Since its first issue in March 1923, Weird Tales—"The Unique Magazine"—has provided countless readers with the most innovative and offbeat fantasy, suspense and horror stories. Almost every important writer of fantastic fiction in the first half of this century—including H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Fritz Lieber—and countless other notables have had their works showcased in its pages. Now, in this special volume compiled by popular anthologist Marvin Kaye, some of the most memorable horrific, bizarre tales ever published are assembled, all of which have appeared in various incarnations of Weird Tales over the years. Interim by Ray Bradbury The House of Ecstasy by Ralph Milne Farley The Stolen Body by H.G. Wells The Scrawny One by Anthony Boucher The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Lucian of Samosata translated by Sir Thomas More Skulls in the Stars by Robert E. Howard Eena by Manly Banister The Look by Maurice Level Methought I Heard A Voice by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt Off the Map by Rex Dolphin The Last Train by Fredric Brown Ti Michel by W.J. Stamper In the X-Ray by Fritz Leiber Speak by Henry Slesar The Pale Criminal by C. Hall Thompson The Sombrus Tower by Tanith Lee Mr. George by August Derleth The Terror of the Water Tank by William Hope Hodgson The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller by Gustave Flaubert The Hoax of the Spirit Lover by Harry Houdini Seed by Jack Snow Masked Ball by Seabury Quinn The Woman with the Velvet Collar by Gaston Leroux Mistress Sary by William Tenn The Judge's House by Bram Stoker The Bagheeta by Val Lewton Ghost Hunt by H.R. Wakefield Funeral in the Fog by Edward D. Hoch The Damp Man by Allison V. Harding The Lost Club by Arthur Machen Wet Straw by Richard Matheson Mysteries of the Faceless King by Darrell Schweitzer More Than Shadow by Dorothy Quick The Dead Smile by F. Marion Crawford The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Robert Bloch Chicken Soup by Katherine MacLean and Mary Kornbluth The Haunted Burglar by W.C. Morrow Never Bet the Devil Your Head by Edgar Allan Poe He by H.P. Lovecraft The Brotherhood of Blood by Hugh B. Cave The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan by Clark Ashton Smith Men Who walk Upon the Air by Frank Belknap Long A Child's Dream of a Star by Charles Dickens The Perfect Host by Theodore Sturgeon Why Weird Tales attributed to Otis Adelbert Kline Dust jacket illustration by Richard Kriegler, based on Howard's "Skulls in the Stars." Interior drawings by Richard Kriegler. Weird Tales has always been the most popular and sought-after of all pulp magazines. A mix of exotic fantasy, horror, science fiction, suspense, and the just plain indescribable.
Author
MARVIN KAYE is the author of sixteen novels, including his Dickensian pastiche, The Last Christmas of Ebenezer Scrooge, now optioned to be made into a feature film, and his just-completed sequel to Frankenstein, as well as the terrifying Fantastique and Ghosts of Night and Morning; the SF cult classics, The Incredible Umbrella and (coauthored with Parke Godwin) The Masters of Solitude, and the critically-acclaimed mysteries Bullets for Macbeth and My Son the Druggist. His short story “Ms. Lipshutz and the Goblin,” was included in a DAW Books Year’s Best Fantasy anthology, and his horrific “The Possession of Immanuel Wolf” was written with the great macabre comedian, Brother Theodore. His numerous best-selling anthologies include 13 Plays of Ghosts and the Supernatural and other theatre collections; The Game is Afoot and other Sherlock Holmes anthologies, and many fantasy/science fiction books for the Science Fiction Book Club, such as Ghosts, Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural, The Vampire Sextette, and The Fair Folk, which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology of 2006. His column, “Marvin Kaye’s Nth Dimension,” appears online at http://spaceandtimemagazine.com. He is the editor of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, and both editor and co-publisher of America’s oldest supernatural periodical, Weird Tales magazine. A native of Philadelphia, PA., he is a graduate of Penn State, with an M. A. in theatre and English literature; he recently headed the tutoring staff of the Manhattan campus of Mercy College; is Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at New York University, has taught mystery writing in England for the Smithsonian Institute, has served as a judge for the Edgar, International Thriller Writers, Nero and World Fantasy Awards, and is Artistic Director for The Open Book, New York’s oldest readers theatre company. He is listed in both Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in Entertainment.
