Weird Tales October 1927 by Farnsworth Wright

Weird Tales October 1927 Reviews

• 
  Bill Wallace

  I took a couple of months off from reading Weird Tales, burned out on the similarity of the contents month to month, and I think the break was useful. This issue seemed much fresher, with a strange cover story by Nictzin Dyalhis, striking for crazed imagery and a plot like a nightmare. Other highlights include Lovecraft’s “Pickman’s Model,” a pulpy but fun Edmond Hamilton serial start, and E. Hoffman Price’s “Saladin’s Throne Rug.” One of the better by-products of this sometimes tedious reading project has been revisiting Lovecraft’s work in the context of its original publication. “Pickman’s Model,” for example is a standout story, not just for its imagination and considerably superior quality to most of its companions, but in the progress it shows over prior HPL offerings — tighter writing, fewer silly adjectives, a modern setting that preserves the sense of “hideous antiquity,” and less xenophobia than “The Horror at Red Hook.” All-in-all, a very good issue of WT.
• 
  Liz

  'The Poltergeist' (Jules de Grandin series) by Seabury Quinn. 3 stars. A young woman seems to be possessed by something that means her harm. This is manifest by her acting strangely with no memory of it, objects moving around, and weird voices around her. Once de Grandin has all the clues known to him, he readily solves the mystery. The story follows the de Grandin pattern; in that it is formulaic. There is a damsel in distress who is rescued. At some point the damsel is scantily clothed if not outright nude, which was an effective way to get a story on the cover of Weird Tales. De Grandin is knowledgeable on all subjects of the supernatural and has seen much in his lifetime. He often uses hypnotism in his rescue stratagem. He is a man of science as well as a medical doctor, though while living in the U.S. he cannot practice medicine so it is helpful for him to have Dr. Trowbridge in tow. This story can be found in 'The Horror on the Links (Complete Tales of Jules de Grandin, Volume 1)'.
  'Pickman's Model' by H. P. Lovecraft. 5 stars. Everything about this story is great. It is an atmospheric page turner with a terrific premise. The narrator, who has an interest in weird art, recounts an encounter he had with a now missing artist, R.U. Pickman. Pickman's work is so infamous that he is shunned by other artists. Pickman has an interesting backstory. He has an ancestor that was hanged during the Salem Witch Trials, and occultism seems to run in the family.
  The story starts with the narrator justifying his new found loathing of riding the subway, setting the stage that something unpleasant will be appearing in his story. The genius of Pickman's art is his ability to capture the realism of his unusual subjects; he 'paints terror from life'. The life like work is quite extraordinary regardless of it's horrid nature.
  After checking out the work in Pickman's studio, the artist invites the narrator to come to his secret studio which is in a run down very old part of town. The descriptions of the seedy side of town and the old building which houses the studio add to the sense of dread.
  There are no huge surprises, just a story about an artist who is striving for perfection.
  'The Old Nurse's Story' (1852) by Mrs. Gaskell. 3.5 stars. An orphaned girl is sent to live in a haunted manor house. There is music from an organ that no one plays, as well as a girl who tempts the empathetic orphan to follow her. A nice example of a Victorian ghost story. This has fluid writing that smoothly tells the tale of a haunting. This can also be found in' Weird Women, Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852-1923'. Originally published in The Strand magazine, 1852
  Also in this edition:
  'The Dark Lore' by Nictzin Dyalhis.
  'The Time-Raider' (Part 1 of 4) by Edmond Hamilton.
  'Saladin's Throne-Rug' by E. Hoffmann Price.
  'The Ride of Falume' (poem) by Robert E. Howard.
  'Hunger' by John D. Swain.
  'Some "Old Masters" (Folks Used to Believe)' (essay) by Alvin F. Harlow.
  'Loup-Garou' by Wallace West.
  'Obliteration' (poem) by Samuel M. Sargent, Jr.
  'The Red Brain' by Donald Wandrei.
  'A Problem of the Dark' by Frances Arthur.
  'The Bride of Osiris' (Part 3 of 3) by Otis Adelbert Kline.