It's hard to go wrong with a brawny, bare-chested hero and a good-looking girl in a skimpy leopard-skin outfit. Throw in an angry panther and you've got something, pal. Although if I had been the art director at Popular Publications, I might've told Lawrence Sterne Stevens (the artist) to make the girl's outfit a little skimpier. Got to catch the attention of those potential buyers at the newsstand, you know. Anyway, FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES was mostly a reprint pulp, and this issue features classic stories from William Hope Hodgson, Robert W. Chambers, and J. Leslie Mitchell. I'll admit, I'm not familiar with Mitchell's work, but this story sounds fairly intriguing. FFM published a few original stories, as well, and there's one in this issue by a young Ray Bradbury. A bunch of issues, including this one, are available online if you want to check them out.
This reprint pulp from Popular Publications usually had good covers like this one by Lawrence Sterne Stevens, usually credited as just Lawrence. Most of the stories were drawn from early Munsey pulps, which Popular had acquired the rights to several years earlier. This issue features a novel by Victor Rousseau published originally in ALL-STORY WEEKLY in 1920. I've read a reprint of "The Eye of Balamok", but it was many years ago and all I recall is that I liked it. By the time this pulp came out, Rousseau had been a stalwart of the Spicy/Speed line for a decade, under his name and numerous pseudonyms. I don't think I've ever read Murray Leinster's "The Red Dust", but I'm pretty sure I have a copy of the novel version somewhere. It was published originally in ARGOSY ALL-STORY WEEKLY in 1921. Rounding out the issue is the Max Brand short story "Devil Ritter", which I think I've read but I'm not sure. It comes from a 1918 issue of ALL-STORY WEEKLY. One interesting thing about FANTASTIC NOVELS is that it featured a letter column, and this issue includes letters from future pros W. Paul Ganley and Samuel A. Peeples, who wrote Western novels as Brad Ward and under his own name, scripted at least one episode of STAR TREK, and created the TV series LANCER.
FANTASTIC NOVELS was another reprint pulp that brought back stories from the very early days of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. This issue features A. Merritt's novel THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON POOL, originally published in ALL-STORY WEEKLY in 1919 as a six-part serial. I don't know if this version is abridged, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was. THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON POOL is the sequel to Merritt's novella "The Moon Pool", and I believe both stories were combined to form the novel THE MOON POOL. I seem to recall reading that Merritt did a lot of revising to his original stories when they were combined and/or expanded in later versions, but I'm far from an expert on Merritt and his work. He's one of those authors I've enjoyed, but I haven't read much by him and always intend to read more. I own most of his work in one edition or another. What I do know is that I like this cover by an artist usually billed simply as Lawrence, real name Lawrence Sterne Stevens. I mean, a good-looking blonde with a raygun and a bunch of spear-toting humanoid frogs . . . what's not to like?
