The Rim of Morning: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror

English language

Published May 7, 2015

ISBN:: 978-1-59017-906-2

In the 1930s, William Sloane wrote two brilliant novels that gave a whole new meaning to cosmic horror. In To Walk the Night, Bark Jones and his college buddy Jerry Lister, a science whiz, head back to their alma mater to visit a cherished professor of astronomy. They discover his body, consumed by fire, in his laboratory, and an uncannily beautiful young widow in his house—but nothing compares to the revelation that Jerry and Bark encounter in the deserts of Arizona at the end of the book. In The Edge of Running Water, Julian Blair, a brilliant electrophysicist, has retired to a small town in remotest Maine after the death of his wife. His latest experiments threaten to shake up the town, not to mention the universe itself.

3 editions

sol2070@velhaestante.com.br reviewed The Rim of Morning: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror by William Sloane

Beautiful classics

4 stars

(em português: sol2070.in/2026/06/the-rim-of-morning-william-sloane/ )

The Rim of Morning (1937, 480 pages) brings together two novels by the American author William Sloane. The subtitle "Two Tales of Cosmic Horror" more or less explains what it's about, but not entirely. It also mixes science fiction and detective mystery, with exceptionally elegant and engaging prose.

I wanted to read it after the praise from the writer Ray Nayler:

William Sloane’s two novels To Walk the Night and The Edge of Running Water are beautiful works of art. Maybe they don’t get talked about enough.

(interview published on the blog of Brazilian science fiction author Renan Bernardo, more recognized abroad than in Brazil)

Sloane was a science fiction editor who wrote little, but seminal fiction. The stories in The Rim of Morning are perhaps classic enough, because the subtitle already spoils the plot, one could say. They …

(em português: sol2070.in/2026/06/the-rim-of-morning-william-sloane/ )

The Rim of Morning (1937, 480 pages) brings together two novels by the American author William Sloane. The subtitle "Two Tales of Cosmic Horror" more or less explains what it's about, but not entirely. It also mixes science fiction and detective mystery, with exceptionally elegant and engaging prose.

I wanted to read it after the praise from the writer Ray Nayler:

William Sloane’s two novels To Walk the Night and The Edge of Running Water are beautiful works of art. Maybe they don’t get talked about enough.

(interview published on the blog of Brazilian science fiction author Renan Bernardo, more recognized abroad than in Brazil)

Sloane was a science fiction editor who wrote little, but seminal fiction. The stories in The Rim of Morning are perhaps classic enough, because the subtitle already spoils the plot, one could say. They are tales of intense suspense and mystery, with slow unfolding, but "cosmic horror" anticipates the direction, before any sign.

To Walk The Night is about an inexplicable death and an enigmatic and fascinating woman. The great psychologist Carl Jung even praised the novel as an exemplary literary portrait of his concept of "anima," the unconscious feminine in the male mind.

It's surprising that it was written almost a century ago. In this genre, I found that it rivals or surpasses much of what was acclaimed in subsequent decades, both in literary quality and speculative imagination.

In The Edge of Running Water, a psychologist reunites with his former mentor at the university, with whom he shares a painful history, now involved in an obsessive, dark, and degenerate quest.

Both are slow-burning reads that may frustrate those who primarily crave the spectacular—something common among speculative fiction readers—but will also delight those who appreciate atmosphere, good construction, and even literary realism.

Sloane is often compared to H.P. Lovecraft, and yes, there are many similarities, especially the measured, anticipatory storytelling style, as well as the themes. But perhaps there are much more differences, such as the greater influence of detective fiction, less deranged, more positive points of view, and the beauty of the prose.