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Weird Tales November 1943
Table of contents:
Francis Flagg. The Snake
Edmond Hamilton. Valley of the Assassins
Allison V. Harding. Death Went That Way
Helen W. Kasson. Speed the Parting Ghost
Katherine Simons. Because the Moon Is Far
Manly Wade Wellman. The Third Cry to Legba
Ray Bradbury. The Ducker
Irwin J. Weill. Superstitions and Taboos
Greye La Spina. Great Pan Is Here
August Derleth. A Thin Gentleman with Gloves
Dorothy Gold. On Lake Lagore
James Causey, Bill Blackbeard. Hammer of Cain
H. P. Lovecraft. Herbert West-Reanimator (VI. The Tomb-Legions)
The Eyrie and Weird Tales Club
Francis Flagg. The Snake
Edmond Hamilton. Valley of the Assassins
Allison V. Harding. Death Went That Way
Helen W. Kasson. Speed the Parting Ghost
Katherine Simons. Because the Moon Is Far
Manly Wade Wellman. The Third Cry to Legba
Ray Bradbury. The Ducker
Irwin J. Weill. Superstitions and Taboos
Greye La Spina. Great Pan Is Here
August Derleth. A Thin Gentleman with Gloves
Dorothy Gold. On Lake Lagore
James Causey, Bill Blackbeard. Hammer of Cain
H. P. Lovecraft. Herbert West-Reanimator (VI. The Tomb-Legions)
The Eyrie and Weird Tales Club
Paperback
First published November 1, 1943
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 4, 2026
Somehow it’s already the end of 1943! These issues may not be great but they’re quick reading.
Another colorful Tilburne cover heralds a returned Edmond Hamilton (who I haven’t missed) and a by-the-numbers pulp adventure, “The Valley of the Assassins,” about the survival of Hasan I Sabbah and his cult of hashish-eating fiends. I’ve read worse Hamilton many times so this wasn’t too hard to get through.
That sums up the whole issue really. It’s all readable but none of it’s outstanding. Even the Bradbury story (new to me and I really thought I’d read all his early pulp stories), “The Ducker,” feels labored. As a war story, it’s also oddly dismissive of the realities of being shot at on a battlefield. If I’d read it in a foxhole, I probably would have been peeved.
Allison V. Harding’s “Death Went that Way,” about a man driving a cursed car across the country, gets points for being set on wartime highways. Greye La Spina’s “Great Pan is Here,” has the Thorne Smith taint the editor seems to love. Once again I recall with wistful nostalgia that WT used to avoid humor. Helen Kasson’s “Speed the Parting Ghost” has brevity as its sole virtue.
Wellman introduces a new spook fighter in “The Third Cry to Legba.” John Thunstone isn’t very interesting, and he seems to do his occult research out of common library books. This story is not worthy of Wellman’s talent, and we don’t need another De Grandin. Derleth’s “A Thin Gentlemen with Gloves” is filler. More interesting is an ad for Derleth’s Arkham House press. Fifteen bucks bought their first four publications, several thousands of dollars worth of paper today.
Of note is “Hammer of Cain,” a weak story but by James Causey and future comic historian and expert Bill Blackbeard. I didn’t know Blackbeard had written for the pulps but I deeply appreciate some of the books he edited in later years.
Finally, we have the last chapter of Lovecraft’s “Herbert West: Reanimator,” which is about as good as any of the other parts. The biggest kick I got out of the whole issue was a terribly printed ad on one of the Herbert West pages, which appears to be advertising restorative dentures for the undead.
Another colorful Tilburne cover heralds a returned Edmond Hamilton (who I haven’t missed) and a by-the-numbers pulp adventure, “The Valley of the Assassins,” about the survival of Hasan I Sabbah and his cult of hashish-eating fiends. I’ve read worse Hamilton many times so this wasn’t too hard to get through.
That sums up the whole issue really. It’s all readable but none of it’s outstanding. Even the Bradbury story (new to me and I really thought I’d read all his early pulp stories), “The Ducker,” feels labored. As a war story, it’s also oddly dismissive of the realities of being shot at on a battlefield. If I’d read it in a foxhole, I probably would have been peeved.
Allison V. Harding’s “Death Went that Way,” about a man driving a cursed car across the country, gets points for being set on wartime highways. Greye La Spina’s “Great Pan is Here,” has the Thorne Smith taint the editor seems to love. Once again I recall with wistful nostalgia that WT used to avoid humor. Helen Kasson’s “Speed the Parting Ghost” has brevity as its sole virtue.
Wellman introduces a new spook fighter in “The Third Cry to Legba.” John Thunstone isn’t very interesting, and he seems to do his occult research out of common library books. This story is not worthy of Wellman’s talent, and we don’t need another De Grandin. Derleth’s “A Thin Gentlemen with Gloves” is filler. More interesting is an ad for Derleth’s Arkham House press. Fifteen bucks bought their first four publications, several thousands of dollars worth of paper today.
Of note is “Hammer of Cain,” a weak story but by James Causey and future comic historian and expert Bill Blackbeard. I didn’t know Blackbeard had written for the pulps but I deeply appreciate some of the books he edited in later years.
Finally, we have the last chapter of Lovecraft’s “Herbert West: Reanimator,” which is about as good as any of the other parts. The biggest kick I got out of the whole issue was a terribly printed ad on one of the Herbert West pages, which appears to be advertising restorative dentures for the undead.
Displaying 1 of 1 review