FANI TREVI

SYu[

AFF-,

VoI. II, No. ? SIXPENCE FEB.-MAII,. '48

FESTTYALWith its March issue the American Weird Tales, which

pioneered the development of the supernatural story as asp€cialised form of popular flction and was one of the firstmagazines to feature science'fantasy, celebrates a quarter-cenLuly of regular publication. During that time ii haspubiished thousands of stories, of wlrich a very highpercentage remain memorable to its devoted readers and areacceptable to-day to a bigger audience; for no other pulpmagazine has contrived to maintain such a high literarystandard as was imposed by the late Farnsworth Wright, whofor sixteen years occupied its editorial chair.

Much of the material which has been and is stitl beingused in anthologies of modern weird stories originallyappeared in Weird Tales, which cradled dozens of fantasy-flction's most popular writ€rs, including H. P. Lovecraft,C1ark Ashton Smith, Edmond Hamilton, C. L. Moore, RoberbBloch, Ray Bradbury, and many others. It has alsofeatured the v/ork of writers whose names, though theybecame familiar enough to its followers, were seldon if everencountered in other magazines: such as Arthur WilliamBelnal, Greye La Spina, Flobert H. Leitfred, Arlton Eadie.Nictzin Dyalhis, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, and the lateRobert E. Howard. Authors whose interest rvas and is towrite for the magazine which, in spite of garish covers, hadgained a following of discriminating readers interested in"the bizame and unusual" in flction.

Since the flrst issue, dated March 1923, some 240 numbersof Weird Tales have appeared; it is now in its fortiethvolume. Though many scattered collections have beenjealously hoarded, only a half-dozen complete files .arebelieved to exist, and early issues are of almosi fabulous value.For most of its life it has been published monthly, but ofrecent years has appeared only bi-monthly, under the capablaeditorship of Dorothy Mcnwraith, with Lamont Buchananas A.ssociate Editor. Though older readers, recalling itspre-war days, declare that its standards have deteriorated,it still nurtures new writers and arbists and, in spite ofradical chang€s, maintains a type of reader-inter€st that hasalways been peculiarly its own.

Overleaf. Arthur F. Hilknan, who has watched it witha critical eye for many years, telis the story of Vgeirtl Talesfrom the beginning. On behalf of its readers, FANTASYR,EVIEIM here tenders congratulations to this uniquepublication on ibs enviable recojd, $rith the wish that it n'illcontinue to delight its devotees for many years to comc.

7

ARTHUR

25

FANTASY

F. H,ILMAN reviews

Early in 1923 a small, unpretentiousmagazine with the simple title of WeirdTales appeared among the detectiveand Western pulps clutteling Americannewstands. A drab cover pictured ayoung man rushing to the rescue of agiri encoiled in the arms of an octopus

-or was it an octopus? A panel an-nounced: "OAZE," An ExtraordinarYNovelette by Anthony M. Rud - TheTale of a Thousand Thrills. A sub-title described it as "The UniqueMagazine," and those curious enoughto took inside found that althoughthere were no more pictures the con-tents page iisted 22 sho't stories, threenovelettes and a two-part novel. Thetitles were attractive: "The Dead Man'sTale," by Wiilard E. Hawkins; "TheClosing Hand," by Farnsworth Wright;"The Thing of a Thousand Shapes," byOtis Adelbert l{Iine . . . Worth 25 centsof any jaded reader's money.

In "The Eyrie" (a deparLment whichstill survives), Editor Edwin Bairdclaimed the magazine "a sensationalvariafion from the established rulesthat govern magazine Publishing,"since it would feature the sort of stories

YEARS OF 'WEIRD TALES'other publications tabooed. Said anintroduction elsewhere: "Tales ofhorror-or 'gooseflesh' stories-arecornmonly shunn€d by magazineeditors. They believe ttre public doesn'twant this sort of fiction. We believethere are . .. perhaps hundreds.ofthousands of infelligent readers whoreally enjoy'gooseflesh' stories. HenceWeird Tales," It promised "fanLastic,extraordinary, grotesque stories, storiesof strange and bizarre adventurethat wiU startle and amaze you."

Thcugh, Iike all new magazines,Weird Tales had its teething troubles,it estabiished a sufficient following toappear monthly and, after a couple ofissues, in a larger size. The changeproved too ambiLious, however, and itsoon reverted to its original format. Itsstories in those early days were,actually, much of a hotch-Potch,amateurish efforts interlarded withproved favourites by such as EdgarAllan Poe and Ambrose Bierce. Butwith the advent of H. P. Lovecraft andSeabury Quinn, with "Dagon" and "'IhePhantom Farmhouse," in the Octoberissue, began the regime of modernwriLers of the macabre who reaIIYunderstood the fle]d which Weird Talessettled. down to develop in earnest.

Lovecraft, a literary r€cluse with arare gift of imagination, steeped in thetraditions of ttre supernatural story,had already writt€n many such tales.But he had never sought a market forttrem, and it was onlY under the Per-suasion of his few friends that hesubmitted his manuscripts to this newmagazine which, he soon realised, pro-vided opportunity for his peculiartalents. His enthusiastic following,which has multiplied since his death,has reason to be grateful for the earlyencouragement he received from WeirdTales, whjch found him a valuable ac-quisition as Lhe years passed and Lrisstories became an almost essentialfeature of the magazine.

Towards the end of '24, FaxnsworthWright, a former Chicago n€ws re-porter and music critic, who had helpedEdwin Baird in various ways, took trisplace in the editor's chair. He soonbecame the suPreme arbiter in theselection of material, and his sound

FANTASY REVIEWA Journal for Readers, Writers andCollectors of Imaginative Fiction

BI-MONTHLY: SIXPENCEEditorial, Advertising and Pub-

tishing Offlce: 115 Wanstead ParkRoad, I]ford, Essex.

Subscription rates: In GreatBritain and Dominions (exceptCanada) 3/6 per year. Single cop-ies, 7d., post free. In Canada andU.S.A., ?5c. per year. Single copies,15c., post free.Vol. 2, No. ? Feb,-Mar. '48

E<litor: Walter Gillings.Associate Etlitors: John Carnell,

J. Michael Rosenblum, D. R,. Smith,Arthur F. Hillrnan, Fted C. Brown,Nigel Lindsay, Frank Edward Ar-nold, J. O. Newman, A. VincentClarke.

A mer i c a n Correspondents:David l{ishi (New York), ForrestJ. Ackerman (Hollywood), SamMoskowitz (Newark, N.J.), JosephB. Baker (Chicago).

REVIEW

The firsi issue.

judgment and painstaking effort in theencouragement of contributors broughtthe steady improvement of the maga-zine, which trad been taken over bynew pubiishers. Gradually the standardwas raised; writers who could not makethe grade were eliminated, and otherswho were destined to rank among themost popular exponents of the macabrearose to take their places. It becameapparent that, in spite of its being"just a pulp," Weird Tales was intenton accentuating liLerate values andeschewing crude hackwork. Amongthose who rallied to Wright's assist-ance and stood the test of his severeadjudication were Frank Belknap Long,Henry S. Whitehead, and Fl'ank Owen,whose beatrtiful Chinese pastelsreached a new height in "The Windthat Tramps the World" (April '25).

A signiflcant trend in '26 was thebroadening of the magazine's scope toinclude science flction. Edmond Hamil-ton, who had made an auspicious startwith his horror tale "The Monster Godof Mamurth" (Aug. '26), began a seriesof interplanetary stories which were tollecome a regular feature and lead tothe founding of the "InterstellarPatrol." In the pure macabre vein,Seabury Quinn's series concel'ningJules de Grandin, psychic investigator,proved a firm favourite which nevergrew less.

3

The next year was notable for thehigh standard of Everil Worrell's eerieofferings in "Leonora" (Jan. '2?) and"The Cana]" (Dec. '27); and for Love-craft's "The Horror at R,ed Hook" (Jan.'27), which gave the first indicafion ofthe now-famous myth pattern on whichso many of his stories are based. Out-lined more clearly in "The CalI ofCthulhu" (Feb. '28), the CthuihuMythos was later boffow€d and de-veloped by several younger writerswhom he sponsored.

Admirers of Roklert E. Howard willrecall that in '29 came his flne storiesof King Kull, "The Shadow Kingdom"(Aug.) and "The Mirror of TuzunThule" (Sept.) His stirring style wasalso evident in the tales of SolomonKane and his novel of the mysteriousdespot "Skuli-Face" (Oct.). The yeathat followed saw Clark Ashton Srnithassume his place in the forefront offantasy writing. With his remarkablestore of words, his ability to weavethem well, and his vivid imagina.tivesense, he produced stories of an exoticcast which few others have equalled."The End of the Story" (May '30)started a cycle of legends of hauntedAveroigne whose colourful imagery re-mains in the mind, and from these hebranched into interplanetary settingsof a unique order. "The Vaults ofYoh Vornbis" (May '32) is typical ofhis science fiction work.

Weird Tales suffered its first seriousloss in '32, when Henry S. Whiteheaddied. His tales of West Indian voodooand other terrors were moulded into aform which made them miniatul'ewo|ks of art. But Quinn, Lovecraft,Long, Hamilton and Howard continuedto produce good work at this time.Long's bizarre novel, "Tbe Horror fromthe Hills" aJan. '31), was a tour deforce that firmly established him, andIfoward's new series of tales of Conanthe Barbarian infused flre into theveins of all those who followed his ex-ploits.

The period '33-34 was probably theflnest in' the whole of Weird Tales'career. The magazine had enlarged insize and content, and although heatedarguments arose as to whether thecover nudes of Mrs. Brundage wereappropriate to such a reader-appeal ashad now been achieved, it was gener-ally conceded that they had b€auty anddelicacy. Inside could be found thebest work of Howard, Smifh, Quinn andHamilton, with Lovecraft making rare

4

but notable contributions. But theperiod is most important for the riseof Carl Jacobi, beginning with ,.Revela_tions in Black" (April ,33). and C. L.Moore, whose eerie tale of a Martianmonstrosity, "Shambleau" (Nov.,3g).quickiy piaced her in the front rank.The later adventures of NorthwestSmith brought him a host of followers,and his creator €nhanced her reouta-tion ',rith another series built arbundJirel of Joiry, a warlike maid whoseoutlandish experiences began with ,,TheBlack God's Kiss" (Oct. '34).

A disturbing note was sounded in '3bwhen, with three science fi.ction maga-zines competing for his readers' atten-tion, Wright was tempted to let down} is barriers a trifle and introduce a fewstories which were primarily detectivenovels. The howl that ensued drovehim back to his former policy, but ex-perienced readers sensed that at longlast the bogy of commercialism hadreared iis ugly head. For the next fi.veyears Wright was vaiiantly on thedefensive. Howard died in '36. andLovecrafL a year later, but in spite ofthese hard losses the standard was stillhigh. Among the new writers whocame forward was Robert Bloch. whoin "The Shambler from the Stars"(Sept. '35) . and other short piecesachieved fair imitations of Lovecraftianlegendry. Henry KutLner, in "TheGraveyard Rats" (Mar. '36), also gavepromise of finer things to come; whileThorp Mcolusky, August Derleth,Thomas P. I{elly aJld Earl Pierce Jnr.took increasing part in successiveissues.

The introduction of Virgil Finlay'siliustrations put fresh impetus into themagazine's attractions, but by 1940Wnght was flnding increasing difficultyin maintaining the rigorous standardshe had upheld for so long. Depart-mental affairs, Lhe pressure of outsideinfluences and his own ill-healbh atlengfh proved too great a burden, andled to tris resignation. His death,which followed wlthin a few monihs,was a severe blow to fantasy litelatureand marked the end of an epoch whoselike may never be seen again.

Weird Tale$ went on, but disintegra-tion had settled in. After havingswoilen to 160 pages and cut its priceto 15 cents, the magazine changed tobi-monthly publication; Brundage andI'inlay vanished from it, Ieaving morescope for Hannes Bok's no less fascinat-

ing altwork. Smith. Owen and otheroro.comnbutors appeared but seldom,while__the _inspirational spark of euinnand Hamilton flickered suUenly. Theyears '41-42 saw, however, a revival ofrnterest_ in Lovecraft, with the publica_tion of his novel, .,The Case of

-CharlesDexter. Ward:' rMayJuI. .41), unearthedol'.ll.s ungersrudy August Derleth, andof "The Shadow Over Innsmoutlr" ("fan..'42), al)d the "Herbert West: Reanima_tor" series. They were distinguished.also. for a broadening of the trend ofmacabre humour; Nelson S. Bond andRobert Bloch achieving absurditieswith the .s_upernatural, particularly thelatter's "Nursemaid to Nightmares..(Nol. '42), which must have set manya ghoul dancing with rage.

Then, in '43, a nova flared in the uni_verse of. fantasy-flction. Ray Bradburyhad arrived, and his fresh conceptioniand sparkling prose swept like a

-breeze

down the dusty corridors of the weird.Here was eeriness up-to-date, themacabre in ultra-modern dress!

.Tales

like "The Wind" (Mar. '43) and ,,TheLake" (May '44) were stepping-stonesinto a world of chronium-plated horror-Unfortunately, his fetlow contributorslimped painfully behind him and em-phasised the sorry lack of Weird Talesronce brilliant roster.

The period since '44 has been redeem-able for three things: the illustrationsof Dolgov, deserving of better stories:the transition of Bradbury's style tothe status of the "siick" masazines. and.the excellence of Manly Wade .iVell-man's John Thunstone episodes. Butall have been submerged in a sea ofmediocrity through which, now andagain, runs a tremor suggestive ofbetter things. Whether the ancientbarque Weird Tales will reach a betterhaven than the one it left, only thefuture can decide. For the men whofllled it with strange cargoes have gone;and perhaps the spirit of the ship hasgone with them.

FA NTAS Y

ln The Next lssueAn interview with

EDWARD E. SMITH, Ph,D,,who tells how he wrote the famous'Sky]ark" stories and the ,,Lens-

man" series-

REVIEW

Wa,lter Gillingrs' FANTASIAGrofi Conklin's second anbhology, "A Treasury of Science Fiction," due next

month from Crown Publishers, with 30 gems by Weinbaum, Merritt, Coblentz, Hamil-ton, C. L. Moore, de Camp, del Rey, John Be!'non Harris and others. AIso in 'i:he

making: s-f collection for high schoolboys. Simon & Schuster will re-publishA. E. van Vogt's "Slan!" aBd "Weapon Makers" stories follorving novel versionof "World of NUU-A," to which he's writing sequel . New British author,Pei€r Phillips, will make U.S. debut in Weird Tales After four years inactivity,Australian fantasy fans revived Futurian Society of Sydney, propose to call themselves"Auslans'r . Roger P. Graham (Rog Phillips) dolng column for fans in Amazing. Lilith Lorraine, former science fiction writer, poetess-publisher of Different,prophesies dawn of Matriarchal Age-a world of women without war . .

ObSer"ver film critic C. A. Lejeune dedicated Xmas column to "fine old friend"Arthur Machen, of whom Tim€s obituary said: "He fished perhaps in a smail pool,but his line went deep." . . . John Bouverie in News'Chronicle: "Evaluating Machen'swork is not too easy just now. Our times don't foster an ardour for the romanric endmystical. Twenty years ago a typical Machen flrst edition such as 'The FantasticTale' fetched 930 to €40. S6 would buy lt now" . . . Baltimore, celebrating its 150thanniversary, voted Edgar Allan Poe third in list of great citizens . Eric Ashb}'. in"A Scientist in Russia" (Pelican: 1/-), notes that Union of Soviet Writers has sec;ionof Sclentiflc Imaginative Literature . . .SLANS FOR SALVAGE

Doubt had nine pages on Flying Saucers-"grand series of I'ofiean phenomena"-coilated 389 eye-witness reports, then lost count . One member informed Society'airships'manned by Atlanteans' descendants training for 'sah'age work necessarf in1960. Cerbain persons . , . will be collected, placed in safe keeping for start of ilewcivilisation' Rocketeer P. E. Cleator dlscoursing in BIS Journal on cranks lvhopester him re "Messages from Mars in Morse" Prof. A. M. Low gave Nelv YorkSunday llirror readers grim picture of 20-year atomic Armageddon, with mole tanks,cosmic ray rockets, artificial satellltes, projects to plunge world in darkness and alterEarth's tilt to produce new Ice Age Christmas number of French V featuredJacques Spitz fantasy of festivities on man-made moon in 2047 . . . Fourth issue ofFuture depicted Britain in 1955, with articies, diagrams, photographs . . .

Ra)'mond ("Things to Come") Massey starred in Broadway play by Donald OgdenStewari, "How I Wonder," in which astronomer is visited by inhabitant of'newplanet he discovers-before atomic power blows it up . . . "Poiter's Notch," by MichaelRobinson, presented at Giobe Theatre, poses problem of census-taker in New Englandvillage where dead mix with the living . Joseph Conrad's "The Inn of the ThreeWitches" dramatised on radio . . . J. M. walsh's latesf thriller, "Once in Tiger Bay"(Collins: 8,6) featured in Ernest Dudley's "A]'rnchair Detective" programme]}IRS. LEIGH BRACI(ETT-HAMILTON

Retailing life-story in U.S. fanmag. Fanscient, Edmond Hamilton, writer of 200fantasies in 23 years, revealed his marriage to Leigh Brackett, mistl'ess of space-opera:"Our lwo typewriters now rattle in the same apartment" . . . IJniformed fan Capt. K.F. Siater running mimomag. titled Opera,tion Fantast as mouthpiece of BritishFantasy Library's Liaison Dept. . . . "Slaves of ljax," by John Russell Fearn (Kaner:1/-), tells of 28th century plot to blow up Earth from Moon Thomas P. Kelly'sWeird Tales serial, "I Found Cleopatra," reprinted in Canada as "thrilling novel," onsale here at 9d. . . . "The School in Space," by Reginald Bro$''ne (Swan: 5i-), is 6toryof schoolboys shanghaied to Venus . . . "Nights of the Round Table," collection ofhorror tales by Margery Lawrence, available in Readers' Library , . .

Prof. J. B. S. Haldane on "God and Mr. C. S. Lewis" in Ratioqralist Annual.(Watts: 216) . .. And Mr. Lewis writes introductory memoir for "Essays Presentedto Cha,rles Wiliiams" (Oxford: 1216r, s6rnpiled by literary friends as tribute to hismemory . . . FTom panegl'ric to H. P. Lovecraft by Providence, Rhode Island, residentwho knew him, sent to Thrilling Wonder: "His hands were ice-cold. He despised sun-light, adored utter darkness. He wrote his best horror tales after midnight"Paging Mr. Chandler! New Statesman's "Critic" wants to "ensure the falsity of thedisagreeable suggestion that if mankind commits suicide ib is the race of rats thatwould succeed to our inheritance as ]ords of creation" .

6

The Fantasy Film

FANTASY

PROPHECIES IN CELLULOIDBy Fronk Edward Arnold

Few followers of science-fantasyare unfamilial with the lheme thattheir favourite literature forms, as itwere, a body of modern mythology,rvith its sr.rperhuman heroes and itssagas of the future. Those of us whohave been devotees since pre-war daysare also familiar at least with thetitles of the many fllms which havepresented in celluloid the sort ofimaginative excesses our science-fictionwriters so often indulge in; particu-Iarly the o1d German siient films, suchas "Metropolis" and "The Girl in theMoon." Those who did not actually seethem will have heard of them, as un-lot'gettable experiences in the life ofevery true fantasy fan.

It is interesting, now, to find Dr. Sieg-fried l(racauer, a former editor of theFrankfurter Zeitung, regarding thesefllms as representing a cinematicbrand of prophetic mvthology, whichhe does in a fascinating survey of theGerman cinema in its he)'davx. I'rom1913, dawn of the first Great War, until'33 when the Hitler regime began, theGerman flIm formed a pov/erful mythosdrawn from the very subconscious of itspeoDle, exoressing their hopes, fears,visions, ambitions. despairs and desjresover the fluctuating h;stot'v of twentyvears. That. at anv rate, is his theory,and he produces an impressive weightof evidence to support it.

Dr. Kracauer has been an Americancitizen for some years, but he is Ger-man-born; he was a nervspaper editorand art reviewer throughout the periodhe describes, and appears to have seenalmost every German fllm ever made.He analyses about a hundred flIms,many of them internationallv famous,in minute detail, dealing with theirplots, their chalacters, their psychologi-cal and sociological implications.

His chief ,thesis is this: that after1920, rvhen the post-war world tookshape in Germanv and fi.lm-makinggot into its stride. the various film-makers, who $.rere serious artists

*Fronn Caligari to Hitler, by SiegfriedKracauel'. Princ.eton University Pt'ess,$ir.00.

drawing their material from conLem-porary life, envisioned the world as ahelpless thing threatened by an insanetyranny on one hand and wild chaos onthe other. The people were undecidedeither way; they were fascinated byvisions of both tyranny and chaos, andin moods of fear they turned to whimsi-cal day-dreams. Screen dramas pro-phesied the coming of some insanetyrant who would dominate the worldwith fear before plunging it into a flnaldoom. The prophesies piled up. untilwith the advcnt of Hitler the mon-strous villains of the early silent fllms-the Caligaris and Mabuses, the Golemsand the rest- stepped right out of thescreen and walked about the world inreal life, committing hideous crimes inactuality.

When people and artists are in sucha condition of.mind, it is inevitable thatfantasy becomes the staple diet ofdrama. This state of affairs was fore-seen back in the comparatively stablereign of the Kaiser.

The flrst German fllm of real import-ance was Paul Wegener's "The Studentof Prague," made as long ago as 1918.It was re-made ten years later, and theoliginai film is lost. It is the storv ofil student who makes a pact with a sor-cerer for immense wealth and a tifledwife in return for-his reflection in themirror. On signing the compact. therefleetion steps out of the mirror andb,ecomes an independent creatur.e. Theman gets his wealth and wife, but thereflection kicks up hell's delight in theusual Jekyll-and-Hyde fashion, until inthe end he stands before the mirrorand puts a bullet through the reflec-tion, so killing himself.

A second film by Wegener was ,,TheGolem," first made in '15. This monsteris a clay statue brought to life by amagic sign. and it is a perfectly good,obedient robot until, as you might ex-pect, it falls in love with the master'sdaughter. Everyone is horrif,ed, notleast the Golem itself, realising.it isof m.onstrous oriqin: and so it runsamok, as monsters alwavs do.

A more ambitious rrelodrama, almostunknown to the English filmgoer, was

REVI EW

"Homunculus," a thrilleriserial whichwas very successful in Germany duringthe flrst war. As the titie suggests, it isa Frankenstein story of a man fromthe test-tube: a handsome and bril-liantly intelligent creature. But. likethe Golem, hc has trouble with women

-and luns amok. He then wanders Lheearth like an outcast, though often re-ceived in society with delight-untilpeople hear he is Homunculus, the manwithout a soul. In a disfant country hebecomes a dictator; in secret, he rousesthe masses in lebellion against himself.wheleupon he crushes them with ruth-less crueity. Finaily he wanders up amountain in the midst of a storm. andrs flnished off by a thunderbold.

ln '20 came the famous "Cabinet ofDr. Caligari," tale of a fairground hyp-notist who ke€ps a performing som-nambulist in a coffin, sending him outon murder frolics at dead of night. Thelilm was made memorabl€ bv thebrzarre "expressronistic" setrings thenrashionabte in contemporary art. (Ex-pressionism itseU, says Dr. Kracauer,was an aspect of prophecy.) The fllmstill exists, and is frequently revived byfilm socie[ies.

Many fllms afber this followed acrypto-fantasy pattern, but it was noLuntil '27 that a piece of genuine futur-istic plophecy appeared-rhe celebrated"Metropolis." Adapted by F?itz Langfrom the novelette by his wife, Theavon Harbou, it bells of one Freder, sonof the tyrannical capitalist who rulesMetropolis-a soaring city that Langconceived when he fi.rst glimpsed therising, expanding New York of CalvinCoolidge and his "prosperity." Frederjoins the workers who slave in Lhecity's bowels, and fails in love with the'girl preacher Maria who consoles themin their misery. The mystic theme inthe story, that the healt must be themediator between brain and hand,appears to Dr. Kracauer to have proveduseful for Josef Goebbels a few yearsIater.

"The Girl in the Moon" was anotherLang-von Harbou collaboration. Madewith the help of the German rocketsocieties of the time, it was a genuineattempt to construct this kind of story,though "the lunar landscape smelleddistinctly of Ufa's N€ubabelsbergstudios." The fiIm was shown for aboutone week in London in '29, before it wassubmerged by the talkies. A great pity,for it is the only real interpianetaryflIm yet made.

7

Con|emporary with it was anotherHornunculus fltm, "Alraune," being awomrn concocted in a test-lube. Daugh-ter. of a nanged criminal and a pfosti-tute, she turns out a fascinatlng super-vamp who ruins everybody she meeLs,hnauy killing het'self oft. It wasshorter thail the eariier fllm and l€ssspecLacular.

Probably much better than any ofthese lilms was 'Secrets of the SouI,' apsychiall'rcai drama, made ten or fif-Leen years before th'e boom in this kindof thing set in. It, opened with a shotof Prolessor l'reud 1n his study, be-nignly nodding his approval of the f,lm.A man sufiels a sudden shock wnichgives him an inexplicable fear ofi.nives, razols and other letha.I iron-mongery. He has cur'lous nightmareswnicn show hirn cilmbing ladders inempty space and falling ofl invisibieprecipices inLo bottomless depths.'-Chere is also an urge to mulderhis loved and lovlng wlle. A psycho-analytical cur',e is neatly eflected, andevelyfiring ends normally and happily.This gleat lilm also has been com-plebely lost, and there seem to be fewpeople beside myself who rememberseeing it.

Dr. Kracauer makes no mention of"F.P.l," a fine flying flIm dea,ling witha floating aerodrome in mid-Atlantic.It was adapted from the novel by I{urt(Robert) Siodmak, and an Engiish ver-sion was made wrth German collabora-tion. This was in '32, just before theHitier regime commenced. About lhe

\ same tim€ there were still-pictures inEnglish flIm magazines of an interest-ing piece called "Gold," deaiing withartiflcial manufacture of the metal; butthe flIm, if completed at all, was nevershown in Britain.

All this is the barest outline of theamazing stoly Dr. Kracauer presents,which must app.eal to all studenfs ofthe fantasy medium, and which is allthe more astounding for its being trueand historic.

lmportant to Subscribersff a subscription blank is enclosed,you shoulal r€n€w your subscriptionirnmediately, Note the new addressto which it should be sent:

FANTASY REVIEW115 Wanstead Park Roarl.

Ilford. trssex

NIGET LINDSAY & KENNETH SLATERgiving revieus of cur"rent issues a,ntl news of stories to come

AMONG THE MAGAZINESGood news this month for our booksy

friends. Fantastic Novels, war-timecompanion of Famous Fantastio Mys'teries, has been revived after sevenyeafs' suspension, and will feature re-pi ints from the old Munsey magazines.Following a surprrse announcemenf, Dy

Editor Mary Gnaedinger, the first ofthe new, bi-monthly issues appearedlast month. dated March '48, with A.M.eriitt's famous "The Ship of Ishtar,",scheduled to appear in FFM just be-fore that magazine changed hands.Illustrations are by Virgil Finlay.

Appearing originall}' in July '40, FNsaw only five issues before ib was com-bined. with FFM in June '41. The twowitl now appear albernately. In addi-tion to C. S. Forrester's "The Peace-maker," the current (Feb.) FamousFantastic has a Murray Leinster short,"Planet of Sand," and a nice studY inchild terror by August Derleth, "TheLonesome Place." Next issue comesAugusta Gloner's "City of the Dead."

Since we previewed the flrst issue ofFantasy Book, four months ago, we'vebeen able to digest it thoroughly. Itfinally turned up as a latge-sirc, 42-page job with an eye-catching cover iniwo colours by Milo, showing a Pinklady (the most curvacious we've seenfor- many moons) and a shadowy thinglooking suspiciously lik€ a BEM. Theinteriors, by Neil Austin, CharlesMcNutt

.and Robert K. MurPhY, are

not so impressive, however.Editor Garret Ford declares a liberal

story policy: fantasy, science and weirdfiction will be used as long as it is"different." Andrew North's novelefte,"People of the Crater," has a Merrittyatmosphere, but no more than that.Among the shorts, 'Black Lotus" is fux

Robert Bloch's best style; "StrangeAllianc.€," by Bryce Walton' is a vam-pire tale told from tbe viewpoilt of In February Amazing, Editor Palmerihe vampire; weaver Wright's "Micro- apologises for sacriflcing quanLity forMan" is

-fhe same story as appeared in oiralitv There are only three

New Worlds under a difierent byline' sloriei. most of the issue being occu-and van vogt's "Cataaaaa" -is- 1n_ ex- pied by "prometheus II," by S. J.quisite little piece which might ha-ve bl'rne, incorporating the Slraver Mys-derived from "The Smile of the tery, tne city of Agharthi. the King ofSphinx." the World and the Elder Gods of Space

Sorrv- but we were misled about a -plus a plot which "staggers thefeiius 'pragnell serial, which is miss- imagination." The others are "Strictly

FANTASY

ing; though there's to be a story by"an English author" in the next issue,among others by van Vogt, Basil Wellsand Gene Hunter.

The BEM (a giant fly, for a change)is back on the cover of FebruaryThrilling Wonder, with the Bergeybeaut appearing tentatively in ttremiddie distance. In addition to thestories we mentioned last issue, there'sanother gadget piecs by Margaret St.Clair. "The DobridusL," and "The LongWay Back," a short with a Martiansetting by one John Barrett. Comingup in Aprii is a novel of intrigue inthe post-atomic world lry veteranArthur Leo Zagal, "The Faceless Men."Arthur J. Burks, one-time rnillion-words-a-year man, will also be backwith a miclocosmic tale, "Thier,'es of'Iime," and F\'ank B. Long, Carl Jacobiand George O. Smith will Provide arobot tale, an interplanetary war storyand a piece called "A Dog's Life," re-spectively.

Hannes Bok's "The BIue I'lamingo,"in January Startling, is an excellentfantasy with the true Merritt touch, in-dicating he is the right man in theright place when it comes to completingthose unflnished manuscripts. Ed.Hamilton's "Conquest of Two .Worlds,"

latest in the Hall of Fame gallery, wasa good story in '32 and still is now; itdoesn'i show its age like most of theseold-timers. Mrs. St. Clair gives us moreof the sort of humour we like in another"Oona" episode; "Ultra Evolution," byPolton Closs, is a not very successfulblending of old ideas, and a short-short. "Guaranteed." by E. EverettEvans completes the issue. Leadingttre next *ilt Ue "One of Three," aWesley Long time-tale, with Wein-baumt "Brink. of Inflnity" as theclassic reprint.

REVIEWfrom Mars," a novelette by RobertBloch, -and a short Berkeley Living-stone fantasy concerning ,.The phan_tom Hands." Next issue brings yetanottrer Shaver novel. ..Gods of Venus, ,

to r:qe tune of 87,000 words, and inApril RAP threatens to ..kriock youright over" by proving ..part', of theMystery. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Meanwhile, we've been enjoying theJanuary number, especially Chesfer S.Geier"s "Flight oI ',he Star]ing,'. an in-teresting slant on the faster-thanJightttreme. "Hate," by Rog phitlips, a mix-ture of science and black magic, posesthe negation of the Earth and creationof a nev/ one by thought-matet'ialisa-tion. "The Rikits of Mars,' is betterthan usual for Don Wiicox; quit€ amus-ing in parts. "The Fire Tyail,', by Oge-Make, -is the same as in JanuaryFantastic Adventures-the supposedlytrue story of an ancient Red Indian ritewith a message for rnankind that fies inwith Shaver's moralising.

Best in this issue is William p.McGivern's "Orders for Willie Weston."a fantasy about a soldier who joins thearmy of the dead with a nice touch ofpathos. H. B. Hickey's "The Drumsof Murd" is science fi.cfion of the '30's.but a refreshing change from theusual Fantastic stuff. There's a novel-ette by Robert Moore Williams, "TheIsle of Doom," with a new life-form, acrooked scientist, a hero and a girl, anda neat little item by the De Courcysabout a violinist whose music wasn't ofhis own making. The lead sfory,"Secret of the S,erpent," we put last in-tenbionally-it's Wilcox at his worst.

We don't mention Planet Storiesoften enough. Spring '48 issue features"T'he Outcasts of Solar Three," a sequelto "Beyond the Yellow Fog," by EmmettMcDowell; "Design for Doomsday," byBryce Walton, and several others whicha,re above the general space-opera level,except for Henry Guth's "Planet in.Reverse," which is well-dressed tripe.

February Astounding concludes theE. E. Smith epic, which we have onlyjust begun to disentangle; also featuredis a Ted Sturgeon story, "There is NoDefence"-not just another atom-bombwarning. But t?rere's another Alejandrocover, and a s€quel to Jack William-son's "With Folded Hands" is promisedfor next issue. At the moment we'reengaged on the January issue, with themuch-requested s€quel to Isaac Asimov's"Tbe Mule" which is also the story ofthe Second Foundation, titled "Now

IYeu See It . . .', Supporting shorts are"Ttre Helping Hand," by Burt MacFay_den, and "Advent," by William Bade.-

Weird Tales goes to town on iLs 25thbirthday (March issue) with novelettesby Ed. Hamilton and Allison V. Hard-ing; short stories by Sturgeon, Brad-?ury: .Quinn, Wellman, Bloch. Derleth,Jacobi. Smirh (C. A.), and English stal-warts Blackwood and Wakefield. Love_craft, flttingly, provides the verse.Hamilton's is a science flction piece onthe branches-of-fime theme. ,,TheMight-Have-Been." If you've movedhouse recently, Sturgeon,s story of"The Professor's Teddy Bear,', wnichhas to do with metempyschosis, willappeal particularly. OId contributorsQuinn and Derleth reminisce in ,,TheEyrie," by way of celebrating the occa-sion.

If you're a collector, you might like toinvest a shitling in the second (un-dated, unnumbered) issue of the BriLrshStrange Adventures, which haS a coverIabelled "Metaphysic Fiction-Queer-Supernatural." There is only one storywithin: "The Green Dimension.,' bv N.Wesley Firbh, in which a mad scientistrevenges himself on his fellows by im-porting wild creatures from thither.Another Futuristic Stories has also ap-peared at the same price, frankly an-nouncing its contents as science fictionand featuring "Dark Asteroid," by RiceAckman, which continues the adven-tures of the Space Hobo amid the metalmen of Neptune. Said metal men aremixing it with our hero on the cover, inthe best traditions of Mr. Hamilton.

GILLINGS DIRECTSWRITER'S COURSE

Walter Gillings, Editor Fantasy Re.view, has been appointed Director ofStudies of the ABC CorrespondenceSchools, belonging to Hutchinson's thepublish€rs. He is now supervising thewell-known course in journalism andshorL-story writing previously con-ducted by Fleur Mclfitterick, formereditor The Writer.

Mr. Gillings' varied experlience ofboth newspaper and magazine flelds,his long record of coaching new writersas editor of Tales of Wonder and Fan-tasy, and his contacts with authors,editors and publishers here and abroad,eminently qualify trim for this impor-tant post. He pill continue to edit theReview.

10

Booh Reviews

EDISON'S CON0UEST OF MARS, byIos-Angeles. $3.50

Reviewed by Thomas SheridanThis is the first production of a new

publishing house with the avowed in-l,entron or resurrecfing fantasy "clas-sics" of specially rale vintage. and ofparticularly interest to the collector. Intlris instance they have us all agog; forthe newspaper serial from which thebook was compiled has Lhe rarity-valuewhich comes of its having lain dormantin the Washington Library of Congressfor half a century, secure from theravishment of fanlasy's ardent fansuntil iLs recent discovery.

However', it has not remained enbirelyobscure, being known at least by itstitle among lovers ol scienLilictionsince the days when readers of the earlyAmazing Stories, regaled by the re-printing of other Serviss works,xpleaded in vain for this one. EvidentlyMr. C. A. Brandt, who was then help-ing Mr. Gernsback skim Lhe cream ofensting science fiction, did not knowwhere it was Lo be found-that it had,in facb, appeared in the ephemelal NewYork Evening Journal way back in'98,and now lay buried in musty flIes. Un-less he contr'lved to unearth it and,reading it, decided to let it resL, forthe same reasons that we found it diffi-cult to accept as more than of histori-cal inter€st. Though we doubt that hedid, for it is no Iess bearable than Mr.Winsor's "Station X," which delightedus at the time and is not half so hoaly.

But this is, now, hardly the sort ofthing which can be read and enjoyedby the average readel' for its intrinsicqualities of story-inLerest or writingtechnique, oL even for its idea-content,which is remarkable only for the facttllat it was written so long ago. It must

x"The Moon Metal," reprlnted fromAll-Story ( 1905 ) , and more rccenlly re-vi1'ed by Famous Fantastic Mysteries;"A Columbus of Space" (All-Story, '09) ;

"The Second Deluge" (Cavalier, '11),also reprinted in Amazing Quar-telly.These stories have also been presented inbook form. Other magazinc pieces whicirhave never been reprinted are "The SkyPirate" (Scrap Book, '09) .and "The MoonMaiden" (Argosy, '15).

FA NTASY

Garrett P. Serviss, Carcosa House,

indeed have been sensational in thatday and age, in spite of its d,eriving in-spiration from Mr. Wells's "War of the.Wor'Ids," which had just been serialisedin the American Cosmopolitan maga-zine, to which Serviss was a regularcontributor. AII the evidence is, in fact,that he wrote the story, for publicationas fast as he penned it, at the expressbehest of the Journal, in an attempt toexploit the public interest engenderedin Mars and the Martia.ns.

But while it is byway of being a,

sequel to the WeIl-sian classic, dealingwith a second Mar-tian invasion a't-tempt and how itwas repe]led, Pro-fessor Serviss' Mar-tians are not thoseof Mr. WeIIs; andalthough it hasgreater imaginativescope, it has muchIess of the plausi-bility and genuinestory - value whichhave m.ade "TheWar of the Wor]ds"so universally popu-lar. Since it was

Martian: genus actuallv the flrstSeruiss essay -into

flctionwriting of the already noled astrono-mer, what more can we expecb thanthat it should bear al1 the earmarks of"legitimatised sensationalism presentedat the psychological moment"?

The deflnition-and the inference-isthat of the New York fantasy littera-teur, Dr. A. Langiey Searl€s, who hasgarnished the book with an Introduc-tion on its author and his work whichis no less interesting, and certainlybetter written, tlran the story itself;whiie his wife Elizabeth has fumisheda f,ve-page bibliography of Serviss'magazine articles and books of popu-lar sclentific interest, which would ap;pear to have been as appealing fortheir imaginative contenb as his-tous-more familiar f,cfion.

Out of the Archiyes

REVIE\I'Although, as an astronomer, Garrett

Putnam Serviss was internationallyrenowned (we were wont to regard himas the American Flammarion). it wasnews to us that in his eariy years hewas a working journalist, having chosento start as a reporter on the New YorkTribune instead of practising law.Thence he rose to an editoral post onthe Sun, lo which one fancies he gravi-tated naturally, since it was that paperwhich organised the famous MoonHoax. So he began to write anonymouspieces on astronomy, which became sopopular that he was inspired to take uplecturing on scientiflc topics. In thishe met with such success that, in 1892,he abandoned newspaperdom to tourthe country giving the "Ura.nia Lec-tures" sponsored by Andrew Carnegie;but he continued to produce articlesand books in a constant stream untilhis death in 1929.

This fi.rst of his ha,lfdozen pieces ofscience fiction, if less successful ttranthose which have not remained in hid-ing, ciaims our att€ntion as one of theearliest works to employ the inter-planetary theme, with battles betweenspaoeships, vacuum-suibs, atomic disin-tegrators, and all the other appurten-ances which were to become the stock-in-trade of Iater writers. And if thereis a certain mediocrity in the writing,and a positive naivete about Lhe dia.iogue, we can excuse these faults asadding to its charm as a curio. Asfor the plot, we may have met it be-fore, but we are prepaled to believe wehave it here in the original.

When a repetition of the flasheswhich heralded the flrst (Wellsian)visitation are observed on Mars, Earth'sscientists, headed by Mr. Thomas A.Edison, resolve to go out to meet theinvaders without more ado than isnecessary to raise the wind for an ex-

THE SLEEPING AND THE DEAD: 30Uncanny Tales, edit€d by AugustDerleth. Pellegrini,Chicago. $3.75.

Reviewed by Arthur F. HillmanIn this new collection, started by

Stephen Grendon and subsequentlytaken over by the indefatigable Mr.Derleth, is seen the same guiding handthat gave us the three weird story an-thologies which came from the houseof Rinehart. Mr. Derleth's greatest

11

pedition into space So the nations ofthe world pool their resources and thescientists their inventive capacities(ihough there is iittle left for the restof the Blains Trust alter Mr. Edison,Lord Kelvin and llerr Roentgen havegot cracking), and the attack on Marsis iaunched with a fleet of space-shipsarmed vrith disintegrators-weaponsmor'e deadly than were wielded by themonsters who found our germs toomuch for their delicate systems.

But our heroes do not engagg and.defeat Professor Serf iss' more humanMartians without some interesting pre-liminaries involving a landing on theMoon, the capture of the interpiane-tary squadron by a comet (whichbrings it back to EarLh, to make a fIeshstart), and another landing on anasteroid which is being used as an out-post by the enemy. This provides ex-cuse for opening the ball, after which,scarred bub triumphant, the Earth-menmove on to make war on a planetwhich wreaths itself in cloud Lo frus-trate their afbacks. In spite of whichthey land, learn its secrets, and subdueit by striking s, mortal blow at itscanal system, incidentally rescuing alady whose anoestors 'trere broughtfrom Earbh by the Martians on a pre-vious visit--when, believe it or not,they built the Pyramids and Sphirx!

To produce this ancient item inmodern binding, the publishers ex-tracted it from the newspaper fiIes byphoto*opying, cornplete with illustra-Lions which a new artist, Bernard Man-]ey, Jnr., has redrawn in what we pre-sume is a similar style. Buf, acceptableas they are to the connoisseur for theirquaintness, we feel this adher€nce tothe fetish of originaiity was a misbake;for they are ugly bhings, and give thebook an aspect of juvenilitY whichmieht ',rrell have been avoided.

asset a! an anthologist is not the flairwhich he undoubtedly has for pickingexcellent material; for there are manywiLh such a knack. Rather, it is theboldness with which he has exploredfurthei' and further afleld for his seiec-tions, as the resulL of whlch much bril-.liant work has been duly recognised.

Ten of the pieces comprising thisbulky volume have never before beenpublished in book form, and most of th'e

Mr. Derleth to the Rescue

r.2

Temainder have been unavailable for,too long. Altogether, the book is some-thing of a. mixture. with litfle atfemotto inject order or suitability among itsvaried contents; the thirty stories josile€ach other like new recruits on theparade ground, each eyeing the otheraskance. But time can reveal themerits of the most awkward bunch ofrookies; and their comparative newnesswill not for long obscure fhe fact thathere is an assembly of really first-classtales chosen with rare astuteness.

Once more there is the inevitable.deference to H. P. Lovecraft; not onlyin the inclusion of "The Dreams in theWitch-House," but in other pieces, suchas Hazel Heald's "Out of the Eons', andJohn M. Leahy's "In Amundsen,s Tent,"which bear the imprint and influence.of the famed recluse of Providence.lfhere are also from the pages ofWeird Tales such notcworthy stories as"'The Double Shadow," by C1ark AshtonSmith, "The Shadows," by Henry S.Whitehead and "The Ocean Leech," byFrank Belknap Long.

To dispel once and for all any chargeof mustiness, Mr. Derleth has also in-cluded some rea1ly modern macabre

FA NTASYpieces, like Il,obert Bloch,s .,One Way toMars" and Ray BradburV's ,,The J-ar.,.To leaven the mixture he has added afe'ry old favourites, of which one mightname "A View from a HiIl,', by M. R,.James, or Arthur Machen,s ,,Oul of thePicture," as a typical example. Buteven these are not too familiar com-pared with the titles one usuallv en.counters in a book of this character:for the compiler has long since re-solved not to fall into the trap of con-temptuous familiarity, and for thisalone he deserves our thanks.

Two items might be singled out forspecial attention, not because they arebetter than the rest, but because oftheir unusual features. Henry l(utt-ner's "Masquerade" not only destroysMr. D€rleth's argument that one can-not efiectively weld together thehumorous and the weird, but deliversa high-powered punch in its fi-nal reve-lation. And Everil Worrell,s ,,TheCanal" is a vampire tale which is rightout of the groove of its numerous fore-bears. Already reputable among thereaders of Weird Tales, its appearancehere should bring some of the notice itslittle-known author merits,

THE BOOK OF PTATHBy A. E. van Vogt

A flne fantasy novel from Un-known Worlds. 16i6

THE BLAGK FLAMEBy Stanley G. Weinbaum

Also contains the unexpurgated"Dawn of Flame." 16/6

AVAILABLEOF WOR,LDS BEYOND

A symposium: 11/-THE LDGION OF'SPACEBv Jack Williamson: 16/6

GARNELLPLUMSTEAD, LONDON, S.E. 18

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Fantasy Cla,ssies in Boilh FormitOW AVAILABLE

THE SKYLARK OF SPACEBy E. E. Smith. Ph.D.

Second Printing of the famousclassic. 16/6

THE MIGHTIEST MAGHINEBy John V9. Campbell, t".r'r'

Another great Astounding classic.

VENUS EQUILATERALBy ceorge O. Smith: 16/6

THE FOR,BIDDEN GARDENBy John Taine: 16/6

E. J.17 BURWASH ROAD,

READY "Doc" Smith's greatest epic

TRIPLANETARYRe-written, \dth 40,000 words added. Ftom Creation to Arisia throueh

three .world Wars. Introducing the Lensman series. 16/6

OTHER, TITLES STILL

REVIEW

THE GREAT FOG aNd OthEr WEirdTales by Gerald Heard. Cassell, Lon-don. 8i6.

R.eviewed by John BeynonThis is a book which has already seen

at least two different editionsx in theU.S.A., where the author has adoptedthe name of H. P. Heard and appar-ently endear'ed himself to our American'friends. Had he attempted, within thescope allowed by 234 pages, to providesomething for every type of fantasyreader, he could scarcely have beenmore comprehensive.

In his dedication he himself refersto this collection as 'samples andsimples,' and such they are of ingenu-ity, supposition and conLrivance.Whether he expounds a scientiflc cala-mit]', an uncomforLable experitnent, amystic experience or-most surprisingrvhere the heat of competition is moreintense-a new technique of murder,he should not be missed. Here is ver-satility of interest backed by wideknowledge, careful consideration andaccomplislred writing to hold the atten-tion-troubled only by a slight uncer-taintv as to what it is he is writing.

Criticism of matter for what it isnot is in general as unrewarding as

* Originally published under the abovetitle by Vanguard, New York, in '44,and reprinted as Weirtl Tales of Terror_and Detection by Sun Dial, New York,in '46.

comparing incomparables, and no lessproductive of cross-purposed red her-rings. Yet it is possible to feel justifledin questioning whether 'tales' is an en-tirely apt description of pieces thatbreak up at about 80 per cent. in-genious exposition and 20 per cent.story. FYom a less accomplished sourcethe point might be passed, but it isdisappointing to find nine interestingessays and inventions in such confldentplose hung upon such skeletons of nar-rative.

It might be noted, for instance, thatone of ttre best conceptions, "WinglessVictory," collides head-on with twoeditorial canons: it is unnecessarily astory within a stor5r, and it leads offby cross-talk in a bar:. Such a slap ofamaleurism seems unthoughtful in awriter of skill. Elsewhere, too, super-ficiaiity of story which is almost mereperfunctory atLention to it induces re-grets.

It is not traducement of the skill ofa painter to deplore his habit of usingunsuitably inferior frames, but ratherevidence of a desire that good workshould be displayed to the best pos-sible advantage. In any case, this is abook which every fantasy addict shouldread, whether or not he may leel atthe end of it that were the simples com-pound€d with the sampies the vitamincontent would be increased.

13

. . . And Other Ex,positions

An Epic from the Dark AgesTHE MIGHTIEST MACHINE, by John

W. Campbell. Hadley, Provid€nce,Rhode Island. $3.00.

Ileviewed by John K, AikenIn what John Taine, somewhat jusii-

fiably, calls "the dark ages of sciencefiction," Science-and not necessarilygood science, at that-was all that wasrequired of it. Take a quasi-scientiflcidea, no mabter how preposterous ifrrovel: an invasion of giant beetles fromthe Cretaceous epoctr, female variii)iresliving in interstellar space-anything;add a handful of totally trite char-act€rs: the Professor, his lovely da,ugh-ter. the ingenious hero and his stoog-ing pat, the super-villain; str.- into animpxobable and ungrammatical mush,and you had an acceptable story.

This "epic" of Mr. Campbell's, whichappeared serially in Astounding Storiesin the middle thirties, before thatmagazine came under his capable edi-torship, is not like that. But, readingit in these days, it is fascinating torealise just how much the best ofmagazine science fiction has advancedsince its first appearance. Then, it wasdeservedly voted a "classic," and epito-mised all that was best in the braditionof its period. Yet it is doubtfulwhether, if it had been written today,it would even have been accepted bythe magazine which featured it-andwhich, of course. has been largely re-sponsible for this striking advancc"

Science-or pseudo-science-was thenthe only as well as the prime requisite;and in "Ttre Mightiest Machine" we

14

are given science in full measure,pressed down and running over. It isinteresting, self - consistent, well-thoughL-out science, but there is toomuch of it and too litUe else.

The book opens with five chapters ofsolid physigs, during which a Jovianscientist taps the power of the Sun (themightiest machine), produces isolatedmagn€tic poles, develops an anti-gravi-tational fi.eld and travels faster thanlight. After this raiher buiky and in-digestible hors-d'euvres comes a sur-feit of action: a confiict i, outrance inanother universe between the descen-dants of Lemuria and their somewhabnaively conceived hereditary enemies,demon-like creatules with horns and.hoofs who lil'e on a pianet called Tefi-el.The remainder of the story is con-cerned with this struggle and theefforts of ttre small party of Sola,rians,precipitated into it through over-hastyapplication of one of their new physical'principles, to win it for their distantcousrns and get back inLo their ownuniverse.

Personal interest is negligible, thevarious characters kleing merely pegs on

From Mars toBEVELATIONS IN BLACK, by CarI

Jacobi. Arkham House, Sauk City,Wis. $i3.00.

Review€d by Arthur F. HiltmanGood writers, even for the lowliest

magazines, will sooner or tater acquirea coterie of admirers. CarI Jacobi,sflair for creating the perfect tale in bhegenre of the weird and fantastic waslong since noted by discerning readers,to whom it is of no small satisfactionto see this flrst collection of his workemerging from Arkham Hous€.

"Mive," the story wifh which he madehis debut in Weard Tales just sixteenyears ago, gave evidence of the additionof yet another worthy contributor tothat magazin,e. But it was "R,eve1ationsin Black" that, in '33, marked the be-ginning of his more mature period. Asbrange tale of a varnpire, in vein wiLhChambers' "The I{ing in Yeilow" andthe best of the Lovecraft school's pro-ducts, it is one of fhe few in this nar-row fleld which can be read and re-read. For, like the tales which wereto follow, it bore the hallmark ofcraftsmanship; lt was obvious that

FANTASYwhich to hang a further series ofhighly ingenious invenLions, ever morelapidly produced by both sides as theclimax approaclres. The ideas them-selves are excellent, far surpassing inrmaginativ,eness Lhose of Mr. Camp-bell s modern counterpart, George O.Smith; notable among them (to achemist at least) is the enemy-pro-duced catalyst which condenses theLemurians' atmosphere to an ooean ofnitric acid. But the speed with whichthey are developed and applied is some-bhing less than plausibie and might,indeed, be quite irritating to a tech-nician with experience of the inevitable"teething troubles', of plant construc-f,ron.

None the less, the climax is genuinelythrilting, for here the author,s techni-cal resource and his capacity for con-veying the impression of stupendouspower come fully into their own. Andalthough Mr. Campbell, particularlywtr,en masquerading in the Stuarb tar-tan, has given us many better, becausebetter balanced, stories than this, .,TheMightiest Machine', is first-class valueto the enthusiast who tikes his scienceconcentrated.

Charing Crosshack-work would not be a weakness ofMr. Jacobi's, and although his contri-butions in the years to come were in-termittent, the way in which they werewritten showed the wisdom of hispolicy of quality rather than quantity.

To take but one example: ',Canal,,,one of his iater stories, stands out as astriking picture of the age, magniLudeand decay of a Martian civilisation.'Ihe book also contains such memor-abie narl'atives from several magazinesas "The Tomb from Beyond,,, .,TheFace in the Wind," "Cosmic Teletype,,,"A Study in Darkness," etc. Mr. Jacobiis perfectly at home in such incongru-ous locales as Pistol Key, Trinidad,Charing Cross, the Malay Archipelago,or the unplumbed depths of outerspace, and succeeds in transferring theauth,entlcity of each setting on topaper, So the reader who wishes to bewNsked away to scenes of colourfulimagery and movement need seek nobetter guide than the author of thisvolume, within whose pages is a tour.that is neither circumscribed normonotonous.

REV I EW 15

ABKIIAD| IIOUSB BOOKSNOW AVAILABLE:

NIGHT'S BLAGK AGENTSBy Fritz Lciber, Jnr.

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THE SLEEPING AND THEDEAD

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REVELATIONS IN BLACKBy Carl Jacobi

SELECTED LETTERSBy H. P, Lovecraft

Ttre initial collection of this popular writet'swork, featuring a new nove], "Adept'Scambit.,, 1616

The flrst complete collection of the famousCarnacki tales by the author of "The Houseon the Borderland," including three uervly-discovered stories. 16'6

Thirtv uncanny tales in a big, new anlhologywhicli brings back into print many rvhichhave long been unavailable and presg4_tqseveral new'ones. 22 6

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Worms & WhiskiesTHE MASTER OF THE MAGABRE, bY

Russell Thorndike. Rich and Cowan.London. 8/6.

Reviewed by Alan DevereuxNotlring to do with Lovecraft, this

concerns an overworked writer who islured by ghosts to an old abbey whichis very thoroughly haunted. In resi-dence is the Master, a wealthy occultinvestigator attended by a Crichton ofa manservani who is quite incredible.In the intervals of unravelling thepsychic mysteri,es of the place, theMaster recounts some of his cases tothe author, who acts as his Boswell-cum-Dr. Watson and so gives us thebeneflt of his harrowing narratives. AtIeast, tbat is the intenbion.

But alfhough the individual storiesare well told (in spite of the conven-tional set-up), the references to glave-yard worms and putrefying colpsesfailed, in this case, to produce any

chills; they merely induced a slightfeeling of disgust. We are muctr moreresponsive to the tales of suctr mastersof the macabre as Poe, Machen, Black-wood and Lovecraff, who prefer to hintdarkly of such things and treave the de-tails to our imaginaiion. The settingsand characters, too, are not Lhe sortthat we can believe in.

We can't, for instance, believe in aman who can knock back two whol€tumbiers of neaL whisky without turn-ing a hair. .We once saw a man swallow6, singl.e tumblerful for a bet, and hepassed out at once very neatly. Andthe lavish quantiLies of food and drinkwith which his household was stockedseemed to indicate in the Master afamiliarity with the Black Market eventranscending his knorvledge of theBlack Arts. In these days of austerity,such reading is trard on the rations,notwithstanding the disappetisingeffects of rotting cadavers. Yet thebcok mede a railu'ay journey Prssthe mole quickly.

16 FA NTASY

ARTHUR MACHEN, MASTER OF WEIRDFANTASY, INSPIRED TOVECRAFT

"Of living creators of cosmic fearraised to its most artistic pitch, few ifany can hope to equal the versatileArthur Machen, author of some dozentales long and short, in which the ele-ments of hidden horror and broodingfright attain an almost incomparablesubstance and realistic acuteness .his powerful horror-material of thenineties and early nineteen hundredsstands alone in its class, and marks adistinct epoch in the history of thisliterary form."

Thus H. P. Lovecfaft, unappreciatedin his time, writing in his "Super-natural Horror in Literature" of aBritish master of weird fantasy, nolonger living, whose work receivedlittle of general acclaim but is acceptedbl' tire critics as of genuine worth toEnglish tetters and strongly influ,encedother writers in the genre. A promin-ent figure in London's literary circle ofearlier days, he had been living in ob-scurity of recent ;"'ears and dled in anursing home at Beaconsfleld, Bucks.,at the age of 84.

Scn of a cleric, Arthur LlewellynJones-Machen was born in bhe tinyMonmouthshire village of Caerieon-on-Usk and spent his boyhood exploringthe wild woods and hills which formedthe setting for his fantasies. Educatedat Hereford, he went to London as ayouth of 17, in the days of gas-iampsaJrd hansoms, and worked in publishers'ofrces and as a private tutor. Livingin a garret in Notting Hill, he knew thepain of real poverty early in his writingcareer. He began by cataloguing occultbooks, publishing his own poetry, andtranslating French classics.

His flrst original work was "TheAnatomy of Tobacco" (1884). His occultnovels and short stories were mostlywritten between 1890 and 1900, duringa period of financial independence.T'he first of these. "The Great GodPan" (r'eprinted in the current anLh-ology, "Great Tales of Terror and theSupel.natrlral," published here only afew days befole his death), appearedin '94. "The Hill of Dreams." consideredIess sensationat than the rest, waswritten in '97 but not published untilten years later. Other works of thisperiod, including "The White People,"

lCourlcst, I'ettguin Boohsl

"The Inmost Light" and "The T'l:reeImp0stors," wel.e collected in "TheHouse of Souls' (1906). Later came'"The Great Return" ('15), "The Terror''('1?), "Thd shining Pyramid" QD,"The Children of the Pool" ('36), andother books of reminiscence.

At the age of 48, folowing severalyears as a shakespeat'ean acLor,.Machen llecame a leporter on the Lon-don Evening News, where he earned areputation as a descriptive writer. Hisfamous shol't stor:,/, "The Bowmen,"flrst appeared in this paper in 1914 andgave rise to the legend of the Angels of.Mons. Relating how hard-PressedBritish troops on the Marne wereraltied by a ghostly company of medie-val alchers, the tale was accepted astruth and led to many soldiers claiming'to have actually witnessed phantomwarriors on the battlefield.

A collection of Machen's later workrecently appeared in the Penguin series,,entitled "Holy Terrors." An omnibusof his best tales of horror, selected byPhilip Van Doren Stern, is due toappear in the U.S. "The Green Round"will also be published for the first timein Amelica by Arkham House later thisyear.

BEVIEWThlough many of Machen's stories

runs the theme, familiar to readers ofweird fiction, that a strange race ofcreatures, as real as ourselves but ofterribly different origin, lurks beneathEarth's surface. Like Lovecraft, heconsistently conveyed in his writings,the idea that man was preceded on thisplanet by other forms of life. whichretleat.ed into its hidden caverns eonsago, and still survive in expectation ofcoming into their own again when con-ditions favour them. This notion,which is found in ancient Jewish andArabic folklore, was the basis of Love-

LT

craft's Cthulthu Mythos, in theconstruction of which he derived much-from Mactren and other writers whohad dwelt on the theme. According tohis biographer, August Derleth,.Machen's story of "The White People"influenced hi,rn particularly in forming:his conception of "The Ancient Ones";and it was this tale Lovecraft list€d:with "The Novel of the White Powder"and "The Novel of the Black Seal"(featured of late in American anth-ologies and Famous FantastieMysteries), as among the finest piecesof their kind ever writLen.

Geoffrey Giles writes

We promised to pay due attention,this issue, to books forthcoming fromwhat we'd cail the Other Side if itdidn't sound so ethereal; and Americanpublishers' productions .are very sub-stantial compared wittr some of our slimvolumes. There's another of their biganthologies which may appeal to you:"Man inio Beast: Strange Tales ofTransformation," selected and editedb1'A. C. Spectorsky (Doubleday, $3.?5).This presents ten stories on the themeof metamorphosis from human toanimal form, which has haunted Mr.Spectol'sky from childhood, apparently.Among them are Ben Hecht's "Profes-sor Emmett," who turned into a ter-mit€, John Collier's familiar "Gr€enTtroughts," and Stephen VincentBenet's horrifying piece about theman who became "King of the Cats."

A fi.rst novel by Wade Moore,"Greener Than You Think" (SloaneAssociates, $3.50), is a fantasy about afertiliser, christened "the Metamor-ptriser" for commercial purposes, whichenables plants to mutate to suit any en-vironment; but instead of helping thewheat crop it makes grass thrive untilit smothers fhe world and threatensman's supremacy. A new variant on themenace theme . . . "Mr. Thurtle's Trol-ley," by Theodore Pratt (Duell, $2.50),is a whimsical tale of a tramcar thattakes to the air; "Romance of BostonBay" (Tudor, $3.50), a collection ofghosts, sea serpents and other excite-ments originating in Lovecraft's NewEngland. Only a few current examples,these, of "The American ImaginationatWork," which is another big assembly

of folklore and weird fantasy edited byBen C. Clough and published by Knopfat s6.00.

THE LOVECRAFT LETTERSThe '48 catalogue of Arkham llouse,

brings word of two additions to what isnow termed "Lovecraftiana." "Some-thing About Cats and Other Fieces"will consist chiefly of collected writingsby H.P:L. cn the animals of which he.was so passionately fond, with severalstories revised by him including one byhis wife. This will be available shorbly;and iater in the year rvill come the"Selected Letters," for the preparationof which August Derleth a^rid DonaldWandr€i collected 30 volum€s of close-typewritten pages, only part of thevoluminous correspondence which theSage of Providence conducted with hisfellow writers, his aunts and others.They make an intriguing commentaryupon various topics, as well as beingfull of reminiscence, advice to thestruggling authors he tutored, and ac-counts of the weird dreams which sooften inspired his tales.

A third collection of Clark AshtonSmith's work, "The Genius Locl andOther Stories." and a new novel ofWandrei's, "The Web of Easter Island,"described by Lovecraft himseif as"poetically cosmic," are also scheduledfor this summer. And, having ghoul-ishly devoured "The Sleeping and theDead," we are looking forward to"Strange Ports of Call: 20 Masterpiecesof Science Fiction," which will prob-ably (though we hope not) complefe theseries of anthologies Mr. D.erleth hasgiven us. It will comprise short stories

ABOUT BOOKS

18 FANTASY

THE TORCHBy rIAGK BECHDOLT

. The story of what might happen shouid there be an atomic war_thedownfall of our civilisation, the descent to a new Dark Age, and man,sstruggle back to civilisation. A full-tength novel. 15/6.

,, ... AND SOME WERE HUMAN ''By LESTER DEL REY

A dozen of his best stories from unknown and Asto,unding scienceFiction, including: "Forsaking Ali Others,".,The Luck of lgnatz,,, ,,The StarsLook Down," "Hereafter, Inc.,' and ,,Neryes.,' With drawings by Sot Levin.

1616.

,& WITHOUT SORCERy-13 Ted Sturgeon Tates

the prirne pressMiddle City Station, Philadelphia, B, pa., U,S.A,Box

which are seldom seen these days, withothers which have never before beenbetween hard covers, by authors includ-ing Keller, I(uttner, Sc.huyler Miller,Sturgeon, Bond and Heinlein; plus ttrerare Lovecraft Astounding item, "Atttre Mountains of Madness."

Latest arrivals from Fantasy Pressare A. E. van Vogt's "The Book ofPtath" and Stanley G. Weinbaum's"The Black Flame," which atso reprints"The Dawn of Flame" fror4 the nowpriceless Memorial Volume'in unexpur-gated form. Coming from this house inthe near future a.re "A Martian Odysseyand Others," comprising 11 of the greatWeinbaum's tales from Wonder andAstounding, Due in March is anotherE. E. Smith classic, "Triplanetary," towhich a great deal has been added inthe rewriting of this flrst of the famous"Lensman" series. It wiII be followedin due cours'e by "Skylark Three" and"The Skylark of Valeron"; and in addi-tion to Eric F\'ank fl.ussell's "SinisterBarrier," which has also been leng-thened for the occasion, Mr. Eshbachprornises us book versicns of Rolrert A.Heinlein's "Beyond Titis Horizon," Jack

Sole British Representative: E. .I . GARNELL1? BURWASH ROAD, PLUMSTEAD, LONDON, S.E. 18

Williamson's "Darker Than You Think"and "The Cometeers," and a volumecomprising L. Sprague de Camp's"Divide and Rule" and "The StolenDormouse." All memorable pieces fromAstounding and Unknown which wiIIrejoice the heartq of those who missedthem or crave Lo read them again...SKYLARK" TWO

The promised second edition of DrSmith's "Skylark of Space" (reviewedJune-July '4? issue) has a much im-proved binding and a jacket and illus-traticns fJy a new artist, O. G. Estes,Jnr. This comes from Hadley, RhodeIsland, who have added to theirschedule for the near future the fi.rstbook presentation of L. Ron Hubbard'sAstounding serial, "Final Blackout,"which in the ear'ly days of the war setus to wondering how it would all €nd.

FYom Prime Press, Philadelphia,comes "The Torch," by Jack Bechdolt,an Argosy classic of 1920 which was in-tended for reprinting in Famous Fan-tastic Mysteries before it changedhands. To follow if is the Lester delRev collection of stories from Unknownand Astounding titled ". . . And Some

nEv I Ew'Were Human." Among a small libraryof time-honoured classics promised byFantasy Publishing Co., Los Angeles, ofwhich some have already been notedlrere, half-a-dozen Unknown tales byvan Vogt and E. Mayne Hull have beencollected under the tiUe. "Out of theUnknown," and illustrated by the threeFantasy Book artists; while L. RonHubbard's "Death's Deputy" is in pre-paratlon from the same source. Also inembryo are "The Omnibus of Time,"€ompiied from Ralph Milne Farley'stime-travel tales in several ma.gazines-17 of them in all-and the first of hisnoted series of novels concerning "TheRadio Man" originally appearing inArgosy, which wiII be followed by thefurther exploits of Myles Cabot.

Looks like it wiU be a good year forfantasy! And if you're still interestedin whaf has gone before, don't fail toequip yourself with "The Checklist ofFantastic Literature," just arrived fromShasta Publishers complete with hand-some dust-jacket by Hannes Bok. List-ing over 5,000 fantasy book titles (andincidentally revealing that no less than3,000 writers have contributed to themedium), it will flt comfortably intoyoul coat pocket every time you gobook-hunting.

TERROR TOMEOf Britisher publisher s new offerings

of interest to us, most noLable is the800-odd-paged "Great Tales of Terrorand the Supernatural" (Hammond,18/J, which is a good augury for thefuture. Containing no less than 52stories classifled in two sectlons, it isa complefe reprint of the bulky tomeedited by Herbert A. Wise and Phyllis

19

Fraser, aJld published in the U.S. andCanada by Il,andom House in '44. Muchof the contents will be familiar to con-noisseurs: it has Poe, Collins, James,Wells, I(ipling, Machen, Biackwood andothers of the oft-printed school; butthere are several stories which comefresh to those who tlave not read tooextensively, among which we canrecommend especially Carl Stephen-son's "Leiningen versus the Ants," Ed-wald Lucas White's "Lukundoo," and(of course) the two pieces with whichLovecraft is now introduced to thegreat Brilish public, "The Rats in the'Walls" and "The Dunwich Horror."(We nobiced an Observer reviewer'sreaction that "he liked to make thegrue thick and slab.")

"More Things in I{eaven," by WalterOwen (Dakers, 1016), is a new murdermystery with a black magic twist in bhestyle of Charles Williams, whose"Place of the Lion" (Gollancz, ?/6) isnow to be had in the Strange I'ictionLibrary series. Aubrey Menen's "ThePrevalence of Witches" (Chatto, 9/6),which has been about for som,e time, isa highly-praised tale of Indian wiLch-craft, with satirical overtones. Andif the grue does get too sticky, turnto "How Now, Brown Cow?" by EwartC. Jones (Home and Van Thal, 7/6),an amusing piece of metamorphosistryabout the village tart rvho becomes abovine, well in the tradition of "Ladyinto Fox," which we commend to Mr.Spectorsky. Or, if you are in a Haggardmood. to "The CaII of PeLer Gaskell,"latest in the World's Work line of,science fiction "thrillers," which is byour old friend George C. Wallis and isyours for 5/- only.

ST{ALI ADVERTSSpecial Rate to Collectors:2d. per

word (5c. Canada and U.S.A.); mini-mun 12 words. To Traders and others:3d. per word (70. in Canada antl U.S.A.).All ailvertisements in this soction must bcprepaid. Box numbers 6d. (15c.) extra.

OPERATION FANTASTIIhe'TYadingDepartment of the British FantasyLibrar\'. Science ficliun and fanl.asv booksand mags. bought, sold, exchanged. FTeeadvice on all fantasy matters gladly given.Canadian and American fans should writeto John E. Koestner, 2124 Rene Court,Brooklyn, 27, N.Y., U.S.A. Fans in otherpaJts of the world should contact K. F.Slater. Riverside. South Brink, Wisbech,Cambs., England. When information iswanted, please enclose stamped, addressedenvelope,

M. P. SHIEL novels wanted to completecollection: "Rajah's Sapphire," "weird o'It." "IsIe of Lies." "Man Steaiers."-box112, Fantasy Review.

EXCHANGE Cummings' "Girl in theGolden Atorn" (Harper, '23) for c. A.Smith's "Oub of Space and Time," Der-leth's "Someone in the Dark," or Brad-bury's "Dark Carnival."-Box 113, Fan-tasy Eeview.

WHAT OFT'ERS for unused copies (oneeach) "The Best in Science Fiction,""Adventures in Time and Space"? Othexrecent fantasy books, in good condition,preferred.-Box 114 Fantasy Review.

SCIENTIFICTION - The BrltishFantasy Review. A few copies No. 1 andNos. 3-7 available ai 1/6 (35c.) per copy,post free.-Fantasy Revlew (ServiceDept.), 115 Wanstead Park Road, Ilford,Essex.

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