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~' A 11Faritasciemce Publi­cation,11 is published quar­terly, time, finances, and the Navy VTilling. . . ·

SubscriPtions: Nine issues !

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YOU CAr·!..' •r._. JUDGE A BOOK. • • • , Joe Kennedy

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THE AHNALS OF AARDVARK , • , , • , · , • · , ; ; P.s.gc A. Aaron Ao.n.rdvc..rk I II ·

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I for one dolln:r., Twelve iss-J THE C_O,MING OF TSATHOCxGUA •• , , , • , O•

ue s for one> C!)'llar to mem- Herman Stowell King bers of the National Fantasy Fan Fodornt'ion. ·

Adv!f.tisoment~: Sixty cents for one-half po.ge; one doll­ar for full page. 10% dis• COunt if YOU type Stencil , I

For-Sales, Wants, Svmps; by j collectors free of charge, !-

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' l;'he views and opinions ex-1 pressed in PEON arc tho~:c or! the authors, ·and not ncccss-: arily those of tho editors, !

I ! . ED!TOR: I

-HARr!ONY . ~ . . .• . . .. . . . . . . Jim Ho.rmon

TWO LOp T WORLDS .I I I f • I •

;· · ' · · · Erik I1olmcs

MESSENGERS OF DF.A'l'H , , , • , Ed Ludwig

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MN Y..AN KABITZER . . . . . . . T, E, V7atkins

MORE FANTASY OPE?.AS • • ! • • • •

Anthony Boucher

I uv .P..NETI cs • . • • . • . • . • • • Cho.rlcs Led Riddle, PNl; USN\ · , William Dilnncr Fleet All Woa thor 'Training ..

Unit, Pacific, · · · . 'PEON . NOTES , . • • , , • • • • • 1 •

c/o Fleet Post ·ofi'ice, I BOOK ~VI~WS •• , •••••.• , San Francisco, California, .·, ~ By .. tho. Edttor

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__ PR.ODUCTIOH EDITORS: ·:

M. J, Anders , PHSN, USN G. F. Pecha , PNSN, USN Maximilian rUc):o.ol Riddle

Cover dra-;m b~r J. R. Wc.ldq.; Int;otior ilh1.r:Jtrc.t:i.ons j

·· £rom drnvling~ . by J o,o . Kenncd~~, I\ots1or ~ ~;1<:i_: cl i ~--'=_:-~_[

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Aloha! Two things make up the rea~ cn for the lateness of this issue. Painly it's due to sheer laziness on my part; but partly, also, becnuse of the visit paid to the Riddle family here in the island s by my mother. What spnre time I could get from the office, ne.tur.'llly, I spent with her and in showing hor tho numerous attractions o f Hawa.ii. flo had a grand time i'ti t h her, and of course , her two grandsons nero mlghty proud to show grandmother from Ok],.nhomn off to their playmo.tes. Hor:ovcr, be t hat as it may, notre late Hith the February issue of PEON 1 a.nd hnpo ymi understand. · The May i ssuo, I th1pk, 11ill be on time!

It eeoms>tbD.t the. Riddle'fninl)..y eoasec is getting · science fiction conscious. Tvro or three \7ec1~s -'lgo, I

' ~~~t_-~_~_i\!~:~ i~~ ~~s. t~!dd~~lve=~~ a~~e~~~~i~~ s~~u~!~~s-~~c!~~~~= t::~---- fiction" movies--- 11Rocketship11 and 11 !~nrs Attacks Tho

World." I was rather curious about these trw pic­tures, inasmuch as I hadn't heard anything about them before this. Ahd, then, too, the Drive-In usually runs ten-to-tr:elve-y8ar old pictures so it \7118 possible I hnd missed t ho pictures originally. . But I hadn 1 t--thcy wore two old Flash Gordon serials th:1t I suffered through cnQh Sc\turrhy 111hen I \7as going through highschool, 14 years ago! The picture Ho.sn 1 t put together good in my e stima.tion, being very jerky in spots. Got -:t fen laughs , too 1 out of tho scenes of the rockctships in flight bot rteen om· -~h and the planets Mongo a.nd Hars, uhat with clouds in space; and ospcdally once when Flash Gordon (played in both pictures 'biJ Buster Cra.bbeo) opons the door in mid-space to throw out a t ime bomb--with no consequent loss of air! I might add, in the ovent you have the wrong impression, thc.t I did enjoy seeing the picture again--this time with 14 years of science fiction rending beh_":1d mo. Ira. (4t) a.nd Robbie (2), Yvho usurtll y go t o sleep rieht after tho cartoons when we go t o the Drivo-Jn, pulled n srlitch t h:i.s timo on me. They were so fascinated lJ.f th(~ rockctships and tho picture in gen­eral thnt they st.-'lyod mm.ke the \7holc time we were thcrc --nnd co~ ·:mcntod very sagely on the pictures the next day. Thcy'l'c avon started to tnko my magazine s to tho bathroom with them and looking at tho pictur es Hhilc on­gaged in their \7ork in tha t room. The only thing Ira c r.n 't undc:rst.c.tld , about the covers, is, 11 Why doesn 't t hat lndy got cold w1.thout nny clothing dnddy? 11 (Sholl I toll him?) Now, when I get n now mo.go.z ino, I h~cvc to explain in detail the cover pictures to them. Right nm-: , they 're :in their room, playing, of nll things, roekE:Jtship cowboys! Who knows--tbo:y- ma.y even grow up to be fans, god bless thorn!

I realize that

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\~:;SAYS JOE 1\ ENN E DY ' I

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One summer afternoon, back in tho balmy days when Wilbur Scott Poncock was editor of Planet Stories, yours truly and a couple other fans were bumming around the. offices of Fiction House, ogling tlic originc.ls, i"lhon someone demanded, 11Whcn is Planet going to ditch that horrible babe-bum and bern cover formula.'? 11

I'll always remember Peacock's reply. Caught off gunrd, he blinked a few times through heavy-lensed spectacles, then finally drnwlcd, "Go ahod ·

and laugh .. t our covers, fella! They probably account for h.."llf of our circulation!"

Han can you argue ngainst logic like thn t? For the: muse ·or Art is tossed out of tho ·.undow when the Great God Greenback comes in the door! Fans may rave and rant and cuss ••• editors may shrug their sho1~CrS ••• self-.appointcd guo.rdio.ns of public morals may go.sp in horror and -po. trons of "rcspcotablc literature" mo.y sneer -- in vain. Like it or not, 1 t Y!01Jld seem that galloping green grulzo.ks, popping ray-guns, shrieking damsels in crimson sarongs, nnd sun-tanned horoos do scorn to sell a. heck of lot of sc:l. cnco-fiction mo.ga.zines.

Bales of paper, gallons of ink, and thousands of dollars worthof throe-cent stamps have been consumed by stfans who hnvo crusaded f or the past t wo decades for better covers on prozinos, Via a letter-to-tho-editor writing campaign of tremendous proportiono. Countless typor1rit cr ribbons have been. worn to a frazzle -- but to no avail, The terrible po..rado of gallant guys, ghastly visaged gals, and grinning goons rolls on and on across ~ho nm1sstands of tho nntion, while frusta. ted fantnsy fo.ns fu:no. Some stfnns ( ospccinlly youngsters who don 1 t vJD.nt to got in trouble \7i th tho older generation) mnko it n practice to rip off tho offensive covors bef ore lugging prozines homo. Not all fans, hanover, arc sufficiently thick skinned to be able to mutilntc prozincs in this fc.s hion wlthout cx-

~rioncing qua~s qf conscience, r.qost fans of my o.cqunintonco h:wo formed EPRINTED FROM THE AUTUMN 19481 the habit of sm.tching Plnnct §.t&r;i.o§ SSUE OF REDD B.OGG'S CHRONOSCOPE I or 1/!r.ird TnJ.cs from tho magazine ro..ck,

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slapping two dimes on the counter, thrusting the lurid publicntion inside their coat, and rae ing homeward like a dope-runner smuggling a ce.sc of marijuana beneath the very eyes of tho coast guard patrol.

Why, tL ,·n, docs this uncomfortable situation 0xist? Editors arc willing to use more mature cover themes. lfsu­ally, however, the editor has very. little say in determining his baby's outer wraps. It is a well-known fact that some distributors specifically r equire a curvcsome Miss on oach and every cover, or else they vJill not hc.ndle the magazine. Frequently tho blame rests with tho pulp-house's in­dif ferent art department, or on iron­bo1.md rules of policy laid down by the high brass upstairs.

After long 'years of painful re­search this scribe has formed t~o con­clusion that sciontifantasy covers can be grouped into throe main class ifica­tions. These groups r ef er to cover artwork, that is, cxcludinf?; sw~h all­too-rare cases of consn·IJ<'. t:i. 'lrn oxom­plicficd by tho all-lc:ttr.ring r:c.vcr de· signs on tho first f cv; issues of Fam­.Ql!Q Fantasti,g Mysteries, o!:' t l.e pro.c­tico of f eaturing only stor'" tit l es adopted 11i th tho la ttcr issues o. f Yn_knovm WoJ:.).ds.

Classification #1 is what I call tho 11 prctty doo-dads 11 type of science­fiction cover. This sort o"" t ' J 11g r:as popular fifteen ye.'lrs o.go) ·-:h c!. nearly every issue of Daddy Gorns bc.t c}·~ : s pion­eers wns resplendent with g~r~ ::;ctry-­

soaring rockeships nimcd Satw·niKlrd , space flights in the middle of some alien go.laxy, with all r uy-r;u':'lo blast­i ng uwny like an old-time I.r.d:;rendcnce Dny Cole bra. tion. Or else , v.' 1r n F rnnk R. Paul got bored draxling . ~·· j c i ~ r. tships, there'd be a. huge, t nng1. ...:ci rr.ass of t vdstcd green machinery,, o:r_· a stalking robot, or a pair of doll- faced humans flittering across tho glitt'cring expanse of n fu tur istic city . Crude ns some of the early attempts on §cienc£ Wonder o.nd tho Quarterlies s corn today, they wero tremend ously offcc ti ve . Paul coul dn 1 t dra>'l hup1cms any more than I could carve the ~!Jaun t Rushmore memorials Hi th a can-opono­or, but -- gads, how that mnn could concot a mo.gnificcnt l y b cuil d·:: ring

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A array of gadgets! Paul carved hiinself a G place in a field he chose· to make uniq- E

No, 1 111 put ~i better illus• 5

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In classification #1 also, I'd include most covers which attempt to appeal to the pulp­buyer's scant sense of beauty. · Finlay's memorable cover for the FFM containing 11 Crcep Shadow! n is about · the ultimate peak of the 11 pre·bty doo.:dads 11 school of cover-painting. Some of the attractive covers on the Bates ~

'· ' edited Astounding also ·fit into this depnrt­ment. Remember those battles in space, with scarlet puffs of smoke, against a backf£round

af whirling planetoids? In group number one, I'd also put Campbell's recent experimental astronomical covers. While astronomers rnay sigh with delight at a picture of Mercury in transit, to most readers, I suspect, the picture must 1ve resembled the negative of a photograph of an egg being fried sunn3r··side-up.

The second classification is what I call tho "appeal to the:: reader's sense of curiosity," or ·nwhat in hell is it?" type of cover. The old Wonillu; Stories boasting affull-page picture of a battleship floo.ting up­side down in mid air over New York City (the scene illustrated '1 Drec.m 1 s End0 by A. Connell) certainly takes the prize in this department, Another good example of this s~rt of thing is the FFM cover for John Taino 1 s 11 The Greatest Adventure, 11 which appeared not so long ago. You probably recall the pic. Occupying the right-hand of the half cover, a toworj.ng green­scaled dinosaur gapes down at an airplane, out of which a couple of guys are walking. On seeing such a tableau leering donn o.t him from t he ncv.rs­rack, the pulp reader's infcrnnl sense of curiosity may persuade him to plunk dovvn a quarter and buy tho thing, if only to find out vihcro tho air­plane came from and what tho di11osaur is doing. Or so the publ;l.shors hope. f.~ost such action and adventure scenes are slanted at this vulner­able point in the potential reader. On Fantastic Adven~r~ you may see a boarded villain leaping out of o. box, shooting a cannon bodcclccd with orange polka-dots in tho general direction of a horrified damsel , And what is the object of all this? Merely to inveigle you out of tvmnty-fi vo cents.

Woirg Tales, with its Golgove spreads, -'lnd Lo Brown Coyo's f orml C> ss seeming blobs of color, goes in for this stuff a lot. Eycn Cnrr.pb<:,ll is far from immune,'though --and remember the Rogers cover dc;>icting a t 1ilo-hcaded mutant in Heinlein's "Univorso11 ? In category number t wo v:o might also toss certain of the · indescribable abortions fostered on t h0 covers of the Sloane-edited Amazing, not to mention the ancient Gcrnsh~ck­zinc cover which consisted of nothing but a lot of colored spots - a

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p 1\ c seetion of a picture printed b:'f half-tone color plates, enla.:rced severnl E hundred tiines!

6 Finally~ we ooin'e to my f avorite classification: group #3,•· which I call 11 a.ppealing to the baser emotions" (this is also .known as hitting be­low the belt) , There is a certain art to undressing a cover horoino. The rips in the sarong must occur in precisely the right places -· not even a mere eighth bf' an inch out of th~ way, lest the censors swoop doim like a flock of vUl tU:res and· , chuck th~ issue off the stands. Terror Tale s and Hoxro~ Stories ' were somewbat lax nbout getting the rips in the right places, and consequently the post office department -- but that's another story, There once _vias an era, however, when tho artists rwre _a &ood dcnl more free to · appeal tp what.Dr. Freud termed the 11universal urgc, 11 · Old­time:ss will r ecall witl?. fond pleasure the day -of Margaret Brundage's cover

· nudes for ~ Tales, · i'lhen . ac-res · rind aQrcs of pink flosh seeped from the . Brundage paintbrush.' It is a rorvol to this writer that outside pressure · didn't force!!: off t'~ri stand~, for such vast expanscis of-skin 'ha'{o seldom

. · ·been viewed publicly outside of tho Minsky ·circuit. Oh, there: Jllay have ·been n fe"il skulls or peacock f e.nthers scattered· around -- in a most uncon­vincing manner -- but mos~, o'f' Weird's co•Jer tlttrnctions v;urc ns rarr as n f reshly peeled banana. In mu.co recent times, . though, the more cnuti ons Mr. Finlay has achieved nearly the so.me effect by means of bursts and scores of rninbow-huod bubbles scattered around tho cover ml:tid€ni. in exact-

. ly the appi-opriate places, . The more cons0rvntivc Marwin mngs~ ho.bitucil~:r attire tho · cover heroine :in nn.nties and bra (which always scorn to dc­

·fy grovito.t:.on), whether orr .~·: , tho sotting is inn tropical jungle or the f'rostod plains of Pluto. 1ho era of Mo.rgnrot Brundage htJ. S po.sscd m7ay, but the spirit lingers on. ·

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~lanct Stories I famed ctornal- trio.ngl0 ' ~s cones do. pond primnril~l on emo­tional llppeal, of course.. When the oily ;.; mustnchod villain blclsts a lnnce of blue light in tho direction of Horrified Hotta, tho full-bosomed demoiselle with nn inexplicable · propensity for getting int o tight plo.ccs rcgulnrly every three months, Courageous Carson nl-."IQJS · s ;. cms to bo on ho.nd .with his own trusty atom-blaster ... cithor defending the her oine, . or just running on tho scone. · Ono of t hose . days some Fiction House artist-. will reach tho limit of· his endurance, nnd paint a cover in r1hich tho hero shoots tho monst.or . while the mm1s tor shoots the her oi ne while tho horoino drills tho hero straight bctwoon the eyes with. n Buck Rogers gun •.

And that, sa~i to sny, p1~otty much covers the prozine - - o.h -'- covers . Thoro is not too much to be said about t ho situation as it exists, but 110

might attempt to suggest a f ew remedi es, In the first place, . itls high time thnt tho publishers stopped clnssing ' scionce ficti on publicntj_onG ns a peculiar mutant vnrioty af .dotcctivo mng, For pvo~r reader nttrncted to s-f by t he glo.ring shock ~ upon - ::)hock s tyle of cover, I 111 wager dollo.rs to doughnuts thoro arc two or three potcntinal scared off , It 1s protty­gonorolly conceded thnt the average intelligence of the science fi~.ion reader i s several notches higher than thnt of the chnps who profor to kill t:i.mo with wooly wostcrns or gorc-bcspa.ttorod murder mystoric)S,

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In the f er! s hort w-'nths of its public existenc e , dianctics · h o. s bc. cn too succ essful for its own good . I. vidence of tho v10:ckc-.bHi t y of its Elcthods h -.s boon piling up in one 11 rolc 0.Sod11 c c,se o..ftc r :-m­othcr--Yd th fl. f en 11 clcn.rs 11 throvm in f or spocto. c1.:t1.~.r goorl moo.surc.

It isn 1t :o. trro-hour, snn.p-your­fit'(~' rs-;:md-i t' s-dono mir:1clc pro­ce ss; dio.no tic clonring still in­val vcs t icc c.ncl eff ort c.nd kn ~•vl­

hmJ, But ~ . t produces r esults not obt::l.~n::-,blo rr :T_th any of tho old-line medical o.nd psychi<ltric methods. A c ertain modico scoffingly r c f orrccl t o cl io.nctics ns 11 the Door mnn t 8

psychoana l ysis, 11 the r eby--he tho­ught--c ondemning it t o oblivion. Dinnc tics r efus ed. t o shrive l up c.nd die .

But tho maj or crime of cl.i:::netic ·wcrlc hn. s boon o..chicving r osnl ts ni thout r ef erence t o t he r:;st:-:. bl j sh­ed prof ossi ons; without havjng rc:­coursc t o tho indi vidu~ls vrho h:cvo g0no throu;h . s even yco.rs of expe n­sive specialized tra ining .

c;ood?

Srmc people---those curre nt ly .:1..o-t.Jv( , in d i:-J.noi::i.e.s---thjnJc s o .

THE ANNALS OF-

a.aaron aarO\Jar~,ILI

Di.:cnct.ics c·rtnin vcstoct

h·'.S '1.lrc:'.cly .r;-1~ ·. r)bcc1 int . rc s ·:~s ~.n t~w

r>10 st s c.;Js i tivo )ort i cc1S -.j t' 1. ·ir pno. t omy--to- ':!i t: thd.r ·: r ~·.ll b s :n::'. bo.nkboC'l(s. And :". s rK•:t·c ."'. !."'t 'l !10'~0

indi v:i. duo.ls obk.i ~l :·. rrorlci:.-. '. 'r:·tc.?-

l cde;c of c:io.n: t i c ;11e t >or.is (!x ;k o.uditors ;-t :\.t hout ,..,_,.1',' · spc c:l· :· ·i.z.c.d tr::: i ninu DO obt-::.in r ::- s ults ), '. ·:-.nc c. om:..Ll ( r but h~ r):Jy si2··i.; ~'i c r·.nt

nu···1bcr t.:.lcc the l-\J_sb ·. :c·d D :i'T~ tic Rcsc:mrch F'rund -~t ir~n Is profcs:: .. ~ .. n~.l c -. urs ,; s , · t hj s thrco'.t t G t>~ Y _ s ~cr.l. interests vill i ncrc. - sc .

Thes e; intc·:ccsts? · b ry_;r: .v;r , ·~.ro

not k.1~inr; t his tl::rc.-·. t t c the ir prcrspqri t y l'rin['; c1 o•;.rn, lis t· is is b0in,;; rr:d tto1, ~ c cuntcr~.tt ··. c 1 ~ by these intc:::·· .sts ln s :·lrc: '.c] · 1Y:;cn Lmnchcd , tho obj c:ctivu ,-::-f ·:ih:i ch is 0bviously t o s t op the s prc.:'.cl ;f cl.i ­n.notics-.

The Found",ti c:n Is schor,l i n rlizf'¥~o th, Ncnv ,Jcrsoy, thrc J~.·~ .• r:r.:d by r n injunction b ··.s ccl r:1 v1 ~ .,_l l c ­gr:t.ion th".t it rr1 s illc~J-~lJY t ~. ~ c h­ine t ho pr;:cticc ,~f T•lccl.i cin·. , 11~-.s boon hurriu 11 v mcv; ·d t o i"lcu ·' -,.,.,, . Other l eGal ncti nn s--i 1spirr~'i l)y

yc>u gue ss who-- .'l r~-, pcnct; l'(;, ,,_,lc1

~nrc nrc expe cted ,

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An interesting fo~turo of .this n.ttack is that it is not against dianotics ~ .tsolf. So far, oo o.ttcmpt hns boon ~:.. ; t o clnili1 thr".t dinnctic work is a fuko, or that it docs not wor·k. Rather , tho . attack is based on a clain tho.t dinnctic processing is a form of the .!2!.§.£ticc ££ ncdic­i.!l.2, and ns such shoul d . be forbiddon t o laymen and placed exclusively in the hands of doctors.

At, of course, stnndnrd mcdicnl­f oes.

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Tho Association of Anteaters--­that's the Aardvarks nnd their cou­sins---cvnluntos the situation as follons:

The HDRF may possibly b() fc,rcod t o suspend oporc.tions . as an organ­ized group. Legal battles c.ro noto­riously expensive, o.nd the Foundat-1.on w:1s started on n frayed shoo­string,

BUT THAT WILL NOT STOP Dif.NETIC PROCESSING AND WORK!

Already, H has spread t :1o f nr t o make suppression fcnsiblc. Too rn(tny people have learned t 0 nu<'l.it; t oo mo.ny ho.vo received various bono­fits from dio.nctic processing; o.nd thoro nrc t oo many c opies of DIANE­TICS nround.

And tho American public hns tho poculinrity--bo it ongrnnic or not-­of developing a. ho::i.rtJ' nppctito for any fruit v1hich is f orbidden. So it looks ns thour;h one of the next moves will be tho dcvolopr:wnt of tho 11 dio.net1 c spoc.kcnsJ'. 11

Tho Foundation will hnve n:~th­inG nhc.tsouvor t o do vlith this . Of course not; ns n responsible orcnni-

zntion, it r~ill hr'. 'TO n ·•t :1in::.; t·~ do Fi th such o.n illcc::.l prc,cti cc . It nill not cncurc.ge it--but neither, i'lill it disc1urnco it.

· · ·· HDA t s v!ill not do.ro t ··· ;-...c1 v . r­tisc their s crvi crs; nt l cnst nat openly. But wcr d nill unc1ouhtcdly sprond on a "ssh, keep it qui ct1 11

bo.s:i.s, with s ocrot 1Jnsm:r>rc~.s ·.:·f tho ~'Joe- s ent :-:10 11 variety :.i.n·l_ ::11 the tril'll~, incs.

It will be strictly n. r~nttcr of individual cnt crprisc--:J.nd t here­fore, not subj ec t t o ccncrr.UzC'.t­ions. ·

It rrill k .vo its dis".dV[!.llt"'-i; .... s ; pooplo who want dhmr.tic pr ·~ · ccssin.;;

vrill r eally h:.:vo t o l ook f or it .

But it nill hr:'.vc c~rlv~'.nb.ccs t oo; tho cho.nccs c·f nn ~ll"ti-•1 i cnu ­

. tic Gcstnpc boin;:; ctblo t o st:lt:'p cut t ho iJOVOf.l811t :-:tr o ror.1:JtC: indeed,

Hey, bud, y·m ;·.r:mnn ldcl: -:-.n cn­gr'l r:1 nround?

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i HORROR STORIES : :19J.5--Feb; Jno ; ~ Oct,· 1Q36--Fob-Mor; Apr .. Mny; I --j Jun-Jul; 1212""-Jun-Jul;l\ug-8op; ; 1938-.. Fob-~k:r ; Oct-Nov ; Doc- Jnn; i 192_2--.Tnn-,Tul; 1940--Nny.

i !EHROH 'It:LES:: 1 G}k--oct. ; 12.12-­; Mnr • .Jun • Jul· Sop · 1 036---hpr • . ' ' ',_.;t..:t::.. _ , : May; Jul; Aug; 12.?7---Hny-Jtm; i Nov-Dec; 1932 - -Jnn-:F'eb ; ~1ny--Jun; ; Nov-Dec; 194.0--Hny.

Bo:x 11 1\ 11

c/o Editor , PEON

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b y ~ J-{erman S't ow eli )<__ing . ~

Far ·back in the ·pre-existence of mankind, vrhen Earth was r::t:' 11 a steaming morass, and the fir.st .VJe:i.rd life ' form crawled fo rth from the ooze of primal slime; . the god Tsa.thoggu.a came through the void from a dist::mt planet called Cykran6sh (now termed o.s Sa turn by astronomers), Tso: tno.r_,gun. wn.s an evil god; he had lived for interminable eons of t ime , rmd Cy1:r:'.nosh was not his original home. Viccenillions of years c.go, he hnd cor·o :-:·c~,·c from o. rem .· e star, in a galaxy so distant n.s to be unthinkable.

In appearance, Tsathoggua somewhat resembled a hugo, bloated +, o<ld , !~-' ­though he was not batrachian in the least. His skin, anl ' o.gnin i70 mus t use o. mundane analogy totally adverse from the real t hing, \'lD.s covered vlith a short, sloth-like fur, There were no pupils in his bulging eyes, and his nose was b.lmost bridgeles s . His body i70.S moi~1t nnd slir.::'.r: co::­posed of . some viscid, protoplastic substance,

Now although Tsathoggua v1o.s extremely repulsj_ve in every asp~;ct , he vrns an incredibly wise god, He held s ecrets t.h11t n normnl t e·"rc. ~3triGl mind could not begin to conceive; knowledge of extro.-cosmic ec .. 1md(' s, l'lul­tiple dimensions, primordiOJ. r e1 ces of ultimate evolution, tho crc" .. t ~;_ on of the clements; this, a:1d more, he know, and could be drn.nn from r.rcJ 1 rJ of the subeonscious should he ever hnve usc for such wisdom .

Tsn thoggun, hovmvcr, had mora thnn ono a ttri butc of tho too.d. ..\ s:\.dc from quasi-physicnl resemblance, he was sluggishly l G. zy. The long journc7 fr om Cykra.nosh (although infinitesimally small in cor-:pe;rison ·,-ritl;.. th;.: one from his original ho.bitnt) ha.d tired him, nnd nftcr gorg i ng on o. fc.1 ::'Xl ­

phibian creatures, hEl burroned doop in some hot, f etid muc~:, nb. : rc for ronny millcniums he slept soundl;t ,

The Earth ha.d gone through a l ong stc.go of cooling nnd s oli dif i c .tiou ; and the slime vanished from t ho surfnce to be rc:placcd by '.''::trr' scc.s., Gro en vegetati on sprnng up, ond soon the l o.nd v:as covered r:ith J.ush, tropical jungles. Living orga nisms \·.rent through vn.rious process :: s of r.. .v-o ­lution, nnd presently tho earth teemed r!Ti th tremendous :mimo.ls, r··os t of v1hich v;cro :""cptilinn.-

Dinosaurs roamed tho jungles, ~nd me~rshos , o.nd ptcrocb.c t~rls f'Ll·:T:-'•:.d ugily through the air. Diplodocus fed on vegetables, '.'!hila Tyrnnosrll lrUS f ed on Diplodocus,

Tho god Tsathoggua rinG mvakcnod by th(; cooling of the muck ~- n r:h:i.cb }1C

was embedded, Lazily blinking his protuber ant cyr~ s (he had s ~ght c1. · s,:,:l t o the lack of pupils--a fnntD.sti c cxtro.-optical sense of perception) ho wobbled elastically onto the dry ground, o.nd proceeded t o scn.r ch -:-.bnu~- :for rrico.ns of nourishment, ·

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A G E Tho first living nnimnl to i rnping'3 on Ts:lt.hoggua' s cogr1iti on ·,ns a

flying Ptoranodon. Disp1nying a. remarkable elongnt.ion, tho squ::~.t, drorrsy-lG looking doi ty from outer sp[tcc flicked out his tongue nnd visco,lsJ.v en•

circled the poor Ptcrnnodon, Thoro wo.s a.n innrtic1.'-L':i. to squ[xr;l~ , ::n;cl. Tsnthoggun gulped tho reptilian bird down his plo.stic esophagus. Ano~1 followcd ·n period of digestion. Tsnthoggun did not convert his f ood :L! the manner c· ~ :-,ractcristic of homo sc.piens and lesser nnimals; inst ~ c.d ho merely a.ssinL'lted :!.t intd) his own individual subs"tc1.nco, And co•wi c-1.-;rig his osscnco, there rms no danger of ovcr-cxpnnsion.

HctVing dono with tho.t sr.1nll morsel, tho toc.d god ran rubbcrJ.-.r o:ff, a.ppnrontly mrlmnrd, but with nmc.zing celerity. Entering the t 11ic~~ jn .. nzJ.o he espied n huge, sca.ly-cla.d crcc.turo vmlking upright. Tyrc.rmos:.'.'Jrus Rc~, the most fcDocious of all reptiles.

Surely, this enormous quadruped i"muld sntinto his hunger, VJOt,ght Tsuthoggun. Irnrncdintely 1 he waddled placidly to·:;nrd tho Tyro..m,os::Prus , who a.ftcr a.n intorvnl of surprised silence (surprised th::-, t o.nythinc; d:--.r ;~ d approach him) snorted a loud chnllengo. Eyes rod v;i th t errible rrr::ctb, tho battlo-scnrrod carnivora of tho Mosozdlic Ago boundnd to m:;ct his no:·,_ tcrrostria.l ndvcrsa.ry.

Tsnthoggua vruickly underwent n phenomenal motnmor phos is, melt1 ng: :i.ntu a semi-liquid stat8, and literally pouring over th:; bcwiJ.dorcd Rex! There wns o. short moment of violont convulsion, us tho dio-hnrd ',,' ''.J.'l'i or struggled valiantly ngninst tho svmllovling tide of tenacious l ife \J~ i ch engulfed him . All offort \7::18 futile h o~·fcvcr, a.nd o.ftcr n f ew f eeble t rc ­mours, tho lumpy mnss of adhe s ively sticky mcd:,tor r crilo.incd motionl ;,ss. It had· not tnkcn long for Tsathoggu.'1 to incorporo.to tho scr :r.my Ftc;::L:rJdon in­t o himself, but tho gront Tyrcmnosnurus \ !US a vnstly diffr:: r cr~t tmr.L,rtr.king to him!

Hours lnter, following this ext ended absorption, buck to his nnurian likeness , o.nd deciding he did cl imate , corronccd to seck sor.1c subterranean abode,

Tsathoggun r c:noldcd not liko the surfc .. co

This provod a.n easy tnsk f or such nn intelligent dr:::L t y . By usc of sor.1o recondite, extra sense, Tsnthogguu locntod a suitnblo pl -:'. ce deep in tho bowels of tho earth, the entrance being n narro1N , vol cn.nic fis sure ntop a black bnsnltic mountain.

So tho god Tsnthoggun found n r esidence ngroonbl o f or o. l ong ·'' t':l.tc of Enrth existence. In this underground grotto he slept continuously , co:ning to tho surface only occasionally for food; but usunll:,r llc e;vcn tr:" ns:nn,.'t:cd his suste;ncc : by exerting some subtle, psychokinetic energy , w5.thout r1ov:iq~ physico~ly f:i·om his spot of r epose.

Tho ages unfolded n.s he drovwcd ; the r·1osozoic gi vine way t0 thC' Tr· r-t.iory, tho Tertiary yicldinr: t o the PlcistQQ.Q!lQ, nncl s o on . ~.1Gn -~·PI)\··~1-rt d

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by ; Lm '1 I ' ' o o o \ I o I o II' I o o I I H , I I 1 I I I 1" o I t1 I I 1 I I ' 0 11 1 I H I 11" o " ' " 1\1' ' '' I o Itt ' ' 1 ' " I H o I I I • ' '0 I' o " o ~

DI~ION: : Galax;y, the only truly adult magazine i n the field of science-fiction, hDs nrrived--s o snys H. l. Gold, who may be a trifle prejudiced, Sj.nce he edits the ma(?'azinc. We certainly >muld not want to deprive Mr. Gold of h i s i1lusions of grandeur, but since a number of people seem to agree with him, we must cnst a loud and boisterous disenting vote flnd in doing so, point out a ser­ious breac~ of ethics.

Yes, v-;>" t. would you think j_fq

fan named Fell startnd a fan col-­umn, copying every feature oftb!s

ono, and call1nf it FeJ:iney? Some mi~ht cn11 H ridiculous--but sotne vmuJ d certainly c.<~ll jt, unct.hjcel. So, Ga!vxy come s out., copy:in p A.s• toun.Qing page by pogo, fen tun ' by fot1ture, nnd whAt do the f rms do? They pr[dso tho new loader j_n tho field (because of tho HollyT:ood­type advertising th[lt procloimod it 8S suchJ ~nd sneer a t the f n]lcn ­stnr, AstounQ.ing, nnd John w. C nmp­ocll, Jr.' who spent 8 good pnrt of h) s Hfe buHding nSF into 1:Jht\t. it is today. Scioncc-fict.:lon hns be­come populor--publishe rs '."Jho hove neve r dono n t hinf to furthe r stf eome out w:i th tho:i r ovm pnrtj culnr eommerci~l brAnd to mn~~ mQncv. World Editions 1·1mnts to mnko money, so it copies tho l nrg-est. scll:ing­stf magnz:ine, presc; nt s nutho:rs roho soll the most. magn z~ncs nne puts ono of tho pulpiest, hncki.cst ~'T~­t .r> rs sc1 once fict.i on hn s ever )rno·:m in chf"rgo. Then thr: y Jgnor·~ f r n­dom, pr1nt no l ott ors--sny1.ng r c•r c­ors wrote in l etters sr>yi nr rri +i ng l e tters js foolj sh, ;-:-J~~ ch )s pretty rid1.culous, oven consj do rinr hoc.: r:ici culous poopl.;; ·no Pt t:i.mns --rmd then; then, procln1m loudJ y th~t they nro tho most ndu1 t mn g<'"; ~ no in ln the field.

I 1:ondcr if nny truly r dul t mng'1 d . no would dr11v.' ntt.cnt:i on to it~ own mnturi ty? ••. .

§lGNIFIC'[NCE: : :She torr: clothes, bent her bronsts od in bod on top of him. od her.

off h c r C'no .jump­He p-rnbb-

"Dnmn," she snj_d, '' s'lme thjnf!, every nig-ht. Dnmn."

"I know, " he s n id. "Looks lilrc the se domncd nuthors could think of some thing origjnnl for us to do."

''Looks like it.," she ndmi ttoq, ns she rubbed he r knoo into his groin to test its t oxtruc.

He rubbed hj s groin j nto her knee to test its textur e . Poth

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t~xtures were round ·sa.tfsfactory·. · He put his hands ·on her breasts

and said, "Who are we working tor tonight?u ·

"That creep. •. that Jim · Harmon." "Oh God, no!" he exclaimed as

he . tightened his hold.. 11 Tha: .laot ·. time we done a job for him, we got a two-headed baby. ·That damned . brat keeps me broke. Two hats, tw~ shirt colle.rs, two•neckties~ Twice as mueh hair oil,. twice as much · tooth paste. 11 · ·

11 ! know." she r .eplied a.s their· thighs xubbed together coar~ely. "But · when he grows up, h.e"lllbe able to save money on false-tce.th. Both heads can use one pair betnoon them, 11

11 Don 1t mention teeth to me,u he implored. "He eats like a horse. Two horses. He should have two heads. · His body is . bj.g enough for two • • ·· And that bright idea of Har­mon1s ••• hiding his head tinder other a cloak. It pops up at the queer­est times. It's giving all our friends the d. t. 's .11 What's more, the .head . uildor the cloak always cuts auay the shirt Ul1dorncath. 11

. ".Tho so heads 'arc close alright~ They . : t~ink nothing qf gi vi~g the shirt off th,cir back to the . other. ."

"Oh ~~ ~ · he 'grooned n;,·/e 1 re ·bacl~ ' . . , . . '· . , . to taking . off clothe~. again. 11 ·

11 Wo can t . very well get away from it. · Some lousy 'vriter is ~1-wa.ys· putting us· in a. historical ro­mo.nce .or some l~usy . pulp .loye nov­el." ..

.. ".Yeah. Sumo pl'ot. Sumo stocy. Just us ~ith different namos in cliffcrcnt .. cceii'Wnes. , It's so damnoo dull." . . ,_ . . . . ·, . : .

I "Say,!' she said f)Uddeniy. _ 11 As long· us we 1 re in _thi~ line of rrork, why don't we got in .somcthing Ylith social . signifi,ccnce, say, sometimg like Phillip Wylie's stuff. , .It woUld _give us ari aim in lifo. n . '

ns.ounds fine, but characters : I

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from Bradbury t o Shakcspcro ~lro lined up to soo ~1Iylio 1 s crc·:-t ti ve ability. Tho s::mo ni th nll tho other good author 1 s C .A. 's. 11

She sighed an.d her sensuous flesh crept over his. 11 Hc-:1 nbo~~t tbis Harmon ehura.c 'Cer, thc::t. l ~c doosn' t seem to be o.n ordir~ ~.ry

hnck. 11

"Ho isn 1t. He's an unemployed hnck."

11 1?'fcll, nt loo.st, he r oo.li;;c s ti tilo.tion of stupid poopJ. '~ isn 1 t nll important, He satirizes it, 11

"Oh sure, 11 hG said. 11::-b.n:on thinks he 1s funny."

11 Ho is. 11

11 1 mean he thinks he funny--' ·u hn! 11

11 Thnt' s rthnt I moan, too; rlid you over sec him?11

"Just his C. A. A hcnd 11ke: o. wntormclon, shoulders like o. b1Jll; wuspQvmist. n

"Well, you know Creative AbH­:l..ty' s, 11 she replied . · 11ActuoJl~" .0.o is o pca.-hwdcd 4-F. 11

"Not a. 4-F, my dc ~.r, 11 1·w con~­

octcd. . , · 11Ho 1 s 17. 1k ..Q.;"J) 1 t y~:l£. They'll . send him ovc:r. Thc·~: •:l send -the bums \·.rho co.n 1 t"" vote c..nd spo.re .those : Eh2 £ill} . ~. Tho politicos are afraid to nrou::-(~ tho dislike qf votc:rs who mir;ht tbru:! them out of office for gctti •1g .them into thls mos.s • 11•

11 Thnt's o.n idoa, 11 she $:."-id :1s she s'nugglcd ·her brcc.sts clos :· r in­to . his .. hands. - 11 Wo could spr:) o.d propo.gnnda. fDr Harmon. Lat 1 t> ·~sce him a.bout , it. 11

11 NoV1?11 -. .

"Of course not--tOlflorrov~ •11

, "Y.ou ·hrui . me . so worrL:.d, 11 he breathed. 11 I 1vo boon prL\ctising all day for , tonight---squeezing grape-fruit.n

PREDICTION:: :A cOlUmn called 11 Ho.r­mony'' will npponr in a future issue of a .fnnzino enlled PEON . 11

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Probc.bly there will be l oss bi tchi11c; c. bout this celluloid rnas­tcr;:;icco t ho..n there rms nbout such sere en Ol1ics c.s , s~y, 11 P. ockctship X-1111 • Be tho.t ns it may, I f eel that r. n-ord t o the 'l".riSC' is in order D.nd c.ll c1ina.sour-lovers in tho aud· i ence shonld )O.Y heed!

11l.lJ.i-.§_..22.i.c_t'!tc h2.s everythinG! 11

Lot 1 s sto.rt a t the be c;i1minc; . The volu'1c 11 Two Lost FTorlds11 is opened b)• n scnnn.n' s tntoocd hnnds nnd ne soc a list of the tmfortunr'.tc pe op­le who o.ppe['.r in this nbortion, The story, if :·w mC'!7lory serves, is by n J nck Hub~X'..rd, ~7ho obviously needs dinnc.tics in the ~'.'orst wny. ~7c r:n tch n sc.iling vessel ;;ull out of her Now f nc;lnnd hnrbor v:hilo tho narrator (.J.ll cood pictures now o. days have nnrrntors--didn 1 t you sec "Sunset Boulcvc..rd11 or "All About Evc 11 ? )--tells us th·tt younc Curt Hnmil ton, the r.12.tc, rcDrcscnts tho pioneer s;1j.rit of .Anr;rica . The fate of Amcricn and of Curt Hanil­ton ride on this ship, a co.rgo more volu:'.blc thc.n the riches in her hold .

Curt Jn~ ovts thnt his fortune: is de:xncknt on this voy.:-.co. Conn.­clcnt in his ship, which he bui.lt hi r.1 sclf \vi th his onn h~nds out of scconr.1 lw.nd nr.tch boxes, he urccs the ci'.;1to..in to cut throuch pir~to rr"".t crs to beo.t out conpctinr:; vos s-els.

The l~ irc.. tcs a. tt.:--.c!c! ("This ;.>ic .. . turo ha.s c.vcrythint! 11

) The -fleet clipper ship csco..pcs, but its c;nll­nnt m .te is injured C..l1(1 the c :-.pt ".in rclucto.ntly l (;o.vc s his fri end .:tt a

·-..:..ERIK HOLMES

little s ottlc"1cnt of sheep ro.nch~rs on the coast of A ustra.li:--.. (Shot of k :mcaroos on ·n hillside.) Here Curt n.:t!<cs the a.cq un.into.ncc of the r;:ovc rnor's bec.utiful d:>.ue:;htc..r , r: l c..inc • But r~:>..inc is cn::.;r.: eel to ':'.. shc:op fn.rncr v:ho is rc.:tlly :~ nice cuy! Hero is real lifo c1rn:'1C'.! Ct...rt nnd Flo.ine o.. ~ e fron - ~i!ferent

worl ri. s. 11Dut it is sprinc:·, and s~)rinc; is the s2-no the norlc over ; o.nc1 n l!lO.n n.nd n vron:m • •• il Fo.J.o out on the clinch.

But the hc,rckrs fc:--.r the ~'ir­n.tcs mc.y ottnck t hc'1, Tho c:ovcrn­nent r efus es to s cn•J nilitn ! Curt orc;nnizes thc:1 into civil r.\: f cnse; units. But the pirates cc-. t ch o11c

of the bloclmc.rdcns off ~: u.o.nl. Tl,cy stcnl horses. Follows a o.cti on

""' packed t;un bottle fron hor scbo.ck throut,;h sonc very fnnilinr ucstcrn scenery .••• Elo.ino o.nr1 ['.Dothc..r c;ir 1 nrc kidno.~ped! Elo.inc 1s youne:;cr s ister, Nancy, is uiss inc ! Tho co.llop~.X:.I3 find the pirates oscnpcd in their vessel! ( 11 'rhis nict.urQ lm.~..£Y.C r·rthinL'!)

C onc1 his

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P fiance is injured in a sclffless A attempt to save Cart. Curt, the G fiance, Elaine, nr~ other girl and E Nancy, v1ho ha.d stQ~?ed away on tho

sloop, arc adrift in an open bont. 1 Gallant Curt ~ings them to 4 land. But it is b~cn desert! Is

there no water? T'• boat is broken on the rocks by t'llc raging surf! Mnroonccl ! ( 11This n~ture has every th" 1) L -~ 1ng.

But the sailor Jpics an oasis. A long trek across ~c ·burning des~ crt. Untold suffcflnc. Elaine's dross is ripped up j}c thigh nearly to tho •••• ("This Ri ~c has evqy­ibJ..ru~!")

They roach wntel& But little Nancy .-m.ndors off. •Li ttlo child­ren knor1 no fear. ~c whole world is their playground. Tho creatures of tho v;ild ure their friends. What could b o more in·-ting than a little hop-toad inv . ~ing tho child t :) plny?" Then lTnnc: • scroans l She i s nttackcd by n, yo·1 guessed it, a o:.nn::: o,U"l ("This ri£1urc hns cvco;­+;.1.: ''1g ! 11

Producer:

Writers:

Producer:

Writers:

Nov1, wr.it o. minute, this stuff 1~ great, b u t those i11ek ohots cost nonoy. Koop yo~~ skirt on, B.J. V!c got t,ho.t nll figured out. F.tmember thnt old flick, ''Ono ~-1illion BC?" With Ca-rol Lanflis nnd Victor l~turc, sure, They ho4 some cute trick stuff wlth nligators nnd lizardiJ in that. Now we just dub in our ovm net-ors.

Producer: Sure, I ·got it. Smooth enough, nobody remembers who..t they s o. w o. f ev1 ycnrs ngo2 o.nywny.

Escaping f~n 'Jhc dinnsours, our little bnn<1 hu.ries on t o the oasis. Soon t~y art gorging them­s elves on old · oro.n~e s and bo.nnns they find on 'the ground, "But as hunger subsidoe, th~ minds of Curt and Elaine o.rn filled with thoughts

of onch· ctborr 11 - :

i ons be aroused? during ·around in dress , it'll be o.rcn'tt

Will prirnnl ' pass-.. . ;nth Elaine wnn­thnt shred of o. n wonder if they

Curt builds a raft. A lone chance of getting home ! But on the eve of departure, the volcano, long smoking the background, bursts into violent eruption~ ( 11This picture, ~ •.. !")

Producer : Hey, no.it o. r:linutc . A volcano?

'!!ri tors: Relax, B. J.' this is nll in "One r~Iilli on DC" too, roncrnbcr?

Producer: Oh sure: , nith o.ll the bic; 1 i z 0. r d s ccttin cnught in cracks i n the ground.

The eruption r a GeS in violent fur;r! I'Jc even s ec s ome scenes that were o.ppnrontly out fror·. "One i1ill­ion11 of the volcano o.t ni :~ht. And now, \70 find out nhy I:laine 1 s r;ir 1 friend ho.s always rrorn black . This dross , of course, has been ripped dovm to the bare essentials. Hon, remember in "One Hillion11 during the volcanic eruption one of the cave vronon in n blnclc fu!' piece is ongulfcd in tho lava strcnn? Hell, that's what happens to this tgirl! Right before your vr:ry eyes!

11 Vlhen the little band of sur­vivors . open their red-rirnnod eyes to tho do.vm, 11 they find their raft is r11ined! The locnl flora. and fauna, loo.nin~: .:1bout in flnnos, have broken it nll to pieces! Curt reassures Elaine 1 s finnco thnt he will quickly rebuild it, but that worthy merely whispers, "Tako .. cnrc of •• Elaine •• 11 Hi s eyes close o.nd we know'

But" even now, Curt's fri cnrls on the clipper ship o.re scolcinf: bin. However, the island is a ruin fron the eruption. 11 Nothinr; could be alive on tho.t island, sir. " 11Very well, givv the wor d to turn nbout

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DBA 1,H by Eb 1ubwig_

It 'TJ.S ['. cole~ d.::.y, . l nte ir: tho yonr, nr~c1 Q ck ,rk, tbic~~ bl :.;~.kct of f oe hunc; lor1 over tho Fnc;lish count~ysil1 o. _A younc uo;1c.n snt nlon:::. , . s c-ni!'J;:: , in n roon of her nother' s cotta.cc. Except for her 0\7l",l brco.th:tnc; n: · ;~~ tho occ.:-.sional rustle of cloth, there wns silence. The cirl 1 s notlL r '. i~~ s i iJ.

her ov.rr:. roan, nc.ppinc. J • • · ••

Abru.ptl;-r, n _coldness crept ov-er the r;irl. Shq felt r:. ''ccul:L-.. r sc'ls--:-:.-tion--o.s if -sor.1cono ucrc vm.tchinc her~ Her puzzled [G.Zo left her . s c:.·:i:".s i she turned nnd, on her loft, beheld a. str:1nc;o dog. It ,;ns n l ~rc;c c~0::_: , ravcablnck, nnd of no rccbgnizC''l)lc brc:::d. It s o.t silently, :_its .dark eyos focused on _her fo.c6~

An icy shiver ra.n dorm her spine. The doors -:tnd ;·Jindovrs of t he_ .cott-age v7orc closed . How ho.d the crco.turEJ entered ? Sho shruccod , It '.~::.s o.:1 .:~ but no ccuse f or nl!lrm. She rose rmd r:<=:H;:cd to the d_oor, intondii\~ t o l c t the doc m.it.

But she turned n[;a.in":'-a.nd t ho · n!'"!im:--.1 :·;::t s cone .

Shr.1dn · her ' hor,d, she r cttlrncd to her s cuin[; . ni stnkcn, she thouc;ht. The da.Y r:.'ls dnr1c . Pcrhnps played a. trick on her vision. Yes, thet rmst be seconds lntor she ; lnnced again to her left. This

p c rh:'. ns she ] ; ~_,-~ be c,;·l

the f oe; c.nc1 sh:.c~ r:l':s h".c1 the cx··)lr .. ~::: ti,):i. .t.i f c \'J

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time she sc rco.:Jc:~.

ThO black do~; vms s(j_uo.ttit>.E: beside her, not more than n :.~: ·. rc~ - C':::r-:. ~_r , It snt quietly a.nd vms motionless o.s a statue . Only the bl:::c cJr , Llis ::.c r:il:::.; eyes c.nd tho still-cold gnzc inc1ico.tc-d lifo. The. · cirl 1 s s cvrin;~; ttnLlcc1 to the floor. She ' · ra.n into her · nether 1 s roor.t, nwo.kcninc th c older Pp i .1~:: .

Alnost hystcricnll~·, she t olrl uh."At she l;.o.d seen. 11 It E£:!! rc:'.:., n she cried, "It app0nrcd a.nd disa~pcc.rcd. It v:::-.s .like sccinc Dcrth itself ! ::

Tho gothcr Is fa. ~::: a t1.ll'J1C'd C\. r;bostly whi tc. snid, softlv, 11 It is . nothinc; , nothin[·; ! 11

Her lips trc·;:1blcd, b11.t she.

Thr1t s r.ne etftcrnoon the ~ \other rns s oizcc1 Y>'ith n.· su.lrkn Hlncss, ·_:tc~ co.llod tho dnttt;htcr 'to ·her · side. There •.n.s <>.. l oc;c.nd :~bout th e bL ·.c:: c,c.c , she cxpl ninocl. It n;,\s supposccU•r the chost of o. 7~ c rson \:ronuc~ bv '~ i 1Ci'1 -

bcr of the f t\nily centuri es -'.'.c;o. For :;cnrr1.tions, the fnt:.i ly h. :rl 1x ( P

haunted by thq chest which a.lwc..ys "-1))JG.:'.rcd t o SO!'IC: I11Cr:1bcr 1Y f ore U:c r: o:'. i~h of G. no:"'.r rcl~tivo· .

Tho.t ni.cht, tho nether ~!.i c.c1 . . . . .

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Such incidents are not tmcor.'IDon nnc1 occur often i n f. 1Jl:'opcnn countries where fm:Jilios have lont; recorda of nnccst:rnl tro.dition. Sor'c spiri t1ml­i.sts believe such o.n anp'nri tion is a · chost or n sDiri t of evil h o. u l:: t ... l. ~ •

ing a fnnily, Others sum~c st th(t t it is n friendly spirit cor~inc, to Cf'.r r y nvmy o. loved one. At any rn.to, a.n nonzincly ln.rge nunbor of such phcnoncna ho.vc been reported, studied, o.nd verified. There cr.m be no doubt thnt nnny nrc authentic.

Tho Caldwell fnnily, of tho ilidlo.nds district in fnc;lnncl, h<::.d n s ir.Ji-lir oxporicnco. Tho tTio sr.~o.ll Caldncll children, r.1ildrcd o.nrl J elm, v:cTo plo.yine in o.n orchnrd one o.ftcrnoon ni th the children of o. noiGhborhoo(l. .

J ohn suddenly pointed tor1ard the stoop of a troo. "~7h'1.t o. fu."lny-look­ing bird!" he cried.

Tho bird 1Nas perched on tho stunp only c. fen foot froq thcu, It rre1s o.pproxirmtoly the size of n crot7, but v;ith brilliant green :1nd ycJ.lorr fea­thers uhich v1ore oxtrcnoly ruffeled , It possessed o. huc;o , lon(; , qurvod bonk. It nns like no bird tho children hc.d over soon or droarx.·:1. e1bout . The bird L 'ttorod· its winGS and darted upwo.rd, It flcrr in c. great cj.rclo then S\7oopcc1 dorm t ownrd John . Tho boy jnnpod, fricht cnod, c .. s it s·;:upt past hin, nearly touchinG hir.~. Then it diso.pponrod. into the br.J.ncho s of nn a pplo tree. Tho exci tod children rnn o.ftcr it but wer e Ulmblo to End it.

Tho children returned hoiilo, too excited to notice th::-.t J ohn ..-n.s no lonGor among them. They told f:lrs. Co.ldwcll nbout the stran~:;o bird.

11A bird \7i th green and yellow fco.thors, 11 she mused. Her f<.~co pcJ.cd--for there uas o family legend n.bout such n bird. \iJhcncvcr it a;~ ;~c:::r0 c1, supposedly, someone donr .noulc1 die,

11Whoro is John?" she asked , her voice touched by fear . ~

The children looked . o.bout thcr.1 , puzzled. 11 Hc v1c.s by tho r>ond, no2.r tho orchn.rd, 11 one of ther.1 said.

The frightened mother ir1r.1odintely went in search of John -:2nd fou.11c~ hi1-:1 clrormod in the dopths of. tho pond • •

Hot all such phenomena. cons ist of o.ninnl or bird nppnritions • . The An­drews fo.mily in Vlarwickshiro hnd o. legend about c. phnntor1 t'.sh-troo.

One night r:Ir • AndrcrTs was mmkcnod by tho continual ho·:11inc of h:l.s doc; on Alsntiun Yrhoso kennel was in the garden, Ho first called tho doc; fron o. window, attempting to calm it, But tho c1or; continued t o bnr~\: ::md c;rov;l o.s if confronted with some sovo.r:;o cnc:ny. An[~rily, muttorinc; undor hio breath, Mr. Andrews dlresscd and strode outside.

As he neared the gnrdon, ho froz e. Thoro, in the vc·ry :1it:l.dlc of tho lawn, was the outline of o.n i11J';lcnse etsh-trco. It stood nhcr c no trc ;o should hnvo been, where nothing shou1c1 ho.vc been, Althoue:;h ther e ':r .n no nind, it 11ns svroying wildly bnck nncl forth, His nifo en no t o his si.do n few minutes later, but the troo hgg . clisnnpqnr§}' A short tino l c.t c r they

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T.E. w A T K I N s

THI' ABSOLUTE TOP::: j;_For rw noncy the best variety hour on televis i on i s Bc1 Sullivan's toa st liTo.-,_st of the Town , 11 Tho theme s onr: thnt opens the shm"l sto.. t c s tha t the ncrformcr s durin r; the hour nrc 11 Th0 Absolute Top . 11

Sul li vc.n r1iss cs no op1~ortuni t y to repent the bonst, and th<J viewi nc boars hin out , He h='. s the best.

Horcwrith, vm inn.ur ura t e <m 11 Abs ol ut c Top Dop~rtnent11 • Whenever vro run o.cross ::mything in f .:-.nt nsy n.nd scienc e-fiction story-tcll i nc thnt we thi n1< is the be st we a r c [oinc to f ile it in this dcpnrtrnent , It mc~y be o. story, it ::my be onlv the stor y i C.k·n. , n gadget, n chnr n.ctcr, a sccno, a stor y [-:ir:IDick or some other clo~1cnt of f i ction writinG.

For exc.rrtr) l c , in t ho Dec ember, 1950 issue of FAI:TASY AITD SCIENC.C FIC­TI OIT is n little stor'Y by Van Voct entitled 11Procoss 11 • From t he stor y bl urb one r::;o ts thcJ i r .pr cs s i on t l;1n.t t his i s one of Vnn 1 s cnrly efforts , a l thouc;h I don 't knov.r wiK r c i t rr.,.s publ i shed or how l ong ngo . The stor y i s a. bout n f or est v:i tJj n life o.nd i ntollir;cncc o.ll its ovm. !t fisht s bc:.ttl es with other for ests a nd vvi th hurn.:m invaders v:ho nttompt t o l.~nd i n i t s nr en .

Scienc e fiction v!l'i t ors he.ve c ookcc1 np all sorts of nlien int.clli,3en­cics t o bodnzzlc the ropcycd render s . They hn.vc put i ntclliccnco into mons t ers , clouds, r ocks, va cuum s , v7holo pl n.ncts, suns , i nsects, wor ms , b.cctcria , cha irs, nnd t he Lord knows Hhn.t ulsc. Sor:te of them hetvc been norc bcl. i cvco.bl c than ot hers. I t i s c1ifficul t t o v.Ti to o. stoT;- :·J)out a. n::m-humc:.n chc:. r actcr. Host VIri+ c:r s put humo.n chnro.ctcrs i l1 s uch s·t:,oric s t o hold t ho r endor's inter est. But Vnn Voet's forest i s o. real~ , hcro , who fight s t o . stny O.livo a gainst [tr eat . odds. The fiunan invnd brs a r c s o sfncl• otljr tho.t. we nrc not quite sure they nrc huMan nt nll. In non-humo.n ch.,.r~ nctcrs , Van V0r;t 1 s f or est is 11 t ho absol ute t op.

Spcnkinc of nlion inte:lliccnccs, "lhnt cvc r hn?r cned to t ho out-s ized i nsec ts ? The ol c1 storie s used to bo fill ed v1i th thes e borri blc crc:oturcs , Doc Keller hn.d ;c stor y i n t hr: old A?'L.I\.ZING i n which hueh wns;JS c ~;•turcrl :-:1cn , s t unc t hcr:t i n t o ::: stunor, l ::lid erubs on their chests , which c[_C :mc1 crcv.r , o.r~~~ ,.,hen t he f oocl rns e:onc , fl ow 2r;ny , o.nothcr out - sized 1.'-'~. s ::;. It 1s ~orriblc, isn ' t it! Not quite ::lhs ol ut c t 0p, however.

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I rcca.ll ~mother story in the din pa.st of nn nlicn _ol :mct 11hero nll tho insects grcr1 to gie:a.ntic proprotions- -eutterflics, bees, c;rasshoppcirs. All I cnn rcnoobcr of this story is the illustration of a hur:c buttcrfl~r settling on a c;ignntic flo·.-:cr a.nd n hunan cov1crine in terror un,_krncnth, l1ust not hn.ve been the "absolute top11 or I'd renonber r:Jorc thnn thnt .

Of course, there rr.s Little Abner's turnip tornitc. In. one episode they grew to ~ic~ntic proportions nnd alnost wiped out Dogp~tch. C~n 1 t call a conic strip the top, hm7cvcr.

The a.ll t:l11e high in outsized insects nns in one of Robert E. I!om:rd 1 s stories. Our hero f ound his nay to the rsold (or was it the (;'irl?) clbcl~ocl by o. huee red .. cycd spider, so biG he hc. c~ to spin a. · ncb of rop(·s in order to live off tho grourid like any self respecting sridor. Of course, this rope web prcscntccl the spider ·.d th c.n interestinG problen. No 'one , unless he is stac.;cerinr~ drunk, is eoing to run into, and cot hi:.1self ont~ngls:d in a.nythinc ns proninent rlS a. rope v1cb. Even outsized flies c.ren 1 t that stupid. So, in order to cat, this spider developed the art of lnssoinc his victins. Anything thnt came Vlithin spittin1 distance of this S1_Ji(kr Hc.s lo.ssoed a.nd hot;ticd for tho next f,'\Oo.l. Of course th0 hero h':1.c1 to .::;ct throuGh this po.rt of the cave to cot to the gold (or vro.s it tho girl?).

Vlhnt a fight! Hero only ha.d a snord. Thnt spider could s:>it out those loops f o. st.o.s li6htinine and hero 't'lould cut 'en rrith his snord. He cones closer and clos ~r to thc .rcd-eyod, spittin1 spider ar.d a.t l Gst cuts the r:1o.in support ro,c of the web nnd thc burro spider drops into tho eor2:e. '.-!Qc\7 ! I still sweo.t when I think of this scene. I got a total r ccc.ll on it without being a clo~r. (Yes, yes, I know, spicl.crs n.ro not insects--so •:ro will ca.ll this the 11 nbsoluto top" in outsized bu.t>s if you vnnt to quJbble.)

All of which renincls me of Cuthbert. 'ihilc in the Army durinG the ln.st war , I V!as st:1.tioncd in India for eighteen nonths n.nd s~e of the bugs thnt plnr;ued us over thoro would :nnke the authors of outsized insect stories pop their eyes in terror. I lived in one of thoso doublc - -dcckccl Inglish tents i7ith t\-ro ather sergeants. (This was the Air Force, fell8.s, lots of sert;cnnts; in fnct, r'-fter 18 months overseas, tho only corporals we ho.d v1ore English nncl Inclio.n rccrui ts.)

One day \7C found thr.t a. bie yellm7 spider ho.d invndcq our · r-.bodc and built a. ncb n.t the top of the tent ncar the ridge polo. I tngeod tho inva­der, Cuthbert. Hughs and I i7crc all for cleaning Cuthber t out of thoro, but Perkins, the T/Sgt. nnd our senior, a fnt lisping little nr:tur8 lover from California, decided tho. t a spider wns just who.t vte rice dod.

11 Thc thpidcr "Will keep dovm tho flidh. Lcnvc her o.l onc, 11 he so.irl.

11 But Perk, yen gods, think of hnvin13 thnt fnt old spic1or dnnglinc over our hco.ds i n the do.rk."

11 Lenve her nlonc! 11 ordered F crk,

Perk insisted the spider ['_to fli es o.nd nould keep the tent free of these posts. He nlso insisted thn.t it wc.s n she o.nd not n he, and shoulcl be ca.llod Cuthbcrto. instead of Cuthbert.

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11 Tho mo.lc thpidcr i th so thno.ll y0u cnn hnrdly thee hin. The fc1nnl ths o.ro the bir.; onths. Lc.:'.Vc the thpidcr ALOHE!"

Nothine nould move Perk. Hur;hs insisted thnt Cuthbc rto. cra:nlcd nll over hir.1 o.t night. Perk sneered. Ho clclimcd tho.t Cuthbcrt:.:t never l eft her nc:at unless driven fron it . It s coJ-:~c.d to nc ::.nd Huchs thnt t ho fli es were just ns numerous ns ever. But she rm.s sure on tine; . so:.1mthinc.;. 3ho got bigger . very cto.y. Her hue;c bottoM sngecd the ncb. I insisted sl,c rF'.d o. boy friend hidden sone plncc nnd rms prccnnnt r.nd a.ny r:hy would ~· op rdc1c open nnd we 1 d hn.vc' thousnnds of s niclors crn11ling up thcro.

11 Thpiders do · not give birth, thilly. You thoo t hose brown bc.llth? Those c.re the O[;gth! 11

ThGt did it. We were caine t o h:.vo o. flock of S?idcrs bcc!'.llGC -Cuth-bert!l bo.d six brawn balls.·. Perk s howored every afternoon. Hu[_;hs o.nd I dcciried th::tt the shovror period wns tho tine to hnvc o. s ni der shoot. Cuth-- . bcrtn. wo.s to hnvo every chance . Eo.ch nndc ten ;:>n;Jcr wnds. All sh0ts ~..rr. rc to be fired in rotr'..tion n.nd while l;rinr; on our bc.cks on our ccts. If Cuthbcrtn was o.livo rlftcr the twcnt:r shots, she ~vns to survivo t-:ro~c.t.y-fom· hours until tho next shor:cr period. If she decic~cd to lc~ve, tC'..ldJ~[_ ; her brovm balls vdth her, she rms not to bo r:10lcstod. Sho ·:ns to h::.ve every cho.nco.

Hughs a.lwo.ys •t:o.s lucky nnd on his fourth he •;-rho:t;Jp cc1 her r:i r;ht in hc.r huge botton \1ith n. spit hardened paper r:nd. She bouncc:cl' ·off t ho ceil­ing l cnving n yellow sneo.r, and f ell v:rithin.j into our ·:.r-csto pc:.pcr b:-:skct. V!c spent tho rest of tho shower period knocldnc off the brm-m 'o:;lls.

It took Pork no tine nt all t o discover th-:tt Cuthl1ort:1 h.':'..(~ '~cpt'. :rtc(1_ ~- '1 o.cony. He r:ns so m2.cl he turncc't r eel fr o::1 his 9ink toes t o his bo..lc~ hc::.d, He insisted he h::td given o.n order nnd this \·.rns a. brco.ch of discipline , Hc 1d ropcrt it to tho no.jor. This wo.s no joko. T/Scts h::vc c.; ,~~-/ with no.jors- - that 1 s how tho:l get to be T/Se:;ts.

So I put r:1y o.rr.1 nround Perk o.nd t old him nbout 1-Im-:r.l.rcl' s lr'.sso thro~-rine spider. 11 1:-{ho knows, 11 I said, nwc ni ght have hr1d one of th·)S O nonst r--rs :i 11

creation richt before our eyes, 11

11 Ho 1s right," o.grcod Huchs. said.

Right then HugM ~-d ncrcc ·,7i t h o.n~."thing I

"Thnt 1 s thilly, 11 yelled Perk, 11 thnt 1 s thnt thilly t hioncc ficti on you road."

Ho didn 1 t report it to the mo..j or, but he -,vroto his no thor c.ll 1 hout it. Ho kept tho licht on until midnieht inspite of our t ent ~c;rccnont that "llghts out" tvo.s 10 p.m. Ho wrote his mother every nicht r:tn~-: there vms an nrgw~cnt around 10 r.m., but this nicht, ~;o l et hirt scribl,lc ".rJL'.y . And he included 11 description of Hownrd 1 s spidor too, bccnuso he "'-S!wcl rtc, 11 ~r.rhnt wnth the no.no of thnt nuthor? 11 .

Thus, tho fo.nc of Howc.rd's nonstcr sproc.ds.

THE ABSOLUTE TOP!

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L'iESSENGERS OF DLATH: : : (continued)

p A G E r ecei ved Hard their child. k1.d been killed while on a holi:::l:o.y tri p • . . ,

2 Amonr; tho bost-knovm of do.:~thly a ppo.ro.tions arc tlv~ f amous Ghrx;ts of 0 t he Ho.psburgs. A few days befor e .the assassination . of ArclK~1..1kc Frnnz

F er d i no.nd, heir to tho throne of A·ustrio., the Ardhduchcss Sophi e n;cs mot or ing through Vienna,

As she pa ssed o. co.thcclro.l, she so.w a large crm7d go.t her or1 i n t he str eet, sto.r i nr.; upward, HcT chnuff cur stopped tbe c". r :-t r~d she. stcp~ccl out, In the sky d i r octlv 0.bovc, wo.s a flock of cnorr.1ous '.7l:. i to b:Lr ds , svroopi nr; swift .ly and utter i ng shrHl, c!cri o crie s t h::• t f l ooded ti-,o s treet .• Fr oP1 t ho lips of the observers co.mc ·t he hushed dreaded 'iior d , "Tu:rJ1f.£.lkc :1 .~ 1 1

1ivi th a chill of fear the Archduchess r cnlizcd t hc_{t the so Here t he l!'Jhitc Birds , the let:;cmdo.ry Ghosts of tho Ho.psburgs , F or c cr.t uri cs thc c;c v;hi t c , '.7i r. · c1 portcnts of d oom had boon s oon shortly bcfor0 n i lc.tn sbur[~ tragedy . '.1·· ~cy were s een by t:' ti1pc:ror F r r:mcis J osc ph the c1 o.:;T boforo E·,prcs s Elizabe th rrns assassinated in Goncvo. , a nd before the dcc. t h of hi s s on , Cr ovm Prince R.udolf.

As rapidly country castle b cmr.:ccl him not he di d,

as pos sible , the Archduchc~ss spod to Frc.nz Fcr-:1. i nc::x11 s v1horc Be 'ND. s c.bout to undort o..1<o n. i ournc ~'/ to f)o !:r_-_ja , Sl1c to co. Snmoth:inc; t orr5.bl c vrould ho.ppon, cd1 c dccl -. r (' c1 , i f

Fr~mz Fcrdino.nd Vln s a s tubbor n mo.n. Dcspi to the ·.::<:\ r !!i ng , be ·~ · td c hi s .j ourricy to Bos nio.--whc r e his f a mous assassinc,tion signa l e- r] t lY• outl'n.':"'~l.k of ~ '·'Jo r l d Wo.r I.

Source s : Men I'Tl1o Vl oulc'b 1t Stay Dead, man, 1945.

by I de. Clyde Clo.r1-:c 1 Bcrno.nc~ :\ c~-::c r-

Fo.miJ:.y_Gh_s:.Jsts a nd Ghostly Phenomena, by Ylli ot 0 ' D,wncll; Dutton, 193L;..

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TWO LOST WORLDS: : ( cont inued)

!J.nd head for home.n Is t he sh i p going to turn r-.t t ho las t :!ol::C'.l t o.nd l co.vc t he bravo group standing on tho bc o.ch? No, no , groa ns t ho nn[d she nuc1ionco , it couldn't go on! But nt the l a st moment , o. l ookout s p:LCS the gr oup . (He c ouldn 1 t miss Elaine i n t hat dress!) And no r.nd on ct d r cming of Cur t and Elaine at t ho wb cel of the shin, dr mm ·b~{ t he dircct.m· 1 s id i ot da ugh:G :'r, (~'This pictur e ha s cvcrJU:hin(_; !~) Aml . thus , c:r!·1~_; 11 'rwo Lost '.fJorlds11 or, "Off Tho Cutting Ro om Dir ect To You! n

As a clincher, one of tho l oc::cl ncr1spo.pcr o.c1v cr tisc :y;n +,s fo r t his stcrlinc production fr an Holl:}'I'Jood sho',7S c. picture of t':Jo gi;cr: t G:·'.1Jrin.n s 6hm7ing each other 1 s shoul der bl ades v•i th t ho cn.')ti on , 11 Scc ;1rcll i s-t:.oric nastodon s locked in mortal co!ilba t! "

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A SUPPLEMENT TO ~ON IS C HECI-\ll ST:

COMPILED 13Y ANTHONY .BOUCHER

Not content with bein~ very busy YJ~.th h.is :.:job ~s co-edj.tor of thr>t populr r prozino, 1'Mngnzino of FAntAsy And Science Fiction", wr:lting book r ev1ons for vnrious nev;spapors throughout the country, rmd rmthor1.np. fino dotect­ivo fiction under tho n~mo of H. H. Holmos, Tony Boucher took timo some months bnck to list for the renders of PEON some opcr~s b~scd on n fnntnsy theme, This was one of tho most populnr fonturos-itseoms-thnt PEON · hns hnd, nnd we nrc very happy to publish this supplor1ont to thnt chock-list. Further nqditions nnd/or corrections nre v.ielcqrno by tho editor r.nd !1lso Mr . Boucher. ---Editor.

QBQ.ER OF INFORMATION::

Originnl title (trr-mslntion if necessnry), Dnte of first production, ori­ginal bngucge, (Ne.ture of fant.osy thorne - -not riven if cloiir from t.i.. t.lo.) ~IN FRONT:: No mnrk •• very slight fr:mtnsy content ff •• marked fantnsy content ff •• very strong fnntosy conont

A.rriou, Clnudo

no mnrk •• rflrorJ.y or nc:w.I' . pr6cJ ucr:: d nor:

* .. pro~uc6d occ~sionnlly (by SMOll g-roups or in ~ 1.ir opc)

*-~< •• more or l c :JS stn. ndnrd Al!l.-'r-icnn r epertory.

II ~ f Noc 1934, French (Nonh's Ark w~th tnllrinp tmirnnls, bnsoa 0n

Oboy ploy)

Cluflin, Avery (1808-____l

ff Tho fnll of Usher 1921, English (unpr~ducod?)

'Q.QQussy

ff La chute de ln mAison Ushor (The fnll of the house of Usher)

Lo diablo dnns lc bcffroi (The devil in the belfry)

both based on Poo; both unfj.nishod, npp'1rently lost..

ff Puck 71949, French (bnsod on Midsummer .Night 1 s Drc ru;J)

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p A G Duni, Egidio Romnoldo (1709- ) E

22 f La Foe Urgele 1765,. French (foiry talc bnsed on Ce qui plnft r-mx

dAmes by Voltniro)s

~' M. J.

f L'homme de fer (tho iron mnn) 1929, French (Alsntinn logond of soul imprisoned in st8tue)

Erlanger, Camillo

f Hnnnele composed ?1914~ first produced ?1949, French Hauptmann plny; ·

(bnsed on

H :.:.o~l::;.;b=:.:r:..;;:o;.:::o.:,:;ko~, ....:J:.;:o:.:::s:.:::.o~ph~(~l~8:.:.7~8--_--'-) (fulle r vcrslon of entry in 1st. list)

f Tho cAuldron of Annwyn, n trilogy:

Tho C hildron of Ion

Dylan, Son of the WAve

Bronwen

All dcalinp wj_ t.h !Jruid mr-~j_ c; Brom:en conwi.ns ns nn intorpolr~ tc d

bnllot, "Tho Mnsquc ( sitd of the Hod Do nth·

Isounrd, Nicolo

ff Condrillon (Cind~relln) 1810, French

Menotti

f Tho Consul 1950, English

Philidor, Andre DAnicnn (1726-1795)

ff Lo bucheron (The woodcutter) 1763, French (3-wishos gimmick)

? Le sorcier (Tho Sorcerer) 1764, French

Snminsky, Lo~nre (1882- )

ff The gnglinrdn of fl ma rry plnguo. Composed 19?4, Russinn; prodncod in 1925, ?English. (Bnsed on The ~~n sk of tho Rod De,-. th)

Gre try• ~ Andre Ernost Modesto (17(+2-1813)

ff Zomiro ot 1\.zor 1771, F.~nch (oriontnl rnngic)

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THE COMING OF TSATHOGGUA (continued from page 10)

on Earth, and civilization pushed bo.ck bnrbarisr:~.

Vast empires graced the lands; Hypcrboron and Atlantis with the ir fdr ci tics roaring narblc cupolas ~loft; r·Au and Valusia came c.nd nont, l eetvi11g naught but myth and legend of their existence. Thoro ~'l:::'.S c.:J.ong those peoples n mystical few \'Jho v10rsbippcd Tsc~thoggun, und i n rctvrn f or tho:i.r carnal tributes he gnvo them awful and mnrvollous po';rcrs of sorcer y ::md necromancy. Hnvj.ng the \7.lsdol'1 of nn elder god o.t 'l:.hc e:vocntion, t h c s c wizards executed na.:;u l&sp foul deeds of evil a.nd c -:J :-rupt: :m, Thr ough tho performance c· ~ unholy rite s a.nd incantations, thos e that numbered the cult of Tsa.thog: . · could control the olomonts, conjure up t ho dcnd, VIi t hs k nd­mortali ty b;; .·ogula.ting mc.ta.bolisr.l in the protoplasm; i n fa.ct" t hr; r o no..s li ttlo t.hcso devil nor shippers c.ould not do.

But a.s time pa.ssod, and all th e:so \7ondcrful civilizutions v:1n:i.shcd in­to liE:bo, so vanishcn mnn' s croduli ty in gods o.nd cJ.J. th:tngs cons:tdc r ed i mmo.tcrlal, till finally there vra s no one to r;orship Tsnthoggun , l:'1C Ccmnc no ono believed he existed.

V cry few wore tho so \7ho still sought pleasure in t he fern of stJ.'0. :'1 [i;o and inexplicable pursuits, nnd tho on~.. s tho.t did f:i.nd Ts<.' t llot;gun · . .r.:., rc r:oc ­fully weak a.nd pusillnni::JOus, for they went mad o.t tho kno\:l cdr;t:: of the toad r.od 1 s ronli ty. Mcny of those never r uturnod fr an tho dr'.rk- li t grotto, but fell victi n t c.' his ovil gluttony.

Yea., gone nrc Hvpc rborco. nnd A tlnnti~; cone s:;.vc i n vc1.guo f.J.blcr-;; but tho god Tso.thogf:.'UO. still sleeps in his subtcrrr;no .".bo<lc , .J.nd thc: ro sh:;.ll c omo tho time vthon he awakens voracious, o.nd horror and hn voc ';:ill d :_,s ccnd on tho cities of mnn.

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YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BGOK-­(continucd from pngc 6)

Tho f act thnt stfans are nble enough -- o..nd interested enough -- t o •:tr i t o bale s of letters to tho cdi tors ~1ould scorn to substa.nti.:::dio this t heory . Why wouldn't slick, technical gadgetry nppcnl to tho public no'·'· m:.:1 then? r,gp}J).az: Sd.g l}.c,;;.Q and M.Q.£bnnics Illustrate£ ho.vc built up o. t errific etm1i­once by co. t c ~ . ng to tho average American 1 s love for ncu-fa.ngled ~~ .-. d ~;c ts and streamlined machines. Why doosn 1 t some ho.:rdy odi tor expcriMor>t. fur­ther nith tho photogro.phic style of c over, on tho ordor of the Ziff - D·:.vis pulps of scvora.l ycnrs neo. And for tho love of Lkon, hm1 o.bout some sci ence fictiona.l covers fontur:i.ng HUMOR 7 I '11 nlwnys hnvo n soft s pot in my heart for Virgil Finlay's "'~ondorful cc.rtoon-stylo co;;c:r 0n the fin~'.l issue of Super Science Stories -- the cover for Ha.nk Kuttnor 1 s "R c~L'.Cl cr, I Ha te You! 11 , upon which n curious monster poors quiz3icnlly d·-.:·:m ::.t a spo.cc-suitcd humnn a. top a. glittering spnccship. Thnt Yi'~l s 1xme ·UP stuff, t oo good to bo tried once and th en consigned forever to oblivion.

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p A G Thoro is one thing wo stfnns can do. That is to kee p up the bor:Jh:lrd-E mont of letters and postal cards until the pulp . purveyors s ec thu lie;ht

and ronlize tho.t we 1 re not all drnoling morons vrho 111 shell out tncnty 24 cents just to slaver over o.n unclothed cover bo.bo. Let's koop kiclcinc --­

kicking hard a.s hell. 11 But it won't do a.ny good!" you protest. "The: edi­t ors don't gi vo two hoots wha.t a.ctifandm thinks! 11 No? I' ~.1 inclined t o disagree. Few cdi tors nrc completely insonsi ti ve to r'"'.::tdors' t:.1sto .:--.s evidenced by tho mo.il v1hich pours into their offices. On r oque st, I 111 gladly nn.r.lc s cvoro.l cases in v1hich active fo.ns o.nd active r enders hnvo kicked loud enough-- o.nd made themselves heard. But above a.ll, l ot 1 s be constructi vcly cri tico.l -- not po.n some hard-working artist, v1ho d ocs tho best ho Ck'l.Il Vli th the thorne allotted hir.~. Even the much-no.liencd :P.rl o ;c. Bergey is a. highly competent artist, who cc.n turn out top-notch ;Jork on occnsion. Sec his c ov ers for some of the Standard Publico.tiens spr)":.'t m:::.gaz incs, not to mention the beauteous rocket-ship cover on T;vs s cr:c in­sues back, illustr~tine "Sword of Tomorr m1 . 11 Remember, the bnby ~rh o '.:.J.:Us tho loudest is the bnby ,-lho gets fed. So let 1 s kee p wailing, f oll c·:: f:cn ­t nsts -- wailing good nnd loud for better sciontifiction covers. For nho cnn toll? Utopia may not nlwa.ys be ns distc.nt ns we think!

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--NOW--YOU CAN -Eliminate All ImAginr.ry Illness --- Aequlre Up to 66~-% ~.1ore ProficGincy--Successfully Beat Complex, AbstrAct Systems---by submitting tc the sinplc

minded prrctioner of--ITII\WA\\ N. O:T;fiJ(f'O} w v 1-u r~ LL LJ u \J_, ~

UVANETICS is positively tho most miraculous and nenr1y demented dis­covery since the invention of tho self-stnrter. His mother hoving suffered most of her life from vac­uum on the brain, the discove r er was born \'Jith ~m obsession oonc<Jrn ... ing holes in tho heAd ond the poss ­ibility th[l t they night well lead to tho discovery of f ncts v7hich, if only they nrc properly interpreted, !!lUst nnd shall point tho woy to n course of nction t.hnt could, :5 n the course of time, br:ing obout nt l cost on nppronch to o pnrtinl sol­ution of tho problem.

A PROFESSIONAL BOOR

To thnt end he immodintoly bcrnn nn investigation thnt lns t cd one hun­dred years, during which tine he pee red, untiring, into holes in tho hel)ds of innumernblo undiscrinino-

ting scrcwbnlls, poured un cc ns ing fro:-1 nuMberless unsc loct9<t.cDso of highballs, e tc., n11 of nhich res­ponded successfully, ;vi.thout QXCep­ti.on, but froM whi ch he l onr·ned , nlo s, absolutely nothing.

ANYONE C l\] DO 1~.1

All you nocd is trr~ TTVl\.NETICS Kit, whj ch cont.n:lns 11 spc: ci[ll hypoc' r;rr~ic necdlo, o generous supply of T.N t\~\1E­

TIC VncuuT"l \\'hi ch, when inj0ct cc:J j n ­t.o tho br[d n, i nr1od ietoly r:hsorbs r.11 iops, sprites, dcnons, r• tc., and expels then t -hrough the J1nlo in tho head left \Vhon t.h(} ncnrno is \'7 i t hdrmm, nnd, · of course , fu11. in­structions.

Send only $40. ro todny to

UNI TED VACUUM FABRIC flTING MACH. CO. 720 Rockwood Avo., Pitt sburg, Pa.

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PEON NOTES (continued from pnce 3)

I usunlly write in 11Pcon Notes 11 , but if you don't o.ll you. hc-,vo to clo ·±s just sk1.p these pngos. id'tcr all, I'm not n grcnt ;;:ritcr, .:md find t L:--.t I cnn m·ito much bcttur ntY)Ut things thn. t I'm porsono.lly in cont:>.ct \'lith-­nrld I' hnvo h;:~d sono urt_;in~s to r1ri tc norc on those~ linc~s ·b~r s o1-:-1c r~.:c.i~,-- ~ .. [~, so I I m hnppy. Hou nbout you? /

I Hns discussing tv7o movies before, nnd would like t o roco!lmcnd or:e: t o you--11 Thc Next Voice You Henr. 11 If y ou ho.vcn't. soon it ns y et, he nurc t'J do so. I believe thnt this is one of the best f L'.nto.sy kt lc:--.st I c.:'.ll ~ t thnt ) pictures thnt ho.s cone out of tho Dills of Holly-.:ood , Tho d~r>0 ct:i :" .! 1ms one of tho best, nnd cspccio.lly on on~ subject trnt could c:cusu c,nc of the ero·<.t controversies of tho y e:nr. I know thnt tho picture DO.c~n ~·- bic ir:1p:l:'ossion on the sailors hc:r'G at Bnrbors Point. ~!1uch bott;;r t!·J('.n ''R..:,c~'J t Ship XM'1 did .nt o.ny rnto . Vile hnvon't bi.on f ortun'1 to ono11[':h to sue "Dc;Jt.:i ­no. tion Moon" ns yot hero in tho islnnds, but we 1 r o hopin[; it 'i::~ll ~)0 in soon.

Onr tho lo.st po.gc, you v1ill fi nd o.n ndvortiscncnt f or o. new bookl t '/ 'Jllr ndi tor ha.s been working on those pnst f cvr !i'onths. It Gr t ';! out of the re­s earch for t ::o article !'_Goinc Up" v1hich o.ppe~red in the l ns t is st'tJ of th:i s 'zine. Tho boolr.lot is really c. cross-index of tho c..uthors, Dr.l f:".\Z; n;__~s,. c~nd ti tlcs o.ppeo.rin~ in tho prozincs durinr, 19,~9 and 1951. I t \·dJJ. Hst tho nacnzinos, tho authors nnd s t orios nppcn.rinc; thcr o7.n, and fin,J.ll~ ' :1n nut­her list covering cv -:Jry science-fiction r.w.co.zjno i ssued durj_nc; tho 1::1nt t v10 yco.rs. If you nrc interested in seeing ·::hat c.uthorr. .scl d t:x~ ··:c ·:J-t- the pnst t·no ycc..rs , or wo.nt o.n accurate r,nd up-to-cln.t 8 i nrkx, tJ ::Ls is yo1.1r ncnt . Only one hundred copies o.v.'l.ilnblo, so 7our orde r E~houlcl bo r.K:Hcd , .igda:v !

Sponl:ing of booklets, two yonrs D.GO I .~nncunccd a ~TO'J.rbCJok of sciciJcc ."',rd f antasy fiction for th() yo::lr 194 7, in connection vtith o. San Fr::>.ncinco fan . Several o.dvn.ncc orders o.nd payments \7orc r ocoi vod fr or'l fnnG who were :in­torosted (50¢ no.s tho o.sking prico for it), but thinr~s kept pilini_:· up. , my co-editor l oft tho canst •• I moved out hero, o.nd I 1m nshm:1od to r;ny tha t It vc misplaced tho list of fans who pt~id for their copy of thr. t h.:oc )~J.:: t. If o.ny of you PEON renders ordered it, l et no lmow if ;;rou -.-:~mt c.. rcf1~nr:l. , or if you wo.nt PEONDEX in its plc.co, I ]moH it's c. C;'Jf.WK'n f'o..ili E~: O.!J r n[_; odi tcrs of fandon to ncccpt subscriptions nnd then f old up the r:lo.J·,zinc before tho sub is finished. HoriOvor, I 1 vo tried t o keep n.ll ny pr"J;~:i s cs , o.nd if you wore one of those v;ho sent 1;10 or tho co- cdi t or the 50¢, 1.; ·(; no know ns soon o. s possible.

Ht.:rc Is D. sum:;ostion to tho editors of the prczinos. :£b.£ 1J£:L-:q,_zin£ c:f rS:l:'J­to.sy ill1Q. Science Fiction have o.vnilnble t o its r ender s o. opc c:hl bind( r , designed ospecio.lly to hold copi es of tho nc..co.zino--six in o.ll··-~cn u;~l.Kcl volume, It's o. ho.ndy thing t o have , 'lnd keeps the oo..r;nz incs in t:lp-top shape. lk.vT, why couldn't tho other mae;o.zinos do the fJclT10 thine? :,s ~· : n nll kno1.1, t ;.o covers on tho onGazinos these do.ys nrc t errible in t.i1c r:ny

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they fall o.pnrt alr:10st ir:unodin tely nftcr ptn'ch:: .. so, I 1 • -, i1~c t o h vc· sn;···c noro binders for tho rost of tho i'lnc;azinco, nnd f ee l sure th~·.t t k. cc·~d; 1->f the binders would bo offset by tho fc clinf~ of hnvinG good copie: s ~·.r--tcr o. short period of time! (Incidentall y ,; tho binder for the r!OF&SF v-1ill nls o hold G;.-..lo.xy. ) ' · · . ; · ·

Ono darn thine i ohds t o · nn0thcr. Tho oontion of Gnlft2£! br~ n.__:s t n ~- ::: L' c:. si tuntion which I .;,m sure c1.'uld be r emedi ed by SO"'lO ()nc in thc.h noj J_j_nc; dopnrtmcnt--VIHERE IS MY :fHIRD I_SS1JE OF GALAXY?? S5.nco I .. :ailed in Tf r.ub­scription to both QQ.lillS£ ' nnd ~he J:.l·:)vols l~st Soptombor (boforo the first issue c::mo •mt), I hnva recciyod tho f ollm7inc froJ:\' tho hnilinr; (lop:rt •rnt of those nnco.zines: Three _ copies of Quln.££. #1; Fcur copies ·: f ;';·;: ; Three copies of tho SFN ovolp #1; Tr;o of 1/2 ; . 1 · ~·f #J; 'f;m copio s of G:::.l--;Q£Z -l'i o . L,; and ono CO}r.f of #5; but D£ .£.Qpios Qf !~ .third iss ue!

He.rry WeatherbY o.nd Jim Harmon arcn 1 t, coing t o liko no w -ry rmch 1'~ , n tho-r sec t his issue of Pi.:ON . I hr"1.d criainnlly ochodul od o. full l onr;th r~b:r:· t)y Ho.rry a nd a lonr;cr c olu;;m by Jir:1, Tho stencils vwrc cut ::tnd sor:!o cf then run off when I took o. sh ort lo:w o l ast mor..th. Ho·.:cvcr, nhcn I e 'l":c h'ck to nork , I doscovorod tho..t s ane br:ic;ht soul, blcos hj_s point ed s·.-;cr; t hcc,o, ho.d cleaned up tho cnbinct v-:hc:r 8 I h:o.d loft the r:o!:'k and had thr :c1m · cut Hnrry's story, nnd part of·Jjm1 s colurJn, l co.vin!$ r.1o 1:ith 13 P"-Ge;s to fill in. I didn 1 t have onoue;h time t o . ro block and retype Ihrry 1 s story , c.nd of course, didn't ho.ve Jim's oricino.l copy. So, I've roprintE..d o.n ::.rt:i.clo fr om ClffiONOSCOPE by Joe Konncd~l' j nnd h<nro run tho br.lo.nco n f Jj_m 1 s cc lu--m, Sorry, boys , but it j ust coul dn 't bo helped ! HC'.rry 1 s stor::r· ~-dll O..JJ: l • rcr :~n n lo.tor issue of PEOi·-1, n.lonc with noro 0f Jin Ibr:.~on!

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§HOJlT AND I.J>.ST l.:JINUTE HOTr.TTT:S: ·::Tho '1c1 f or Uvn.nctic :?. n.nr1 J nc !::lJnr:( ~ ~;;."' s articles wore both reprinted VIithrut o.c1v.J.ncc por.misd on fr ·x.: oith•.r the authors or editors, but since t hoy 1:cro s o good I f elt thnt shr;;,.rtJ:cso of _ tir.~o made it oxcuso.blc cnouch t o usc tlwm . 11 Uvanot:i.cs 11 cw'le fr ,_'r:i 3'L-;F'.'~l'J­TASY published for FAPA by William F. Dnnncr (nlso t ho nuth·J~· •)f t:·c u~ ! ) ; who is one of tho brightest stars in tho li'flPJ~ bunc1l0s .::t tho present, Y·.u al l know tho oxccllonoss of Redd Boggn t publicntions, s o nrJthin[:; · ·":':lrn v:ill be snid n.bout thnt., ••• ? rik Holmes, rel)reson-tcd in this issue , br :-•1m J.n.to ' profossiono.l publication for the first t i ne rrith his story, 11 Dcf5..chhc2.c10n The Moon" in tho Fobrunry issue cf Blue Book. Erlc ( correct spc.llh'.G c-:f his first r. -::. :-:1o ) cor!1os by his .writinG naturally, since his fnth t:1' js \·:Cl l­lmovm in t ho nriting fiel d b-.f t he no.:.1e i.loc Huds on . !!o cr~:vla::ct,_ s fl~ (m

Stn.nf ,Jrd this yonr, o.nd o.t prosont , think:J - he vrill co intn tho l'.!c:.r-.i P~­Corp_s. I cnn 1t do o. thing n.b ·· ut thn.t, p~or foihl ow, since ho is ~J. ~1o:1bor of tho r.larino Corps Rese rve nl roady! l:..nd his f c.thor. a re: tir(~d N<l 'l'l' C~nl1t­o.in t oo ! ••••• Ho 11 Mcnchuno Muttorin[s 11 this issue due.~ t 0 H0y C ur:~m:1 n:; f: 1 be inc kept t0o busy o.t tho l ocn.l §.t~r:.:J?ullotj_n . His wife j_s a Erect r 'Jf L~ l ocal plo.y, nncl Roy 1 s been busy ho l ping out behind st".(;Qfl. Br.lJic;s C'l()

back t o o.bout this tine · iinst ycn.r, f'nr thn.t uns where I firnt f oum1 lrl111--·· busier than n onc-n.rmod po.pcr hn.nr;or with tho seven yonr i tch, wh~t ,-.-:ith issuinc; costumes , to.lldnG t ,_.-, nc, nnd tryj,nG t 0 oot supper. n.l1 r>. t t~1o s-~.r-,c

tine l ••. • , Vlhy is it tha t ThrUJJ 3t; Wonds:.r nnr'l -St'1r_1!lin~ : St~rig..§ ['.peer . on the norTssto.nds nbout t wo weeks onrl i (;r t han tho subscripti ~Jn cop:i , s cone

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Al thouch \70 rocci vcd bn.ck just o. bcmt half of tho cnr'.1.s ',-:c rYJ. H c c1 nt \'Ji tb tho last issue of PEON, v1c dic1 n-macc t o _,:ot o. (=3ood rcpr~;scnktio:l. ·' f '. ;h~:.t the rco.ders of PEON like o.nd vmnt t o soo in tho futuro, 1'i:l' r osul ts ·:: f the votes co.st of the features ln tho l ast issue appco.r ''8 foll::nrs~

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TITLE Going Up Peon Notes Kan Ko.n · I\n bi tzcr

·Harmony· Goo Monchuno Muttorings

POUT~ 1.61 . 1~?2 2.00 2.22 2.35 2.44

RegardinG nhnt they vm..ntod t o re :-..cl in the futuro, tho rocukrs -.:c:J'O very definite. Counting 1 P·::Jint f or first pl ace , 2 points f c·r sc c•ll1d Dl:cc.1 , ~md s o on; it ran like this: Articles (28); Fo.n News (45); Ficticn (55) ; FJ :::;.J:­Reviews (57); o.nd definite ly lo.st, Poetry (79). Rest ::ssured the odit:.;rs of PEON have taken note of tho certo.in stand, a.ncl will tr:r t ·) fill y•YLIT

wo.nts in tho futuro. You will notice tl~is issue · is b::1.sod cti th~~t st'.nd . Anyone wo.nt to do book r eview f or us? And tho.nlcs o. l ot t; .~, those wb:: voted first o.nd second place t o your odi tor's 8fforts in tho l ns t issue--or ,.,.., s it just bcco.use PEON is mailed t oo freely? Wo wonder •••

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KINSMEN OF . THE DRAGON by Stanley Muilen

Shas ta Publishers Chi cago , Ill~ •• $3.50

I wish I could r€n~ommehd. this book to y ou . 'J.' ho author·, ·one- time ·editor. of .a :.popular .f ."'.nzino from Denver, Colorado, deser ve s . u chance t o br<:)'O.k 'i'n to' big-time , tl.nd I hope he gets -it. B1:t if you go · by t his book, · he ho. s n lon~ ·.•c·~·s to

go. In. this book, he has trj,.ed ' to WC flVO into tho 336 page s -of 1o.r gc -f:, l_JC ,

a story thn.t best would have f i tted the pages of WEIRD TAL'l!~S . Sto.111cy hc\ s had one pri vatcly printed book publish8d before, · 11 r:1oonfonm a.nd Sor· ccri '~~l 11 , whi ch was fair, and wha.t amaze s me is that Shasta v10uld tnko such n G h:'.~. c ·:) on an u.nY..novm vJl'i tcr .

Briefly this is the story of Eric J oyce ·who goes into a. world t.lK<t :l.s 11 b(' ­sido our ovm11 (to q~oto from the dust vrra.ppcr )-. ·· All t ho ingrcJi.c;ri~ fJ o:f o. pulp thr"illcr a.ro horo---a would-be dictc.tor of tho shnd ow vmr 1c1 -.-,ho i s t r ying to conquer Ear th, anc ient priesthoods bC:sod on a tomic en( rg~. - :.'.l'd its 'by-products, and for tho love i ntorcst, a young gi:rl who inh .:r i ts o. curse laid on one of her feminine :mccs tors. . Tho story · concerns :i. i: sc lf Ti i th t he trials and tribu:)..a t ions of Erlc and · the girl, Anmryn, t !K ir love and f inal happy ending. . . . . .

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Appco.r anco -Hiso, tho book is good looking, whnt with a bnndsornc .i :J.c~ ~e: t do­s i gned by Hmmes Bok, l nrge clco.r pr int on t he i nside, . nnd . o. no ' t f ormc.t throughout. But $3.50 is a godcmful pr i ca to pn;r for jl.mt t h."\t, Oh :1cll,

every publisher must throw out n cl inker now.und then, v.n~ I gucsn t h is ' s Shasta 's turn .

THE MAN.JlliQ_§OLD THE PAOO.t! by Robert A. Heinlein

Signet (The New Americt.ln Libr ary of World Literat­ure , Inc.) Ncr; York 22,· New York •••••••••••••• 25¢

- - - - - - ~ - - - -Thi s i s good--make no mi stn. kc: s about i't . I t is a. s t rnngo coincidr; nco, i ndeed , '.J} lOn I jus t got t hrough petnillng one Sh"..s ·l~.:.t book , and then turn around a nd givo o. good Tc cnmm­endation for cmother. But t[l_i s pocl:ct-book reprint of Shasta 1 s be s t publ i s hed bed: s o f a r , deserves a. big pa t on t he back . :Chc ono

thi ng I ca.n soc YJl'ong vri th this boo]{ i s that it didn 1 t i ncl ndo a.l l of tho stor i es in the qriginnl edition . r.a ssing in this r eprint nro "Life -Line:" and "Bl ovmps Hnppen, 11 Tho int r oduction by John 'N. Co.tnpboll, .Jr . , o.lso, v1a.s omitted, but tho.t wasn't missed . Tho book h<::s o.n .:: t t r n.ctivc c \):;o r ; o.nd f or tho price you ca.n 1t . go vrrong . I still · t hink the t itle s tory i s tho be s t tha.t Heinlein ha s over vrritton .

Si gnet Books arc beginning t o reprint numerous fine scicnccf'iction t :i.t1 ,- 3

and o.sk f or r cfommcndo.tions f r om ro~fders. I'd like to sugges t t h::tt i f yo·:.l have any pa rticula r title s in mind , t ha t you contnct ' thom r i ght r"r,·17; pc:r­ho.ps we will be nblc then t o obtain some of tho older t itles at l m·· cos ·:-, ! 1

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