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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 9, Winter 1945-1946
Page 205
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 205 science-fictional nature. And lastly there is Occult: a Collection of Stories of the Supernatural (1945; 36pp; 20 x 13cm; 7d.). The cover, of stiff paper, has a design in blue and white showing a trio of demons gathered around a man who has evidently been engaged in esoteric practices, with book, Bunsen and retort. The stories are of the usual Swan standard, and the authors include Henry Rawle, W. P. Cockroft and John C. Craig. (It might be of interest to interpolate here a note about Swan's magazines. Weird Story Magazine appeared in August, 1940, priced at 7d. It consisted of hitherto-unpublished ghost stories, and included a weird comic-strip. The second number, which never appeared, was to print a serial called "The Last Man in the World" by E. Bruce. Three undated periodicals, each containing reprints from the American Weird Tales magazines, appeared at 6d; all were on bad paper---the last, featuring Henry Kuttner's "Dragon Moon," being on such dark brown stock as to make it almost impossible to read. In addition, in a series of magazines called Yankee Shorts (24 x 17 1/2cm; 3d.), published in the 1940-1942 period, there is some fantasy to be found. No. 2 was Yankee Mystery Shorts; nos. 3, 11 and 21 were Yankee Science-Fiction; and nos. 6, 14 and 19 were Yankee Weird Shorts. All contain a mixture of weird and science-fiction, regardless of the titles' claim. Initially all the stories consisted of reprints from American magazines; later numbers contained a large proportion of stories newly written by British authors. The first few issues were labelled "10 cents"---doubtless to lend authenticity to their claim of literary origin.) Several paper-bound publications have emanated from The Mitre Press of London. Author Eugene Ascher is responsible for There Were No Asper Ladies: a New and Strange Kind of Thriller (no date; 126pp; 18 x 12cm; 2/-); this is described as a "cheap edition": actually it is the only edition. (The same misleading notation appears on the cover of Parker's Girl in Trouble---vide supra.) No less than two of Justin Atholl's fantasy novels bear the imprint of this firm. They are The Man Who Tilted the Earth: a One-Sitting Thriller (no date; 63pp; 18 x 12 1/2cm; 1/6), which appears to be something about atom-splitting, and displays a picture of New York City being swept away; The Oasis of Sleep (no date; 62pp; 18 1/2 x 12 1/2cm; 1/6), which concerns a plot by future German super-scientist, and involves a sort of suspended animation theme. Three Mitre Press titles are by R. Thurston Hopkins: Weird and Uncanny Stories (no date; 32pp; 18 x 12cm; 1/-), a collection of rather pedestrian ghost stories; Uncanny Tales (no date; 32pp; 19 1/2 x 13cm; 9d), which is somewhat disappointing, only one, "The Fairy Goblin of Lynchpole Hill," being of a fantasy nature; and Horror Parade: a Selection of the Best Uncanny Stories Written by that Master of the Type of Story (1945; 63pp; 15 x 12cm; 1/-), some of whose contents are fictional accounts of the supernatural. The cover of the latter title, in black, red, and blue, is by H. W. Perl, and shows two ghouls, a coffin, some bones and a bat. You Can't Hand the Dead: a story of Black Zombie by Leslie Carrol (no date; 31pp; 18 x 12cm; 1/-) is a West Indian horror tale. More Tales of Terror and Surprise (no date---probably 1944; 127pp; 18 x 12cm; 2/-) contains fourteen stories, six of them new, eight reprints. The reprinted ones are decidedly the best, and include Mary Shelley's "Mortal Immortal," two by de Maupassant, and Poe's familiar "William Wilson" and "The Cask of Ammontillado." The outstanding items in the new efforts are "The Silent Ray" by Arthur Armstrong and Michael Harvey's "Prelude to Madness," a horrific story about the evil effects of blood transfusion. And lastly, there is Uncanny by George C. Bachelor (1945; 32pp; 18 1/2 x 12cm; 1/-). Its cover depicts a hooded, flesh-colored skeleton dripping red blood upon a victim with raised hair; a bat also drops blood. The stories (there are six in all) are of the ghostly variety, of a certain merit. The publishing house of Everybody's Books overlaps that of the Mitre Press, in the sense that each prints the same type of pamphlets by the same auth-
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 205 science-fictional nature. And lastly there is Occult: a Collection of Stories of the Supernatural (1945; 36pp; 20 x 13cm; 7d.). The cover, of stiff paper, has a design in blue and white showing a trio of demons gathered around a man who has evidently been engaged in esoteric practices, with book, Bunsen and retort. The stories are of the usual Swan standard, and the authors include Henry Rawle, W. P. Cockroft and John C. Craig. (It might be of interest to interpolate here a note about Swan's magazines. Weird Story Magazine appeared in August, 1940, priced at 7d. It consisted of hitherto-unpublished ghost stories, and included a weird comic-strip. The second number, which never appeared, was to print a serial called "The Last Man in the World" by E. Bruce. Three undated periodicals, each containing reprints from the American Weird Tales magazines, appeared at 6d; all were on bad paper---the last, featuring Henry Kuttner's "Dragon Moon," being on such dark brown stock as to make it almost impossible to read. In addition, in a series of magazines called Yankee Shorts (24 x 17 1/2cm; 3d.), published in the 1940-1942 period, there is some fantasy to be found. No. 2 was Yankee Mystery Shorts; nos. 3, 11 and 21 were Yankee Science-Fiction; and nos. 6, 14 and 19 were Yankee Weird Shorts. All contain a mixture of weird and science-fiction, regardless of the titles' claim. Initially all the stories consisted of reprints from American magazines; later numbers contained a large proportion of stories newly written by British authors. The first few issues were labelled "10 cents"---doubtless to lend authenticity to their claim of literary origin.) Several paper-bound publications have emanated from The Mitre Press of London. Author Eugene Ascher is responsible for There Were No Asper Ladies: a New and Strange Kind of Thriller (no date; 126pp; 18 x 12cm; 2/-); this is described as a "cheap edition": actually it is the only edition. (The same misleading notation appears on the cover of Parker's Girl in Trouble---vide supra.) No less than two of Justin Atholl's fantasy novels bear the imprint of this firm. They are The Man Who Tilted the Earth: a One-Sitting Thriller (no date; 63pp; 18 x 12 1/2cm; 1/6), which appears to be something about atom-splitting, and displays a picture of New York City being swept away; The Oasis of Sleep (no date; 62pp; 18 1/2 x 12 1/2cm; 1/6), which concerns a plot by future German super-scientist, and involves a sort of suspended animation theme. Three Mitre Press titles are by R. Thurston Hopkins: Weird and Uncanny Stories (no date; 32pp; 18 x 12cm; 1/-), a collection of rather pedestrian ghost stories; Uncanny Tales (no date; 32pp; 19 1/2 x 13cm; 9d), which is somewhat disappointing, only one, "The Fairy Goblin of Lynchpole Hill," being of a fantasy nature; and Horror Parade: a Selection of the Best Uncanny Stories Written by that Master of the Type of Story (1945; 63pp; 15 x 12cm; 1/-), some of whose contents are fictional accounts of the supernatural. The cover of the latter title, in black, red, and blue, is by H. W. Perl, and shows two ghouls, a coffin, some bones and a bat. You Can't Hand the Dead: a story of Black Zombie by Leslie Carrol (no date; 31pp; 18 x 12cm; 1/-) is a West Indian horror tale. More Tales of Terror and Surprise (no date---probably 1944; 127pp; 18 x 12cm; 2/-) contains fourteen stories, six of them new, eight reprints. The reprinted ones are decidedly the best, and include Mary Shelley's "Mortal Immortal," two by de Maupassant, and Poe's familiar "William Wilson" and "The Cask of Ammontillado." The outstanding items in the new efforts are "The Silent Ray" by Arthur Armstrong and Michael Harvey's "Prelude to Madness," a horrific story about the evil effects of blood transfusion. And lastly, there is Uncanny by George C. Bachelor (1945; 32pp; 18 1/2 x 12cm; 1/-). Its cover depicts a hooded, flesh-colored skeleton dripping red blood upon a victim with raised hair; a bat also drops blood. The stories (there are six in all) are of the ghostly variety, of a certain merit. The publishing house of Everybody's Books overlaps that of the Mitre Press, in the sense that each prints the same type of pamphlets by the same auth-
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