Joseph Payne Brennan (1918 - 1990) was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and lived in New Haven, where he worked at the Yale Library. Onetime member of the staff of Theatre News, he also edited Essence, a magazine of poetry, and Macabre, one devoted to prose and poetry in the genre indicated by its title. His collections of macabre tales include Nine Horrors and a Dream, and The Dark Returners, while volumes of his verse include Heart of Earth, The Humming Stair, and The Wind of Time.