Tag Archives: Weird Tales

Blogging Northwest Smith: “Lost Paradise”

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One of my favorite writers, C. L. Moore (1911-1987) was born on this date, January 24.

Moore needs no introduction to readers of this blog. She was not only one of the best female writers of science fiction and fantasy of the pulp era, she was one of the best of either sex of any era.

Today’s post continues my series of looking at the Northwest Smith stories in order. For those of you who may be new around these here parts, Northwest Smith is widely regarded to be the inspiration for Han Solo.  Only ol’ Han never had adventures like these. There will be spoilers. Continue reading →

C. M. Eddy, Jr.’s Notorious Love

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Today, January 18, marks two birthdays of note.  I’ve decided both people are of enough significance, and different enough, that I’ve done separate birthday posts rather than one.  This one concerns C. M. Eddy, Jr (1896-1967).  The post on Clare Winger Harris can be found here. Continue reading →

Of Kisses and Seeds and Klarkash-Ton

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Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961) was born on this date, January 13.  Along with Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft, Smith was considered one of the Big Three of Weird Tales. Smith lived the longest of these three gentlemen, but his writing career wasn’t much longer. He wrote during the 1920s and 30s but stopped writing around 1937. Smith was a poet as well as a short story writer, and it shows in his lush, baroque prose.  In fact, one of the more common criticisms of Smith is that reading him requires too much work and too large of a vocabulary. His stories were often set in imaginary worlds such as Hyperborea, Poseidonis, and Zothique.  They are well worth seeking out.  Fortunately they are available in inexpensive electronic editions.

In observance of his birth, let’s look at two of his stories set in more modern times. Mild spoiler warning. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Seabury Quinn

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Seabury Quinn was born on this date, January 1, in 1889. He passed away Christmas Eve, 1969.  Quinn wrote for Weird Tales in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. He is best remembered for his occult detective Jules de Grandin.

I don’t have a review to mark the occasion. It’s been a while since I read any of his works.  I’m traveling today, so I don’t know if I will get a chance to read anything he wrote today. If it doesn’t happen today, it may be a few days. The rest of the week is going to be pretty packed with work and other obligations.

I do want to read more Quinn this year. I have the Night Shade editions of the complete Jules de Grandin, as well as the Battered Silicon Dispatch edition and a collection of non-de Grandin stories from Ash-Tree Press.  I’ll let you know what I think when I do read some.

“He That Hath Wings”

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“He That Hath Wings”
The Best of Edmond Hamilton
edited by Leigh Brackett
paperback $14.99
ebook $6.99
Original appearance Weird Tales July 1938

Edmond Hamilton was born on this date, October 21, in 1904.  He passed away in 1977. Last year for his birthday, I looked at “Monster-God of Mamurth“.  This year I want to look at “He That Hath Wings”.

“He That Hath Wings” is one of Hamilton’s best works, so I was surprised to find that it hasn’t been reprinted very often.  Fortunately, The Best of Edmond Hamilton is in print, although the cover illustration of the current edition (see below) isn’t nearly as good.

Just so you know, I’m going to discuss this story in detail, so expect spoilers. Continue reading →

The Weird Tales Covers of C. C. Senf

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Farnsworth Wright (l.) and C. C. Senf, Chicago, late 1920s

Artist C. C. (Curtis Charles) Senf was born in this date, July 30, 1873. He passed away in 1949.  Senf did a number of covers for Weird Tales.  The ISFDB lists 45 covers between 1927 and 1932.  I’m not sure why Senf didn’t do any others.  His last cover was July 1932.  Margaret Brundage’s first cover was September 1932. She had already provided the covers for the Spring and Summer 1932 issues of Oriental Stories.  Maybe Farnsworth liked her covers better.

Or maybe Senf left to pursue other, more lucrative projects.  I don’t know.  I’ll do some checking, and if I find out anything interesting, I’ll report back.

Senf’s covers definitely have what I would call a 1920’s look to them, with Victorian overtones.  For more discussion of Senf’s technique and a more detailed biography, see these three posts at Tellers of Weird Tales.

Now, let’s enjoy some of his covers. Continue reading →

Beagle and Wandrei

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About four years ago, there was a showing of The Last Unicorn at the local Alamo Drafthouse.  The is of course based on the novel by Peter S. Beagle.  I had seen it in the theater years ago upon its release.  I took my son, who at the time was about the same age I had been when I saw it.  He got to meet Peter, whom I had met on several previous occasions.  My son and I both had a great evening.  If you’re interested, you can read about that here.

Today (April 20, 2019) marks Peter’s 80th birthday.  I’d like to wish him a very happy birthday.  Beagle is a true gentleman and one of the best stylists working in the field.  His work is filled with warmth and humor, and I highly recommend it.

The other birthday I want to acknowledge is that of Donald Wandrei, who was born in 1908.  In addition to writing for the pulps, including Weird Tales and Black Mask, Wandrei co-founded Arkham House with August Derleth.  There are no electronic collections of Wandrei’s fiction, but Fedogan and Bremer have brought out several nice hardcover collections of his short fiction.  I’ve read a little of his work, and I intend to read more.  Anyone who can hit both Weird Tales and Black Mask is a writer I want to read.

Henry S. Whitehead

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Today (March 5) marks the birth of Henry S. Whitehead.  He was born in 1882 and passed away in November of 1932.  Whitehead was a contributor of Weird Tales and a correspondent of H.P. Lovecraft.  The year before Whitehead died, Lovecraft visited him at his Florida home and quite liked him.  Had he not died so young, Whitehead would have been a major author of the weird and fantastic.  I consider him to be so, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

Whitehead served for a time as the Archdeacon for the Episcopal Church in the Virgin Islands.  This posting would become a major influence on his fiction, as most of it dealt with voodoo and other fantastic aspects of Caribbean life.

Whitehead wrote no novels, but his short fiction is worth seeking out.  I reviewed “Seven Turns in a Hangman’s Rope” a few years ago.  Fortunately, his work is available in electronic format.  If I get a chance, I’ll try to read something else by him.

Blogging Northwest Smith: Yvala

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Catherine Lucille Moore was born on January 24, 1911, in Indianapolis, Indiana.  I’ve written multiple birthday tributes to her.  As I said for Robert E. Howard’s birthday two days, ago, I’m eulogized out.  So today in honor of her birthday, I’ll be revising a series I let go dormant, that of the Northwest Smith stories.  There will be spoilers below the fold. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Seabury Quinn

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Seabury Grandin Quinn was born on New Year’s Day in 1889.  He passed away on Christmas Eve in 1969.  Now where have I heard that name “Grandin” before?

Oh, yeah.  Jules de Grandin, the French occult detective.  He appeared in over 90 stories and one novel in Weird Tales beginning in 1925.  The last story was published in 1951.  They are currently being reprinted in hardcover by NightShade Books.  Four of a projected five volumes have been published as of this writing.

Quinn wrote other stories that didn’t feature de Grandin.  The first Quinn story I ever read was “The Phantom Farmhouse”.

Given how prolific he was, I’m surprised he isn’t better remembered today.  Hopefully someone will publish a collection of his non-de Grandin work in an affordable edition.