A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, April 1950 — page 123: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

mind, also stories by O. A. Kline, Will Mc- Morrow, Garrett Smith and Erle Stanley Gard- ner, I read all the science and fantasy magazines published by Popular Publications, also Argosy. They are all very good. Clayton. E. Worden Fenton, Michigan ED. “The Ninth Life” is published in this April issue. Thanks for the other suggestions. THANKS Dear Editor: I just finished the first issue of A. MER- RITT’S FANTASY, and would like to offer my congratulations. Other publishing houses have printed at various times, two or three fantasy pulps, but Popular is the first and will probably be the last, to go wholehog with four. For which, congratulations and thanks. Merritt’s works are among the easiest to locate of any fantasy author, but just the same you can provide a long-needed help to the fan world by putting within the reach of everybody’s pocketbook the rarest and hardest-to-find of his stories. For instance those two novels “The Fox Woman” and “The Black Wheel” which have never been printed tn magazine form. Also some of his rarer short-stories like ‘People Of The Pit”; those scholarly essays on witchcraft you mentioned in your editorial; and especially his fantastic poetry. Underline the last. Another thing. Please, please do not use Law- rence in this magazine. His style is not suited to Merritt; Finlay’s is. Perfectly. Most old fantasy readers unconsciously connect certain authors with certain artists. Burroughs with St. John. Dunsany with Sime. And Merritt with oe So please use Virgil as much as pos- sible, The artist who illustrated the short-story, his name looks like Callé or something, has a sharp, refreshing technique. I like him. And before I forget it, what are the chances of getting re- print rights to Merritt’s autobiography, “The Story Behind the Story”?—which it seems to me would be of interest to fantasy readers even though it is not fiction. At any rate, the very best of luck with your new magazine. You may be assured of this reader’s 25 cents every two months, at least. Cordially, Lin Carter St. Petersburg. Fla. ED. Thanks for your suggestions. IN MEMORIAM Dear Editor: Inasmuch as I was rather surprised to learn of the fact that A.M.F. will not specialize en- tirely in presenting all of Merritt's stories, I was rather pleased, to be frank, for I could not help but remain rather skeptically apprehensive when I first learned several months ago that a publication devoted to Merritt’s works would be introduced for the collector and reader at READERS’ COLUMN —__ ae large. I well know that with seven or eight books printed under his name, and several short stories and novelettes, it would take scarcely 9 issues of A.M.F. to contain his entire works .. . and what would have happened after that? Namely: No More Merritt!!! _ But as I find now, it would seem as if A.M.F, instead, is dedicated to his memory and the name of this periodical is more in memoriam than an organ specializing in the tales of Mer- ritt. I am indeed glad that your policy will be so from herewith, and if or when an A. Merritt novel is slated for publication, we’ll know that it won’t be confused nor included in your com- panion periodicals, F.F.M. and F.N. And now, with A.M.F. on a bi-monthly schedule, not for- getting Super Science Stories which is a medium for fresh and new stf works, we have altogether one excellent publication presented to us on an average of every two weeks. Three are devoted _ to reprints of past and the best of stf classics, and one presents the latest works of some of the finest authors in the field... Truly, Popular Publications’ staff is unique and to be con- gratulated for such an excellent variety of its outstanding “Ouadruplets” of stf classics. A good suggestion would be a quick expan- sion of the “Readers’ Column” to conform at least with the length to be found both in F.N., F.F.M. and S.S.S.— All in all, congratulations and the best of luck possible for A. MERRITT’S FANTASY MAGAZINE. . . i Yours for stf literature, Calvin Thomas Beck Director of the Science-Fantasy Society New York City ED. A. MERRITT’S FANTASY MAGA- ZINE is not only in memory of Mr. Merritt but it shall at some time or other print all the Merritt stories which we are able to reprint. If we can secure rights to any of his poetry or non- fiction articles, they will also be included. GOOD SUGGESTIONS Dear Editor: Well, I have just completed my perusal of Volume one, Number one, of the latest in the Popular Publications family of fantasy maga- zine, and I have a few comments about them. The cover was beautiful, as all of Steven's paintings are. And the scene was about as ap- propriate as could be. The interior illustrations disappointed me a bit. I was expecting Finlay and you gave us Stevens—and a rather mediocre Stevens at that. He has done much better. The novel itself was grand, It held up under this third reading as well as under the first. In that trip through the land of shadows, Merritt created one of his most beautiful and awesome scenes. And the climax was magnificent! The short story, although it didn’t chill my spine, was very good. Callé’s illustration is certainly weird; he creates an atmosphere with © his drawings, in their predominant black, akin to that created by the Frenchman Doré. Their styles are as different as Dahut and Helen, and yet the same weird quality ori resent. in Paths =