Tue 13 Aug 2024
Diary Review: WEIRD TALES January 1949.
Posted by Steve under Diary Reviews , Magazines[14] Comments
WEIRD TALES January 1949. Editor: Dorothy McIlwraith. Cover artist: Lee Brown Coye. Overall rating: *½.
ALLISON V. HARDING “Four from Jehlam.” Novelette. An ancient Indian woman’s curse follows four Englishmen back home and to their not unexpected deaths. Not very well written. (1)
EVERETT EVANS “Food for Demons.” A demon inside one professor’s head feeds on the minds of others. (2)
FRANK GRUBER “The Thirteenth Floor.” Standard tale of non-existent floor in a large department store. (2)
SNOWDEN T. HERRICK “Open Season on the –bottoms.” People whose last names end in “bottom” start disappearing. (0)
JOHN D. MacDONALD “The Great Stone Death.” The great stone lizard attacks two outdoorsmen; one escapes. (1)
HAROLD LAWLER “Lover in Scarlet.” A skeleton in a scarlet cloak. (0)
ROBERT BLOCH “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” A magician’s assistant tries to saw a girl in half, and succeeds! (2)
ERIC FRANK RUSSELL “The Big Shot.” At his time of reckoning, Rafferty finds that his final judge is himself. (4)
STEPHEN GRENDON “Balu.” A boy’s strange Egyptian cat knows the secret of transformation to human form. (1)
MARY ELIZABETH COUNSELMAN “The Bonan of Baladewa.” An old Javanese musician calls of the spirit world to avenge his daughter’s death. (1)
ROBERT HEINLEIN “Our Fair City.” Novelette. A reporter uses the talents of a friendly whirlwind to expose the corruption of City Hall. Farce. (2)
August 14th, 2024 at 4:48 am
Although I suspect your story ratings are not overly harsh, I will gladly (and uncritically) read almost any story by many of these authors — Bloch, Russell, Gruber, MacDonald, Counselman, Heinlein, and Derleth/Grendon, and to a lesser degree, Harding, Evans, and Lawlor; the only author I am unfamiliar with is Herrick, a dabbler who only published three stories.
Over most of its long history WEIRD TALES followed Sturgeon’s Law and published a lot of dreck but I, for one, am able to hold my nose while reading many of the stories published in WT. I would probably rate this issue 3 and one-half or four stars. But then, I’m an overly biased fanboy.
August 14th, 2024 at 8:21 am
Perhaps worth noting that “Stephen Grendon” is a pen name for Weird Tales mainstay and Arkham House co-founder August Derleth?
“Apprentice” is, of course, notable not only for the fact that Bloch adapted it for Season 7 of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but also because the network, deeming its ending “too gruesome,” got cold feet and cancelled its scheduled first airing at the last minute, although it was shown in syndication.
August 14th, 2024 at 8:24 am
Belatedly noticed Jerry’s “Derleth/Grendon,” although perhaps clarification is not out of place.
August 14th, 2024 at 2:57 pm
Worth noting, yes, and I’m glad you and Jerry both did. I don’t know if I was extra harsh on these stories for some reason or not, but it’s certainly a fine bunch of authors that were included in this issue, and given another chance to read it again, I would in an instant!
August 14th, 2024 at 3:00 pm
On the other hand, the biggest “name” author here is Robert Heinlein, and guess what? The story has never been reprinted in book or magazine form. How do you like that?
August 14th, 2024 at 3:12 pm
Hm, Steve–are you pulling our collective leg?
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?46595 for a number of reprints. I believe I first read “Our Fair City” in Terry Carr and MH Greenberg’s A TREASURY OF MODERN FANTASY, one of the cheap four that I joined the Quality Paperback Club with when in high school (book club deals were better in Hawaii…no automatic book shipping!)
I gave a copy of TREASURY to a fellow blogger, but I fear it was deaccessioned before given a chance. Gifts which become burdens.
I’m trying to remember the plot of that Bloch, since I know I’ve read it, which is probably a bad sign, at least as much for my memory as for the story.
Did you collect this issue some years after publication?
August 14th, 2024 at 3:36 pm
Oops. and oh my, did I ever goof on the Heinlein story. Here’s the ISFDb entry I based that throwaway comment on:
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1067681
The mixup on their part (following your link, Todd) is whether the author of the story was credited with a middle initial “A” or not.
As for Frank Gruber’s “name”ness over Heinlein or not, I’d still go with Heinlein, but you’re right is suggesting the Gruber’s name may have been better known in 1949. It’s a good question.
August 14th, 2024 at 3:16 pm
When you get down to it, the Big Name at the time on the TOC would be Frank Gruber. I forgot who suggested to me that Heinlein sought to publish in every fantastica magazine he liked at all, hence this story. For WT, Bloch and Harding were old reliables, and Heinlein was presumably not unwelcome, but not yet a big enough deal for the WT audience to break their legs making way to the newsstands…
August 14th, 2024 at 3:18 pm
Ah–I missed the date appended to the review. Definitely a collector’s item by then.
August 14th, 2024 at 5:13 pm
Well, Heinlien had made it into SATEVEPOST and was beginning to work in films…but Gruber had already had bestsellers and had been working in Hwood since 1939. That would outshine even Derleth (even if using his real name), much less Heinlein, who was just beginning to break out with the general public, in ’49.
August 14th, 2024 at 5:21 pm
Nope, sorry, just the first film from one of his stories was made in ’39…he started writing in Hollywood in 1942.
August 14th, 2024 at 5:36 pm
Not to beat this into the ground (it’s already down the mantle), but I am slightly fascinated to see the Gruber story not only got the cover mention, along with the Allison Harding, on the ’49 Wt, but was reprinted six years later in a notable issue of F&SF, contents detailed thus:
3 • The Short Ones • novelette by Raymond E. Banks
20 • I Do Not Love Thee, Doctor Fell • short story by Robert Bloch
28 • The Golem • short story by Avram Davidson
33 • He Had a Big Heart • short story by Frank Quattrocchi
43 • Some Questions and Answers • essay by uncredited
44 • The Thirteenth Floor • (1949) • short story by Frank Gruber
57 • Change the Sky • short story by Margaret St. Clair [as by Idris Seabright]
70 • Recommended Reading (F&SF, March 1955) • [Recommended Reading] • essay by The Editor
71 • Review: The Big Ball of Wax by Shepherd Mead • review by The Editor
71 • Review: Shadows in the Sun by Chad Oliver • review by The Editor
73 • Review: The Man in the Thick Lead Suit by Daniel Lang • review by The Editor
73 • Review: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien • review by The Editor
74 • Overlooked • short story by E. C. Hornsby
84 • The Book of Your Life • short story by James Blish
94 • Coming Next Month (F&SF, March 1955) • essay by uncredited
95 • Yo Ho Hoka! • [Hoka] • novelette by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson
118 • The Doctrine of Original Design • poem by Winona McClintic
119 • Millennium • short story by Fredric Brown
120 • The Bone That Seeks • short story by John Ciardi [as by John Anthon
–Davidson’s first story to make a splash in fantastica, one of Bloch’s key lead-ups to PSYCHO, and one of the key Margaret St. Clair stories of her career.
Ah, well. Enough from me! More than.
August 17th, 2024 at 8:40 pm
Thanks for all, Todd. That looks like a super issue of F&SF, which alas I haven’t seen a recent copy of in quite a long while.
August 17th, 2024 at 8:41 pm
Uh oh. No post should have exactly 13 comments. Just noticed!