Only the hottest of controversies will be printed in this
column--radical arguments that will bring your blood to 'The Boiling
Point.' We start this department off by presenting one of the most
blasphemous articles it has been our pleasure to read. It is by
Forrest J. Ackerman, and he calls it
'A Quarrel With Clark Ashton Smith'
No doubt this will be the commencement of a lively discussion between
the readers. It is the editor's intention to print the most
interesting arguments on both sides of the case. I have this to say:
it seems to me that Wonder Stories is going far afield when it takes
such a horror story as Mr. Smith's "Dweller in Martian Depths" and,
because it is laid on the Red Planet, prints it in a magazine of
scientific fiction. Frankly, I could not find one redeeming feature
about the story. Of course, everything doesn't have to have a moral.
The thrilling scientifilm, "King Kong," for instance, has no moral to
it--except, perhaps, to be careful of Fay Wray, if you are a great
prehistoric ape--but it has a point, at least: to interest. And
"Dweller in Martian Depths" didn't interest me. I don't know, maybe it
did others. But it disappointed me very greatly to find it in a stf
publication. In Weird Tales, all right. I don't like that type of
story, I wouldn't read it there. I fail to find anything worth-while
in an endless procession of ethereal lites, phantastic visions,
ultra-mundane life, exotic paradises, airy vegetation, whispering
flutes, ghastly plants, and dirge-like horrors. May the ink dry up in
the pen from which they flow! Or, at least, Mr. Smith, direct those
tales elsewhere--NOT to a stf publication, because I do like your
science fiction like "Master of the Asteroid" and "Flight into Super
Time." But 'stuff' like "The Light From Beyond"....
Well, let's hear from someone in favor.
(Make "The Boiling Point" boil you indignant fans. Don't let this guy
Ackerman get away with it. Your replies will be published in this
department. We would especially appreciate a reply from Mr. Smith
himself in defense of his stories.)
* * * * *
You may have the mistaken idea that "The Fantasy Fan" and the "Science
Fiction Digest" are in competition. The truth is that they are not. We
are working together, and it is our mutual opinion that TFF and SFD
each fill a separate niche in the fantasy field. Every active fan will
want both magazines. See the SFD ad in this issue. You won't want to
miss COSMOS, and the other SFD features.