VOICES OF THE NIGHT
by Robert E. Howard
1 - The Voices Waken Memory
The blind black shadows reach inhuman arms
To draw me into darkness once again;
The brooding night wind hints of nameless harms,
And down the shadowed hill a vague refrain
Bears half-remembered ghosts to haunt my soul,
Like far-off neighing of the nightmare's foal.
But let me fix my phantom-shadowed eyes
Hard on the stars—pale points of silver light—
Here is the borderland-here reason lies—
There, visions, gryphons, Nothing, and the Night.
Down, down, red specters, down, and rack me not!
Out, wolves of hell! Oh God, my pulses thrum;
The night grows fierce and blind and red and hot,
And nearer still a grim insistent drum.
I will not look into the shadows—No!
The stars shall grip and hold my frantic gaze—
But even in the stars black visions grow,
And dragons writhe with iron eyes ablaze.
Oh Gods that raised my blindness with your curse,
And let me see the horrid shapes behind
All outward veils that cloak the universe,
The loathsome demon-spells that bind and blind,
Since even the stars are noisome, foul and fell,
Let me glut deep with memory dreams of Hell.
THE INTELLECTUAL SHOCKER
by H. Koenig
Collecting weird and fantastic stories is a fascinating pursuit. Locating first editions of some of our well-known authors affords considerable thrill, but the real kick comes when one discovers a comparatively little-known author of weird stories or re-discovers an old and forgotten one. I experienced such a thrill when I first came across one of the books written by a young Englishman named Charles Williams, and I didn't rest content until I had obtained all five of his novels. Williams appears to be practically unknown over here and a few lines regarding him and his books may prove of interest to other readers and collectors.
Sooner or later, the inveterate reader of weird fiction becomes surfeited with stories of one pattern and falls into a rut. A year or so ago one of the magazines devoted to books recommended to readers who found themselves in such a predicament a sure cure—the intellectual shocker. It is the type of story the average fiction reader will overlook and even the habitual reader of weird and fantasy stories is apt to ignore it.
Bulwer-Lytton's "Zononi" and "Phra, the Phoenician" have long been out of date. Rider Haqgard is not being read by the present generation and yet his immortal "She" is the pure type of the intellectual horror tale. All weird fans have read Merritt's "Burn Witch, Burn" but how many read "The Moon Pool" when it was first published? Guy Endore's "The Werewolf of Paris" received plenty of publicity but his "The Man from Limbo," a good example of the intellectual shocker, slipped by practically unnoticed.
Charles Williams is one of the modern writers of the intellectual horror story. Born in England in 1886, Williams was educated at St. Albans and University College, London. He is an authority on Shakespearean literature, poetry, etc. and has written a fairly long list of books, most of them dealing with poetical subjects. In 1930, however, he wrote his first novel, "War in Heaven," and it proved to be one of the finest high-brow horror stories written in recent years. It concerns a struggle for the "Graal," a battle between the forces of good and evil. It has all the elements of a real mystery story combined with the horror and thrill of the supernatural and the occult.
To date, Mr. Williams has written five books of this type:
"War in Heaven" (1930)
"Many Dimensions" (1931)
"Greater Trumps" (1932)
"Place of the Lion" (1932)
"Shadows of Ecstasy" (1933)
The average fiction reader would probably be bewildered by Williams, but most of his plots are original and his ideas unusual and somewhat startling. He has the happy faculty of being able to combine the occult adventures with present-day people and scenes and, as one reviewer stated, "he succeeds in making the improbable likely and the impossible credible." To the readers who want their intellect stirred as well as their emotions, I highly recommend some of the books listed above. Try "War in Heaven" first, followed by the "Place of the Lion." They will prove to be a welcome relief from the stereotyped and often tiresome stories now appearing in the pulp magazines.
NOTES ON BOB OLSEN
by Forest J. Ackerman
So successfully received was his "Ant With a Human Soul," Bob Olsen has written and had published by Amazing Stories another ant story "Peril Among the Drivers." He has another, but dissimilar type of "Antale"—to coin a word to describe his series—in preparation. In this story, no unusual or grotesque Giants appear, but the ordinary-sized insects band together to overthrow mankind; a possibility not to improbable, Bob believes.
In connection with ants, Bob was recently invited to speak on them at the Adventurer's Club, an organization of internationally famous men, such well-known figures as "Skipper" Dixon, author of the recent Liberty serial, "Marriage Drums," being members. Previously, at informal gatherings, Bob has given impromptu talks on ants, rockets, interplanetary flight, and—of course—the fourth dimension. (Bob, incidentally, was a mathematics teacher for ten years.)
"Of the three subjects, however," Bob observed, "the audience always seemed most interested in the life of the ants: how they maintain slaves, cultivate gardens, domesticate insects, have bootleggers, fight wars, and play games. Though an ant never built an automobile or invented a radio, the insect is still a far more brilliant creature than generally considered to be. In some ways, considering their handicaps, the ant almost surpasses Man in accomplishments. Next to Man, they rate highest in intelligence. The termites and then the bees follow...."
In addition to his literary work, Bob Olsen is the Advertising Manager of a Los Angeles real estate concern. One day, during the noon hour, Bob had an idea for a new murder mystery. In the process of cerebrating the details of the plot, he gazed out of the window with a far-away expression on his face. Unperceived by him, the secretary of the corporation approached and sat down at the desk at Bob's elbow. He waited awhile for the Advertising Manager to recognize him, but Bob seemed star-gazing, dead to the world.
Finally the official said, "what are you thinking about, Bob?"
Startled by this unexpected voice right in his ear, Bob jumped up and yelled, "MURDER!"
Then it was the boss' turn to jump—whereupon Bob explained that he had been concocting an ingenious scheme for committing homicide, which he expected to use in one of his "Master of Mystery" stories.
Again, some years back when Bob was in the midst of "The Four Dimensional Rolle-Press," "Four Dimensional Surgery," "Four Dimensional Robberies," etc., Dr. Miles J. Breuer sent Amazing Stories a dimensional tale—shall we say fourth dimension narrative?—because he "didn't like the way Bob Olsen wrote them." Strangely enough, at the same time Bob submitted his "Super-Perfect Bride." The two author's stories appeared in the same issue of Amazing, the math teacher showing the doctor how to write a medical tale, and the doctor demonstrating to the teacher of mathematics how a dimension story should be handled!
Bob's "Fourth Dimension Auto-Parker" is something amusing in the way of applying the 4-D. It may be said to equal or surpass his best-remembered yarn, "The Educated Pill."