Francis D. Grierson

Francis Durham Grierson (1888–1972) was born in Dublin and lived in Britain from about 1900. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes him as a soldier, lawyer, journalist and author, and records that he served during the First World War. His writing career extended well beyond a single pulp appearance: he later became known for detective fiction, including series featuring Inspector Slim, Professor Wells, Chief Inspector George Muir and Superintendent Andrew Ash.

Grierson’s first genre story was ‘The Hall of the Dead,’ printed in Weird Tales in April 1923. Its London house, Egyptian antiquities and closed rooms place it within the magazine’s early interest in occult mystery. He later published Heart of the Moon (1928), a scientific romance built around a journey to a lunar society. The range between detective series and speculative fiction gives a clearer picture of his career than the one early story alone. The April byline is a verifiable starting point; the wider bibliography shows how Grierson carried that work into several popular forms over the following decades.