Page:Weird Tales Volume 29 Number 1 (1937-01).djvu/126

 capable of doing such as these. Probably the most unusual tale in the issue was Thorp McClusky's The Crawling Horror. What an improvement between that one and his Loot of the Vampire! To compare the two stories is like comparing the sublime with the ridiculous. Other fine yarns included Black Hound of Death, Mice, Witch-House and Midas, although I much prefer Bassett Morgan's stories of the tropics, and hope he will eventually give us another about Ti-Fong. Keep up the good work and I warrant you'll near very little fault-finding from the readers. It seems to me that you are making a big mistake in eliminating serial novels. By doing this you automatically eliminate many superb tales Personally, I favor carrying two serials at a time, but at any rate give us at least one. It gives the reader something to look forward to from month to month. Why not put this proposition up to your readers and let them decide? I hope you print this part of my letter, as I am certain you will hear from several agreeing with me on this point."

Richard H. Jamison, of St. Louis, writes: "The November was excellent except for The Blue Room, which was not weird, and too obvious. Quinn and Howard turned out their usual excellent yarns. The loss of Howard is as great a low to weird fiction as Stan Weinbaum's death was to science-fiction Why not put out a book or two, or three, containing all of the Howard stories that were published in ?  You've got a find in Thorp McClusky. His The Crawling Horror ranks first in this issue, with one exception. Pickman's Model, of course, is the exception. What a genius this man Lovecraft is! I was very fortunate in securing a number of back copies of . Among them was the June 1930 issue containing that Lovecraftian masterpiece The Rats in the Walls. Words cannot describe the sheer atmosphere of horror this story creates as it builds toward that magnificent conclusion: 'The rats they can never hear; the rats, the rats in the walls!

Most of our readers were highly pleased with Bassett Morgan's story, Midas, but here's one who doesn't like it at all, at all. Warren H. Schryer, of Philadelphia, writes: "Although I have been a constant reader of for about two years now, this is my first letter, and, unfortunately, it is one of complaint. Why did you ever put such a story as Midas in WT? It is just the kind of trash one would expect to find in any of the dime thrillers now on sale. As for Midas poisoning himself with strychnin and then crawling into the wine cask—bah! Now that I have that off my chest I would like to compliment you on the usually fine standard of WT, truly 'a magazine of the bizarre and unusual'! The covers are superb, but please stick to Brundage, as St. John's figures are too angular. I agree with the idea submitted by Charles H. Bert for small type in the reprint department, as that would mean longer stories. While on the subject of stories, I think Witch-House was the most interesting story in the November issue."

Robert Oberon, of Denmark, Maine, writes: "Let me add my plea for an edition of the works of Robert E. Howard, only make it his complete works—all his poems, short stories, novels, in fact everything that he has written that is of a weird nature. I am sure it would be a 'best seller' among us readers. I was certainly glad to see our old friend Jules de Grandin back again, and in one of his best stories to date. Witch-House was the best story in the November issue, with Black Hound of Death and Pickman's Model tying for second place. Where in the world is Clark Ashton Smith keeping himself these days? We haven't had one of hismasterpieces for months. Virgil Finlay and Hugh Rankin are your best inside illustrators. DeLay promises to join this group if he keeps up his recent good work. I still say that you should give Finlay a chance on one of the covers. His creations are really weird. I don't mean by this that I dislike Brundage; far from it, for she is the best cover artist you have ever had, but why not give Finlay a try and see what he can do with colors?" [Virgil Finlay has painted the cover for next month's issue.—]

Leslie Mason, of Brooklyn, sends us this jingle:

Your issue of November's date I read, and these lines did result;