By superstition I don't mean speculation on unknown forces or cosmic powers, but those things which effect the material world; those that are detrimental to your way of living; and those superstitions which stand in the path of progress—progress in all spheres of human activity, and which are crammed down the throats of our plastic younglings.
A few reasons why most people are averse to reading fantasy, and cover their dislike with a thinly-veiled sneer or a condescending smile, are: someone might think them superstitious; there might be a grain of truth in it at that; such childish stuff; and of course, their fear of that great mental force, ridicule. Naturally, there are those who aren't impressed one way or another, but in this article we are not concerned with personal tastes.
Perhaps Mr. Wright has the wrong idea of what constitutes weirdness. Would Weird Tales reach a tremendous circulation if Lovecraft, Machen, C. A. Smith, Blackwood, Merritt, and other blood-brothers collaborated on a novel with the following plot which I will sketchily outline? Have the hero born on Friday the 13th under the sign of—say Capricornus. Then show his misadventures down life's highway starting with the theft of his mammy's rabbit's foot and culminating in a cacophonic tumult of soul-shattering events following his breaking up of the merchandise in a mirror warehouse. There you have something everybody can understand and appreciate. Oh yes! and have the novel endorsed by Einstein, Stalin, the A.A.A.S., Lindbergh, and Mae West. Publicly, you know. Seriously, though, I do not believe fantasy will be a strong force until we root out superstitious hoodoos. Paradoxical?
98 out of 100 have it. What Price Something-or-other!
WITHIN THE CIRCLE
by F. Lee Baldwin
Forrest Ackerman says he really had that "surprise of one's life" when Linus Hogenmiller of Missouri, his first correspondent, unexpectedly dropped in on him in Los Angeles.
A well-known editor who has been recently collecting old Weird Tales had the good fortune of purchasing quite a few for two and a half cents a copy. Just imagine!
C. L. Moore has had some of her own illustrations accepted by Weird Tales.
A. Merritt calls his "The Metal Monster" his "best and worst" story.