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Stanley Bernard Ellin

スタンリー・バーナード・エリン

Stanley Bernard Ellin

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1916-10-06 （Bath Beach, Brooklyn, New York, United States）
Died
1986-07-31 （Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States） age 69
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Quaker (Religious Society of Friends)
Residence History
Brooklyn, New York (resident for most of life) → Miami Beach, Florida (periods of residence/visit)

Career

Occupations
novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, teacher
Active Years
1948-1986
Affiliations
Member and past president of Mystery Writers of America (MWA)
Memberships
Mystery Writers of America
Influenced By
Guy de Maupassant, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson
Influenced
Lawrence Block (praised Ellin; influenced by his short stories), Contemporary short-story crime writers
Nominations
The Valentine Estate — Edgar Award (Best Novel) shortlist

Education

Brooklyn College
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 1932-1936
Year of Graduation: 1936
Country: United States
Graduated at age 19

Awards

Edgar Award (Best Short Story)
1954
Work: The House Party
Category: Best Short Story
Organization: Mystery Writers of America (MWA)
Result: 受賞
Edgar Award (Best Short Story)
1956
Work: The Blessington Method
Category: Best Short Story
Organization: Mystery Writers of America (MWA)
Result: 受賞
Edgar Award (Best Novel)
1959
Work: The Eighth Circle
Category: Best Novel
Organization: Mystery Writers of America (MWA)
Result: 受賞
Grand Prix de Littérature Policière
1974
Work: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Category: International Grand Prize (fiction)
Organization: Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (France)
Result: 受賞
MWA Grand Master Award
1981
Category: Lifetime Achievement
Organization: Mystery Writers of America (MWA)
Result: 受賞
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Best First Story (contest)
1948
Work: The Specialty of the House
Category: Best First Story (contest)
Organization: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Dreadful Summit

1948 Mystery / Suspense

A suspense novel focusing on a father-son relationship condensed into twenty-four hours. A teenage boy seeks revenge for his father's humiliation. Adapted into the film The Big Night.

family dynamicsrevengeevents compressed into a short time span
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Big Night / Joseph Losey (1951)

The Eighth Circle

1958 Mystery / Novel

A novel noted for psychological characterization and intricate plotting; winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel.

crime and punishmentpsychological tensionmoral dilemmas
Adaptations
  • [Television] Circle of Evil (teleplay) (1960)

House of Cards

1967 Psychological thriller

A Hitchcockian psychological thriller blending international intrigue and psychological tension. Adapted into film.

conspiracypowerpsychological manipulation
Adaptations
  • [Film] House of Cards / John Guillermin (1968)

The Specialty of the House

1948 Short story / Macabre mystery

A macabre tale about the secret behind a restaurant's 'specialty'. It received acclaim on publication and won the Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Best First Story contest prize.

intersection of the ordinary and the horrificthe danger of curiosityfood and ritual
Adaptations
  • [Television] Specialty of the House (television adaptation) (1959)
  • [Radio] The Speciality of the House (BBC radio adaptation) (1974)

Bibliography

  • 1948 - Dreadful Summit (aka The Big Night)
  • 1952 - The Key to Nicholas Street
  • 1958 - The Eighth Circle
  • 1960 - The Winter after This Summer
  • 1962 - The Panama Portrait
  • 1967 - House of Cards
  • 1968 - The Valentine Estate
  • 1970 - The Bind (aka The Man from Nowhere)
  • 1972 - Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
  • 1974 - Stronghold
  • 1977 - The Luxembourg Run
  • 1979 - Star Light, Star Bright
  • 1983 - The Dark Fantastic
  • 1985 - Very Old Money
  • Short story collections: Mystery Stories (1956), The Blessington Method and Other Strange Tales (1964), Kindly Dig Your Grave and Other Wicked Stories (1975), The Specialty of the House and Other Stories (1979)

Adaptations

  • 1951 - The Big Night (film, dir. Joseph Losey) — based on Dreadful Summit
  • 1959 - À double tour (film, dir. Claude Chabrol) — based on The Key to Nicholas Street
  • 1968 - House of Cards (film, dir. John Guillermin)
  • 1979 - Sunburn (film, dir. Richard C. Sarafian) — based on The Bind
  • 1997 - A Prayer in the Dark (film, dir. Jerry Ciccoritti) — based on Stronghold

Style & Themes

Literary Style
meticulous and precise plottingcharacter- and psychology-focused proseintroduction of the uncanny into ordinary settings
Recurring Motifs
open endings that invite reader interpretationdisturbing elements related to food and householdmoral dilemmas and consequences

Health

  • Stroke (complications leading to heart attack)
    晩年（1980年代中頃）
    Died of a heart attack as a complication of a stroke in 1986. Reported impact on his writing productivity was limited.

Legacy

Stanley Ellin is widely regarded as a master of the short mystery story. Praised for his precise plotting, unexpected endings, and ability to introduce unease into everyday settings, he received significant recognition in the crime fiction world, including the MWA Grand Master Award.

Academic Societies

  • Mystery Writers of America (MWA)

In Popular Culture

  • Many short stories were adapted for television (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, etc.), radio, and film, leaving a mark on popular culture.

Quotes

  • Stanley Ellin is the unsurpassed master of the short story in crime fiction.
    Source: Marcel Berlins (The Times) (1981)

Trivia

  • His story "The Specialty of the House" has been admired since its 1948 publication.
  • He lived most of his life in Brooklyn and became a Quaker in the late 1960s.
  • Known as a perfectionist who painstakingly revised his short stories; he produced work slowly and carefully.