This is certainly an odd cover by Ray Quigley on the May 1942 issue of WEIRD TALES. But it's eye-catching, so it did its job. There are some fine authors inside this issue, too: Seabury Quinn (with a Jules de Grandin story), Robert Bloch, Henry Kuttner, Robert Arthur, George Armin Shaftel, Greye La Spina, Malcolm Jameson, Dorothy Quick, and several I hadn't heard of: Weston Parry, Alice-Mary Schnirring, and Alonzo Deen Cole. There are interior illustrations by Hannes Bok and Boris Dolgov. I realize WEIRD TALES was past its peak by the Forties in the opinion of many fans, but I've enjoyed the issues from that era I've read. I haven't read this one, but I'll bet there's plenty to like in it.
7 comments:
I've read that Malcolm Jameson story, it's a pretty good bit of eerie war fiction. The cover art is taking serious liberties, though. He has another scifi story about organic living ships but you won't see this one sprouting arms at any point.
Big of Jameson ever since I read a dusty, long out-of-print anthology of the Bullard of the Space Patrol short stories in the school library as a kid. Shame he's largely forgotten these days.
I think I have an e-book collection of those Bullard of the Space Patrol stories. I'll have to check.
A copy of that May 1942 issue is posted online at the Internet Archive. Bloch's story is "Black Bargain" and Kuttner's is "Masquerade," both pretty good yarns. "Masquerade" was adapted for the old THRILLER series with a cast to die for--Elizabeth Montgomery, Tom Poston, John Carradine, Jack Lambert, Dorothy Neumann. That episode is online too, on YouTube!
The THRILLER episode of Kuttner’s “Masquerade” also prominently features the PSYCHO House in its original location on the Universal backlot. Definitely a fun, spooky 40 minutes of vintage television.
b.t.
It's available from Amazon for $2.99.
Or, if you prefer, the Malcolm Jameson Megapack, which has all but two of the Bullard stories, is only 99 cents.
You can find almost of Jameson's writings at the url below for free, including the two "rare" Bullard stories, which were left out to "childproof" the series when it was published as juvenile fiction (there are drug references in both). They even have his humorous "Probability Zero" shorts, which include a piece with Bullard as a minor character.
https://freeread.com.au/@RGLibrary/MalcolmJameson/MalcolmJameson.html
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