by Clark Ashton Smith
[Every fantasy reader knows Clark Ashton Smith, and he needs no
introduction. Not only is he the favorite of thousands, but his work
has been said to rival and even surpass Poe. Although, as a general
rule, we do not take sides, we admit without the slightest hesitation
that we enjoy Clark Ashton Smith's tales a great deal more than we do
Poe's. Even those that find Smith's work altogether too fantastic must
admit that no other author has nearly as beautiful a vocabulary, and
few have as great an ability to produce the utterly weird effect as
our present author. He claims that "The Kingdom of the Worm" is one of
his weirdest and most original of his tales, and we are inclined to
agree with him. Let the story speak for itself.]
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