Weird Tales 1927March by Farnsworth Wright

Weird Tales 1927March Reviews

• 
  Liz

  'The Blood-Flower' (Jules de Grandin series) novelette by Seabury Quinn. 3.5 stars. A strange plant from Transylvania, a sick woman who can't seem to resist the calling of hounds, an irate husband, and a missing uncle; are the conundrum facing Jules de Grandin and his clueless (about the occult) partner Dr. Trowbridge. This can also be found in 'The Horror on the Links (Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume 1)'.
  'A Requiem' (poem) by Ernest Dowson. 3.5 stars. A poem about death equating it to sleeping in a garden.
  'The White Ship' (Dream Cycle) (1919) by H. P. Lovecraft. 3.5 stars. A trippy, rather psychedelic dream. Lovecraft's description of the view from the lighthouse evokes the sea in the same vivid way that his descriptions bring to life Mammoth Cave from his story The Beast in the Cave. A strange little story worth checking out. This can be found in the Audible edition of 'Eldritch Tales: A Miscellany of the Macabre', narrated by Elijah Alexander.
  'Fairy Lullaby' (poem) by William Shakespeare. 3 stars.
  Also in this edition:
  'The City of Glass' by Joel Martin Nichols, Jr.
  'The Seventh Symphony' (1910) by Victor Rousseau.
  'Evolution Island' by Edmond Hamilton.
  'Soul-Catcher' by Robert S. Carr.
  'The Specter' (poem) by Miles J. Breuer.
  'The Greatest Gift' by Eli Colter.
  'Wolf' (poem) by A. Leslie.
  'Guarded' by Sewell Peaslee Wright.
  'The Sacred Jars' by Oscar Cook.
  'Drome' (Part 3 of 5) by John Martin Leahy.
  'Lazarus' (1927) by Leonid Andreyev (trans. of Елеазар? (1906) by Leonid Andreyeff.
  
  
• 
  Andy

  A trend I've noticed with Weird Tales magazines is that the longer, "feature stories" can sometimes be the less interesting ones. Sometimes these are science-fantasy/adventure crowd pleasers, they're like the summer blockbusters of weird fiction. Meanwhile the shorter stories can be where more original ideas are tried out. That's often the case here.
  
  A hobby of mine is exploring the "obscure." Obscure 20th century classical music composers, obscure authors and especially obscure old film noirs and silent films. I always feel like I'm going to come across an undiscovered gem somewhere. And the final story in this issue of Weird Tales, Leonid Andreyev's "Lazarus" is a good example of this, it totally blew me away and was the best story in the whole issue.
  
  The City of Glass • Joel Martin Nichols, Jr. • novelette - This is an early science-fantasy novelette, it has some imaginative touches and decadent description but there's a reason it's never been reprinted anywhere -- it has aged badly. It starts off promisingly, then slows, and the last half is a decent pulpy adventure. The "rampant fungi" theme was well-done, it would be a better story if it was shortened. A party goes on a scientific mission into the desert to explore a mythical city, said in folklore to be inhabited by the remnants of Atlantis.
  
  The Blood-Flower • Seabury Quinn • novelette - I read this a couple years ago, my notes I said it wasn't much worth a re-read so I didn't bother. What I said about it then: "Another decent story by Quinn. This is the 11th Jules de Grandin tale, and it centers on a werewolf. Nothing scary here, but it's a decent mystery/adventure story. Again, I wasn't overly impressed with this story either, but it's worth reading once at least. Jules de Grandin attempts to help a girl who hears a wolf howling in the night, and who wants to meet it's summons. COMPLETE SUMMARY: Trowbridge and Grandin are called out to a Mrs. Evander's home. She has been ill and now when hearing a dog howl in the distance her servant says she has started to grown and snarl herself. They see her do it and drug her with morphine. When her husband Niles returns home he is furious and demands they stay out of it, but they get a call and learn that his wife has disappeared. At the house they're told that Niles refused to allow her more drug, and she went out the window on hearing the howling dog on the first opportunity. Gran seems little concerned, despite there being a blizzard outside and says she will return soon. Sure enough, the next morning she returns, hands covered in blood, seemingly in better health than ever. They all meet that night in the woman's bedroom, and a werewolf climbs up to peer in the window. Gran chases after it with a stick made of ash and shoots it dead. It changes into Fredrich, an old family friend who Niles explains was living with them. He recently acquired some exotic flowers from Transylvania and Gran knows this is what turned him and her into werewolves. Gran does a ritual to take the curse of the werewolf off of her."
  
  The Seventh Symphony • Victor Rousseau • short story - Definitely feels like a milder Carnacki tale, about Dr. Brodsky, a psychic investigator. Not bad, but doesn't have the fearful menace of the Carnacki stories. The husband of a recently deceased cellist is driven to near madness by a discordant playing on his wife's cello in the midnight hour!
  
  Evolution Island • Edmond Hamilton • novelette - This is another science-fantasy novelette like "The City of Glass." Although neither is particularly horrific, this one is far better in execution and more imaginative. This story was chosen to represent Hamilton's work in the excellent anthology, "Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors." A scientist discovers a ray which can send the evolution of anything backward or forward, but his plans to try it out on an entire island go haywire.
  
  Soul-Catcher • Robert S. Carr • short story - This was a good story, one of those very short stories (3,000 words) which explores an interesting idea. An intern at a hospital discovers that a doctor is capturing souls of the dead.
  
  The Greatest Gift • Eli Colter • short story - One of the least interesting stories in this issue, a sort of a reincarnation love tale. A woman, rejected by a man is shown a vision of the far past where she wronged him.
  
  Guarded • Sewell Peaslee Wright • short story - This was a decent story, pulpy to the extreme, predictable, nothing great but better than the average here. An old man tells of two brothers, one of which took possession of the other.
  
  The Sacred Jars • Oscar Cook • short story - Reminds me of Rudyard Kipling a bit, some parts were a bit confusing, I believe my mind was wandering...but it's not a bad story, better than the average here I would say. Others must agree, it's been reprinted four times. Two Englishmen try to discover why the ghost of their friend is restless...and who stole a relic from his grave.
  
  The White Ship • H. P. Lovecraft • short story - This is a re-read for me, but I liked revisiting this story. I remember the I first time I read it I was hoping for a horror tale, and while it does have some unsettling details it's a much better fantasy story with lavish, decadent description, with a sad allegorical ending. A lighthouse keeper boards a strange ship which takes him to many fantastic, far off lands, but his constant thought that there must be something better out there leads him astray.
  
  Drome [Part 3 of 5] • John Martin Leahy • novel
  
  Lazarus • Leonid Andreyeff • short story - This was the best story, by far in this entire issue. Andreyev is an author I have been curious to read for a while now, particularly his short novel "The Red Laugh," and this story has been reprinted five times. This is a dark, gloomy, Gothic story, far ahead of it's time, full of cosmic horror imagery. Lazarus is brought back from the dead, but he's not the same, neither is anyone who comes in contact with him. They all become infected by his knowledge of the meaninglessness of our existence in the scale of the universe.
  
  Fairy Lullaby • William Shakespeare • verse - A selection from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
  
  A Requiem • Ernest Dowson • verse - A melancholy poem for a dead woman.
  
  The Specter • Miles J. Breuer, M.D. • verse - Poem from the perspective of a graveyard-haunting ghost.
  
  Wolf • A. Leslie • verse - A werewolf poem.