis on [[H. P. Lovecraft]], edited ''[[The Brown Daily Herald]]'', and graduated [[Phi Beta Kappa]] in 1969. In the 1970s, he studied film history at [[Columbia University]], wrote short fiction and non-fiction, and worked as a movie script reader for [[Paramount Pictures]].<ref name="fof">[[Douglas E. Winter]], "T. E. D. Klein"
in: D. E. Winter, ''Faces of Fear''. New York: Berkley, 1985. (pp.122–135). {{ISBN|0-425-07670-9}}</ref>

In 1975, Klein, with a few others, conceived the idea of a [[World Fantasy Convention]]. The first such convention was held in [[Providence, Rhode Island]], in honour of the life and work of [[H. P. Lovecraft]]. Klein's story "The Events at Poroth Farm" was a nominee for Best Short Fiction at the convention. (The story is reprinted in [[Gahan Wilson]], ed. ''First World Fantasy Awards''. Doubleday, 1977, pp.&nbsp;97–135, and in the Library of America's ''American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to Now'', edited by [[Peter Straub]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Library of America|url=https://www.loa.org/books/310-american-fantastic-tales-terror-and-the-uncanny-from-poe-to-now-boxed-set|title=American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to Now (boxed set)|accessdate=March 18, 2018}}</ref>)

He was the editor of ''[[Twilight Zone literature|Twilight Zone]]'' magazine from its inception in 1981 until 1985,<ref name="fof" /> and served as editor of the short-lived [[True crime (genre)|true crime]] magazine ''CrimeBeat'' from 1991 to 1993. He has also taught English at New York's [[John Jay College]] and been a longtime supporter of [[animal rights]].

He added "[[Eibon]]" to his name – a reference to [[Clark Ashton Smith]]'s [[Hyperborean cycle|Hyperborean]] wizard – so that when he used his initials in his byline, a la H. P. Lovecraft or [[M. R. James]], they would spell out his nickname "Ted".

Klein has blamed his limited output of fiction on [[writer's block]]. He revealed in the book ''[[Faces of Fear (interview book)|Faces of Fear]]'' (1985) that he had struggled with ''[[The Ceremonies (novel)|The Ceremonies]]'' for more than five years before finally finishing it, adding: "I'm one of those people who will do anything to avoid writing. Anything!"<ref name="fof" />

On November 3, 1995, Klein attended the graveside ceremony at Woodlawn Cemetery to mark the passing of writer [[Frank Belknap Long]].<ref>''The New Lovecraft Collector'' 9 (Winter 1995), 3</ref>

==Writings==
He first attracted notice with the short story "The Events at Poroth Farm" (1972), in which a college lecturer, isolated in the countryside and reading horror literature for teaching in the next semester, gradually realises that genuine supernatural horror is taking place around him. The story is notable for the insidious way in which the narrator's responses to the works he is reading (including those of [[Charles Robert Maturin]], [[Ann Radcliffe]], [[Matthew Lewis (writer)|"Monk" Lewis]], [[Sheridan Le Fanu]], [[Bram Stoker]], [[Aleister Crowley]], and [[Shirley Jackson]]) are conflated with his impressions of the supernatural threat.<ref>Steven J. Mariconda,
"The Hints and Portents of T. E. D. Klein", in ''Studies in Weird Fiction'' No. 1: 19–28. Summer 1986.</ref><ref>[[Robert M. Price]], "T. E. D. Klein", in [[Darrell Schweitzer]], ed. 
''Discovering Modern Horror Fiction I''. Mercer Island: Starmont, 1985. (pp. 68–85).</ref>

In 1984 Klein published the novel ''[[The Ceremonies (novel)|The Ceremonies]]'', which uses the same basic plot as the novella to more expansive ends; the threat this time is not to one man or one community, but to the entire world. ''The Ceremonies'' takes up and elaborates upon some of the mysteries of [[Arthur Machen]]'s story "[[The White People]]" and is called "a modern classic" in an essay by [[Thomas F. Monteleone]] in the book ''Horror: 100 Best Books''. ''The Ceremonies'' is described by [[Stephen King]] as "Wonderful, exciting and suspenseful, full of tension and a sense of deep brooding mystery", "the most exciting novel in the field to come along since Straub's ''Ghost Story''". A revised edition was published by PS Publishing in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pspublishing.co.uk/the-ceremonies-trade-paperback-by-ted-klein-4424-p.asp|title=The Ceremonies [Trade Paperback] by T.E.D. Klein|accessdate=March 19, 2018}}</ref>

A second novel, ''Nighttown'', was announced by Klein soon afterwards and described by him as "a paranoid horror novel set entirely in New York City",<ref name="fof"/> but it has not appeared in all the years since.

In 1985 Klein published the [[Anthology|collection]] ''[[Dark Gods]]'', which includes four novellas, "Children of the Kingdom", "Petey", "[[Black Man with a Horn]]", and "Nadelman's God". The last of these novellas was first published in this collection, whilst the others had been published previously. 

In 1993, Klein co-wrote with Italian film director [[Dario Argento]] the screenplay of the [[giallo]] film ''[[Trauma (1993 film)|Trauma]]'', also known as ''Dario Argento's Trauma''.

His previously unpublished short story "Growing Things" was collected in the 1999 anthology ''999''.

He has penned two critical essays on weird fiction: ''[[Abraham Van Helsing|Dr Van Helsing]]'s Handy Guide to Ghost Stories'' (1981), a series of articles for ''Twilight Zone'' magazine; and ''Raising Goosebumps for Fun and Profit'' (1988), originally written for ''[[Writer's Digest]]''. As a critic, Klein was influential in encouraging the early career of [[Ramsey Campbell]] via an extensive review of his work up to the time of'' [[Demons by Daylight]]'' which was published in ''Nyctalops'' magazine.

In 2019, the Hippocampus Press published a collection of Klein's various essays, articles, and op-ed pieces entitled ''Providence After Dark and Other Writings'' (edited by S. T. Joshi).

==Awards and recognition==
The novella "Nadelman's God" won the 1986 [[World Fantasy Award]] for Best Novella.<ref>{{cite web|author=World Fantasy Convention|title=Award Winners and Nominees|url=http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html/|accessdate=February 4, 2011|archive-date=December 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201074405/http://worldfantasy.org/awards/awardslist.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Also in 1986, his novel ''The Ceremonies'' won him the [[British Fantasy Award]]'s "August Derleth Award".

In 2012, Klein received the World Horror Convention's [[World Horror Convention Grand Master Award|Grand Master Award]].<ref>{{cite web|author=World Horror Convention|title=Announcements|url=https://www.worldhorrorconvention.com/whc2012/World_Horror_2012.html|accessdate=March 18, 2018|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518014638/http://www.worldhorrorconvention.com/whc2012/World_Horror_2012.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Title
!Date Published
!Form
|-
|''[[The Ceremonies (novel)|The Ceremonies]]'' 
|1984
|Novel
|-
|''[[Dark Gods]]'' 
|1985
|Collection
|-
|''Reassuring Tales'' 
|2006
|Collection
|-
|"The Events at Poroth Farm"<ref>{{Cite web |title="Summary Bibliography: T. E. D. Klein" |url=https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?2391 |access-date= |website=Internet Speculative Fiction Database}}</ref>
|1972
|Short story
|-
|"Renaissance Man" 
|1974
|Short story
|-
|"S.F." 
|1975
|Short story
|-
|"Magic Carpet"
|1976
|Short story
|-
|"Petey"
|1979
|Short story
|-
|"Children of the Kingdom"
|1980
|Short story
|-
|"[[Black Man with a Horn]]"
|1980
|Short story
|-
|"The Ceremonies: An Excerpt"
|1981
|Short story
|-
|"Nadelman's God"
|1985
|Short story
|-
|"Well-Connected"
|1987
|Short story
|-
|"Camera Shy"
|1988
|Short story
|-
|"They Don't Write 'em Like This Anymore"
|1989
|Short story
|-
|"They Don't Write 'em Like This Anymore: A TV Treatment in Two Versions"
|1989
|Short story
|-
|"Ladder"
|1990
|Short story
|-
|"One Size Eats All"
|1993
|Short story
|-
|"Curtains for Nat Crumley"
|1996
|Short story
|-
|"Growing Things"
|1999
|Short story
|-
|"Imagining Things"
|2007
|Short story
|-
|"Lament of an Aging English Instructor"
|1972
|Poem
|-
|"The Father of the Witch"
|1973
|Poem
|-
|"The Paintings of Hieronymus Bosch"
|1973
|Poem
|-
|"The Book of Hieronymus Bosch"
|1988
|Poem
|-
|''Raising Goosebumps for Fun and Profit: A Brief Guide, for Beginners, to the How's and Why's of Horror'' 
|1988
|Non-fiction
|-
|''Providence After Dark and Other Writings''<ref>Robert Lee Bolton III, "{{cite web |title=Collected Writings From a Master of the Horror Genre |url=https://mountainstatesman.com/article/boltons-book-review-collected-writings-from-a-master-of-the-horror-genre |accessdate=April 15, 2020 |archive-date=April 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414235407/https://mountainstatesman.com/article/boltons-book-review-collected-writings-from-a-master-of-the-horror-genre |url-status=dead }}", April 7, 2020</ref>
|2019
|Non-fiction
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Mariconda, Steven J. "The Hints and Portents of T. E. D. Klein." ''Studies in Weird Fiction'' 1, No 1 (Summer 1986):19-28.

==External links==
* [https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?2391 T.E.D. Klein at Internet Speculative Fiction Database]
* [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/T_E_D_Klein.htm Bibliography]
{{World Fantasy Award Best Novella}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, T. E. D.}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:American horror writers]]
[[Category:American short story writers]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American magazine editors]]
[[Category:Brown University alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Cthulhu Mythos writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:World Fantasy Award–winning writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American weird fiction writers]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=T. E. D. Klein|access_date=2026-03-06}}