Weird Tales 1937December by Farnsworth Wright

Weird Tales 1937December Reviews

• 
  Andy

  There's some good stories here, in particular Mary Elizabeth Counselman's "The Black Stone Statue" which has been reprinted several times and is a classic of weird fiction. A couple of the shorter stories toward the end of the issue are quite good as well. Unfortunately most of the long stories just aren't that great and I can't give this issue a very high rating. This goes for the first story and the Seabury Quinn story. Quinn's tales haven't aged as well as the best stories of Weird Tales. They're a pleasure to read for their pulpiness, but I wouldn't want to read a lot of them in a row. Most readers would be better off reading the few good stories and skipping the rest.
  
  The Sea-Witch • Nictzin Dyalhis • novelette - Oh boy, this was a chore to get through. It's my least favorite type of weird tale -- a romantic fantasy. It has mythical touches, but there's nothing in the least horrific going on, very pulpy, hasn't aged well. It was reprinted in Weird Tales in 1953, and anthologized by Karl Edward Wagner in an anthology. A man takes in a woman who washes in from the beach and seems to be inhabited by the soul of a mythical being, and she wants revenge.
  
  Fane of the Black Pharaoh • Robert Bloch • short story - This was one I'd read recently in a Robert Bloch anthology and skipped re-reading here, when I read it I made the following notes: Another one of those exotic weird tales, also fusing the Egyptian and Mythos. Yet again, predictable but fun. Bloch likes to start these stories, then pause for an in-depth view of "dark and dreaded" history we are about to explore. An Egyptologist with a keen interest in the cult of Nephren-Ka gets an offer to be shown the tomb by a member of the surviving cult. A dreaded place wherein Nephren-Ka inscribed future events along the walls with the aid of Nyarlathotep himself.
  
  The Black Stone Statue • Mary Elizabeth Counselman • short story - This story was reprinted in "Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors" -- probably the best anthology of the magazine, and it is a very good story. An explorer smuggles home a strange creature which turns everything it touches into stone.
  
  Flames of Vengeance • Seabury Quinn • novelette - I've read a handful of Jules de Grandin stories, and this one isn't among the best. It has a pretty improbable, convoluted and rambling story to say the least. The end explains the strange goings-on with a supernatural AND logical explanation. A man seeks de Grandin's help to deal with a family curse which has punished all who have tried to live in an ancestral home with vengeful fire.
  
  Child of Atlantis • Edmond Hamilton • novelette - This was a decent little sci-fi adventure story, it's certainly got a "crowd pleaser" flavor to it, but it's still good fun. A honeymooning couple become stranded on a strange island, dominated by an elusive, mind-controlling entity which draws men to their deaths.
  
  The Voyage of the Neutralia (part 2 of 3) • B. Wallis • novella - incomplete, skipped
  
  Uneasy Lie the Drowned • Donald Wandrei • short story - This was a really good story, short, simple, grisly and creepy. Probably the best right behind Counselman's tale. A man crossing trying to cross a lake in a canoe during a storm encounters something more horrible than the waves.
  
  The Keen Eyes and Ears of Kara Kedi • Claude Farrère translated by Roy Temple House • short story - Very short story, more or less a standard "premonition of death" tale. A man observes and tries to understand the inexplicable behavior of his cat.
  
  Polaris • H. P. Lovecraft • vignette - I liked this story more than I recall the first time I read it years ago. Its a very brief story, reminiscent of Clark Ashton Smith's best work about a man transported into another world by a star.
  
  Laocoon • Bassett Morgan • short story (Reprint) - This is definitely a WEIRD story, a reprint and one of the better stories in this issue. It holds it's secrets close. A scientist convinced that sea dragons exists engages in some VERY strange experiments in his pursuit of the truth.
  
  Fragment • Robert E. Howard • verse - A grim poem, nice imagery about maturing and seeing the horrors of the world.
  
  The Old House on the Hill • Winona Montgomery Gilliland • verse - Brief poem about an old, deserted house.