_The Eyrie_
Here we are with the second issue of WEIRD TALES—and we’re going strong!
Or at least—judging by the number of congratulatory letters that the
postman drops on our desk every morning—we’re making lots of friends.
But, says the boss, are we also making money? A fair question! As we
remarked before, WEIRD TALES is an experiment. There has never been
another magazine quite like this, hence nobody knows whether or not
such a magazine will pay. And, of course, if a magazine doesn’t pay it
promptly ceases to exist.
We do believe, though, that WEIRD TALES has entered upon a long and
flourishing journey. We know there are multitudes of readers who like
this kind of magazine and are willing to buy it. Are these readers
numerous enough to support WEIRD TALES? The answer is up to you.
But we’ll never get anywhere unless we all work together. It’s our job to
publish the right sort of magazine. It’s yours to buy it. If we both do
these things as we should—why, then, of course, WEIRD TALES is sure to
succeed. Nothing can stop it.
And if anybody thinks that ours is the easiest task he should sit at our
desk for a day or so and wade through the rivers of manuscripts that are
flooding us like the waters of spring. From this great welter of material
we must select such stories as we think you’d like to read. And since it
is manifestly impossible to know the likes and dislikes of some ten of
thousands of readers, we are often uncertain what to put in and what to
leave out. Generally, we try to solve this perplexing problem by choosing
only those stories in which we ourselves can become genuinely interested,
assuming that anything that interests us will likewise interest others.
Maybe we’re wrong about this; but—what would YOU do if you were editor of
WEIRD TALES?
Although most of the manuscripts we receive are obviously hopeless, all
must be read. Of the thousands of manuscripts sent to our office not one
has been returned, or ever will be returned, unread. We cannot afford to
take a chance on missing something really good.
Too many authors place too much stress upon atmospheric conditions when
they take their trusty typewriters in hand to turn out a goose-flesh
thriller. Seven in ten, when opening their stories, employ a variant of
the well-worn dictum: “’Twas a dark and stormy night.” Why is this? Must
the heavens weep and the thunder growl to make a weird tale? We think
not. Weird, indeed, is “The Forty Jars,” published in this issue, and yet
the story takes place on a red-hot desert beneath a blazing sun.
But let’s look through some of these letters on our desk. Here’s
something short and snappy from H. W. of Sterling, Illinois:
“My dear Mr. Baird: I have just notified my attorney to start
suit against you and your new magazine for personal injury. My
eyes are rather poor, and the first number was so interesting
that I sat up nearly all night reading it—and as a result I’ve
been wearing smoked glasses ever since. WEIRD TALES seems to
me to fill a long felt want in magazine circles. I have always
delighted in stories of the ‘Dracula’ type and that Sax Rohmer
stuff, and I never could understand why the editors didn’t wake
up. You, as a pioneer in the field, are giving them something
to think about. Meanwhile, if you make the next number as
interesting as the first, I’ll likely go blind.”
Despite the danger to H. W.’s eyesight, we tried to make this number even
more interesting than the first. And we’re going to make the next number
more interesting than this.
We have here a letter from C. L. Austin, 328 Locust Avenue, Amsterdam, N.
Y., that simply must be printed if for no other reason than as an answer
to the last ten words of it:
“Gentlemen: Having read the first issue of your magazine, WEIRD
TALES, I must admit that I like the stories very much. They are
entirely out of the ordinary. There is no question but what
this magazine will be a big success, providing the editor is
not hedged in by a multitude of ‘don’t’s’ from the managing
department. It is a well-known fact that many times an editor
would like to accept material that in many ways would conflict
with the policy of the magazine, and there is a loss of what
no doubt would be valuable material. In fact, I have known
for some time that adverse criticism of half a dozen people
in different sections of the country have power to change the
entire editorial policy of a magazine.
“And unless the editor is the kind of man who is brave enough
to stick for his ideals, regardless of his job, there must be
much vacillation, with a consequent loss of valuable material
and a depreciation in the reading value of the magazine. I
notice that you say you will publish all letters received,
providing there is no objection by the writers. Well, really
now, old chap, I’ve no possible objection, but I doubt that you
have the nerve to do it.”
With no desire to engage in a controversy with Mr. Austin, we must say
to him emphatically that the editorial policy of WEIRD TALES is not
dictated by the business office. We will stand or fall on our platform of
“something new in magazine fiction.” If you support us, we shall be able
to give you what you want. If you turn thumbs down, we’ll blow out the
gas and go home in the dark. In any event, there will be no compromise.
WEIRD TALES, as long as it lives, will always be “The Unique Magazine.”
Here’s another:
“Dear sir: I have just read your new magazine, WEIRD TALES,
also The Eyrie by yourself. SOME magazine, I’ll say! There
is a real kick to these stories—something that is pitifully
lacking in the stories of most magazines. Why editors shy at
‘weird’ and ‘horror’ stories has always been a mystery to me.
I like meat in my literature the same as I do in my menu. This
willy-nilly stuff of would-be cowboys (when there aren’t any
such animals nowadays) is sickening. So is sugar when eaten to
excess. Keep this magazine going. There is a demand for such
literature. We all love mystery and stories that give us cold
spine (we of the public), whether the editors think so or not.
This magazine of yours will prove it, I’m sure. Believe me,
I’m for it! For the same reason I have always read Poe. And to
prove this, I am enclosing a check for a year’s subscription.
Money talks. We are always willing to pay for what we like.”
That letter came from Dr. Vance J. Hoyt, suite 818, Baker Detwiler
Building, Los Angeles, California, and that’s the sort of letter we
particularly like to read. As the doctor says, money talks,—and it speaks
with an eloquent tongue!
So, also, do letters of frank criticism such as the following:
“I’m glad to say that I think the first issue of WEIRD TALES
very good. I read ‘Ooze,’ ‘The Ghoul and the Corpse,’ ‘Fear,’
‘The Place of Madness,’ ‘The Unknown Beast,’ ‘The Sequel,’
‘The Young Man Who Wanted to Die.’ Of these I was mightily
taken with ‘The Ghoul and the Corpse,’ which, to my mind, ran
a close race with ‘Ooze’—in fact, as to handling, I think
the best written, by far, of any that I read. Taylor’s story
was good—my wife read it, and liked it—and so did I, as to
theme. The handling left something to be desired in the way of
smoothness, but, as a story, it was the cat’s whiskers. ‘The
Unknown Beast’ was about the poorest, pressed for this honor
by Story’s ‘Sequel.’ But, all in all, I am heartily in accord
with your editorial dictum that people DO like and want grim
stories. I know that I’m one who does. And I read ‘The Grim
Thirteen,’ with some amazement that none of these stories had
sold previously.
“I think some of our editors are so hide-bound, so cribbed,
cabined and confined within the narrow limits of an
increasingly myopic purview that, for the life of them, they
can see nothing but stereotypes. Or else they’re not really
editors, but just hired men who have to pass the stuff up to a
‘business’ boss who doesn’t know a single thing about fiction,
or life, either, for that matter. All in all, I congratulate
you on something really good—AND new.—H. C., Summit, N. J.”
We have received a considerable number of letters like the following from
S. O. B. of Beulah, New Mexico:
“Your enterprise hits me in the right spot. I am a lover of
Poe’s stuff, and have often felt that the general editorial
prejudice against weird stories today isn’t, after all, a true
reflection of the people’s taste. I hope my opinion is correct
and that WEIRD TALES may receive a hearty welcome.”
Also like this:
“Congratulations on your new magazine, WEIRD TALES! The first
edition was a veritable ghastly, ghostly knockout! Most every
one enjoys an occasional ghost story, and a thrilling novelette
like ‘Ooze’ is a better tonic than Tanlac.—D. L. C., Denver,
Colorado.”
Victor Wilson of Hazen, Pa., writes us:
“I have just finished reading the first installment of ‘The
Thing of a Thousand Shapes.’ It is fine, and one who has a good
imagination should not ‘start it late at night.’ I wish to
congratulate you on your fine fiction magazine. I am a reader
of several other magazines of up-to-date fiction, but yours
is the first of its kind. I have not read all of the stories,
but I like ‘The Place of Madness,’ ‘The Grave,’ and ‘Hark! The
Rattle!’”
And here’s a line o’ type or two from our star contrib, Anthony M. Rud:
“WEIRD TALES seems to have hit your mark excellently well. It
possesses glamor for me in every yarn but two—which I won’t
attempt to criticize as both well may suit other readers
exactly.”
We wish Rud had told us the names of those two yarns. Strange as it may
seem, we’re always more interested in adverse criticism than in praise.
Still, we can’t deny that we like to get letters like this one from C. P.
O. of Gainesville, Texas:
“Dear Mr. Baird: Allow me to number myself among the first
subscribers to the new venture. Check enclosed. The sub-title,
‘unique,’ really describes the magazine, even in these days of
specialization in the magazine field.... WEIRD TALES appears
at a time when the public is interested in this type of story,
I believe, as I notice in the monthly bulletins of Brentano’s,
McClurg’s and Baker & Taylor that quite a collection of ghost,
psychic and weird tales are appearing in book form. Most famous
authors wrote one or more weird tales; to mention a few:
Dickens, Thackeray, Poe, Bierce, O’Brien, F. Marion Crawford
and De Maupassant. I fear you will find greater trouble in
securing good material for WEIRD TALES than for DETECTIVE
TALES, for, after all, the detective story is a matter of
craftsmanship while the really first-class ghost or weird tale
is a matter of art.”
It is hard to get good material for WEIRD TALES; but we’re glad to work
hard for it—to go almost to any length for it—if, by so doing, we can
offer something distinctive and worthwhile and UNIQUE in magazines.
Here’s another letter from Texas:
“Dear sir: I just bought a copy of WEIRD TALES, and I have read
most of the stories and consider them very good. I believe that
a magazine of this type will be very popular. In fact, I am
sure it will be, and I trust nothing will happen to change your
policy in regard to the type of material you are now using and
expect to use in the future.—J. H. C., Houston, Texas.”
William S. Waudby of Washington, D. C., wrote to us, “You have struck the
right key with WEIRD TALES, and congratulations are in order for Vol. 1,
No. 1,” while E. E. L. of Chicago wrote to us, in part, as follows:
“Gentlemen: ... You will probably be deluged with a lot of
stuff, for everybody who writes is sometimes compelled to
commit to paper some seductive phantasm of his brain for
the sheer pleasure of doing it.... Poe took more than 5,000
words to develop his supreme story of horror, and those who
have an ambition to imitate the Master will often require a
larger canvas. Your story lengths—1,000 to 20,000 words—will
give everybody a chance to show what he can do. May I not
express the hope that your magazine will prove a success, and
that you will publish therein stories that otherwise would
molder in filing-cases, and which will be lifted from your
pages to become a permanent part of our literature?... If the
contributions can maintain a sufficiently high level you can
count on me as one of your permanent subscribers, for I dearly
love to read stories of this character.”
With regard to WEIRD TALES for May: We meant to say a good deal about
it in this month’s Eyrie, but we’ve consumed so much space with our
correspondence that we’ve precious little room left. All we can tell
you now is that if you are seeking the “usual type” of fiction you will
not find it in the May issue of WEIRD TALES. But if you are looking for
“something different”—something that you’ve never expected to see in any
magazine—then the place to find it is in the May WEIRD TALES. Need we say
more?—THE EDITOR.
[Illustration]