Zealia Brown-Reed Bishop (1897–1968) was an American writer of short stories. Her name is sometimes spelled ‘Zelia’. Although she mostly wrote romantic fiction, she is remembered for three short horror stories she wrote in collaboration with H. P. Lovecraft.
Among her works are three horror stories she wrote in collaboration with H. P. Lovecraft (The Curse of Yig, Medusa’s Coil, and The Mound). Her stories appeared in the magazine Weird Tales. However, they were extensively revised by Lovecraft to the point of being ghostwritten.
Among her works are three horror stories she wrote in collaboration with H. P. Lovecraft (The Curse of Yig, Medusa’s Coil, and The Mound). Her stories appeared in the magazine Weird Tales. However, they were extensively revised by Lovecraft to the point of being ghostwritten.
Arkham House published her volume The Curse of Yig (1953) which contains the three horror stories by Bishop and Lovecraft, as well as two profiles by Bishop, one about H. P. Lovecraft and the other about August Derleth. That on Lovecraft has been reprinted in Peter Cannon’s collection of essays on Lovecraft, Lovecraft Remembered. The three Lovecraft-Bishop revision stories also appear in The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions.
Bishop’s preference was for romantic fiction, of which she wrote and published far more than she did of the weird. She lived in Kansas City with her husband D.W. Bishop,took an active role in the National Federation of Press Women, the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Missouri Women’s Press Club. She authored a historical series about Clay County, Missouri.
