Up There and Other Strange Directions is a collection of sixteen stories by Donald A. Wollheim, the Guest of Honor at Nolacon II, the 46th World Science Fiction Convention. They range from hard SF to eldritch horror; some have never before been reprinted. They were mostly published in the early part of the 1940s; although they reflect the culture of their times, they are also chock full of forward-looking ideas. Wollheim was editing magazines then, so a number of these stories appeared under the pseudonyms of Martin Pearson and Millard Verne Gordon; one is a collaboration with Robert Lowndes and two with Cyril M. Kornbluth. This collection contains what the author considers to be some of his finest stories, including "The Planet Called Aquella." He has written a brief introduction to each story as well as an overall introduction to the book.

Contents:

Introduction
• The Planet Called Aquella
• The Mask of Demeter (with C. M. Kornbluth)
• Blueprint
• The Hidden Conflict
• The World on the Edge of the Universe
• The Hat
• Castaway
• The Outpost at Altark
• Interplane Express (with C. M. Kornbluth)
• Up There
• The Colossus of Maia
• Cosmophobia
• Bones
• The Man From the Future
• The World in Balance
• The Booklings