Masters Theses

Adair, Gerald M.  "Feasting with Banquo:  The Ghost Stories of Fritz Leiber."  Florida Atlantic University, 2000.

Adair bases much of his later published work on this thesis.  Notes that Leiber modernized Lovecraft and the great masters of weird fiction by giving them urban settings.  Much of Leiber's work was drawn from his own experience. Notes that his experience with the stage and films as an actor gave his work a very theatrical quality.

Byfield, Bruce.  "Divination and Self-Therapy:  Archetype and Stereotype in the Fantasies of Fritz Leiber." Simon Fraser University, 1989.

Much of Byfield's 1991 book on Leiber is drawn from this thesis.  Studies Leiber's work from a biographical and philosophical perspective and studies the entire range of Leiber's work in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.  Argues that Leiber explores not only himself in his work, but his ideas about the genre.

Colvard, Melba K.  "The Romance of Fritz Leiber's Conjure Wife:  An Archetypal Study."  University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 1997.

Brings to bear Northrop Frye's archetypal criticism to Leiber's Conjure Wife.  Notes that it partakes of Frye's "quest romance" in the quest of Norman Saylor's desire to understand the supernatural.  He must confront his wife Tansy's practice of witchcraft and her desire to further her husband's career as a professor of sociology.  Also brings into play Carl Jung's archetypes.

Hines, Norman.  "Parapsychology and Witchcraft in Fritz Leiber's Conjure Wife:  An Intertextual Approach."  University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 1996.

A reading from the perspective of the anthropologist Sir James Fraser and parapsychologist J. B. Rhine, who are mentioned by Leiber in the novel. Relates these writers to the main character Norman Saylor, and his gradual acceptance of the paranormal.  But there is a lingering doubt in the novel.  The question is unresolved in the context of the work.

Stauffacher, William Henry.  "The Authenticity of Fritz Leiber's Use of the Occult:  An Evaluation Based on Selected Writings."  University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1996.

Studies in depth Leiber's use of the occult in his fiction, from the sword and sorcery tales, through the Gothicism of Gather, Darkness, to witchcraft in Conjure Wife.  Concludes that Leiber knew a great deal about the occult and poses but does not answer the question of his actual practicing of the black arts.