L. P. Davies

Who was 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.

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.

Davies' novels The Artificial Man and Psychogeist were adapted into the 1968 film Project X and The Alien was very freely adapted into the 1972 film The Groundstar Conspiracy, starring George Peppard and Michael Sarrazin.

Davies worked as a pharmacist, postmaster, optometrist and gift shop owner, and served in the British Army Medical Corps in France, Italy and North Africa.

A critical essay on Davies' novels can be found in S. T. Joshi's The Evolution of the Weird Tale.