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Evening Primrose

John Collier

First published January 1941
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

A poet leaves society and secretly moves into a department store, sneaking around at night. He soon discovers that there is an entire society of people already living in the store, and they have some not-very-nice social customs.

According to Contento, this story first appeared in 1940, but the copyright page of ''Out of This World'', ed. Julius Fast, gives 1931 as the copyright year. An inventory of Collier's papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (at one point available on the internet on this site) lists a first draft as a "1937(?)" document, which suggests that 1931 is an error.
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Date Publication Publisher Type Page
January 1941 Cover Presenting Moonshine The Viking Press Collection 1
January 1941 Presenting Moonshine Macmillan of Canada Collection
January 1941 Cover Presenting Moonshine Macmillan and Co. Collection
1943 Cover The Touch of Nutmeg and More Unlikely Stories The Press of the Readers Club Collection 63
May 1944 Cover Out of This World Penguin Books (US) Anthology 3
August 1944 Cover Out of This World Penguin Books (US) Anthology 3
1945 Cover Green Thoughts and Other Strange Tales Editions for the Armed Services Collection
April 1945 Out of This World Penguin Books (US) Anthology
March 1946 Cover Out of This World Penguin Books (US) Anthology 1
July 1947 Cover Avon Fantasy Reader, No. 3 Avon Book Co. MAGAZINE 107
October 1949 Cover Un rien de muscade Hachette Collection 85
November 1951 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Doubleday Collection 14
April 1953 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Bantam Books Collection 19
1957 Presenting Moonshine Rupert Hart-Davis Collection 9
December 1957 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Bantam Books Collection 14
August 1961 Cover Stories for Late at Night Random House Anthology 60
1962 Cover Stories for Late at Night Max Reinhardt Anthology 66
1962 Stories for Late at Night Max Reinhardt Anthology 66
July 1962 Cover 12 Stories for Late at Night Dell Anthology 43
1963 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Bantam Books Collection
June 1963 Cover The Worlds of Science Fiction The Dial Press Anthology 71
1964 Cover Stories for Late at Night: Part One Pan Books Anthology 75
1964 Cover The Worlds of Science Fiction Gollancz Anthology 71
1965 Cover Best Horror Stories 2 Faber and Faber Anthology 180
1965 Cover Shock! Popular Library Anthology 23
1965 Cover Of Demons and Darkness Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection
1965 Cover Fancies and Goodnights (selections) Time-Life Books Collection 20
1965 Cover Stories for Late at Night: Part One Pan Books Anthology 75
July 1965 Cover The Worlds of Science Fiction Paperback Library Anthology 57
July 1965 Cover The Worlds of Science Fiction Paperback Library Anthology 57
1966 Cover The Worlds of Science Fiction Panther Anthology 61
June 1966 Cover 12 Stories for Late at Night Dell Anthology 43
1967 Cover Cuentos para la madrugada Aguilar Anthology 135
1967 Cover Les chefs-d'œuvre du fantastique Planète Anthology 333
October 1967 Cover The Worlds of Science Fiction Paperback Library Anthology 57
1969 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Bantam Books Collection 16
1969 Cover De Dame op de Schimmel De Arbeiderspers Collection 26
July 1970 Cover The Worlds of Science Fiction Paperback Library Anthology 57
July 1970 Cover The Worlds of Science Fiction Paperback Library Anthology 57
November 1972 Cover The John Collier Reader Alfred A. Knopf Collection 192
November 1972 Cover 12 Stories for Late at Night Dell Anthology 43
1973 Cover Cuentos para la madrugada Aguilar Anthology 139
October 1973 Cover Racconti per le ore piccole: volume primo Garzanti Anthology 91
1974 Cover Fantasy: The Literature of the Marvelous McGraw-Hill Anthology 98
September 1975 Cover The Best of John Collier Pocket Books Collection
September 1977 Cover The Best Horror Stories Hamlyn Anthology 458
1979 Cover Thrillers Chillers & Killers J. M. Dent Anthology 59
1979 Cover Thrillers Chillers & Killers Elsevier / Nelson Books Anthology 59
1980 Cover Fancies and Goodnights (selections) Time-Life Books Collection 20
1980 Cover Fancies and Goodnights: Evening Primrose / The Touch of Nutmeg Makes It Caedmon Collection |2
January 1980 Cover Un rien de muscade Néo Collection 79
March 1981 Cover Fancies and Goodnights Doubleday / SFBC Collection 15
January 1982 Cover Space Mail: Volume II Fawcett Crest Anthology 71
1984 Cover The Best Horror Stories Hamlyn Anthology 458
October 1987 Cover The Dark Descent Tor Anthology 31
August 1988 Cover The Dark Descent Tor / BOMC Anthology 31
March 1989 Cover Histoires à ne pas lire la nuit Le Livre de Poche Anthology 85
April 1990 Cover The Best Horror Stories (abridged) Mallard Press Anthology 258
June 1990 Cover The Colour of Evil Grafton Anthology 29
June 1990 Cover The Colour of Evil Grafton Anthology 29
September 1990 Cover The Best Horror Stories (abridged) Ivy Leaf Anthology 258
June 1991 Cover The Colour of Evil Grafton Anthology
September 1991 Cover The Color of Evil Tor Anthology 31
February 1997 Cover The Dark Descent Tor Anthology 31
May 2003 Cover Fancies and Goodnights New York Review of Books Collection 16
2009 Cover American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now The Library of America Anthology 1
January 2012 Cover The Century's Best Horror Fiction 1901-1950 Cemetery Dance Publications Anthology 585
October 2016 Cover The Color of Evil Tor Anthology 43
April 2019 Cover HorrorBabble's Ultimate Weird Tales Collection, Volume 1 HorrorBabble Anthology |8
July 2019 Cover The Big Book of Classic Fantasy: The Ultimate Collection Vintage Books Anthology 774
July 2019 Cover The Big Book of Classic Fantasy: The Ultimate Collection Vintage Books Anthology
September 2021 Cover 25 Unmissable Horror Stories HorrorBabble Anthology |4