Transcribe
Translate
Vampire, whole no. 7, September 1946
31858063101335_028
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
edly in the wastebasket by now. If you're still with me, I will try to think it out a little more in the next few paragraphs, and slow down a bit.) I wonder if you could supply me with data about the return of Super Science, Astonishing, S F or Future or the Quarterly, C.F., etc. I seem to have missed learning whether these defuncts were for permanent or merely temporary -- of course I realize that they can't come back now, because the paper shortage is so bad, and, Junior, it ain't wide enough; but maybe you can let me know if they ever intend reviving the mags. ((Only mag we know the status of would be Cap Future -- which now seems to be permanently defunct, though the good Captain's intrepid adventures will continue to appear from time to time in Startling. Popular promised that Super and Astonishing would be back when the situation eased up a bit. but our guess is that it will be a good long time before we see them again -- if ever.)) I see that there is a dispute going on over AWDerleth. He deserves credit for some nice stupid policies, too. If you dare to inquire about one of his precious authors from the traditional weird field, he slams you and says that "we cannot take precious time to cater to the idiosycrasies of our readers", and they should trust implicitly in the judgement of Derleth, who has "read and written consistently in the field for years, and is the foremost authority on weird fiction in existence." Maybe when Wandrei gets back in the firm things will pick up; I dunno. Derleth informs me that he canot reprint The Outsider for 150 people. Maybe if we convinced him that more than 150 suckers would buy, he could be convinced, hey? I forgot that you dislike HPL. ((Since when?)) Derleth's placing of HPL above Merritt in literary value is not correct, even if you give a hang about literary value, anyway, which who does except English teachers? (( We love this man!)) But Merritt and HPL, although they are as alike as a pea and a lump of uranium in a pod, are of equal literary value in their respective fields. Merritt is equal to any descriptive writer (except perhaps Wandrei) and HPL is far superior to any of the vaunted "traditional" weird writers. Also, a rather belated blast at Donald A Wollheim for the opinions expressed int he introduction of The Portable Novels of Science. He has the gall to say that Odd John is the greatest stf story ever written. It ain't worth a rotten ostrich egg. Once upon a time he panned Phil Stong's Other Worlds as being mediocre, and now he comes out with an anthology twice as mediocre. He includes a weird tale, a Taine, a traditional and outmoded Wells, and the rotten Odd John, and calls it a representative stf anthology. And it is these anthologies that introduce new readers to stf. BAD LUCK LEFT AND RIGHT FOR THE DIED - IN - THE- WOOL STF READER. "Died" is an intentional misspelling, considering that stf died in 1943, and the readers accordingly. Fans did not die, however, since they do not read stf any more, only crab about it. I read it, crab, and get nothing except a loss of cash. The "fringe" stfan is the one that suffers the most. The fans desert the field, now the prozines desert the field, and we, who haven't got the brains to move on the something else, are caught in the middle. -28-
Saving...
prev
next
edly in the wastebasket by now. If you're still with me, I will try to think it out a little more in the next few paragraphs, and slow down a bit.) I wonder if you could supply me with data about the return of Super Science, Astonishing, S F or Future or the Quarterly, C.F., etc. I seem to have missed learning whether these defuncts were for permanent or merely temporary -- of course I realize that they can't come back now, because the paper shortage is so bad, and, Junior, it ain't wide enough; but maybe you can let me know if they ever intend reviving the mags. ((Only mag we know the status of would be Cap Future -- which now seems to be permanently defunct, though the good Captain's intrepid adventures will continue to appear from time to time in Startling. Popular promised that Super and Astonishing would be back when the situation eased up a bit. but our guess is that it will be a good long time before we see them again -- if ever.)) I see that there is a dispute going on over AWDerleth. He deserves credit for some nice stupid policies, too. If you dare to inquire about one of his precious authors from the traditional weird field, he slams you and says that "we cannot take precious time to cater to the idiosycrasies of our readers", and they should trust implicitly in the judgement of Derleth, who has "read and written consistently in the field for years, and is the foremost authority on weird fiction in existence." Maybe when Wandrei gets back in the firm things will pick up; I dunno. Derleth informs me that he canot reprint The Outsider for 150 people. Maybe if we convinced him that more than 150 suckers would buy, he could be convinced, hey? I forgot that you dislike HPL. ((Since when?)) Derleth's placing of HPL above Merritt in literary value is not correct, even if you give a hang about literary value, anyway, which who does except English teachers? (( We love this man!)) But Merritt and HPL, although they are as alike as a pea and a lump of uranium in a pod, are of equal literary value in their respective fields. Merritt is equal to any descriptive writer (except perhaps Wandrei) and HPL is far superior to any of the vaunted "traditional" weird writers. Also, a rather belated blast at Donald A Wollheim for the opinions expressed int he introduction of The Portable Novels of Science. He has the gall to say that Odd John is the greatest stf story ever written. It ain't worth a rotten ostrich egg. Once upon a time he panned Phil Stong's Other Worlds as being mediocre, and now he comes out with an anthology twice as mediocre. He includes a weird tale, a Taine, a traditional and outmoded Wells, and the rotten Odd John, and calls it a representative stf anthology. And it is these anthologies that introduce new readers to stf. BAD LUCK LEFT AND RIGHT FOR THE DIED - IN - THE- WOOL STF READER. "Died" is an intentional misspelling, considering that stf died in 1943, and the readers accordingly. Fans did not die, however, since they do not read stf any more, only crab about it. I read it, crab, and get nothing except a loss of cash. The "fringe" stfan is the one that suffers the most. The fans desert the field, now the prozines desert the field, and we, who haven't got the brains to move on the something else, are caught in the middle. -28-
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
