Keller, David H. (David Henry), 1880-1966

Psychiatrist and author; M.D., School of Medicine, U. of Pennsylvania, (1903); served as neuropsychiatrist in U.S. Army Medical Corps during World Wars I and II; staff member of various state mental institutions; author of science fiction, fantasy and horror short stories and novels known as kelleryarns; used the pseudonym Henry Cecil; practiced briefly after retirement in Stroudsburg, Pa.

American medical doctor and author, noted for writing stories of horror, fantasy, and science fiction.

David Henry Keller (1880-1966) was an American psychiatrist and author of science fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories and novels under the pseudonym Henry Cecil.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and practiced medicine in his home state for fourteen years before becoming a neuro-psychiatrist in 1914. Until 1933 he practiced his profession in state hospitals in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. Dr. Keller served as a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps during World War I, and again in World War II with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Dr. Keller, who sometimes used the pseudonym Henry Cecil, began writing science fiction, fantasy, weird and horror stories in the 1920s. His first published work was "The revolt of the pedestrian," which appears in Amazing Stories in February 1928, and over his career he contributed to most of the major science fiction and fantasy magazines in America. His best know story is "The thing in the cellar," one of many tales that developed from his experience in psychiatry.

His first published novel was The Devil and the Doctor, originally titled The Stone Face, in 1941. A limited edition of his last book, A Figment of a Dream, was published in 1962.