- This article is about the pulp magazine. For other uses, see Weird tales (disambiguation).
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines The year 1923 in literature involved some significant events and new books The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre. Edwin Baird was the first editor of the monthly, assisted by Farnsworth Wright. Edwin Baird (1886-1957 was the first editor of Weird Tales, the pioneering Pulp magazine that specialized in Horror fiction. Farnsworth Wright (1888-1940 was the editor of the Pulp magazine Weird Tales during the magazine's heyday
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Edwin Baird
Baird first published some of Weird Tales' most famous writers, including H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Seabury Quinn, author of the hugely popular Jules de Grandin stories. Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy Clark Ashton Smith ( January 13, 1893 - August 14, 1961) was a Poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy Seabury Grandin Quinn (aka Jerome Burke) (1889 - 1969 was a Pulp magazine Author most famous for his Jules de Grandin is a fictional Occult detective created by Seabury Quinn for Weird Tales. The magazine lost a considerable sum of money under Baird's editorship, however--running through $11,000 in capital and amassing a $40,000 debt--and he was fired after 13 issues. [1]
Henneberger offered the job to Lovecraft, who declined, citing his reluctance to relocate to Chicago; "think of the tragedy of such a move for an aged antiquarian," the 34-year-old writer declared. [2]
Farnsworth Wright
The publisher then gave the job to Farnsworth Wright, who became the magazine's best-known editor. Wright (who suffered from Parkinson's disease) continued to publish stories by Lovecraft, Smith, and Quinn, though he was more selective than Baird; he rejected Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness", "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", and (initially) "The Call of Cthulhu", among other stories. Parkinson's disease (also known as Parkinson disease or PD) is a degenerative disorder of the Central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's At the Mountains of Madness is a Novella by horror writer H P "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is a Novella by H P Lovecraft. For the 2005 film see The Call of Cthulhu (film. " The Call of Cthulhu " is one of H Many of Smith's Hyperborean cycle stories were rejected as well. The Hyperborean cycle is a series of Short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea (present-day [3]
Among the new writers Wright found for the magazine were Robert Bloch and Robert E. Howard, whose Conan the Barbarian stories, among many others, were hugely popular. Robert Albert Bloch (April 5 1917 Chicago – September 23 1994 Los Angeles) was a prolific American Writer, primarily of crime Robert Ervin Howard ( January 22 1906 &ndash June 11 1936) was an American pulp writer of Fantasy, Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland Cimmeria) is a Fictional character often associated with Wright even put playwright Tennessee Williams into print for the first time (with his story "The Vengeance of Nitocris"). Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26 1911 &ndash February 25 1983 better known as Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright who received many of the top theatrical [4] Edmond Hamilton's earliest science fiction stories also first appeared in Wright's Weird Tales. Edmond Moore Hamilton ( October 21, 1904 - February 1 1977) was a popular author of Science fiction stories and novels during the mid-twentieth
Notably, Wright hired the former fashion designer and illustrator Margaret Brundage to produce the magazine's cover illustrations, starting in 1933--making Brundage the first and only female cover artist of the pulp era. Margaret Brundage, born Margaret Hedda Johnson ( December 9, 1900 - April 9, 1976) was an American illustrator She created many striking images, especially of nude or semi-nude young women in provocative poses (her whipping scenes attracted the highest attention). Though her art was far from flawless, Brundage's covers became a focus of extreme attention and controversy--which of course helped to sell the magazine. Wright also ignited the careers of two important fantasy artists, Virgil Finlay and Hannes Bok, by buying and publishing their work, first and frequently. Virgil Finlay ( July 23 1914 &ndash January 18 1971) was a pulp Fantasy Hannes Bok, pseudonym for Wayne Woodard ( July 2, 1914 &ndash April 11, 1964) was an American artist and illustrator as well
Weird Tales always struggled financially. In the 1920s and '30s, the magazine's business manager, William Sprenger, was crucial in keeping the enterprise afloat. It is estimated that the monthly circulation of Weird Tales never topped 50,000 copies per issue. (In the 1920s, circulation figures for the most successful pulps topped one million; even in the depths of the Great Depression, popular pulps like Doc Savage or The Shadow enjoyed circulations of 300,000 per issue, monthly or even semi-monthly. Doc Savage is a Fictional character, one of the Pulp heroes of the 1930s and 1940s ) After 1926 Farnsworth Wright paid his contributors at the rate of one cent per word, double the going pulp rate of a half-cent per word; but during the 1930s the magazine was sometimes very late in making its payments to authors (which was not unusual in the pulp field as a whole, at the time).
In 1938 Henneberger sold Weird Tales to William J. Delaney, owner and publisher of the magazine Short Stories. Davis brought in Dorothy McIlwraith, the editor of Short Stories, to assist Wright. A period of policy clashes and declining sales led to Wright's departure from Weird Tales in March 1940. Wright died in June of that year.
Dorothy McIlwraith
Under the editorship of Dorothy McIlwraith beginning in April 1940, Weird's later years were distinguished by an influx of newer writers, including such major figures as Ray Bradbury, Manly Wade Wellman, Fritz Leiber, Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore, Theodore Sturgeon, Joseph Payne Brennan, Jack Snow, and Margaret St. Clair, a somewhat more eclectic range. Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22 1920 is an American mainstream, Fantasy, horror, Science fiction and mystery Manly Wade Wellman ( May 21, 1903 - April 5, 1986) was an American writer This article refers to the science fiction writer For the actor see Fritz Leiber Sr Henry Kuttner ( April 7 1915 – February 4 1958) was a Science fiction author born in Los Angeles, California. Catherine Lucille Moore ( January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) was an American Science fiction and Fantasy Theodore Sturgeon (born Edward Hamilton Waldo on February 26, 1918; died May 8, 1985) was an American Science fiction Joseph Payne Brennan ( December 20, 1918 &ndash 1990 was an American Writer of Fantasy and Horror fiction, and also a John Frederick "Jack" Snow ( August 15, 1907 &ndash July 13, 1956) was an American Radio Writer and Margaret St Clair (February 17 1911 Huchinson Kansas - November 22, 1995 Santa Rosa CA) was an American Science fiction Occasionally the magazine would publish Lovecraftian pastiches presented as pieces of "lost" Lovecraft completed by his self-appointed literary executor August Derleth, who also wrote fiction for the magazine under his own name. August William Derleth ( February 24 1909 &ndash July 4 1971) was an American writer and anthologist
Like most pulp magazines, Weird Tales suffered from the newsprint shortage during World War II, and after the War from increasing competition from comic books, radio drama, television, and inexpensive paperback books. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Commercially, the magazine declined until it ceased publication in September 1954, after 279 issues. Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar)
Later incarnations
The magazine had several reincarnations in subsequent decades.
The first was a short-lived magazine in the early 1970s edited by Sam Moskowitz and published by Leo Margulies. Sam Moskowitz ( June 30, 1920 - April 15, 1997) was an early fan and organizer of interest in Science fiction and later a writer critic Leo Margulies (b June 22 1900, Brooklyn, New York, USA - d December 26 1975, Los Angeles, It lasted four issues.
The second was a series of four paperback anthologies published from 1981-1983 and edited by Lin Carter. Weird Tales was a series of paperback anthologies a revival of the classic Fantasy and horror magazine of the same title published by Zebra Books Linwood Vrooman Carter ( June 9, 1930 - February 7, 1988) was an American author of Science fiction and Fantasy The series was licensed by Robert Weinberg and Victor Dricks, who purchased the title after Margulies' death.
Current version
Weird Tales was more lastingly revived in 1988 under license by publisher/editors George H. Scithers, John Gregory Betancourt, and Darrell Schweitzer, beginning with issue 290. George H Scithers (born 1929 is a Science fiction author and editor. John Gregory Betancourt (b October 25 1963 in Missouri) is a writer of Science fiction, Fantasy and mystery Novels as well as Darrell Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American Writer, editor, and Essayist in the field of Speculative The revived magazine has seen reasonable commercial success (as far as fiction magazines go), publishing notable contemporary writers such as Tanith Lee, Brian Lumley, and Thomas Ligotti. Tanith Lee (born September 19, 1947) is a British Writer of Science fiction, horror and Fantasy. Brian Lumley (born 2 December 1937) is an English Horror fiction writer Thomas Ligotti (b July 9 1953, Detroit Michigan) is a Writer of horror stories Weird Tales became part of the DNA Publications chain for several years around the turn of the millennium, and in 2005 was sold to Wildside Press (owned by former co-editor Betancourt) and changed to a bimonthly (6 issues/year) schedule. Wildside Press is an independent Publishing company located in Maryland, USA.
In early 2007, Wildside announced an imminent revamp of Weird Tales, naming Ann VanderMeer the new fiction editor and creative director Stephen Segal the new nonfiction editor. Ann VanderMeer (nee Kennedy is an American publisher and editor Scithers and Schweitzer remain as contributors, Betancourt as publisher. The April/May 2007 edition (issue #344) featured the magazine's first all-new design in almost 75 years.
References
- Lin Carter, Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft A Look Behind the "Cthulhu Mythos" is a 1972 non-fiction book written by Lin Carter, published by Ballantine Books.
- Clark Ashton Smith, The Book of Hyperborea, Will Murray, ed. Will Murray (born 1953 is the author of more than fifty novels and a scholar of pulp fiction.
- Wildside Press, press release, Feb. 14, 2007.
Notes
- ^ Carter, pp. 35-37.
- ^ H. P. Lovecraft, letter to Frank Belknap Long, March 21, 1924; cited in Carter, p. Frank Belknap Long ( April 27, 1901 - January 3, 1994) was a prolific American writer of Horror fiction, Fantasy, Science 43.
- ^ Murray, pp. 11-14.
- ^ "The Story", Weird Tales: The Unique Magazine (fansite).
See also
External links
- Weird Tales official website
- Wildside Press – current publisher. A science fiction magazine is a Magazine that publishes primarily Science fiction, in print or on the internet or both A fantasy fiction magazine or fantasy magazine is a Magazine which publishes primarily Fantasy fiction. A horror fiction magazine is a Magazine that publishes primarily Horror fiction with the main purpose Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally Weird fiction is a subgenre of Speculative literature written in the late 19th and early 20th century
- Weird Tales: The Unique Magazine fansite
- All Weird Tales cover photos and information on the stories they contained
- Galactic Central Magazine Datafile for Weird Tales
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