From Unknown Worlds

by John W. Campbell Jr. (Editor), James H. Beard (Contributor), Robert Bloch (Contributor)

Fantasy anthology of stories originally published in the periodicals Unknown and Unknown Worlds

130 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later called Analog Science Fiction and Fact), from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."

As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.

Known Pseudonyms/Alternate Names:

Don A. Stuart
Karl van Campen
John Campbell
J. W. C., Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

CONTENTS


◾Novel:

▪️"The Enchanted Weekend" - John MacCormac


◾Novelettes:

▪️"Nothing in the Rules" - L. Sprague de Camp
▪️"The Compleat Werewolf" - Anthony Boucher


◾Short Stories:

▪️"The Refugee" - Jane Rice
▪️"The Cloak" - Robert Bloch
▪️"Yesterday Was Monday" - Theodore Sturgeon
▪️"Trouble with Water" - H. L. Gold
▪️"Anything" - Philip St. John (pseudonym for Lester del Rey)
▪️"One Man's Harp" - Babette Rosmond
▪️"The Devil We Know" - Henry Kuttner
▪️"The Psychomorph" - E. A. Grosser
▪️"The Hexer" - H. W. Guernsey (pseudonym for Howard Wandrei)
▪️"The Summons" - Don Evans
▪️"Jesus Shoes" - Allan R. Bosworth


◾Poems:

▪️"Lurani" - Paul Dennis Lavond (pseudonym for Robert A. W. Lowndes)
▪️"Black Cats" - Cristal Hastings
▪️"The Dawn of Reason" - James H. Beard
▪️"Fiction" - Gerald Clarke


◾Non-fiction:

▪️"Foreward" - John W. Campbell, Jr.
▪️"Disbelief" - unattributed


The excellent magazine originally titled Unknown and later Unknown Worlds has been extremely influential on fantasy literature. The magazine ran only from 1939 to 1943, for a total of 39 issues. In 1943, we are told, the magazine succumbed to the paper shortage during World War II. (Considering the nature of the magazine, one might save that it gave up the ghost.)

John W. Campbell, Jr., who edited this anthology, also edited Unknown throughout its run. I have no idea how he picked this particular group of stories for this book. A lot of the material from the magazine would have been too long to fit in an anthology, some of the stories had already been anthologized, and I'm sure others weren't available for various reasons.

However, I think there are some odd choices here. Since Campbell had chosen all the stories that had ever appeared in Unknown, he presumably at least liked them. There are many stories from Unknown that I believe are better stories than some of these. Not that I think these are bad, just that I liked others more.

For example, the reprinted "novel," "The Enchanted Weekend," is a fine, funny story. ("The Enchanted Weekend" is twenty-four pages long; only in magazine-world would that be considered a novel.) I would have preferred to see "Wet Magic" by Henry Kuttner or A. M. Phillip's "The Mislaid Charm," both similarly light novelette-length stories that I like better than "The Enchanted Weekend." However, I do realize that saying that I like something better is quite different than saying that thing is better, and my taste is probably not better than Campbell's.

There are stories here that are considered classics in this field and are always a pleasure to read and reread. These would include "Nothing in the Rules" by L. Sprague de Camp, "The Compleat Werewolf" by Anthony Boucher, and "Trouble with Water" by H. L. Gold. "The Cloak" by Robert Bloch, "Yesterday Was Monday" by Theodore Sturgeon, and "Anything" by Philip St. John (Lester del Rey) approach that status as well. I also like Jane Rice's "The Refugee," Henry Kuttner's "The Devil We Know," E. A. Grosser's "The Psychomorph," and (especially) Allan R. Bosworth's "Jesus Shoes." "One Man's Harp" by Babette Rosmond and "The Summons" by Don Evans seem to me to be of lesser quality. I think "The Hexer" by H. W. Guernsey (Donald Wandrei) is incredibly mean-spirited.

"Fiction" is my favorite of the poems. Oddly, the British edition of this book lists the author as Allan Grant rather than Gerald Clarke. (The British edition also has another difference; it omits the story "One Man's Harp.")

The cover and the illustrations are all by Edd Cartier. Some of these, such as the pictures for "The Compleat Werewolf," I like; others, such as the picture for "The Refugee," I think are quite poor.

There are several other collections of stories from Unknown and Unknown Worlds. These include: The Unknown, edited by D. R. Bensen (1963); Hell Hath Fury, edited by George Hay (1963); The Unknown Five, also edited by D. R. Bensen (1964); Unknown, edited by Stanley Schmidt (1988); and Unknown Worlds: Tales from Beyond, edited by Stanley Schmidt and Martin Greenberg (1989). The last of these is by far the best.

There is also a fine reference book, The Annotated Guide to Unknown & Unknown Worlds, written by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz.