The Unknown

by Donald R. Bensen (Editor), Edd Cartier (Illustrator)

Unknown was a unique magazine of fantasy, a showcase for the work of the most famous authors in the field, enthusiastically read by future greats like Ray Bradbury & Isaac Asimov. The Unknown collects 11 topnotch stories: a classic glimpse Behind the Scenes with Theodore Sturgeon, a sardonic look at the problems of saintliness by Henry Kuttner, an encounter with the Devil by Fredric Brown, Sprague de Camp's rompwith an ape-man, a warning of the consequences of rudeness by H.L. Gold & 6 other gems of cheerful &/or chilling fantasy. Illustrated by Edd Cartier & with a Foreword by Isaac Asimov, it's an outstanding collection of the best in fantastic literature.
Foreword by Isaac Asimov
Introduction (The Unknown) by Donald R. Bensen
The Misguided Halo by Henry Kuttner
Prescience by Nelson S. Bond
Yesterday Was Monday by Theodore Sturgeon
The Gnarly Man by L. Sprague de Camp
The Bleak Shore/Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber
Trouble With Water by H.L. Gold
Doubled & Redoubled by Malcolm Jameson
When It Was Moonlight by Manly Wade Wellman
Mr. Jinx by Fredric Brown & Robert Arthur
Snulbug by Anthony Boucher
Armageddon by Fredric Brown

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Horror, Anthologies, Fiction

197 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Donald Roynald Bensen (October 3, 1927 – October 19, 1997), also known as Don Bensen and sometimes listed as D.R. Bensen, was an American editor and science fiction writer. Editorally he is best known for editing works of P. G. Wodehouse and his involvement in their re-issue in paperback in the United States. Authorially, he is best known for his 1978 alternative history novel, And Having Writ…, published first by Bobbs-Merrill.

Bensen's literary career began as a literary agent at Scott Meredith. He was appointed editor of Pyramid Publications in 1957, and was eventually, if not immediately, editor-in-chief there. Later he was a senior editor for Ballantine Books and afterwards the Berkely Publishing Corporation of New York. In 1983 he joined Keats Publishing, where he also became editor-in-chief.

As a writer, Bensen was the author of And Having Writ…, the "Tracker" western novels, and a number of other books. He was associated with the Mystery Writers of America and the Trap Door Spiders (on whose fictional equivalent, the Black Widowers, he published a poem of the same name in 1977).

He died at the age of 70 at his home in Croton-on-Hudson, New York in 1997.[

Reviews

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Misguided Halo by Henry Kuttner from 1939. Very funny!

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains one of PB's All Time Greats :

"The Gnarly Man" by L Sprague de Camp (1939)

So there's this immortal man working as a carnival entertainer in order to try to keep a low profile. Beautiful "be careful what you wish for" story. Compare "Whatever Happened to Corporal Cuckoo?" by Gerald Kersh, same idea, also good.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often wonder what it was like in the 40s, when the pulps were on the newstands, side by side with the superhero comics of the age... how awesome would that be? I know alot of our society today chooses others forms of entertainment besides print, but the thought of being able to see a rack of magazines with this quality of story in it boggles my mind sometimes.

This collection is all from the short lived magazine and has quite a stellar cast. Funnily enough, my favorite was the entry of L. Sprague de Camp, who the editors heaps quite a lot of praise on. I always think of him as the guy that tried to steal Conan, but 'The Gnarly Man' is really good.. its the story of a Neatherthal the survived into the modern world, and what happens when he reveals himself. Great stuff, with just the right balance of humor and seriousness.

This was not my favorite Ffynrd and the Gray Mouser story 'The Bleak Shore', in which the two heroes are mindless zombies for most of the story, but it's definately a classic property.

I also really liked H.L Gold's 'Trouble With Water', where a hen-pecked husband runs afoul of a water gnome on a fishing trip to hilarious effect.

My favorite was 'snulbug' by Anthony Boucher, where a very sad little demon is summoned, and the summoners uses it to try to learn about and profit from the future. Time travel REALLY sucks, and this story pointed out exactly why, as Snulbug tells the hapless hero exactly why all his schemes will fail. Our intrepid hero does get his money though, in a decidedly non-time travel way which made me smile.

The other stories were still decent, if not spectacular, and several include an illustration of some sort by Edd Carter that the preface indicates were from the original magazine. It's always good to read a few short stories as a change from the more common epics of today.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories, though a couple feel VERY dated, particularly their use of language.

[Roger Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Unknown was a magazine published between about 1939 and 1943. This is an anthology from it published in 1963 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of its demise. It was purportedly a magazine of fantasy, but a lot of these stories, even though technically fantasy, would be appropriately be classified as horror. One of them, The Gnarly Man, I would call science fiction. That was my favorite of the bunch. It was about a Neanderthal who had somehow been made immortal and was found in a twentieth century carnival playing the part of a sideshow ape-man. He has quite a few stories to tell from history, history that he lived through. It is interesting to note the quaintness of these stories. The quaintness reflects the attitudes that were extant during the time they were written in the mid-twentieth century and mostly sho in their sexism. It is not an overt sexism, but it does reflect the assumptions in the North American culture at the time. In The Gnarly Man the author was enough advanced in his thinking that one of his main characters was a female anthropologist, but still she was presented in a subtle sexist manner. Still, I found the stories quite enjoyable. I found them enjoyable because I do enjoy fantastic literature and I found them enjoyable because I enjoyed observing their quaintness. Please do not think that means that I approve of sexism. It just means that I enjoy observing the underlying assumptions of about seventy years ago.

[Michael Tildsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lesser-known sci-fi/fantasy anthology collection! This time, most of the entries are from a long-dead publication called "The Unknown." I found many of the stories in this book to be dated, but that was to be expected. Most of the stories in this volume date back to the 1930s and 40s, so many of the paths they trek have been done to death. However, I found some charm in the book. It felt like reading an old pulp, but with most of the duds removed, leaving only the best bits.

The following is the list of short stories in this collection I found personally to be worthy of a five-star review themselves:

~Prescience by Nelson S. Bond

~The Gnarly Man by L. Sprague de Camp

~Snulbug by Anthony Boucher

~Armageddon by Fredric Brown

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one contains eleven stories from John W. Campbell's UNKNOWN (later known as UNKNOWN WORLDS) magazine, and appeared there from 1939 - 1941. It also includes some wonderful Edd Cartier illustrations. Some of the titles are renowned classics, such as Kuttner's "The Misguided Halo," Sturgeon's "Yesterday Was Monday," and Boucher's "Snulbug," but there are also some good works from less-remembered authors such as Nelson S. Bond and Manly Wade Wellman. I believe that the fantasies from UNKNOWN tend to hold up better than do the sf stories published in ASTOUNDING at the same time. This is a very nice collection.

[GD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome! Every single story was unusual, and you can see the beginnings of a lot of ideas that later got turned into big books or movies. I think every story in here should have been an episode of the 80's Twilight Zone, funny, scary, strange.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Older science fiction stories published from 1939 through 1943 in Unknown and read during childhood while I was a voracious reader of such things.