Paul Ernst was born at the turn of the 20th century and took up writing in his early twenties. His initial efforts appeared in the science fiction pulps, including Astounding Stories, Strange Tales, and Amazing Stories. He remains best known for the infamous "Dr. Satan" series he penned for Weird Tales, as well as the 24 lead novels from The Avenger magazine, which featured (naturally enough) The Avenger as their hero. After the pulps disappeared, he wrote for the slick magazines such as Good Housekeeping.