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THE FANTASY FAN
THE FANS' OWN MAGAZINE
Editor: Charles D. Hornig(Managing Editor: Wonder Stories)
Published 10 cents a copyMonthly $1.00 per year
137 West Grand Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey
Volume 1 December, 1933 Number 4
OUR READERS SAY
"The November issue beats the first two by a mile! If this keeps up, Iwonder what the tenth issue will be like? Sorry that I cannot send anEnglish science-fiction column this month, as I haven't heard from theother side yet. Have written to South Africa on the stf situationthere, but won't promise you anything on it. Will we have a story inthe December issue? 'The Other Gods' beat 'The Kingdom of theWorm.'"--Bob Tucker
We cannot tell what the tenth issue of TFF will be like, butyou can get a good idea of what the fifth will be like by readingour editorial. We are sorry we did not receive your foreignscience-fiction column this month, and would be pleased to hear aboutSouth Africa. You will notice three stories in this issue of TFF.Which of the stories so far published is the best, is a matter ofopinion. Further on in this department you will learn the variedopinions of their merit.
"What might be called the 'Anti-Ackerman' issue has just arrived. Itlooks to me like you ought to have advertised it as that, or run astreamer across the top. I think it would have doubled yoursubscriptions, so many people, it seems, would like to read somethingagainst me. Will you please tone down the remarks about my being the'most active fan,' etc? That started with you. You can't say I everhad anything to do with it. Many people reading such statements willbecome antagonistic 'just because,' and though I'm going aroundbegging people to like me, still there's no virtue in unnecessarilytipping away from you neutral parties."--Forrest J. Ackerman
The editor wishes to drop formalities for a brief paragraph in orderto make a personal confession, and will therefore speak in thesingular. Yes, Forrie, it has all been my fault. I was the one thatcalled you "the world's most active fan," etc., and really hadsomething to do with the animosity some of my readers have had towardyou. Let me say that I want to apologize--I am very sorry for it. Imeant well, but it didn't seem to have been interpreted the way it wasintended. All those laudatory remarks were really said to let otherreaders know how much you have done to advance science fiction, butfor certain peculiar reasons which can never be foretold, they weren'ttaken in the proper light. Frankly, this should teach us both alesson--you and I. I should consider carefully every remark I makeabout anyone or his work, and you should become less prejudiced andvehement on any particular subject, and consider the question: "What'sone man's opinion?" Your controversy with C. A. Smith is continued inthis issue's "Boiling Point."
"I am highly pleased with your publication, and hope you can make asuccess of it. Glad to see you are printing Lovecraft's excellentarticle on 'Supernatural Horror in Literature,' and also his 'OtherGods.' Smith's tale was most entertaining."--R. H. Barlow (author ofthe 'Annals' series)
"TFF continues to improve, the November issue marking a new high, whatwith Lovecraft and Smith in the same number."--Allen Glasser
"I find the _Fantasy Fan_ very interesting and think it has agood future. Anybody ought to be willing to pay a dollar for theprivilege of reading, for a whole year, the works of Lovecraft, Smith,and Derleth. I am glad to see that you announce a poem by Smith in thenext issue. He is a poet second to none. Weird poetry possesses anappeal peculiar to itself and the careful use of it raises the qualityof any magazine. I liked very much the department of 'True GhostStories,' and hope you will continue it. The world is full ofunexplained incidents and peculiar circumstances, the logical reasonsfor which are often so obscure and hidden that they are lent anillusion of the supernatural."--Robert E. Howard
We wish there were more authors and fans that were enthusiastic overthe future of weird fiction and _The Fantasy Fan_ as you and ourother readers are, and were willing to support it. Yes, anyone shouldbe willing to pay a dollar to read the works of the authors youmention for a whole year--and you are certainly included in that list,although you, of course, would not mention that fact. The opinions ofsuch a popular weird author as yourself carry weight, and it is asupreme pleasure to have you as a subscriber and contributor. Ourgratitude is unbounded.
"Delighted to see the November Issue. All the items and departmentsseem well calculated to interest the weird fiction devotee; and sincethere is no other magazine in this field, TFF ought certainly to beable to build up a solid clientele in the course of time."--H. P.Lovecraft
"Weisinger has done himself proud in both TFF and SFD. If he can onlykeep going! I wonder what would happen if Schwartz fell down?!!Lovecraft is O.K., and so is the whole issue; it is interesting. AllI'm doing is praising your mag, but what else can I do?"--KennethPritchard
Without Schwartz and Weisinger, science fiction fan material wouldreceive a terrific blow from which it would never recover. We are gladto see that you are boosting our magazine; thanks for your enthusiasm.
"One is inclined to believe that H. P. Lovecraft's 'The Other Gods'should now have cause to look down upon 'The Kingdom of the Worm,' ascreated by Clark Ashton Smith. The latter's tale, at best, was aninferior Smith writing, and truly, not one of his best. One must belogical and open-minded, you know. R. H. Barlow is deserving of praisefor his 'Annals.' The gentlemen with the musical pen-name of Hoy PingPong produced an enjoyable article on 'How to Write a STF Story:' veryamusing satire."--Robert Nelson
"I surely am delighted with the second issue of TFF--a big stepforward from the first edition! By all means keep up the good workthat you have started. This is just the thing we non-scientifictionistsneed. Lovecraft, Smith, Wandrei, Howard, and Quinn, I hope, will beyour main contributors as they just about hold up the weird andfantastic candle. I look for big things from you! 'The Kingdom of theWorm' was quite light and weak and far below the Smith standard--he ismy favorite author and I know what he can do as I have nearly all ofhis stories and poems. The idea of portrayal was novel but many morepages could have been written. It seemed to me that the climax cametoo quickly, and with a less startling denouement than is customarywith Mr. Smith's work. However, I was gladly surprised to see thestory in this new magazine's pages. 'Supernatural Horror inLiterature' by H. P. Lovecraft is intensely interesting."--F. LeeBaldwin
One has his full right to like or dislike a story, and while you andthe previous writer believed Smith's tale to be below his standard,many have written in acclaiming it one of his best. If the tale hadappeared in _Weird Tales_, you might have thought so also, butseeing that TFF is only a struggling little publication, you mighthave "hypnotised" yourself into believing that it was not up to hisaverage. And then again, you must be in the mood when you read weirdstories. Reading them under unfavorable conditions may force aderogatory opinion of the tale upon you.
"The second TFF was good! Hope you will get more staff writers who arefamiliar with fantastic fiction as you go along. Glad to seeLovecraft's article. C. A. Smith's tale was fine. Keep up theirpublication in spite of the opposition which will be forthcoming of'pure' stf addicts."--Lester Anderson
"The second issue was read with much interest and enjoyment. It showedconsiderable improvement over the first issue. The high spots wereClark Ashton Smith's story 'The Kingdom of the Worm' and the beginningof H. P. Lovecraft's article on 'Supernatural Horror in Literature.'Smith's story was splendid and I hope to see much more of his work inTFF. Lovecraft's article began very promisingly, my only criticismbeing that the instalment was much too short."--H. Koenig.
"I am glad to learn
that TFF will be devoted henceforth to the weirdin fiction, for I feel that truly fantastic literature, asdistinguished from the merely pseudo-scientific, is entitled to thefullest support; a support hitherto given to the stf type. I feelcertain that a large and appreciative following may be built up amongthe disciples of this branch of literature. My best wishes to thesuccess of TFF."--Richard F. Searight
Following are two letters in direct contrast.
"I have read the October issue of TFF from cover to cover and enjoyedit thoroughly. I have one objection, though. Since TFF is a magazinedevoted to the discussion of weird fiction, you should cut down on thestf stuff. You'll find plenty of readers who will enjoy it withouthaving to add so much science fiction talk."--Emil Petaja
"Please keep on using the same kind of paper and add more pages. Wassorry to hear that TFF is leaning toward weird fiction. Why do youencourage superstition with all the pronouncements of science againstit? I like the magazine fine, all except the weird part. I never haveread a good weird tale. Why do they print the science fiction andinterplanetary stories of Kline, Hamilton, and Williamson in _WeirdTales_, for weird tales, interplanetary stories are not weird."--LloydFowler.
Now, considering the two above letters, what is the poor editor to do?For the present, we will continue to use both stf and weird material,leaning toward the weird and printing only weird stories--except, ofcourse, in the January issue, which will be chiefly weird. By the way,we believe that the January number will have quite opposite effectsupon Messrs. Petaja and Fowler. We are sorry to hear that Mr. Fowlerhas never read a good weird story. We must pity him. Has he ever trieda magazine known as _Weird Tales_ by any chance? But all kidding aside,we will take his suggestions into consideration.
For some reason known only to themselves, _Weird Tales_ has refused toaccept the TFF ad for their January, 1934 issue. Perhaps they thinkthey have competition! We had intended to make our January numberentirely weird with 24 pages, but now find it inadvisable, because ofthe rejection of our ad. We find that it would be best to conserve theFantasy Fan Fund for future issues, rather than put everything intoone issue.
MY SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTION
by Forrest J. Ackerman
Part Four
In my collection are the manuscripts of such stories as "West of theEarth" (renamed "In Martian Depths") by Juve, Miss Long's "The LastMan" ("Omega"), "The Egg from the Lost Planet" ("Girl from Mars," byBreuer-Williamson), Skidmore's "Romance of Posi and Nega," "Lancer inthe Crystal" ... "The Cities of Ardathia" ... "In the Land of theBipos" ... "The Machine Man of Ardathia"... "By the Hands of the Dead".... "Seed of the Toc-Toc Birds" .... "The Head of Apex," and othersall by Francis Flagg ... "The Golden Bough," by Dr. Keller, Ed EarlRepp's "Metal World", Bob Olsen's "My Martian Sweetheart", pages fromdifferent Edmond Hamilton stories, and others, plus the entire serialby C. Willard Diffin, "Two Thousand Miles Below." I have, in addition,a translation into French of David H. Keller's "Stenographer's Hands,"which originally appeared in _Amazing Stories Quarterly_. The Frenchversion is known as "Les mains et la machine."
Also, there are four letter files and a large cabinet--all chock fullof correspondence from authors and fans.
There is one portion of my collection yet to be described: thescientifilms. In a large box are advertisements, press-sheets,reviews, write-ups, publicity copy, photos, "cuts," and all similarmaterial from dozens of movie magazines, newspapers, otherperiodicals, film companies and all parts of the world on thescientific from long years ago up to even those to be produced in thefuture. The amount of material covered in this file is impossible todescribe.
(In the installments Mr. Ackerman tells about his scientifilm"stills".)
Birkett's Twelfth Corpse
by August W. Derleth
The wall of hate that stood between the two old rivermen, Fred Birkettand Hank Blum, had grown from a strange and gruesome rivalry--thefinding of dead bodies of persons drowned in the Wisconsin River atSac Prairie. At the time of the tragic drowning of Bud Enders, therivermen were tied--each had found eleven bodies in the past fortyyears. It was said by each of them, and repeated in Sac Prairie, thatBud Enders' body would decide the contest.
The sympathy of Sac Prairie was with Birkett, a kindly old man incontrast to the sullen surliness of Blum, who was, too, somewhatyounger. Birkett had always joked about his odd luck at finding bodiesin the river, and still looked upon his almost uncanny way of knowingwhere the bodies had been taken by the swift current as more amusingthan not. But Blum had brooded upon his rival's luck ever sinceBirkett had earned a five-hundred dollar reward for finding the corpseof a young student who had fallen into the Wisconsin while drunk,almost a decade before. Now Blum made no effort to conceal his violenthatred for Birkett, nor could Birkett keep down his dislike for hisrival.
Bud Enders was drowned on a warm night in July, and twenty boats putout from Sac Prairie within an hour after he went down. Fred Birkettand Hank Blum were among them. Both the old men headed downstream,knowing by long past experience that the swift current in mid-channel,where the youth was drawn under, would quickly roll the body below SacPrairie toward the long clay river bank southeast of the village,locally known as the Yellowbanks district.
Toward dawn, Fred Birkett found Bud Enders' body, rolling along inshallow but swift water crossing a sand-bar just above theYellowbanks. The moon was out, and he had no difficulty seeing thebody, which he immediately caught with a boathook and secured to theboat without taking it from the water. Then he edged his boat out ofthe current and made swiftly upstream.
Just where Hiney's Slough enters the Wisconsin, he met Blum. He couldnot help boasting. "Just made my dozen," he called to Hank in a gruff,yet faintly triumphant voice.
Blum turned his boat and swung across current toward him.
Birkett rested on his oars. Unaware of the fury that consumed hisrival, he went on, "Well, we couldn't both find him. Let the best manwin, I always said," and smiled in the satisfaction of feeling himselfthe better of the two.
Blum had said nothing, but now he was looking cautiously upstream anddown, his eyes scanning the surface of the water for sight of anyboat, his ears waiting to catch any sound that might indicate theapproach of other searchers. The two boats lay in quiet water, awayfrom the current.
Whether or not Birkett heard Blum loosen and jerk out one oar isproblematical. He turned toward Blum just as the oar descended andcaught him a glancing blow on the side of the head, toppling him fromhis boat and turning the boat with him. Then, with a savage lunge, hepushed Birkett's boat out of reach of the older man just as he camecoughing and gasping to the surface of the water. With another quickmovement, Blum detached Enders' body from the overturned boat. He madeno attempt to catch the body, knowing that the current would not carryit from this quiet water, and he could always return and find it.
Then he shot away, unmindful of Birkett's despairing cries, and securein the knowledge that Birkett could not swim very well. A little wayupstream he paused and listened. There was no sound from below;Birkett had gone down. A cunning smile crossed his lips. Edging theboat into shallow water, he let himself fall fully clothed into theriver, wetting himself thoroughly, except for his torn hat, which hethrew into the bottom of the boat to give it the appearance of havingbeen hastily torn away from his head and thrown there. Then he gotback into the boat and rowed furiously toward Sac Prairie.
The circle of boats was now further downstream, and he did not have torow up quite as far as he drifted down. He timed his entrance well,for the boy's cap had just been found along shore, and the searcherswere excited over their find. Quite suddenly he shot from under thebridge into the yellow glow of lanterns held high above the water.
"Birkett's gone under," he shouted frantically. "His boat tipped justabove the Yellowbanks!"
Anyone who doubted his cries was easily convinced by his bedraggledappearance, and it did not require his explanation that he had goneinto the water after Birkett to explain the wetness of his clothe
s. Hetold hastily that the old man fought hard, that he had had to hit himfinally, and had at last reluctantly to let him go in order to savehimself.
As he led the rowboats to a spot a hundred yards above the entrance toHiney's Slough, where in the quiet water the two bodies still lay.Blum was enjoying the irony of the knowledge that his twelfth bodywould be that of his old rival. He broke into speech again, excitedlytelling about the accident, and explaining that the boat had longsince gone downstream, swept away by the powerful current in which ithad tipped. He pointed out approximately the place where the accidenthad occurred, and went glibly over his story a third time. Then heleft the searchers, and pulled into the current toward the dark waterswhere Birkett had actually gone down.
That much Sac Prairie was later able to piece together. What happenedafter that is more obscure and fraught with horrific suggestion. It iscertain that he went downstream, and equally certain that he seemed tobe heading for Hiney's Slough, though one or two disputed this pointlater. Despite the moon, it was difficult to observe Blum's progressdownstream, for he was soon lost in the very heavy shadows on thequiet water surrounding the slough's junction with the river.
In the babble of sound made by the searchers above the slough Blummight have called for some time and not have been heard, though thisis doubtful. At any rate, during a lull in the conversation, someonepicked up the sound of frantic calling. Everyone stood and listened.Once again came a sharp call, in a voice which was immediatelyidentified as Hank Blum's. The call was heavy with horror and fear.Then another call began to sound, but was abruptly stopped, almost asif it had been rudely shut off by a hand clapped over the lips thruwhich it came.