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Weird Tales #363: The Return of The Magazine That Never Dies
WEIRD TALES HAS RETURNED!
A sorcerer on a cliff cuts into his own hand, summoning members of the ancient cult that destroyed his family... A maid hunts her former employer with a sword, attempting to win a revenge that could save us all... A doomed man rides a train to his dead father's home to unravel a terrible secret... A strange box arrives at your door, containing something so bizarre that... well, you'll have to dig in to Weird Tales #363 to see.
Weird Tales continues a 95-year commitment to dark fantasy with this illustrated collection of new short fiction from masters of the craft.
Featuring:
Up from Slavery by Victor LaValle - Illustrated by E.M Gist By Post by Josh Malerman - Illustrated by Jeremy Wilson I.O.U. by Sherrilyn Kenyon - Illustrated by Brian Hendrickson Payday by Hank Schwaeble - Illustrated by Zoe Connor A Housekeeper's Revenge by Lisa Morton - Illustrated by John Cebollero The Shadows beneath the Stone by Jonathan Maberry - Illustrated by Colton Worley With poems and flash by Stephanie M. Wytovich, Jeff Wong, Tori Eldridge, and Marc Bilgrey
A sorcerer on a cliff cuts into his own hand, summoning members of the ancient cult that destroyed his family... A maid hunts her former employer with a sword, attempting to win a revenge that could save us all... A doomed man rides a train to his dead father's home to unravel a terrible secret... A strange box arrives at your door, containing something so bizarre that... well, you'll have to dig in to Weird Tales #363 to see.
Weird Tales continues a 95-year commitment to dark fantasy with this illustrated collection of new short fiction from masters of the craft.
Featuring:
Up from Slavery by Victor LaValle - Illustrated by E.M Gist By Post by Josh Malerman - Illustrated by Jeremy Wilson I.O.U. by Sherrilyn Kenyon - Illustrated by Brian Hendrickson Payday by Hank Schwaeble - Illustrated by Zoe Connor A Housekeeper's Revenge by Lisa Morton - Illustrated by John Cebollero The Shadows beneath the Stone by Jonathan Maberry - Illustrated by Colton Worley With poems and flash by Stephanie M. Wytovich, Jeff Wong, Tori Eldridge, and Marc Bilgrey
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 28, 2019
20 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Josh Malerman
91 books8,432 followersJosh Malerman is the New York Times best selling author of BIRD BOX, MALORIE, GOBLIN, PEARL, GHOUL n THE CAPE, and more.
He's also one of two singer/songwriter for the rock band The High Strung.
He's also one of two singer/songwriter for the rock band The High Strung.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 20, 2019
I was so excited to see the return of Weird Tales, but was shockingly disappointed to see the magazine that made famous many writers like Lovecraft, Howard, and Seabury Quinn actually accept and publish a story that within the first paragraph had many grammatical errors ranging from non-sentences and misuse of punctuation.
Maybe it's just the fact that I've had to work hard to learn English and work harder to write decently in it that makes me exceptionally upset and aggravated seeing someone misuse a semicolon, not once, but twice in a single paragraph along with commas thrown into weird places that don't seperate thoughts, clauses, or are used for intentional pausing.
Moving on from THAT shocker, I found the artwork inside the magazine to be cringe inducing at times, reminiscent of websites that people made for free on yahoo geocities 20ish years ago. Artwork that sometimes made no sense with the stories or poetry they were accompanying. And poorly formatted on the digital edition that it felt tedious to push through the magazine to the end. The formatting errors are throughout the entire magazine in the digital version. Disappointment to say the least.
As for the actual literature? For an unthemed edition it certainly felt like they were trying to cram as many attempts at Lovecraftian inspired stories inside. Only two of the stories remotely shined for me and that was mostly due to them being competently written and neither were outright trying to pretend they were Lovecraft reincarnated.
The poetry inside was mostly nonsensical and I feel should have been left out. I enjoy poetry when it's good. And the poetry inside this was far from that.
To echo my thoughts on my Amazon review (theskyroad), I sincerely hope that the people managing this project are more careful in who they select to be published in their magazines, and hire artists who can bring to life the stories inside. Pictures of raw hamburger and distorted colored horshoe crabs aren't going to cut it. Many people are thirsty for some quality pulp fiction, myself included. And as it stands, this is not the quality I would expect from Weird Tales.
Maybe it's just the fact that I've had to work hard to learn English and work harder to write decently in it that makes me exceptionally upset and aggravated seeing someone misuse a semicolon, not once, but twice in a single paragraph along with commas thrown into weird places that don't seperate thoughts, clauses, or are used for intentional pausing.
Moving on from THAT shocker, I found the artwork inside the magazine to be cringe inducing at times, reminiscent of websites that people made for free on yahoo geocities 20ish years ago. Artwork that sometimes made no sense with the stories or poetry they were accompanying. And poorly formatted on the digital edition that it felt tedious to push through the magazine to the end. The formatting errors are throughout the entire magazine in the digital version. Disappointment to say the least.
As for the actual literature? For an unthemed edition it certainly felt like they were trying to cram as many attempts at Lovecraftian inspired stories inside. Only two of the stories remotely shined for me and that was mostly due to them being competently written and neither were outright trying to pretend they were Lovecraft reincarnated.
The poetry inside was mostly nonsensical and I feel should have been left out. I enjoy poetry when it's good. And the poetry inside this was far from that.
To echo my thoughts on my Amazon review (theskyroad), I sincerely hope that the people managing this project are more careful in who they select to be published in their magazines, and hire artists who can bring to life the stories inside. Pictures of raw hamburger and distorted colored horshoe crabs aren't going to cut it. Many people are thirsty for some quality pulp fiction, myself included. And as it stands, this is not the quality I would expect from Weird Tales.
December 29, 2020
4⭐ What Waits in the Trees
5⭐ Up From Slavery
3 ⭐ Erasher
3⭐ Bipolar
5 ⭐ The Housekeeper's Revenge
5⭐ A Woman Who Still Knows How To Die
3⭐ Due To The Memory of Scars
4⭐ The Shadows Beneath the Stone
4⭐ Outside The Memory of Horseshoe Crabs
3⭐I O U
3⭐ Payday
3⭐ Distant Drums
4⭐ Amelia Delia Lee
5⭐ Up From Slavery
3 ⭐ Erasher
3⭐ Bipolar
5 ⭐ The Housekeeper's Revenge
5⭐ A Woman Who Still Knows How To Die
3⭐ Due To The Memory of Scars
4⭐ The Shadows Beneath the Stone
4⭐ Outside The Memory of Horseshoe Crabs
3⭐I O U
3⭐ Payday
3⭐ Distant Drums
4⭐ Amelia Delia Lee
January 23, 2021
3.5 stars. Good anthology of tales. Was not sure about poems read aloud but by end of anthology, started to enjoy them. Will look for other editions.
May 9, 2020
Up From Slavery- Good story, good imagery in comparing the main character to Booker T. Washington, but the story sort of slumped in a couple of places and that made it feel like it was a bit too long for me.
By Post- I didn't enjoy this one as much and felt the story was weaker than the first story.
A Housekeeper's Revenge- A great tale of the pain a mother feels over the loss of her child and the revenge she enacts. The ending was a fun twist.
The Shadows Beneath the Stone- Evocative use of language and imagery. Probably the best story of the entire issue and the type of stuff that would have been enjoyed during Weird Tale's golden age.
I-O-U - Short, sort of fun to read but will hold no lasting memory for me.
Payday- Short and to the point. A fun read but also overlookable.
Distant Drums- Temptation has its costs. This is my second favorite story of the lot.
Overall I found the stories to be adequate for this new issue. I'd prefer more stories like The Shadows Beneath the Stone in any future issues. Growing up and reading heavily aged copies of previous inceptions of this magazine filled my imagination to the brim with the evocative imagery in many of the stories contained within. Most of the stories in this fell flat in those regards, they were average, but adequate. They'll pass the time, they have moments that are enjoyable, but also lack the depth I've come to enjoy in the writings of Lovecraft (as an example). The Shadows Beneath the Stone was an exceptional tale and the images used to acompany it were beautiful.
The artwork used for everything else were horrible and felt like they cheapened my experience with this magazine. Raw meat? No thanks, give me something hand drawn with vivid imagery. I also feel like there should have been more variety with the poetry by using multiple writers instead of just the one... I actually skipped over most of the poetry because very little of it appealed to me.
Would I be inclined to purchase future issues and read them? If they use better artwork inside the magazine itself, offer a multitude of poets instead of making it a monopoly each time, and include stories that use evocative language and imagery, a thousand times yes. I hope they'll continue with Weird Tales.
By Post- I didn't enjoy this one as much and felt the story was weaker than the first story.
A Housekeeper's Revenge- A great tale of the pain a mother feels over the loss of her child and the revenge she enacts. The ending was a fun twist.
The Shadows Beneath the Stone- Evocative use of language and imagery. Probably the best story of the entire issue and the type of stuff that would have been enjoyed during Weird Tale's golden age.
I-O-U - Short, sort of fun to read but will hold no lasting memory for me.
Payday- Short and to the point. A fun read but also overlookable.
Distant Drums- Temptation has its costs. This is my second favorite story of the lot.
Overall I found the stories to be adequate for this new issue. I'd prefer more stories like The Shadows Beneath the Stone in any future issues. Growing up and reading heavily aged copies of previous inceptions of this magazine filled my imagination to the brim with the evocative imagery in many of the stories contained within. Most of the stories in this fell flat in those regards, they were average, but adequate. They'll pass the time, they have moments that are enjoyable, but also lack the depth I've come to enjoy in the writings of Lovecraft (as an example). The Shadows Beneath the Stone was an exceptional tale and the images used to acompany it were beautiful.
The artwork used for everything else were horrible and felt like they cheapened my experience with this magazine. Raw meat? No thanks, give me something hand drawn with vivid imagery. I also feel like there should have been more variety with the poetry by using multiple writers instead of just the one... I actually skipped over most of the poetry because very little of it appealed to me.
Would I be inclined to purchase future issues and read them? If they use better artwork inside the magazine itself, offer a multitude of poets instead of making it a monopoly each time, and include stories that use evocative language and imagery, a thousand times yes. I hope they'll continue with Weird Tales.
November 29, 2020
Узнал тут, что Weird Tales в очередной раз реанимировались — в прошлом году вышел №363 журнала (предыдущая попытка вылезти из древности случилась в 2014м), можно оформлять предзаказ на 364й.
Почитал новый выпуск и что могу сказать: авторы лихо погоняют актуальной повесткой, но лично мне не хватило фирменного журнального eeriness. Странности мало. Рассказы больше социальные и нравоучительные. Как если бы любимая бабушка вместо того, чтобы повернуть в глазнице глаз и затрещать кузнечиком из глубины рта, примется с улыбкой рассказывать о пользе брюквы. Ждёшь хоррора, получаешь недоумение.
Что в номере:
• проработка американской травмы, завязанной на рабстве, через проживание воспоминаний предков;
• взлеты и падения гетеронормативно сексуальной жизни одной супружеской пары, где промискуитет — всё ещё большое событие;
• месть домоуправительницы, но вместо фрёкен Бок — колоратурно громкая латиноамериканка;
• рассказ про одну странную кошку и чокнутых тамплиеров под прикрытием;
• фельетон про новоорлеанский способ выколачивать долги — с помощью куклы вуду;
• рассказ о школьном буллинге и о том, как смекалистая жертва может воспользоваться подручной венериной мухоловкой, чтобы отомстись обидчикам;
• феминистическая зарисовка о ханжестве цисгендерного ангела, который сначала трахается, а потом не хочет ответственности;
• и пять совсем не пугающих, но чувственно сентиментальных стишков в качестве интермеццо.
Почитал новый выпуск и что могу сказать: авторы лихо погоняют актуальной повесткой, но лично мне не хватило фирменного журнального eeriness. Странности мало. Рассказы больше социальные и нравоучительные. Как если бы любимая бабушка вместо того, чтобы повернуть в глазнице глаз и затрещать кузнечиком из глубины рта, примется с улыбкой рассказывать о пользе брюквы. Ждёшь хоррора, получаешь недоумение.
Что в номере:
• проработка американской травмы, завязанной на рабстве, через проживание воспоминаний предков;
• взлеты и падения гетеронормативно сексуальной жизни одной супружеской пары, где промискуитет — всё ещё большое событие;
• месть домоуправительницы, но вместо фрёкен Бок — колоратурно громкая латиноамериканка;
• рассказ про одну странную кошку и чокнутых тамплиеров под прикрытием;
• фельетон про новоорлеанский способ выколачивать долги — с помощью куклы вуду;
• рассказ о школьном буллинге и о том, как смекалистая жертва может воспользоваться подручной венериной мухоловкой, чтобы отомстись обидчикам;
• феминистическая зарисовка о ханжестве цисгендерного ангела, который сначала трахается, а потом не хочет ответственности;
• и пять совсем не пугающих, но чувственно сентиментальных стишков в качестве интермеццо.
March 5, 2023
I listened to this on audiobook, and I liked the bunch of stories. Since it was audio, I can only review the stories that have stuck in my mind.
Up from Slavery - A grumpy young man finds himself subject to a stranger who has control over him. This is a lot less stressful of a plot than you may predict; as most of the time, we see the main character trying to take care of his newly-acquired property and deal with his personal anxieties. I liked it.
By Post - This is my favourite story in the bunch. A simple horror plot unraveled by the simple musings of an unreliable narrator and a victim. Love the imagery, the themes of friendship, and even the ominous ending.
Shadows Beneath the Stone - A fantasy plot about a rural family that has powers and deals with a threat, but must do some gory things to cast spells. This was OK.
Up from Slavery - A grumpy young man finds himself subject to a stranger who has control over him. This is a lot less stressful of a plot than you may predict; as most of the time, we see the main character trying to take care of his newly-acquired property and deal with his personal anxieties. I liked it.
By Post - This is my favourite story in the bunch. A simple horror plot unraveled by the simple musings of an unreliable narrator and a victim. Love the imagery, the themes of friendship, and even the ominous ending.
Shadows Beneath the Stone - A fantasy plot about a rural family that has powers and deals with a threat, but must do some gory things to cast spells. This was OK.
July 5, 2020
It's exciting times to have a new issue of WEIRD TALES to read. And this one doesn't disappoint. The two stories, UP FROM SLAVERY by Victor Lavalle and BY POST by Josh Malerman, are two of the best stories I've read this entire year and are worth the purchase of this magazine alone. I also strongly enjoyed PAYDAY by Hank Schwaeble and I'm not a poetry person, but AMERLIA DELIA LEE by Tori Eldridge was brilliant and most likely will be my favorite poem of 2020. This new issue of WEIRD TALES is something you all need to check out!
May 5, 2020
A delicious distraction to devour during our collective 2020 apocalypse. When I opened it, I was surprised to find 112 pages packed in there. I enjoyed becoming absorbed in the contents - I was able to vividly picture the tales and found the poetry to be intelligent and evocative. The writers were adept at capturing your attention.
October 28, 2022
It's back from the dead again, I don't know the current publisher count.
Victor LaValle's story is one of his typical mythos stories, Lovecraft spinning in his grave is an untapped energy source. The other stories were decent as well, nice to see WT back, but for how long this time?
Victor LaValle's story is one of his typical mythos stories, Lovecraft spinning in his grave is an untapped energy source. The other stories were decent as well, nice to see WT back, but for how long this time?
November 23, 2024
Frightening never goes out of style. Half dozen new stories plus a handful of poems for your late night reading. Some are better than others. Loved having the poems on read aloud on this audio issue.
February 23, 2021
Perfect for fans of weird horror stories.
November 11, 2022
3.5 stars
January 9, 2024
Comprei pela do Lavalle, e apesar de interessante fiquei decepcionado. Mas, entregou uma tarde de leitura
October 10, 2024
3.5 - some of these were ...rough.
Standouts:
Up from Slavery by Victor LaValle
The Shadows beneath the Stone by Jonathan Maberry
A Housekeeper's Revenge by Lisa Morton
Standouts:
Up from Slavery by Victor LaValle
The Shadows beneath the Stone by Jonathan Maberry
A Housekeeper's Revenge by Lisa Morton
November 27, 2019
I was given a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
In its prime time, Weird Tales was the haunt of many imaginative and incredible authors, like Lovecraft (to cite only 1).
This revival of Weird Tales has a beautiful layout, design, and typesetting; gorgeous art, and many good stories. Unfortunately, I thought that the stories would be to the likes of the previous issues; of course, you cannot beat some of the classics, but the language used is not at par with what we are 'used' to. And the poetry wasn't that good; and there was too much of it, in my opinion.
On the whole, I'm lukewarm about this issue. Maybe I was expecting too much.
In its prime time, Weird Tales was the haunt of many imaginative and incredible authors, like Lovecraft (to cite only 1).
This revival of Weird Tales has a beautiful layout, design, and typesetting; gorgeous art, and many good stories. Unfortunately, I thought that the stories would be to the likes of the previous issues; of course, you cannot beat some of the classics, but the language used is not at par with what we are 'used' to. And the poetry wasn't that good; and there was too much of it, in my opinion.
On the whole, I'm lukewarm about this issue. Maybe I was expecting too much.
November 15, 2019
This is billed as the 'return of the magazine that never dies', though I have wondered at times if it perhaps it should.
In its heyday, Weird Tales was the home of many fantastic tales by the likes of Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Seabury Quinn, and Clark Ashton Smith, but for decades the stories entered into its pages have rarely come close to matching those originals.
This resurrection of Weird Tales has beautiful typesetting, a lot of great art, and is printed on high-quality paper which is completely unlike the cheap pulp print on which the original magazine was printed. It also contains many color pages.
Unfortunately, most of the stories are the standard fare one might find in any modern horror magazine, not matching the vibrant use of language or capturing the adventure and wonder of those old tales, which I have read extensively. For the most part, the verbiage used is mundane and often profane.
I might have written this issue off as a beautiful waste of paper except for Jonathan Maberry's extraordinary Shadow Beneath the Stone, which does all the things those old stories used to do--use evocative language to tell a story of weird adventure. It gives me a bit of hope for the future of weird fiction.
In its heyday, Weird Tales was the home of many fantastic tales by the likes of Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Seabury Quinn, and Clark Ashton Smith, but for decades the stories entered into its pages have rarely come close to matching those originals.
This resurrection of Weird Tales has beautiful typesetting, a lot of great art, and is printed on high-quality paper which is completely unlike the cheap pulp print on which the original magazine was printed. It also contains many color pages.
Unfortunately, most of the stories are the standard fare one might find in any modern horror magazine, not matching the vibrant use of language or capturing the adventure and wonder of those old tales, which I have read extensively. For the most part, the verbiage used is mundane and often profane.
I might have written this issue off as a beautiful waste of paper except for Jonathan Maberry's extraordinary Shadow Beneath the Stone, which does all the things those old stories used to do--use evocative language to tell a story of weird adventure. It gives me a bit of hope for the future of weird fiction.
November 15, 2019
This is billed as the 'return of the magazine that never dies', though I have wondered at times if it perhaps it should.
In its heyday, Weird Tales was the home of many fantastic tales by the likes of Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Seabury Quinn, and Clark Ashton Smith, but for decades the stories entered into its pages have rarely come close to matching those originals.
This resurrection of Weird Tales has beautiful typesetting, a lot of great art, and is printed on high-quality paper which is completely unlike the cheap pulp print on which the original magazine was printed. It also contains many color pages.
Unfortunately, most of the stories are the standard fare one might find in any modern horror magazine, not matching the vibrant use of language or capturing the adventure and wonder of those old tales, which I have read extensively. For the most part, the verbiage used is mundane and often profane.
I might have written this issue off as a beautiful waste of paper except for Jonathan Maberry's extraordinary Shadow Beneath the Stone, which does all the things those old stories used to do--use evocative language to tell a story of weird adventure. It gives me a bit of hope for the future of weird fiction.
In its heyday, Weird Tales was the home of many fantastic tales by the likes of Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Seabury Quinn, and Clark Ashton Smith, but for decades the stories entered into its pages have rarely come close to matching those originals.
This resurrection of Weird Tales has beautiful typesetting, a lot of great art, and is printed on high-quality paper which is completely unlike the cheap pulp print on which the original magazine was printed. It also contains many color pages.
Unfortunately, most of the stories are the standard fare one might find in any modern horror magazine, not matching the vibrant use of language or capturing the adventure and wonder of those old tales, which I have read extensively. For the most part, the verbiage used is mundane and often profane.
I might have written this issue off as a beautiful waste of paper except for Jonathan Maberry's extraordinary Shadow Beneath the Stone, which does all the things those old stories used to do--use evocative language to tell a story of weird adventure. It gives me a bit of hope for the future of weird fiction.
September 11, 2019
WT 363: I mildly enjoyed some of the flash fiction pieces, but overall the fiction left me bored, and the poetry should not be this much or this bad. (I dislike poetry so I am hardly the target audience.) Victor LaValle’s piece was 50% too long. I was disappointed in this reboot, which is a shame, since I wanted to love it - the issue was pricey for the content. The cover art was great, but I did not like the inside artwork either (raw hamburger? seriously?) I’ll try again, but it had better improve or I am cancelling my subscription toute de suite, given the vast array of things vying for space on my shelves!
October 14, 2019
Can't say much for the fiction; hope it improves. I gave it three stars for its layout and design; I hope they can keep it up. It's got to be super expensive to produce. I'll continue to read it for as long as it lasts (not long, I fear). Hope I'm wrong.
June 8, 2020
An interesting collection by some good authors. But it was hurt a little by the lack of an overarching theme. I enjoy the collections with a common thread a bit more.
January 2, 2021
Tries hard to be modern. I'm not sure the need exists. Could do without psychogirl poetry before each story. I hope it continues.
March 4, 2021
I had never had direct experience with this magazine before listening to the audiobook of this title.It turned out to be a well selected and varied collection, I will probably seek out more!
May 1, 2023
good to see the return of weird tales
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews