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fastasashark's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a compilation of short stories, poems and letters from Weird Tales magazine, all the content being from the 1930s. There was also the intro written by Peter Haining, which gave a short history of the magazine and some of its prominent authors. It was an interesting read.
- The Man Who Returned by Edmund Hamilton (Feb. 1934): 4/5 stars - This was easily my favourite story of the whole bunch and kicked things off on a very promising note. Reading the blurb at the top of the first page, I'd thought it might turn out to be a kind of cliche "buried alive by mistake" sort of story. That definitely didn't turn out to be the case, for me. Instead, in under 20 pages I became quickly invested in this character's tragic tale and the decisions he had to make. Just the sadness of his discoveries when his friends and family thought him dead really did make me feel for him. I don't think I'd heard of Hamilton before, but I'm actually interested to read more of his stories in the future.
- Black Hound of Death by Robert E. Howard (Nov. 1936): 2/5 stars - Man oh man. The excessive racism of this story on its own would have earned it 0 stars, the 2 stars is basically just in acknowledgement of the fact that the pacing, flow and core of the story could have really made for an otherwise exciting and creepy tale. Another story ruined by rampant racism.
- The Shuttered House by August W. Derleth (April 1937): 3.25/5 stars - This was a creepy tale. There's something about ghosts being described as trying to "get into" your body that somehow makes it creepier than simple possession. I would have rated it higher, but I found the author had a tendency to use somewhat odd/stilted sentence structure that threw me off in the beginning.
- Frozen Beauty by Seabury Quinn (Feb. 1938) - 3.25/5 - A tale of weird science fiction and mystery, featuring the hilarious and seemingly Poirot-inspired Jules de Grandin (intro says Sherlock-inspired, but the humour of the character felt more Poirot to me. Maybe a mashup of the two). This was a lot of fun, and the descriptions and dialogue really gave me a good laugh. A story of murder, cryogenics, Russian assassins and mystery. It was a lot of fun. I probably would have rated it higher, but for the red scare elements...although honestly the related portrayals where pretty hilarious.
- Haunting Columns by Robert E. Howard (Feb. 1938) - 2.5/5 - Not much to say about this poem. Was ok.
- Beyond the Walls of Sleep by H.P. Lovecraft (March 1938) - 3.5/5 maybe? - I had forgotten that Lovecraft also hated rural, working class whites, who were, in his mind, "white trash degenerates". Which he doesn't let the reader soon forget in this story. All that said, the concept and conclusion of the story was very cool, and as always I can't really help getting caught up in the aesthetic of his writing. I really liked the "cosmic" conclusion of this.
- The Garden of Adompha by Clark Ashton Smith (April 1938) - 3.5/5 - Definitely an unsettling story, is all I have to say. Only thing is with quite a few of these stories, even when its not the focus there's often a backdrop that makes orientalism or "otherness" a part of the "weird tale". A lot of this could have been written without that backdrop and been just as creepy.
- Cordelia's Song by Vincent Starett (April 1938) - 2/5 stars - It was a poem, I guess
- Beyond the Phoenix by Henry Kuttner (Oct. 1938) - 3.5/5 stars - This wasn't horror or weird sci-fi, but fun sword and sorcery taking place in Atlantis. I haven't read this sort of fantasy in years, and made me want to get back to more old school sword and sorcery. A pair of mercenaries get wrapped up in a royal assassination and wind up in the afterlife and in a battle between primordial gods. I'd read more Kuttner in the future, including more Elak of Atlantis stories.
- The Black Monk by G. G. Pendarves (Oct. 1938) - 3/5 - This was the pen name of Gladys Gordon Trenery. This story had promise of spookiness and had a couple chilling moments, but never quite got there.
- The Passing of a God by Henry S. Whitehead (Dec. 1938) - 2/5 - A weird science fiction story. Think it could have been unsettling but was one of those "white people writing the horrors of Haitian voodoo" stories.
- They Run Again by Leah Bodine Drake (Dec. 1938) - 3.25/5 - A poem about werewolves. The other poems in this collection were pretty "meh", but this one was actually quite cool. I'd be interested in reading more of her poems.
- The Man Who Returned by Edmund Hamilton (Feb. 1934): 4/5 stars - This was easily my favourite story of the whole bunch and kicked things off on a very promising note. Reading the blurb at the top of the first page, I'd thought it might turn out to be a kind of cliche "buried alive by mistake" sort of story. That definitely didn't turn out to be the case, for me. Instead, in under 20 pages I became quickly invested in this character's tragic tale and the decisions he had to make. Just the sadness of his discoveries when his friends and family thought him dead really did make me feel for him. I don't think I'd heard of Hamilton before, but I'm actually interested to read more of his stories in the future.
- Black Hound of Death by Robert E. Howard (Nov. 1936): 2/5 stars - Man oh man. The excessive racism of this story on its own would have earned it 0 stars, the 2 stars is basically just in acknowledgement of the fact that the pacing, flow and core of the story could have really made for an otherwise exciting and creepy tale. Another story ruined by rampant racism.
- The Shuttered House by August W. Derleth (April 1937): 3.25/5 stars - This was a creepy tale. There's something about ghosts being described as trying to "get into" your body that somehow makes it creepier than simple possession. I would have rated it higher, but I found the author had a tendency to use somewhat odd/stilted sentence structure that threw me off in the beginning.
- Frozen Beauty by Seabury Quinn (Feb. 1938) - 3.25/5 - A tale of weird science fiction and mystery, featuring the hilarious and seemingly Poirot-inspired Jules de Grandin (intro says Sherlock-inspired, but the humour of the character felt more Poirot to me. Maybe a mashup of the two). This was a lot of fun, and the descriptions and dialogue really gave me a good laugh. A story of murder, cryogenics, Russian assassins and mystery. It was a lot of fun. I probably would have rated it higher, but for the red scare elements...although honestly the related portrayals where pretty hilarious.
- Haunting Columns by Robert E. Howard (Feb. 1938) - 2.5/5 - Not much to say about this poem. Was ok.
- Beyond the Walls of Sleep by H.P. Lovecraft (March 1938) - 3.5/5 maybe? - I had forgotten that Lovecraft also hated rural, working class whites, who were, in his mind, "white trash degenerates". Which he doesn't let the reader soon forget in this story. All that said, the concept and conclusion of the story was very cool, and as always I can't really help getting caught up in the aesthetic of his writing. I really liked the "cosmic" conclusion of this.
- The Garden of Adompha by Clark Ashton Smith (April 1938) - 3.5/5 - Definitely an unsettling story, is all I have to say. Only thing is with quite a few of these stories, even when its not the focus there's often a backdrop that makes orientalism or "otherness" a part of the "weird tale". A lot of this could have been written without that backdrop and been just as creepy.
- Cordelia's Song by Vincent Starett (April 1938) - 2/5 stars - It was a poem, I guess
- Beyond the Phoenix by Henry Kuttner (Oct. 1938) - 3.5/5 stars - This wasn't horror or weird sci-fi, but fun sword and sorcery taking place in Atlantis. I haven't read this sort of fantasy in years, and made me want to get back to more old school sword and sorcery. A pair of mercenaries get wrapped up in a royal assassination and wind up in the afterlife and in a battle between primordial gods. I'd read more Kuttner in the future, including more Elak of Atlantis stories.
- The Black Monk by G. G. Pendarves (Oct. 1938) - 3/5 - This was the pen name of Gladys Gordon Trenery. This story had promise of spookiness and had a couple chilling moments, but never quite got there.
- The Passing of a God by Henry S. Whitehead (Dec. 1938) - 2/5 - A weird science fiction story. Think it could have been unsettling but was one of those "white people writing the horrors of Haitian voodoo" stories.
- They Run Again by Leah Bodine Drake (Dec. 1938) - 3.25/5 - A poem about werewolves. The other poems in this collection were pretty "meh", but this one was actually quite cool. I'd be interested in reading more of her poems.
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