Clark Ashton Smith

Though he primarily considered himself a poet, Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961) is widely considered a master of the fantasy, horror, and science fiction short story. He is perhaps best known as one of the "Big Three" of weird tales, along with his more famous contemporaries H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Clark was largely self-educated, but his stories are distinguished by his stunningly ornate vocabulary and boundless imagination.