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Post by dem bones on Aug 27, 2021 8:12:52 GMT
Marion Brandon - Emergency Call ( Strange Tales, June 1932). Through the Storm and Darkness of the Night Comes a Cry for Help, and from an Even Deeper Darkness Comes an Answer. A honeymooning couple driving through a storm. Tom foolishly stops to scale a rock face and retrieve a flower for his bride. It gives way under his weight. Paul fractures his skull - he will surely die without swift medical attention! Somehow, frantic wife - our narrator - drags him into the car, and sets off in search of help. It's several miles to the nearest town but ..... her luck's in. The first lonesome old dark house she arrives at is that of kindly Dr. Barton, the phantom GP.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 27, 2021 11:25:28 GMT
From the launch issue. First read this some years back, still think it's great. No question the seven issues of Strange Tales are way superior to the first seven issues of Weird Tales. H. W. Wesso Arthur J Burks - The Place of the Pythons: ( Strange Tales, Sept. 1931). "And the Sound from the Depth of Me was a Sullen, Angry Hiss!". "And you shall go down to the place of the pythons for your sins!" An ancient Philippine grocer lays a powerful hex on an American beachcomber who repeatedly steals from her store. The white laughs off her curses, taunts her by swiping a bottle of rare wine on his way out, hurries back to his hut to beat the impending storm. Somehow the hike takes longer than usual, and the path now leads downhill. Hopelessly lost, he comes to a halt before the most terrifying animated tree. Looking around, he realises the entire forest is alive .... On returning to the village - for some reason, he found it easier to make the journey on his belly - he approached his friend, the local chief, who screaming, fires an arrow at him. Furious, the beachcomber crushes every bone in the man's body ..... H. W. Wesso
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Post by dem bones on Aug 28, 2021 7:49:16 GMT
Three from the third issue, all good, personal favourite being The Smell. H. W. Wesso Francis Flagg - The Smell: ( Strange Tales, Jan. 1932). Out of Some Coincident Other-World Comes to Lemuel Mason a Visitation, Intangible, Ecstatic — and Deadly. Nova Scotia. Fearful for his sanity, Lemuel Mason, recently moved into the Brunswick boarding house, consults a doctor. Nightly he is plagued by an odour, foul and rotten, which, nonetheless sets him to writhing in ecstasy and carrying on something terrible. From what he can gather, a girl died in the room. Before long, the stench is accompanied by a physical presence, clammy and reptilian, which only turns him on the more. It's not enough. Lemuel insists she show herself ... Amos Sewell August Derleth - The Shadow on the Sky: ( Strange Tales, Jan. 1932). A Curse Lies Over the House of Furnival, and the Face of Heaven Shadows Forth Its Doom. Sir Hilary James is haunted by visions of man dangling from a giant gallows tree in the skies above the fens. It transpires that, in 1727, an ancestor, Sir Guy, Lord of Furnival, lynched a poacher in the grounds of the ancestral home. Hamish Inniss swore the customary curse. H. W. Wesso William J. Makin - The Black Laugh: ( Strange Tales, Jan. 1932). The Story of Spook Kopje — Sarcophagus of a Tragedy Most Pitiful. Olivia, the village beauty, a huge fan of Douglas Fairbanks, rashly challenges her favourite suitor to be first to climb Spook Kopje. Achieve this remarkable feat and she will reward him with marriage. It takes Johannes five hours to reach the top — and three days to be driven insane when he realises there's no way down. Even when the whites shoot him out of mercy, Johannes's mad ghost laughs on.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 29, 2021 9:29:37 GMT
"Through the bars could be seen a Spanish courtyard, full of tall, shadowy pillars and palm trees, and fountains that sparkled beneath the moon. In the darkest corner there was a door, heavily curtained with sombre velvet, while through a rift in the curtains came light — a misty stream of yellow radiance which flooded one side of the great dim courtyard and gave it its name, 'The Golden Patio.'"B. D. Alexander: Aubrey Feist - The Golden Patio: ( Strange Tales, June 1932). Behind the Sombre Curtain in a Decaying Patio of Old Spain, a Quest of Many Years Comes to Its Eventful End. From infancy, narrator Peter has been fascinated by a painting hidden away in the attic, part of the ill-gained trove accumulated by the black sheep of the family, his seafaring grandfather, Captain Peter Romsey. In adulthood, Peter travels Europe, eventually finding his way to Palma de Majorca where, in the shadow of the Cathedral, he chances upon the very same golden patio as is depicted in the painting. Concealed behind the curtain he watches as the most gorgeous woman he has ever set eyes upon enters the courtyard. Inez, all haunted eyes, big hair, flowing silks and rosary beads, has been exposed as an adulteress and her husband, Don Ruy Gondomar, is in vengeful mood. Tonight he will slay both his treacherous wife and her English lover for their sins. But as Gondomar is attacking Inez, a figure steps from the shadows and stabs him in the back. Peter recognises the killer only too well.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 30, 2021 14:09:52 GMT
D. R. Paul Ernst - Dread Exile; ( Strange Tales, June, 1932). Who Was the Grotesque Stranger — A Maniac or the Teller of an Incredible Truth? Narrator George receives a visitor he doesn't recognise who claims to be a close friend. The man is tall, abnormally thin "like a human tent pole," stoop shouldered and pallid of face, with a disturbing protrudence under his coat. Yet, the stranger claims, but two days ago he was a fine young athlete in the rudest health. What cruel diseased have ravished him so in 48 hours? George, suspecting he is entertaining a lunatic, reluctantly hears him out. He who claims to be Jim Carmody - it can't be! - relates the terror tale of a Martian, exiled on earth and vulnerable to its every disease, whose only hope of survival is to forcibly exchange bodies with a human ...
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Post by dem bones on Aug 31, 2021 5:36:30 GMT
Harry Bates [ed.] - Strange Tales , Oct. 1932 (Wildside Press, 2021) Clark Ashton Smith - The Hunters from Beyond Speaking Heads Victor Rousseau - The Curse of Amen-Ra Injustice Triumphant Henry S. Whitehead - Sea Tiger Sewell Peaslee Wright - The Dead Walk Softly Odd Superstitions Gustav Meyrink - Bal Macabre Ghost Vengeance Robert W. Sneddon - Strange Tales and True Bird Spirits Hugh B. Cave - The Infernal Shadow Arthur Styron - The Artist of Tao Indian Guardian Spirits Frank Belknap Long Jr. - In the Lair of the Space Monsters Fairies of Folklore An Incantation
The CauldronClark Ashton Smith - The Hunters From Beyond: Living Gargoyles, Most Hideous, Come to the Sculptor Sincaul from Outland Realms of Evil. Philip Hastane, an author of supernatural fiction, travels to San Francisco to visit cousin Cyprian Sincaul, a sculptor of startling mediocrity. On his way to the studio, Hastane drops by Toleman's bookstore where, inexplicably, he is confronted by a be-slimed, corpse-like "blasphemous gargoyle" while browsing a book of Goya prints. The proprietor sees nothing. Badly shaken, Philip calls on his cousin, where an even greater shock awaits. Since last they met, the sculptor has come over all flamboyant and developed a genius for depicting the monstrous and unholy. Particularly repulsive is his masterpiece in progress, 'The Hunters from Beyond,' a terrified nude recoiling from seven slobbering abominations. Hastane recognises the species — has he not recently came face to insectoid face with one such in the book store? Cyprian, all smug, drops hints that he has first hand experience of that which he portrays. On leaving the studio, Hastane is intercepted by Marta Fitzgerald, Cyprian's regular model and lover, who begs him to intervene, persuade his cousin to desist this prying in morbid realms before something terrible happens. "My God! No one could keep sane in that studio." A straight horror story, essentially CAS does Pickman's Model, though, of course, the author adds much of his own brilliance to the tragic proceedings. I don't always get on with Smith's work, but this is wonderful. Can only wonder why this didn't appear in Weird Tales?
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Post by Middoth on Aug 31, 2021 9:15:50 GMT
Can only wonder why this didn't appear in Weird Tales? "Bates paid two cents per word, a higher rate than Weird Tales, and attracted noted writers of the day" pediwikia.com
Sometimes I wonder could we receive weird menace stories from Howard and Lovecraft if they were alive?
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Post by dem bones on Aug 31, 2021 10:17:05 GMT
" ... a thing which emitted an evil odour; a thing through which they could see as though a jelly; a thing with a cold, damp touch which sent women into hysterics." Amos Sewell: Sewell Peaslee Wright - The Dead Walk Softly: Icy with Fear Jordan Waits 'mid the Gravestones — Waits for He Knows Not What. Colchester, mad poet and hypnotist, perfects a technique whereby he can steal the breath from the living to provide temporary translucent bodies to the worst of the murderers buried in a New England cemetery. With his living subjects in trance, Colchester commands the gelatinous ghouls to commit robberies on his behalf, culminating in murder! Young Tom Jordan, whose wallet was stolen during one such supernatural burglary, vows to get to the bottom of the mystery. However, it is Colchester's daughter, Marie — shocking for the day, she's "not the most attractive" — who ultimately brings down the scoundrel when guilt no longer allows her to turn a blind eye to father's monstrous crimes. Amos Sewell Victor Rousseau - The Curse of Amem-Ra: See Martin H. Greenberg [ed], Mummy Stories, (DAW, 1990). Amos Sewell Gustav Meyrink - Bal Macabre: See Sean Richards [ed], The Elephant Man & Other Freaks, (Futura, 1980).
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Post by dem bones on Aug 31, 2021 15:37:20 GMT
Sometimes I wonder could we receive weird menace stories from Howard and Lovecraft if they were alive? My guess is they'd both consider weird menace too lowbrow an art form. I can't see Lovecraft explaining away Cthulhu as the Mayor wearing stilts and a suit fitted with rubber tentacles. Amos Sewell Henry S. Whitehead - Sea Tiger: Merman and Mermaid Were They in the Drowning Hewitt's Revealing Vision. Arthur Hewitt is thrown from The Barbadia during a storm. Drowning, calm and at peace, he dreams of rescue by a mermaid. Alas, no sooner has she saved his life than his fantasy girl is lost, killed in an epic struggle with a sea monster. Miraculously, Hewitt is missed aboard ship. The alarm is raised, he's sighted, floating lifeless on the waves, and hauled in by fellow crewmen. He recovers. The episode with the mermaid still seems so real, and he has an overpowering urge to jump in the sea. As soon as the ship docks at St. Croix he joins a swimming party. He's daydreaming on his back when — a scream! A young woman among the group has been savaged by a barracuda. Hewitt fights the savage sea-tiger, eventually snapping its spine. He checks on the injured girl. Her loving face is familiar ...
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Aug 31, 2021 16:30:13 GMT
I can't see Lovecraft explaining away Cthulhu as the Mayor wearing stilts and a suit fitted with rubber tentacles. Yet that comes eerily close to the truth. Send for my pamphlet explaining this and many other little-known facts.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 31, 2021 18:03:23 GMT
I can't see Lovecraft explaining away Cthulhu as the Mayor wearing stilts and a suit fitted with rubber tentacles. Yet that comes eerily close to the truth. Send for my pamphlet explaining this and many other little-known facts. Well, he did write a story where an eldritch alien pulled a reverse Scooby Doo and dressed itself up as an innocuous Vermont farmer.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 31, 2021 18:04:44 GMT
Henry S. Whitehead - Sea Tiger: Merman and Mermaid Were They in the Drowning Hewitt's Revealing Vision. Arthur Hewitt is thrown from The Barbadia during a storm. Drowning, calm and at peace, he dreams of rescue by a mermaid. Alas, no sooner has she saved his life than his fantasy girl is lost, killed in an epic struggle with a sea monster. Miraculously, Hewitt is missed aboard ship. The alarm is raised, he's sighted, floating lifeless on the waves, and hauled in by fellow crewmen. He recovers. The episode with the mermaid still seems so real, and he has an overpowering urge to jump in the sea. As soon as the ship docks at St. Croix he joins a swimming party. He's daydreaming on his back when — a scream! A young woman among the group has been savaged by a barracuda. Hewitt fights the savage sea-tiger, eventually snapping its spine. He checks on the injured girl. Her loving face is familiar ... Some might call "Sea Tiger" sappy, but I liked it a lot--especially the final line.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 31, 2021 18:26:19 GMT
Some might call "Sea Tiger" sappy, but I liked it a lot--especially the final line. Me too. I also enjoyed Marion Brandon's obscenely slushy Emergency Call in the June 1932 issue. Must be going soft in my dotage. Robert W. Sneddon - Strange Tales and True: Several Fascinating Weird Tales of Unquestionable Authenticity and Truth. Although there are a number of short, "factual" filler pieces scattered throughout this and previous issues, as far as I know, this was the only occasion when Harry Bates ran a substantial (six page) non-fiction article during ST's short life. Author Sneddon was a regular contributor to Ghost Stories magazine so could be that penning stories of "unquestionable authenticity and truth" was breaking new ground for him, but he acquits himself well. Includes; the artist whose depiction of a recent murder in a St.Petersberg attic inadvertently exposed the killer; the dancing coffins of Barbados; the plucky Indian wife of a British army captain who outwitted a powerful fakir; and the Brahman who humbled two smug British officers with but a stick of white chalk as his weapon. This piece and letters page The Cauldron - introduced in the previous issue - round off what, up until then had been a magazine rich in stories but bereft of reader engagement.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 1, 2021 7:15:13 GMT
I can't see Lovecraft explaining away Cthulhu as the Mayor wearing stilts and a suit fitted with rubber tentacles. Yet that comes eerily close to the truth. Send for my pamphlet explaining this and many other little-known facts. Get your copy before it's suppressed! #ILLUMINATI #CENSORSHIP #WHYTHEYHADTOSILENCEHPL #COVERUP #whatTHEYdon'twantYOUtoKNOW #IALONEKNOWTHETRUTH #CONSPIRACY One notable difference between Strange Tales and Weird Tales; all the stories sampled on this thread have been remarkably sane by pulp standards. Until now. Rafael DeSoto Hugh B. Cave - The Infernal Shadow: Death, Mysterious and Horrible, Lurks in the House of Mark Mallory. The case of the hairy horror-fingers! A quiet nights reading at home for Captain Jean and Anne Forsythe in her step-father, old man Mallory's vast library. Of a sudden, a pair of blue, hairy, disembodied hands form around Anne's throat, lift her high out of the chair and break her neck! Who? Why? What? Where do you start? It's common knowledge that Mallory disliked his daughter and positively loathes her husband, who repays his disdain with interest. A rather more carefully guarded secret is that one party has a secret lab where he conducts increasingly deranged experiments with endocrines prepared from monkey glands, until he perfects a formula whereby he can transform himself into an invisible were-gorilla! Police Inspector Blake and our narrator, Dr. Lovell, join forces to expose the killer in the house of hatred!
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Post by dem bones on Sept 1, 2021 15:35:17 GMT
"You weary yourself with the vanity of words" Amos Sewell Arthur Styron - The Artist of Tao: The Story of Kito and the Jealous Jewel of the Lotus. Kito, the young Lama, tirelessly preparing a butter sculpture of the Jewel of the Lotus for tomorrows feast. But unknown to all, Kito has modelled the likeness of the Goddess on a young forest girl he glimpsed by the river - they exchanged smiles. Love at first sight! The senior Lamaser warns him against heresy, but Kito is smitten. Unfortunately for him, the Lotus is no sentimentalist.
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