Page:Weird Tales volume 30 number 06.djvu/113

 so as the only alternative Virgil took lines which Bloch had used purely as atmosphere! Virgil's favorites among his own drawings—of which he has done more than one hundred for Farnsworth Wright, including the Shakespeare work — include those for Seabury Quinn's Witch-House, Pearl Norton Swet's The Medici Boots, and of course Bloch's The Faceless God. He considers his conception of Sterling's vampire (in this issue) about the best he has done for WT, and is most enthusiastic over the poetry scries it introduces. He is a Shakespeare and Milton fan. He generally does considerable research and experimentation in preparing for any particularly difficult piece of work. Before painting the cover for Speer's Symphony of the Damned, he modeled the three figures in clay and played lights on them from below in order to get the correct lighting effect. . . . Paintings and other samples of the media he employs are to be seen everywhere in the Finlay residence. His studio, of course, is full of them. An excellent portrait of his mother adorns the upper hallway, and still-life paintings hang downstairs in parlor and dining-room. The attic shelters a whole flock of mem, while scores of drawings rest under tables and benches in the wood-working shop outside. The bathroom chest-of-drawers resembles a portable art gallery. . . . Virgil is a favorite correspondent of many notables in the fantasy field, as evidenced by the remarks they have passed in letters to me. To them he is weirdly known as "Monstro Ligriv." His high-school nickname was, curiously, "Hyphen"—an abbreviated form of the salutation, "Hi, Finlay!" He says his biggest thrill came when an old Italian he knew, after seeing some of Virgil's drawings, turned his back and crossed himself.

Concise Comments

Richard F. Jamison, of Valley Park, Missouri, writes: "If anyone is fated to equal Lovecraft's genius Henry Kuttner is that man. His stories have that indescribable something that every truly weird story must have."

Jean Van Wissink, of Chicago, writes: "If all pages of the October issue but those of The Lake of Life had been blank, I'd still have had my money's worth! Edmond Hamilton seems especially worth hanging on to."

R. N. Nicholaieff, of Chicago, writes: "Lovecraft's The Shunned House rates first place in the October issue. I read this tale three times just because I liked the way it was written. Lovecraft was indeed a master of weird fiction."

Seymour Kapetansky, of Detroit, writes: "No two writing styles could have been further apart than those of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, yet both were masters of weird fantasy. It's lucky we have such talented writers as Henry Kuttner and Robert Bloch to carry on."

A. V. Pershing, of Anderson, Indiana, writes: "Hamilton's The Lake of Life is weird and extremely interesting. As fine as he already is, he's getting better."

Edward Landberg, of Brooklyn, writes: "In 1931-32 you published two reprint novels, Frankenstein by Mrs. Shelley and The Wolf-Leader by Dumas, of which the readers disapproved. You then stated that you would cease to publish serial reprints. That was a mistake. If you don't mind my saying so, it was not the idea of the serial reprints that the readers disliked, although at first glance it would seem so, but it was the stories you chose. They really were not fit for a modern reader's consumption."

Henry Kuttner writes from Beverly Hills, California: "I enjoyed most of the tales in the September issue, and the ones I did not shall go unnamed. Bruce Bryan makes a highly auspicious debut, and his familiarity with his subject lent a pleasing air of authenticity to The Ho-Ho-Kam Horror. As for School for the Unspeakable, I've developed into an ardent Wellman fan since reading such little masterpieces as this and The Kelpie."

Most Popular Story

Readers, what is your favorite story in this issue? If you have any likes and dislikes, we shall be glad to hear about them. Write a letter to the Eyrie, Weird Tales, 840 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, or send us a postcard, telling us what you think of this magazine. In the October issue, three stories are exactly tied for first place as this issue goes to press. They are Tiger Cat by David H. Keller, Pledged to the Dead by Seabury Quinn, and The Shunned House by the late H. P. Lovecraft. W. T.— 8