FANI TASY i\EVI Ivv Yol. f, No. tl SIXPENCE AUG.-SEP. 1947 AN END TO BANALITY It's Curtains for Space Opera FROM FORREST J. ACIiI'R]TTAN Jull' and August issues of Writer's Digest l eatured ariicles by Margaret St. Clair, science nction wrirel', sulvey- ing the f,eld from the viewpoint oI the newcomet' who rvants io bleak lnto it and detailing tlle individua] requirements of the magazines. The second article gives namcs and addresses ol lan clubs and therl pul-llications, so that rvri;els may "catch the spirit of what reader's rvanl and get the mood of the fan scated in his orvu armchair." The July articlc adf ised nerv authors to pa}- llalticular atlention to f an letters in the magazines. 'T'he typicai science fic.ioD ian is ]'oung, male (though there ale some de- voted feninine ones), literate, quite iutelligent. ir-iterested in ideas. His mental horizon is broader tlxan that of the average cil,izen. He is strorrgll' arvare of what his likes and dislikes are, and the rvriter $'ho succeeds in pleasing him will hear of il. In my belief thc science fi.ctioi1 fan is a def,niteh' supelior type, but I ma1. be prejudiced." Dealing r',.ith cunent trends in the medium. i\,Irs. St. Clail sa]'s: "Ccrtairrly the present trend is dead e\\'al.' ilom the aptl}*-named 'space opera.' Blood and thund-er is more or lcss on its rval' out, ihough I suppose we shall never get rid of it c'rtilely . Of late, Astounding Scicnce-Fiction has been gcing in rather heevilj' for stories alrout the post- atorllic bornl) rvorlci. TheY take but a dirn vierv of ti-te future urhich is probable iol humanity, and on lhis poinb all tirink- ing persons must aglee wit.h them. But clesolation and death, no natter- hon iike)5', ofler unsustailling Fubje,lt matter for an extended pr:ogramme of fiction. "What will the future be ]ikc? No one can see verv lar into it. It mav be that at first $,e shall have a considerable euichmenl, in material things. Science flction might, then, devole itself at least partiallv to an imaginative depiction of the impact of this euicllment on humanity, \'ith increased enlphasis on humour, on character, on human interest. The iife anci social sciences will receive more stress. I believe we shalt have more domestic interiors and fewer space-ships, mote people arld fewer robots and captured suns. Anyhow, it's mole darned fun to write." fPlease tuln to Page 181 FANTASY The Lovecraft Cult Bv-T ARTH U R F. HILLMAN Tf is irrst icn vents since Howard now familiar to a much larger public. Phillips Lovec|aft, American writer ol than he himself ever visualised. weird taies, di€d at the age of 47, to be These trvo fine books are not oniy out mourned by a few devoted friends and of priut but such copies as do exist will the comparatively limited cilcle of nevel come your way except at prices readers rvho knerv anci valued his wlit- tirat may sulprise and even shock you. ings. To those rvho regretted his de- But if you have not read Lovecraft. or mise it is some consolation that his have onll' a clim memorv of him from fame and influence have grown, slowly Weird Tates and rvant to read him but steadily, through the years. Despite again, you cannot do better than seek the condescending attitude which some out a copy of the Tor,ver Books collec- rvere p)eased to adopt towards bhis self- tion of his "Best Supernatural Stories." confessed literary "amateur" and the In this book are twelve of LovecrafL's humble origins of his work, its under- most popular pieces which appeared in Iying brilliance is nor,v widely recog- Weird Tales between 1924 and ,39. in- nised. cluding "?he Haunter of the Dark," Of the score of anthologies of horror "The Call of Cthulhu" and ,,The. tales which har€ appeared in America Whispeler in Darkness," togethel. with of recent date, there are few that have the memorable "Colour Oui of Space," not included at least one of Lovecraft's. which is said to have been published in. Since August Derleth and Donald Amazing Stories twenty years ago only Wandrei, among his oldest and most because it was submitted ttrere bv acci-. ardent admirers, prepared those two dent. Also included are "The Drinwich magnificent collections of his stories, Horror" and "The Thing on the Door- "The Outsider and Othels" and "Be- step," which, with the remarkable. yond the Wail of Sleep," oihers have Astounding Stories serial, ',The Shadow seized eagerly on his work, which is Out of Time," were presented in a Bart House Mystery pocket-book at about the same time. An earlier book in the. same series, which you may still be a le FANTASY REVIEW to procure, comprised "The ll9eird (Incorporating: SCIENTII1ICTION Shadov/ Over Innsmouth," "T?re Whis- and TO-MORROW-Magazine of perer in Darkness," and three short. the Future) pieces including "The Outsider.', "The Dunwich Horror" has seen print A Journal for lleaders, Writers and ,'Avon Collectors of Imaginative Fiction yet again, more recently, in the Ghost Reader." "T'he Haunter of the. BI-MONTHLY: SIXPENCE Dark" also makes another appearance Pub- Editorial, Advertising and in the latest Avon pocket-book of super- lishing Ofrce: 15 Shere Road, natural stories titled "Terror at Night.'" Ilford, Essex. The current hard-cover anthologies Subscription rates: In Great Knocks?" (except "Who and "The Night Side" Britain and Dominions both contain Lovecraft stories. But if,. Canada) 3/6 per year. Sing]e cop- iest 7d., post free. In Canada and in spite of all this, his work stiil eludes U.S.A., 75c. per year. Single copies, you, don't despair. Later in the year 15c., post free. Avon will publish a new pocket-book collection of his tales titled "The Lurk- VoI. I, No. 4 Aug.-Sept. 1947 ing Fear and Other Stories," and you. Editor: Walter Gillings. can rely on it that the new Fantasy Associate Editors: John Carnell, Reader J. Michael Rosenblum, D. R. Smith, rvill feature him fairly regularly- Arthur F. Hillman, Ft€d C. Brown, With this increasing recognition of Nigel Lindsay, Il. George Medhurst. Lovecraft's work over the past decade John C. Craig. has emerged a groriling interest in the A meri c a n Correspondents: man himself, amounting to a verilable David Kishi (New York), Forrest cult. For this narrabor of weird and J. Ackerman (Hollywood). horriflc stories had facets to his char- acter almost as strange as the bizarre REVIEW 3 channels into which his loving imagina- revolved alound hinr. T'he casual tion delved. His secluded life and yet lcader', clipp;ng into it, ,na) be some- tremendous erudition; his absorption wilat nonpiussed by ihe peculiar variety with things of the 18th century and his of its contents and Lhe nalrorvness of affectations of the Geo|gian period; his ils subject-m.itter; f or it is primalily abnormal sensitivity to extl'emes of a selecL excursion into the realm of weather: the inherent reserve that H.P.L. and his satelii'ies, and the in- made it practically impossible for him expe|t tlaveller may \\'ell regt'et th€ ab- to cope with the realities of a cruel, sence of a guide-book. workaday world-glimpses of ali these Typifying the spirit that marked Lhe peculiar features of his personality initial lalrnching of its pr"rlrlishers, ib were always to be had from his storles. plesents for Lhe connoisseul a fascinat- But of his charm of manner, his in- lng melange oi lesser-knorvn stories, flnite patience and kindly humour, his essaJ's and olher pieces written by Love- gentleness, one could gather little apat't claft, or rc-rvritten by him fronr the from one testimony: the devotion that material of otirer writers he beiriended. prompted his small circle of friends to aDd covel ing the whole period oI his ensure that his name and his work wliting life. The rest of lhe book oon- should become more than a fading sists oI triblrtes in prose and verse by memoly. members of his circle, including such August Derleth's biographical appre- well-known fantasy wliters as Henly ciation of "H.P.L." is of absorbing in- Kuttner, Clark Ashton Smith and terest to those who have been caught up f'l'ank Bclknap Long, besides Wandrei in the web of fascination that has been and Der]eth. weaved aboul the recluse of Providence, There are several photoglaphs and Rhode Island. The profound effect on Crawings which are of equai fan-in- this sensitive writer of the Lovecraf'u terest as the "Notes on the Writing of influence is apparent throughout; yet, Weird Fiction" and "Some Notes on discounting the aura of semi-divinity Inteiplanetary I'iction" must be to thab his earnest disciple has naturaliy those who ate concerned rvith these as- fabricated around him, it enables us to pects of the faniasy f,eld. And even if penetraie further into the fascinating one is not a convelt to the Lovecraft enlgma of his personality. cult, the philosoplrical depth of the We Iearn how, in the years of his essays, the marked beauty of the lan- childhood, he was shielded frorn the guage in which they are written; and outside world by the solicitude of his the intriguing sidelights they tlu'ow on aunts and the ancient tomes witich the rvhole Lovecraft tladition, render were his companions.