FFB: WHISPERS: AN ILLUSTRATED ANTHOLOGY OF FANTASY AND HORROR edited by Stuart David Schiff (Doubleday 1977)

This is the fortieth anniversary year of my youthful falling in love with new fiction magazines (and magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly and OMNI, which featured fiction prominently), and none of them did I love more intensely than Whispers magazine (founded 1973), whose first best-of anthology (with a few new stories mixed in) this was. I managed to find it in a library in 1978, the year after it was published, and the year after I first learned of Whispers magazine's existence, thanks to Gerald W. Page's The Year's Best Horror Stories, Series V (DAW Books, 1977) and the next volume, and particularly Gahan Wilson's First World Fantasy Awards (Doubleday 1977). The anthology series which followed this first volume continued to be a mixture of reprints from the magazine and, increasingly,  new stories, and the Doubleday volumes (eventually six of them) began to appear more frequently than new issues of the magazine itself, which had to be financed entirely by editor and publisher Stuart Schiff, whose dentistry practice allowed him to fund his ever more elaborate and handsome little magazine. (The anthology series had handsomer jackets than most Doubleday releases of the era, even if the magazine usually was more striking, given Schiff didn't have to negotiate with the Doubleday art department with what he published on his own.)

Whispers magazine had been Schiff's attempt, initially modestly, at bringing something similar to Weird Tales back into print (and as he was doing so, the four-issue run of Leo Margulies's revival of WT, edited by Sam Moskowitz, came and and quickly went), as a showcase for horror and borderline suspense fiction, and dark and heroic fantasy fiction. And from its early issues, it was featuring fiction as good as or better than that appearing in better-paying magazines and other markets. 

Whispers ed. Stuart David Schiff (Doubleday 0-385-12568-2, Aug ’77, $7.95, hc) Also in pb (Jove 1979; 1987).
• Introduction · Stuart David Schiff · in
• Sticks · Karl Edward Wagner · nv Whispers Mar 1974
• The Barrow Troll · David Drake · ss Whispers Dec 1975
• The Glove · Fritz Leiber · ss Whispers Jun 1975
• The Closer of the Way · Robert Bloch · ss * new
• Dark Winner · William F. Nolan · ss Whispers Dec 1976
• Ladies in Waiting · Hugh B. Cave · ss Whispers Jun 1975
• White Moon Rising · Dennis Etchison · ss * new
• Graduation · Richard Christian Matheson · ss Whispers Aug 1977
• Mirror, Mirror · Ray Russell · ss * new
• The House of Cthulhu · Brian Lumley · ss Whispers Jul 1973
• Antiquities · John Crowley · ss * new
• A Weather Report from the Top of the Stairs · James Sallis & David Lunde · ss Whispers Dec 1973
• The Scallion Stone · Basil A. Smith · nv * new
• The Inglorious Rise of the Catsmeat Man · Robin Smyth · ss New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural #1, ed. David A. Sutton, London: Sphere 1971; Whispers Jul 1974
• The Pawnshop · Charles E. Fritch · ss * new
• Le Miroir · Robert Aickman · ss Whispers Aug 1977
• The Willow Platform · Joseph Payne Brennan · ss Whispers Jul 1973
• The Dakwa [Lee Cobbett] · Manly Wade Wellman · ss * new
• Goat · David Campton · ss New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural #1, ed. David A. Sutton, London: Sphere 1971; Whispers Dec 1975
• The Chimney · Ramsey Campbell · ss * new
• Afterword · Stuart David Schiff · aw

1979 paperback reprint

This wasn't quite a who's who of horror writing in the 1970s, as an all-stag group (with the possible exception of the now-vanished Robin Smyth) and missing a few of the other male major players, but it's an impressive array, and at least pretty good stories from them all (with the exception, by my lights, of a typically minor Brian Lumley Cthulhu story). Karl Wagner's "Sticks" is perhaps his best-remembered horror fiction, David Drake's "The Barrow Troll" one of his best-loved historical fantasies with an horrific edge to it, and while none of the other stories loom as large in their authors' careers (the Ramsey Campbell is perhaps closest), this was a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to what Schiff brought together in his anthologies to come, and (minus the book reviews and relevant small press and large-publisher news) the magazine. Future volumes would feature even fewer reprints from sources largely unavailable to US readers, but a few more...including David Campton's brilliant "At the Bottom of the Garden" in Whispers II. And after the first volume, the series was published, misleadingly, under the Doubleday Science Fiction imprint...mostly notable for an even more meager promotion budget.

1987 reprint

The horror boom was already beginning to burgeon by 1977, as Stephen King joined Ira Levin, Thomas Tryon, William Peter Blatty and others as repeatedly bestselling writers, H. P. Lovecraft had gained a mass audience, and publishers were already willing to take a gamble on anthologies ...Doubleday would engage Charles Grant's Shadows series of original anthologies beginning in 1978; Kirby McCauley's Frights had appeared in 1976, and his Dark Forces would come in 1980. Paperback versions of all these were rolling out as well...and not a few little magazines in horror would follow Schiff's example, and join such other veteran small-press magazines as Weirdbook and Nyctalops. 

For more of today's reviews, please see Patti Abbott's blog...and her new collection, I Bring Sorrow and Other Tales of Transgression.

Friday's "Forgotten" Magazines and Periodical Books: Firsts: F&SF, FANTASTIC, WHISPERS, SHADOWS, TZ, ARIEL, WEIRD TALES, OTHER WORLDS and before.

(Indices from ISFDB.org and the Contento indices; magazine cover images mostly from the collection at Galactic Central).

So, I thought I'd highlight the first new issues I picked up of some of my favorite fiction magazines from my salad days (having already blogged about the first older issues I encountered, my free first taste)...the second taste, no longer free (though only Ariel was so expensive as to make me think twice...).

The March, 1978, issue of F&SF (the first issue to cost $1.25...editor and publisher Edward Ferman would offer "all-star" issues for the anniversaries and every price rise...and clearly, my timing was exquisite) was pretty impressive, both for its nice proportion of horror stories (the Wellman, the Grant, the Garrett Lovecraftian parody which inspired the cover, and the relatively weak Young) and for the longest fiction in the issue, John Varley's "The Persistence of Vision." Solid columns by Algis Budrys, Baird Searles (his rundown of the film of Damnation Alley, quite probably the funniest column Searles wrote) and Isaac Asimov, a Gahan Wilson cartoon, Ted Thomas's deft humanistic sf piece, Glen Cook's fine Vancean fantasy, and a not-bad Papa Schimmelhorn story...instant addiction.

6 • The Persistence of Vision • novella by John Varley
51 • Hundred Years Gone • [Southern Appalachia] • shortstory by Manly Wade Wellman
63 • Books (F&SF, March 1978) • [Books (F&SF)] • essay by Algis Budrys
65 •   Review: Gateway by Frederik Pohl • review by Algis Budrys
66 •   Review: The Futurians by Damon Knight • review by Algis Budrys
72 • The Family Man • shortstory by Theodore L. Thomas [as by Ted Thomas ]
78 • The Seventh Fool • shortstory by Glen Cook
83 • Cartoon: "I suppose you don't think this is hard work! • interior artwork by Gahan Wilson
84 • Hear Me Now, My Sweet Abbey Rose • shortstory by Charles L. Grant
97 • Films and Television: The Road to Albany • [Films (F&SF)] • essay by Baird Searles
100 • Down the Ladder • shortstory by Robert F. Young
111 • The Horror Out of Time • shortstory by Randall Garrett
123 • Anyone for Tens? • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • essay by Isaac Asimov
135 • Papa Schimmelhorn's Yang • [Schimmelhorn] • novelette by Reginald Bretnor

The quarterly Fantastic had its July issue out by March (and also the first $1.25 issue), so the next time I dropped by the Derry bookstore that was my source of new fiction magazines, and most of my new books, in my New Hampshire years (a real pity it didn't ever carry UnEarth nor Shayol nor even the Boston-based Galileo regularly in those years), I snagged it. Again, Robert Young's story was more foolish than not, but fun enough to read (and an opportunity for Stephen Fabian to do his mild cheesecake illustrations), but Charles Sheffield's first Erasmus Darwin historical fantasy (further stories would appear in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and F&SF in months to come, as Fantastic would soon go into its final decline) was impressive, as the horrors by Malzberg, Springer, and arguably Davis were augmented by charming fantasies by Godwin and Haldeman, and a borderline sf by Bunch. And Fritz Leiber was their book reviewer! I did luck into his first column in about a year or so...and one where he was, as he had with Katherine Kurtz previously, reluctantly forced to give a very negative review...unsurprisingly, even moreso (along with inviting a guest to give another persoective, at least as unimpressed).

4 • Editorial (Fantastic, July 1978) • [Editorial (Fantastic)] • essay by Ted White
6 • The Journal of Nathaniel Worth • novelette by Robert F. Young
7 • The Journal of Nathaniel Worth • interior artwork by Stephen Fabian [as by Steve Fabian ]
20 • The Last Rainbow • novelette by Parke Godwin
21 • The Last Rainbow • interior artwork by Joe Staton
44 • The Chill of Distant Laughter • shortstory by Sherwood Springer
45 • The Chill of Distant Laughter • interior artwork by John Rodak
54 • The Treasure of Odirex • [Erasmus Darwin] • novella by Charles Sheffield
55 • The Treasure of Odirex • interior artwork by Lydia Moon
93 • Prowl • shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
96 • David's Friend, the Hole • shortstory by Grania Davis
97 • David's Friend, the Hole • interior artwork by Tony Gleeson
105 • What Weighs 8000 Pounds and Wears Red Sneakers? • shortstory by Jack C. Haldeman, II
108 • Send Us a Planet! • shortstory by David R. Bunch
116 • Fantasy Books (Fantastic, July 1978) • [Fantasy Books (Fantastic)] • essay by Fritz Leiber
119 •   Review: The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks • review by Fritz Leiber
123 • . . . According to You (Fantastic, July 1978) • [According to You (Fantastic)] • letter column conducted by Ted White

There were only two more Ted White issues of Fantastic before Arthur Bernhard bought out his retiring senior partner Sol Cohen as publisher, and remade Fantastic into a garish mostly-reprint magazine with game but even more underpaid tyro editor Eleanor Mavor (she used the pseudonym "Omar Gohagen" at first). White wandered over to Heavy Metal for a year, where he luxuriated in a real budget...at about the same time, Ben Bova was leaving the sf magazine Analog and wandering over to a gig at Omni, and leaving behind a minimal budget for a similarly luxurious one.

So, as I mentioned, Ariel simply cost too much. Though it was handsome, as I browsed each issue as I found it, this second issue being the first I saw. A buck and a quarter I could swing on my irregular allowance...but $6 for one rather slim issue/volume? Even with that lineup? Um...
Cover: Frank Frazetta
fep • Ariel: The Book of Fantasy, Volume Two • interior artwork by Franklin Booth
bc • Ariel: The Book of Fantasy, Volume Two • interior artwork by Bruce Jones
2 • Ariel: The Book of Fantasy, Volume Two (frontispiece) • interior artwork by Richard Corben
3 • Title Page (Ariel: The Book of Fantasy, Volume Two) • interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
5 • Contents Page (Ariel: The Book of Fantasy, Volume Two) • interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
6 • Eggsucker • [Vic and Blood • 1] • shortstory by Harlan Ellison
6 • Eggsucker • interior artwork by Richard Corben
14 • Interview with Frank Frazetta Part II • interview of Frank Frazetta • interview by Armand Eisen
14 • Interview with Frank Frazetta, Part II • interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
27 • The Princess and the Merman • shortfiction by Bruce Jones
27 • The Princess and the Merman • interior artwork by Bruce Jones
32 • The Lake — To __ • interior artwork by Michael Hague
33 • The Lake — To __ • (1827) • poem by Edgar Allan Poe (aka The Lake)
34 • Science Fiction Chauvinism • (1975) • essay by Ursula K. Le Guin [as by Ursula Le Guin ]
34 • Science Fiction Chauvinism • interior artwork by Mark Corcoran
36 • Frodo as Christ • interior artwork by John Butterfield
36 • Frodo as Christ • (1970) • essay by Myra Edwards Barnes [as by Myra Edward Barnes ]
40 • The Burning Man • (1976) • shortstory by Ray Bradbury
40 • The Burning Man • interior artwork by Bruce Jones
44 • Thinking of Frankenstein • essay by Arthur Asa Berger
44 • Thinking of Frankenstein • interior artwork by Michael McClue
47 • Paradise Gems • shortstory by David James
47 • Paradise Gems • interior artwork by Tom Kowal
48 • The Helmet-Maker's Wife • novelette by Keith Roberts
48 • The Helmet-Maker's Wife • interior artwork by Robert Noback
56 • Den (Ariel #2) • comics by Richard Corben
71 • Islands • (1963) • shortstory by Michael Moorcock
72 • Islands • interior artwork by Jeff Jones

But one I was willing to expend the effort and expense (a mere $4 for this relatively fat double issue, in comparison) to obtain was my first Whispers issue, having already enjoyed library copies of the First World Fantasy Awards anthology, with its Whispers sampler within, and the first Whispers anthology.
Title: Whispers #13-14, October 1979: Fritz Leiber tribute issue
(wraparound) Cover: Steve Fabian
fep • Our Lady of Darkness • interior artwork by John Stewart
bep • Smoke Ghost • interior artwork by Chris Pellitiere
1 • Whispers (masthead) • (1977) • interior artwork by John Linton
2 • Editorial (Whispers #13-14) • essay by Stuart David Schiff
3 • News (Whispers #13-14) • essay by Stuart David Schiff
12 • A Ghostly Photograph of Fritz Leiber • interior artwork by Emil Petaja
13 • The Button Molder • novelette by Fritz Leiber
35 • Swords and Deviltry Folio • interior artwork by Stephen Fabian [as by Steve Fabian ]
43 • Fritz Leiber Revisited: From Hyde Park to Geary Street • essay by James Wade
48 • Alderman Stratton's Fancy • (1969) • shortstory by David Campton
55 • Alderman Stratton's Fancy • interior artwork by Ray Capella
56 • Castle of Tears • [Dread Empire] • shortstory by Glen Cook
64 • Castle of Tears • interior artwork by Vincent Napoli
69 • Blood Moon • shortstory by Thomas L. Owen
78 • Chang Dree • shortstory by Gerald W. Page
88 • HPL: A Reminiscence (part 2 of 2) • essay by H. Warner Munn
96 • The Sorcerer's Dream • shortstory by Brian Lumley
99 • The Sorcerer's Dream • interior artwork by Alan Hunter
100 • A Fly One • shortstory by Steve Sneyd
104 • A Fly One • interior artwork by Denis Tiani
105 • The Last Ambition • shortstory by Charles L. Grant
109 • The Last Ambition • interior artwork by Alan Hunter
110 • Who Nose What Evil • shortstory by Charles E. Fritch
115 • Who Nose What Evil • interior artwork by Jim Shull
116 • The White Beast • [Dilvish] • shortstory by Roger Zelazny
118 • The White Beast • interior artwork by Alan Hunter
119 • The Secret Member • essay by J. Vernon Shea
121 • The Dead Line • shortstory by Dennis Etchison

--Goodness. Even the minor Lumley was fun to read. Much less the Leiber, the Etchison, the Campton, the Grant...

Meanwhile, here's the lineup for that first Whispers anthology, from Doubleday:
Whispers ed. Stuart David Schiff (Doubleday 0-385-12568-2, Aug ’77, $7.95, hc); Also in pb (Jove 1979).
· Introduction · Stuart David Schiff · in
· Sticks · Karl Edward Wagner · nv Whispers Mar ’74
· The Barrow Troll · David Drake · ss Whispers Dec ’75
· The Glove · Fritz Leiber · ss Whispers Jun ’75
· The Closer of the Way · Robert Bloch · ss *
· Dark Winner · William F. Nolan · ss Whispers Dec ’76
· Ladies in Waiting · Hugh B. Cave · ss Whispers Jun ’75
· White Moon Rising · Dennis Etchison · ss *
· Graduation · Richard Christian Matheson · ss Whispers Aug ’77
· Mirror, Mirror · Ray Russell · ss *
· The House of Cthulhu · Brian Lumley · ss Whispers Jul ’73
· Antiquities · John Crowley · ss *
· A Weather Report from the Top of the Stairs · James Sallis & David Lunde · ss Whispers Dec ’73
· The Scallion Stone · Basil A. Smith · nv *
· The Inglorious Rise of the Catsmeat Man · Robin Smyth · ss New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural #1, ed. David A. Sutton, London: Sphere, 1971; Whispers Jul ’74
· The Pawnshop · Charles E. Fritch · ss *
· Le Miroir · Robert Aickman · ss Whispers Aug ’77
· The Willow Platform · Joseph Payne Brennan · ss Whispers Jul ’73
· The Dakwa [Lee Cobbett] · Manly Wade Wellman · ss *
· Goat · David Campton · ss New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural #1, ed. David A. Sutton, London: Sphere, 1971; Whispers Dec ’75
· The Chimney · Ramsey Campbell · ss *
· Afterword · Stuart David Schiff · aw

The only conteporary series which could touch the Schiff anthologies, at least at first, was Charles Grant's Shadows volumes, with their emphasis on what Grant himself preferred to write, "quiet" or subtle horror...Avram Davidson's brilliant "Naples" led, and not only in its placement in this impressive debut.

Shadows ed. Charles L. Grant (Doubleday 0-385-12937-8, 1978, $7.95, hc); Also in pb (Playboy 1980).
· Introduction · Charles L. Grant · in
· Naples · Avram Davidson · ss *
· The Little Voice · Ramsey Campbell · nv *
· Butcher’s Thumb · William Jon Watkins · ss *
· Where All the Songs Are Sad · Thomas F. Monteleone · nv *
· Splinters · R. A. Lafferty · ss *
· Picture · Robert Bloch · ss *
· The Nighthawk · Dennis Etchison · ss *
· Dead Letters · Ramsey Campbell · ss *
· A Certain Slant of Light · Raylyn Moore · ss *
· Deathlove · Bill Pronzini · ss *
· Mory · Michael Bishop · nv *
· Where Spirits Gat Them Home · John Crowley · ss *
· Nona · Stephen King · nv *

(Well, to be fair, Ramsey Campbell found his 1980 New Terrors anthology published in two volumes...not supported, as Kirby McCauley was with his comparable Frights and Dark Forces, with one fat volume...these all comparable reads....)

Even Zebra, so ready to help overload horror fiction with mediocre to terrible horror novels in a few years, was willing to briefly support two anthology series, both not quite what they should be, and not quite up to these others, but more grist for my mill...Roy Torgeson's Other Worlds (which actually managed to leave out the Avram Davidson story mentioned on its cover...published in the second and final volume), and Lin Carter's Weird Tales, the second revival to use the title (Sam Moskowitz had edited four issues for Leo Margulies's Renown Publications in 1973-74 of the first revival...Carter's series saw four volumes, and some questionable accounting on everyone's part helped kill it...a two-issue revival followed in 1984, and the current WT began its much more tradtionalist (than currently) run in 1985 when George Scithers and his editorial staff left the D&D-gaming TSR Publishers, who'd hired them from founding Asimov's to edit Amazing (combined with Fantastic) after TSR bought it from Bernhard; TSR promptly sold the tv rights to the magazine and title to Steven Spielberg for his plastic timewaster...a bump of cash which no doubt helped keep the magazine going despite TSR nonchalance.

Other Worlds 1 ed. Roy Torgeson (Zebra 0-89083-558-6, Dec ’79, $2.25, 282pp, pb)
9 · Introduction · Roy Torgeson · in
18 · Fire from the Wine-Dark Sea · Somtow Sucharitkul · nv *
40 · The Birdchaser · James E. Thompson · ss *
46 · The Pavilion Where All Times Meet · Jayge Carr · nv *
69 · The Bully and the Beast · Orson Scott Card · na *
142 · Hideout · Steve Rasnic Tem · ss *
153 · The Last Performance of Kobo Daishi · Alan Ryan · nv *
178 · Miss Notworthy and the Aliens · Sharon Webb · ss *
187 · Water Kwatz, or More Bible Suckers · Ronald Anthony Cross · ss *
207 · The Dragon That Lived in the Sea · Elizabeth A. Lynn · ss *
215 · The Painters Are Coming Today · Steve Rasnic Tem · ss *
221 · Perfect Balance · Steve Perry · ss *
235 · The Character Assassin · Paul H. Cook · ss *
249 · from The Last Viking: The Saga of Harald Hardrede · Poul Anderson · ex *

Weird Tales [No.1, v48 # 1, Spring 1981] ed. Lin Carter (Zebra 0-89083-714-7, Dec ’80, $2.50, 268pp, pb)
5 · Editorial · Lin Carter · ed *
9 · Scarlet Tears · Robert E. Howard · nv *
47 · Down There · Ramsey Campbell · ss *
65 · The Light from the Pole · Clark Ashton Smith & Lin Carter · ss *
86 · Someone Named Guibourg · Hannes Bok · nv *
Annals of Arkya:
___ 116 · 1. The Courier · Robert A. W. Lowndes · pm *
___ 116 · 2. The Worshippers · Robert A. W. Lowndes · pm *
117 · Bat’s Belfry · August W. Derleth · ss Weird Tales May ’26
130 · The Pit · Carl Jacobi · ss *
149 · When the Clock Strikes · Tanith Lee · ss *
174 · Red Thunder · Robert E. Howard · pm JAPM: The Poetry Weekly Sep 16 ’29
175 · Some Day I’ll Kill You! · Seabury Quinn · ss Strange Stories Feb ’41
194 · Healer · Mary Elizabeth Counselman · nv *
219 · The House Without Mirrors · David H. Keller, M.D. · ss *
230 · Dreams in the House of Weir · Lin Carter · nv *

And, finally, in 1981, a magazine rolled onto the stands that wouldn't quite replace Fantastic in my heart, but did in its seven-year run consistently improve and offer a good array of much of the best short fantasy and horror published during its time...and even helped name as well as first publish some of the best of the not-so-quiet horror writers, the "splatterpunks"...Twilight Zone. I missed the first issue, and started with the second. (Its sister publication, a few years later, Night Cry, was even better but had poorer distribution...very catch as catch can.)
6 • In the Twilight Zone: Rewriting the Legends... • essay by T. E. D. Klein
7 • Other Dimensions: Books (Twilight Zone, May 1981) • essay by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: Far from Home by Walter Tevis • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: King David's Spaceship by Jerry Pournelle • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: Zelde M'Tana by F. M. Busby • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: Orbit 21 by Damon Knight • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: Shadows 3 by Charles L. Grant • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: The Last Defender of Camelot by Roger Zelazny • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: Fundamental Disch by Thomas M. Disch • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 •   Review: If All Else Fails by Craig Strete • review by Theodore Sturgeon
7 • Review of the nonfiction book "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas R. Hofstader • essay by Theodore Sturgeon
7 • Review of the nonfiction book "The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light" by William Irwin Thompson • essay by Theodore Sturgeon
8 •   Review: An Island Called Moreau by Brian W. Aldiss • review by Theodore Sturgeon
8 •   Review: The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe • review by Theodore Sturgeon
8 •   Review: Conan and the Spider God by L. Sprague de Camp • review by Theodore Sturgeon
8 •   Review: Nightmares by Charles L. Grant • review by Theodore Sturgeon
8 •   Review: Jack Vance by Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander and Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller • review by Theodore Sturgeon
9 •   Review: A Fond Farewell to Dying by Syd Logsdon • review by Theodore Sturgeon
10 • Other Dimensions: Screen (Twilight Zone, May 1981) • essay by Gahan Wilson
13 • TZ Interview: Peter Straub: "I Looked Into My Imagination and That's What I Found" • interview of Peter Straub • interview by Jay Gregory
18 • In the Sunken Museum • novelette by Gregory Frost
19 • In the Sunken Museum • interior artwork by Frances Jetter
28 • Blood Relations • shortstory by Lewis Shiner
28 • Blood Relations • interior artwork by Arthur Somerfield
34 • And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee • shortstory by Roger Zelazny
34 • And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee • interior artwork by Bob Gale
36 • Chronic Offender • shortstory by Spider Robinson
37 • Chronic Offender • interior artwork by Steven Guarnaccia
46 • Seven and the Stars • shortstory by Joe Haldeman
46 • Seven and the Stars • interior artwork by Jose Reyes
53 • TZ Screen Preview: The Hand • essay by uncredited
57 • Drum Dancer • shortstory by George Clayton Johnson
57 • Drum Dancer • interior artwork by A. G. Metcalf
60 • Brief Encounter • shortstory by Michael Garrett
60 • Brief Encounter • interior artwork by Jose Reyes
62 • How They Pass the Time in Pelpel • shortstory by Robert Silverberg
62 • How They Pass the Time in Pelpel • interior artwork by uncredited
70 • Magritte's Secret Agent • novelette by Tanith Lee
70 • Magritte's Secret Agent • shortfiction by Jose Reyes
89 • Show-by-Show Guide: TV's Twilight Zone: Part Two • essay by Marc Scott Zicree
95 • The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (teleplay) • shortfiction by Rod Serling
106 • Looking Ahead (Twilight Zone, May 1981) • essay by uncredited

...of course, I was primed for all these as a small child, when my parents presented me with a few issues of Humpty Dumpty and Children's Digest, when they were published by the Parents Magazine folks, and not yet by Christian conservatives.

This was one of the issues of HD I had:















And, with excerpts from Hugh Lofting and Lewis Carroll (and Herge's Tintin comics serialized), I think I had this issue of CD...


While my folks would get me a few Highlights for Children and, as a Webelos, Boy's Life in the next few years, I think the digests made a stronger impression... pity my folks didn't know about Jack and Jill and Cricket...nor realized how much I enjoyed the digests...of course, I was also reading the crime-fiction and sf digests, and Short Story International, and The Atlantic Monthly and Dissent, and Omni and Scientific American, and Downbeat when I could find it, by the turn of the '80s...

For more of this round of "forgotten" books, and probably less nostalgic ramble by anyone else this week, please see George Kelley's blog, as he fills in for the vacationing Patti Abbott.

Friday's "Forgotten"...: FIRST WORLD FANTASY AWARDS edited by Gahan Wilson (Doubleday 1977) and (the album) Jawbox: FOR YOUR OWN SPECIAL SWEETHEART

Cover by Gahan Wilson, of course:

From the Contento Indices:

First World Fantasy Awards ed. Gahan Wilson (New York: Doubleday 0-385-12199-7, Oct ’77, $8.95, 311pp, hc)
9 · Introduction · Gahan Wilson · in
11 · Map of Providence · Gahan Wilson · il
15 · The Convention · Kirby McCauley · ar *
17 · About the Fantasy Awards · Gahan Wilson · ar *
19 · The Awards · Gahan Wilson · bi *
21 · The Bat Is My Brother · Robert Bloch · ss Weird Tales Nov ’44
36 · Beetles · Robert Bloch · ss Weird Tales Dec ’38
46 · Acceptance Speech · Robert Bloch · sp *
53 · About Robert Bloch · Misc. · bg *
55 · from The Forgotten Beasts of Eld · Patricia A. McKillip · ex New York: Atheneum, 1974
63 · An Essay · Robert Aickman · ar *
66 · Pages from a Young Girl’s Journal · Robert Aickman · nv F&SF Feb ’73
97 · The Events at Poroth Farm · T. E. D. Klein · na From Beyond the Dark Gateway #2 ’72
137 · A Father’s Tale [Brigadier Ffellowes] · Sterling E. Lanier · nv F&SF Jul ’74
168 · Sticks · Karl Edward Wagner · nv Whispers Mar ’74
187 · Come Into My Parlor · Manly Wade Wellman · ss The Girl With the Hungry Eyes, ed. Donald A. Wollheim, Avon, 1949
198 · Fearful Rock · Manly Wade Wellman · na Weird Tales Feb ’39 (+2)
253 · About Manly Wade Wellman · Misc. · bg
254 · The Ballantines · Misc. · bg
256 · Lee Brown Coye // An Appreciation · Gahan Wilson · ar Whispers #3 ’74
260 · The Bait [Fafhrd & Gray Mouser] · Fritz Leiber · vi Whispers Dec ’73
263 · The Vampire in America · Manly Wade Wellman · ar Whispers Dec ’73
268 · The Shortest Way [Dama (& Vettius)] · David Drake · ss Whispers Mar ’74
277 · From “Chips and Shavings” · Lee Brown Coye · ar Mid-York Weekly Oct 17 ’63
279 · The Soft Wall · Dennis Etchison · ss Whispers Jul ’74
290 · Toward a Greater Appreciation of H.P. Lovecraft · Dirk W. Mosig · ar Whispers Jul ’73
302 · The Abandoned Boudoir · Joseph Payne Brennan · pm Whispers Jul ’74
302 · Cradle Song for an Abandoned Werewolf [“Cradle Song for a Baby Werewolf”] · H. Warner Munn · pm Whispers Jul ’73
303 · Guillotine · Walter Shedlofsky · pm The Fantastic Acros, 1970
304 · The Farmhouse · David A. Riley · ss New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural #1, ed. David A. Sutton, London: Sphere, 1971; Whispers Jul ’74

Okay, so, more than any other single book, except perhaps the Ellison collection/anthology Partners in Wonder, this one's responsible for my typing this bit of electronically-captured prose...for it was a rather delayed but nonetheless welcome celebration and representation of the First World Fantasy Convention, in Providence, RI, in 1975 (venue chosen in honor of H.P. Lovecraft, in whose likeness the annual award statues, the Howards, are struck, from a design by editor and world-famous cartoonist Wilson. I was aware, distantly, of the fannish subculture that had developed around sf and fantasy, and had spread to help create similar subcultures around crime fiction and comics (and was helping to create one around punk rock as this book was being published, even as it had particularly around folk music in the '60s), but this book is also an invitation to the ongoing World Fantasy Conventions and all their sibling gatherings, publication, etc. Isaac Asimov's introductions to The Hugo Winners volumes and the SFWA Nebula Award anthologies also had a similar effect, but they documented the fannish apparatus rather more sketchily than the speech transcripts, the bits of on-the-scene journalism and other matter usually not published in a trade-press (as opposed to fannish-press) book, left out at libraries where not-particularly-innocent children can stumble right across them (I was already a fan of first Life Achievement Award-winner Robert Bloch, whose stories collected here were more rare [at that time] than good, and of Manly Wade Wellman (his sample stories are better and more representative), and certainly knew of J.P. Brennan's and Robert Aickman's work...but I believe this might've been my first exposure to Dennis Etchison, Fritz Leiber, and certainly to T.E.D. Klein and Patricia McKillip, her excerpt being the major representative of non-horror fantasy in these proceedings (though David Drake, whose work I believe I'd seen in The Year's Best Horror Stories annual, skirts the line there, too). Never did develope a taste for Sterling Lanier's club stories in the Brigadier Ffellowes series, in the tradition of Gerald Kersh and Lord Dunsany, among others (who did it better)...Lanier might be remembered longest for being the editor at the Philly-suburb how-to publisher Chilton who encouraged them to take on a much-rejected epic sf novel by newish writer Frank Herbert, Dune, which gave him some leeway to publish some further fiction titles there, including his own work. And Lee Brown Coye...just the other day, the town of Hamilton, NY, saw an auction to fundraise to preserve a mural Coye did there...all in all, a fine anthology, but a more important document (that Stuart Schiff's Whispers magazine started publishing best-of/new fiction anthologies the next year didn't hurt, either).

The newly rereleased album's cover on DeSoto, and the original Atlantic cover.

Meanwhile, a "forgotten" album is about to be re-released...Jawbox was the best of the punk/postpunk bands to form in DC in the late '80s (better than Fugazi, certainly, and better than such wonderful live acts that recorded poorly as Fidelity Jones or Autoclave...), and they did one superb (incorporating their wonderful ep and another anthology track) and one good album on Dischord Records, the legendary DC-based indie label, and went on to sign with Atlantic Records in 1993, the first of the DC punk bands to follow in the wake of Husker Du to take that gamble (it paid off about as poorly for them as for the Minneapolis band...though, having interviewed Jawbox with my then not yet Ex Donna some months back and having been one of their most voluble fans in the various media available to me at the time ["alternative" newspaper, fanzine, radio--the show Sweet Freedom, actually], I ran into J. Robbins at someone else's concert just after they'd signed the contract and just after I'd sold my first short story, and we wondered just how much of the world was breathlessly awaiting our next steps). Since then, Jawbox has broken up (it's been a dozen years now) and while their members, particularly Kim Coletta, have made a real label out of DeSoto Records (formerly an injoke that various DC sorts would slap on their self-released items), having released among much else an excellent odds and ends collection My Scrapbook of Fatal Accidents and now a remastered version of the first, brilliant Atlantic album, For Your Own Special Sweetheart, which I thought sounded pretty damned good the first time around...to promote this rerelease, the band will be reforming to play on NBC's chat show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on December 8th. Perhaps a tour will follow, which would be nice.


Here's FYOSS, including the song "Motorist" inspired by J.G. Ballard's novel Crash, recorded well before the David Cronenberg-directed film adaptation.

For more of today's books, please see Patti Abbott's blog.

FFB: October 1978: ARIEL: THE BOOK OF FANTASY, WHISPERS, FANTASTIC STORIES, THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

The first issue, from 1976.







The four bestselling fantasy-fiction magazines in the US (and probably the world, unless we count comics among the fiction) in 1978:

Just the other day, I finally purchased a slightly battered copy of the fourth and last issue (or volume) of the irregular magazine (in book form, sort of, or periodical book) Ariel: The Book of Fantasy, issued October, 1978, Ariel's first issue/volume, as Ariel: A Fantasy Magazine, having been issued in 1976 (I suspect the subtitle change was driven more by distribution questions than by anything else...after the first issue, the title was copublished and distributed by Ballantine Books, but the look and approach of it hadn't changed).

That sparked me to note that the cover-date/release month of October (as Ray Bradbury would be quick to note, the most fantasticated month even given all the traditions that infuse others with capital-M Mystery, not least December and its solstice) of 1978, the first full year I was collecting new fiction magazines, was an unusual month, in that the only issues that year of Whispers, the most impressive of the little magazines devoted devoted to horror and fantasy fiction, and Ariel were published, and the quarterly Fantastic and, of course, the monthly F&SF (with its usual anniversary issue, its first issue as a quarterly being an autumn issue in 1949) all produced issues of note, as the best-of-the-year volumes were quick to recognize as well.

The Ariel is, like all the issues/volumes, elegantly produced on heavy stock and with brilliant full-color reproduction of illustration and artist portfolios that range from good professional work to impressive; hence the $7.95 cover price ($8.75 in Canada) of this one (at a time when the elaborately illustrated, in b&w, and "book-paper" Whispers would cost you $4, and Fantastic and F&SF had just raised their cover prices that year to $1.25 and were published on paper a grade or two up from newsprint, not too different from many paperbacks at the time...in fact, both magazines were printed at paperback-oriented printers, and featured in many issues the same sort of stiff, glossy paper cigaret ads in their centers that some paperbacks featured in that era). Even my battered reading copy of the Ariel is beautiful and clearly expensively produced. (Conveniently enough, the Algis Budrys review essay in the F&SF reviews the third Ariel, where AB jokes that surely among the publishers there is somewhere an accountant who has been rendered helpless and gagged.)

As noted below, the fiction contents of this Ariel include a Jane Yolen vignette (a deft fable), a Bob Shacochis Arthurian historical fantasy (Shacochis more famous then as now for his contemporary-mimetic fiction and war reportage, though the latter might well have just begun in the late '70s), and poems by Ray Bradbury and Alexander Theroux (the latter particularly an attempt to channel Christina Rosetti, the former fairly typical of Bradbury's not bad versification...but his best poetry isn't a touch on his best prose). One thing I'd forgotten about Ariel was that, like the other magazines (even to some extent Whispers), it was open to fairly straightforward science fiction, as well, so the first story here is Jerry Joseph's "Fathom 242," a decently predictive account of chaos in Africa, the increasing bullying by corporations of the Third World, and growing problem of drought, focused in part around an underwater colony, handsomely illustrated (one might say, of course) by Jack Desrocher...notably, neither of these folks have since become Names to Conjure With in fantasy/sf publishing...long-term fan-writer John Pocsik, here with "Surprise Visit" (which features a viciously quarreling married couple adorably named George and Martha), was almost "an Ariel writer" (twice in the magazine, rarely publishing elsewhere I've seen), if Ariel had published enough issues to make that truly meaningful. Chester Sullivan's "The Eggs of Hann," despite the title that harkens vaguely punningly to Seuss, is a retelling in quasi-Native American context of the Lady of the Lake/Arthur tale...and like all but three stories here, is very short. The first-published of Charles Platt's profiles eventually collected as Dream Makers, that of Isaac Asimov, is here in slightly edited form, as is an odd little essay about MRI, the Midwest Research Institute, by Geneva Zarr. Not only does Ariel look like a lushly-produced magazine, it acts like a predecessor of Omni as well. And the portfolios, John Berkey's interview/selection being the largest and perhaps most impressive, and illustrations probably served as a bit of a nudge to Keeton and Guccione when they launched that magazine...for that matter, I wonder how much an inspiration to the publishers of the elaborately produced Chacal (which became or at least preceded from the same publishers and editors Shayol) or, for that matter, Heavy Metal (though of course Metal Hurlant was a bigger inspiration there).



The Manly Wade Wellman tribute issue...good work from him, illustrated by Lee Brown Coye. The most brilliant story in the issue might be Dennis Etchison's "The Pitch," with Ramsey Campbell's "Heading Home" also more than solid. Robert Bloch's Strange Eons (excerpted) is my second-least-favored of his novels I've read, though I do appreciate the attempt to put an end to the Cthulhu Mythos...and while Ramsey Campbell reviewing Wellman's huge retrospective collection, and Stephen King in turn reviewing Campbell's novel, might've seemed a bit incestuous, I'd counter-suggest that it was indicative of the almost clubhouse-like ferment of the magazine, which had just launched its companion anthology series with Doubleday in 1977, that we see in practice...and King doesn't see any reason why he should be left out. Brian Lumley, who began his career, not too long after Etchison and Campbell had in the early '60s, as a somewhat older man already having served in the British military, often did his best work for Whispers and Campbell anthologies, much better than the Cthulhu/boy's adventure novels that have made him a reasonably popular writer in the decades since. Ray Russell and Ward Moore also writers of considerable stature in the field, even if Moore was much better known for his sf, and Russell's career as a fiction writer perhaps somewhat overshadowed by his Hollywood work, directly and adaptations of his fiction, and editorial duties at Playboy...






Brilliant stories by Terry Carr ("Virra") and Thomas M. Disch ("The Man Who Had No Idea"). Absolutely atrocious first publication: "The Gunslinger" by Stephen King..."Cassandra" was probably C. J. Cherryh's most acclaimed story that year, and the Michael Bishop and Ron Goulart stories were fine examples of what they could do. The Pronzini/Malzberg in this issue, like theirs in the Fantastic, was a bit of black humor, but not as good as the longer story, if more explicitly fantasticated (I'd say Ted White made the better call in erring on the side of story-quality in this case, vs. Ed Ferman's erring on the side of relevance to the other contents of the magazine).








As noted above and in further detail below, includes stories by Jane Yolen ("The Tower Bird") and Bob Shacochis ("The Last Days of Arthur") and a poem by Ray Bradbury ("Rekindlement").



Brilliant novelet by the late Janet Fox ("Demon and Demoiselle"); impressive work by Bill Pronzini and Barry Malzberg ("Another Burnt-Out Case"), Craig Shaw Gardner ("A Malady of Magicks"), John Shirley ("Tahiti in Terms of Squares"); remarkably bad Grania Davis cover story, given that Davis is a good writer: "The Mesa is a Lonely Place to Dream and Scream and Dream." The Chandler, Jones and West stories cited on the cover are mediocre, with the Kaye, Andrews and Bunch stories better. John Rodak's illustration for the Chandler is notable (Fantastic featured a lot of good illustration, F&SF usually none at all beyond the covers and the Gahan Wilson cartoons from 1964-1981, and other cartoonists after, except for little original-logo images, sometimes augmented with facial expressions, at the ends of some stories to fill empty spaces).

ISFDb's indices of these issues:

Title: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1978
Editor: Edward L. Ferman
Year: 1978-10-00
Publisher: Mercury Press, Inc.
Price: $1.25
Pages: 164
Binding: Digest
Contents
5 • The Man Who Had No Idea • novelette by Thomas M. Disch
34 • Books (F&SF, October 1978) • [Books (F&SF)] • essay by Algis Budrys
36 •   Review: Blind Voices by Tom Reamy • review by Algis Budrys
38 •   Review: The Persistence of Vision by John Varley • review by Algis Budrys
38 •   Review: Sorcerers: A Collection of Fantasy Art by Bruce Jones and Armand Eisen • review by Algis Budrys
38 •   Review: Ariel: The Book of Fantasy, Volume Three by Thomas Durwood • review by Algis Budrys
39 •   Review: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1968, Volume 2: Who's Who, M-Z by Donald H. Tuck • review by Algis Budrys
41 • Cassandra • shortstory by C. J. Cherryh
49 • Cartoon: "We've no idea what it is, but it makes a darling planter!" • interior artwork by Gahan Wilson
50 • A Clone at Last • shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini
52 • The Gunslinger • [Roland] • novelette by Stephen King
91 • Films: Fantasia • [Films (F&SF)] • essay by Baird Searles
94 • Pulling The Plug • shortstory by Ron Goulart
106 • Effigies • novelette by Michael Bishop
131 • Toward Zero • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • essay by Isaac Asimov
141 • Virra • novelette by Terry Carr
158 • Letters: Malzberg on Delany • essay by Barry N. Malzberg
158 • Letters: F&SF Founder Dies [J. Francis McComas] • obituary by Raymond J. Healy
159 • Letters: Another View of Close Encounters • essay by Martin S. Kottmeyer

Title: Fantastic, October 1978
Editor: Ted White
Year: 1978-10-00
Publisher: Ultimate Publishing Co., Inc.
Price: $1.25
Pages: 134
Binding: Digest
Contents
4 • Editorial (Fantastic, October 1978) • [Editorial (Fantastic)] • essay by Ted White
6 • The Mesa Is a Lonely Place to Dream and Scream and Dream • novelette by Grania Davis
7 • The Mesa Is a Lonely Place to Dream and Scream and Dream • interior artwork by Stephen Fabian [as by Steve Fabian]
34 • Death Eternal • novelette by Raymond F. Jones
35 • Death Eternal • interior artwork by Richard Olsen
50 • Another Burnt-Out Case • shortfiction by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini [as by Bill Pronzini and Barry Malzberg]
51 • Another Burnt-Out Case • interior artwork by Joe Staton
58 • Demon and Demoiselle • novelette by Janet Fox
59 • Demon and Demoiselle • interior artwork by Tony Gleeson
74 • Leasehold • novelette by Wallace West
75 • Leasehold • interior artwork by Richard Olsen
88 • The Collected Poems of Xirius Five • shortstory by Peter J. Andrews
90 • The Hairy Parents • (1975) • shortstory by A. Bertram Chandler
91 • The Hairy Parents • interior artwork by John Rodak
98 • Tahiti in Terms of Squares • shortstory by John Shirley
99 • Tahiti in Terms of Squares • interior artwork by Tony Gleeson
104 • A Malady of Magicks • shortstory by Craig Shaw Gardner
105 • A Malady of Magicks • interior artwork by Joe Staton
115 • Pridey Goeth • shortstory by David R. Bunch
120 • Ms. Lipshutz and the Goblin • shortstory by Marvin Kaye
124 • . . . According to You (Fantastic, October 1978) • [According to You (Fantastic)] • essay by Ted White

Title: Whispers #11-12, October, 1978
Editor: Stuart David Schiff
Year: 1978-10-00
Publisher: Stuart David Schiff
Price: $4.00
Pages: 132
Binding: Digest
Contents
fep • Whispers #11-12 • interior artwork by Allan Servoss
bep • Conversation Piece • interior artwork by Mike Scott
bc • Whispers #11-12 (2) • interior artwork by Lee Brown Coye
1 • Whispers #11-12 • interior artwork by John Linton
2 • Editorial (Whispers #11-12) • essay by Stuart David Schiff
4 • New (Whispers #11-12) • essay by Stuart David Schiff
13 • Chorazin • shortstory by Manly Wade Wellman
18 • Chorazin • interior artwork by Lee Brown Coye
26 • Worse Things Waiting • essay by Ramsey Campbell
26 •   Review: Worse Things Waiting by Manly Wade Wellman • review by Ramsey Campbell
28 • Whom He May Devour • shortfiction by Manly Wade Wellman
39 • Witch Whispers from Stratford • essay by Manly Wade Wellman
43 • Keep Me Away • shortstory by Manly Wade Wellman
54 • Here There Be Demons • interior artwork by Alan Hunter
62 • NIght-Knell • poem by John Bredon
62 • NIght-Knell • interior artwork by John Linton
63 • The Doll Who Ate His Mother • essay by Stephen King
63 •   Review: The Doll Who Ate His Mother by Ramsey Campbell • review by Stephen King
66 • Whispers #11-12 (1) • interior artwork by Lee Brown Coye
69 • Strange Eons (excerpt) • shortfiction by Robert Bloch
78 • The Hell-Bound Train • interior artwork by Chris Pelletiere
79 • The Hell You Say • shortstory by Ray Russell
81 • Ghost of a Chance • shortstory by Ray Russell
83 • William Blake (1757-1827) • poem by John Bredon
83 • William Blake (1757-1827) • interior artwork by John Linton
84 • Vanessa's Voice • shortstory by Brian Lumley
92 • Vanessa's Voice • interior artwork by Denis Tiani
93 • Whispers #11-12 • interior artwork by A. B. Cox
94 • Klarkash-Ton (1893-1961) • poem by John Bredon
94 • Klarkash-Ton (1893-1961) • interior artwork by John Linton
95 • Clark Ashton Smith's Averoigne: A Dalliance in Medieval France • interior artwork by John Stewart
96 • The End of the Story • interior artwork by John Stewart
97 • The Maker of Gargoyles • interior artwork by John Stewart
98 • The Mandrakes • interior artwork by John Stewart
99 • The Holiness of Azédarac • interior artwork by John Stewart
100 • The Colossus of Ylourgne • interior artwork by John Stewart
101 • Mother of Toads • interior artwork by John Stewart
102 • The Enchantress of Sylaire • interior artwork by John Stewart
103 • Heading Home • shortstory by Ramsey Campbell
107 • Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) • poem by John Bredon
107 • Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) • interior artwork by John Linton
108 • Whispering in the Dark • interior artwork by Gene Welter
109 • Whispering in the Dark: A Peek at Levecraft's Dirty Story • essay by John Taylor Gatto
114 • The Pitch • interior artwork by Todd Klein
115 • The Pitch • shortstory by Dennis Etchison
121 • Monstro Ligriv (1914-1970) • poem by John Bredon
121 • Monstro Ligriv (1914-1970) • interior artwork by John Linton
122 • Whispers #11-12 • interior artwork by Mike Garcia
124 • Conversation Piece • shortstory by Ward Moore

Title: Ariel: The Book of Fantasy, Volume Four
Editor: Thomas Durwood
Year: 1978-10-00
Publisher: Ariel Books / Ballantine Books
Price: $7.95
Pages: 96
Contents
4 • Title Page (Ariel #4) • interior artwork by John Berkey
8 • Fonrtispiece (Ariel #4) • interior artwork by Tom Gieseke
10 • Fathom 242 • novelette by Jerry Joseph
10 • Fathom 242 • interior artwork by Jack Desrocher
24 • Eggs of Hann • shortstory by Chester Sullivan
24 • Eggs of Hann • interior artwork by Don Maitz
28 • A Visit with Isaac Asimov • essay by Charles Platt
28 • A Visit with Isaac Asimov • interior artwork by Rodney Dale Stevens
32 • Rekindlement: Long Thoughts at Halloween • (1977) • poem by Ray Bradbury
32 • Rekindlement: Long Thoughts at Halloween • interior artwork by Brent Johnson
34 • Surprise Visit • shortstory by John Pocsik
34 • Surprise Visit • interior artwork by Dennis Anderson
36 • The Last Days of Arthur • shortstory by Bob Shacochis
36 • The Last Days of Arthur • interior artwork by Ezra Noel Tucker
50 • John Berkey • (1978) • interview of John Berkey • interview by uncredited
50 • John Berkey • interior artwork by John Berkey
64 • The Tower Bird • shortstory by Jane Yolen
64 • The Tower Bird • interior artwork by Rainer Koenig
66 • The Night of the Niffelheim Dwarves • poem by Alexander Theroux
66 • The Night of the Niffelheim Dwarves • interior artwork by Arlene Noel
68 • MRI • essay by Geneva Zarr
68 • MRI • interior artwork by Joe Kelley
70 • A Man and His Car • shortstory by David James
70 • A Man and His Car • interior artwork by Charles Smith
74 • Michael Hague • (1978) • interview of Michael Hague • interview by uncredited
74 • Michael Hague • interior artwork by Michael Hague
82 • The Amulet of AnkhRa • shortstory by Wayne Stubbs
82 • The Amulet of AnkhRa • interior artwork by J. Dazok

Selections from these issues for these best-of-the-year annuals:
11 • The Pitch • (1978) • shortstory by Dennis Etchison
144 • Heading Home • (1978) • shortstory by Ramsey Campbell

























91 • The Gunslinger • [Roland] • (1978) • novelette by Stephen King
(Carr had a knack for focusing on the absolute worst Stephen King stories he could find, such as "The Cat from Hell" in the first YFF; Gerald Page at least would collect such rather good ones as "Children of the Corn"--much better in prose than as a film. Carr also took "The Man Who Had No Idea" from F&SF for his sf boty 1978 volume. Carr's old boss, and co-editor of their boty volume at Ace Books 1965-1971, Donald Wollheim--assisted, as was Lin Carter, by Arthur Saha--took "Cassandra" for his sf boty.)



70 • Ms. Lipshutz and the Goblin • (1978) • shortstory by Marvin Kaye
136 • A Malady of Magicks • (1978) • shortstory by Craig Shaw Gardner
180 • Demon and Demoiselle • (1978) • novelette by Janet Fox



For more of Friday's books (and mostly inarguable books!), please see Patti Abbott's blog.

FFB: HORRORSTORY: VOLUME 3: edited by Gerald W. Page and Karl Edward Wagner (1992 hardcover omnibus reprint of THE YEAR'S BEST HORROR STORIES, Series VII-IX, 1979-81)

It would be difficult for me not to be at least slightly nostalgic about the contents of this volume, or of the three volumes of the paperback annual it collects in small-press hardcover format (big, galumphing small-press hardcover, with large pages and plenty of them).

Here's the contents swipe from the Locus online indices: 

HorrorStory Volume Three ed. Karl Edward Wagner [Gerald Page's name left off cover for obscure reasons--TM]
 (Underwood-Miller 0-88733-107-6, Jan ’92, $39.95, 541pp, hc, cover by Michael Whelan)

Omnibus of three “year’s best” anthologies, The Year’s Best Horror Stories: VII (DAW 1979) edited by Gerald W. Page, The Year’s Best Horror Stories: VIII (DAW 1980), and The Year’s Best Horror Stories: IX (DAW 1981) edited by Karl Edward Wagner. A signed edition (-108-4, $150.00) is scheduled to appear in March. Available from Underwood-Miller, 7708 Westover Dr., Lancaster PA 17601.

• · The Year’s Best Horror Stories Series VII · ed. Gerald W. Page · an New York: DAW Jul ’79
• 1 · Introduction · Gerald W. Page · in The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VII, ed. Gerald W. Page, DAW, 1979
• 3 · The Pitch · Dennis Etchison · ss Whispers Oct ’78
• 11 · The Night of the Tiger · Stephen King · ss F&SF Feb ’78
• 23 · Amma · Charles R. Saunders · ss Beyond the Fields We Know Fll ’78
• 39 · Chastel [Lee Cobbett; Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant] · Manly Wade Wellman · nv The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VII, ed. Gerald W. Page, DAW, 1979
• 59 · Sleeping Tiger · Tanith Lee · ss Dragonbane Spr ’78
• 67 · Intimately, with Rain · Janet Fox · ss Collage Nov ’78
• 73 · The Secret · Jack Vance · ss Impulse Mar ’66
• 81 · Hear Me Now, My Sweet Abbey Rose · Charles L. Grant · ss F&SF Mar ’78
• 95 · Divers Hands [Julian] · Darrell Schweitzer · nv The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VII, ed. Gerald W. Page, DAW, 1979
• 117 · Heading Home · Ramsey Campbell · ss Whispers Oct ’78
• 121 · In the Arcade · Lisa Tuttle · ss Amazing May ’78
• 129 · Nemesis Place [Dama (& Vettius)] · David Drake · ss Fantastic Apr ’78
• 141 · Collaborating · Michael Bishop · ss Rooms of Paradise, ed. Lee Harding, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia: Quartet Books, 1978
• 157 · Marriage · Robert Aickman · nv Tales of Love and Death, Gollancz, 1977; F&SF Apr ’78
• 
  
• 183 · The Year’s Best Horror Stories Series VIII · an New York: DAW Jul ’80
• 185 · Introduction: Access to Horror · Karl Edward Wagner · in The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VIII, ed. Karl Edward Wagner, DAW, 1980
• 189 · The Dead Line · Dennis Etchison · ss Whispers Oct ’79
• 199 · To Wake the Dead · Ramsey Campbell · ss Dark Horizons #20 ’79
• 209 · In the Fourth Year of the War · Harlan Ellison · ss Midnight Sun #5 ’79
• 219 · From the Lower Deep · Hugh B. Cave · ss Whispers II, ed. Stuart David Schiff, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979
• 231 · The Baby-Sitter · Davis Grubb · ss The Siege of 318, Back Fork Books, 1978
• 245 · The Well at the Half-Cat · John Tibbetts · ss Eldritch Tales #5 ’79
• 263 · My Beautiful Darkling · Eddy C. Bertin · ss Mijn Mooie Duisterlinge, 1979
• 277 · A Serious Call · George Hay · ss Ghosts & Scholars #1 ’79
• 283 · Sheets · Alan Ryan · ss Chrysalis 5, ed. Roy Torgeson, Zebra, 1979
• 293 · Billy Wolfe’s Riding Spirit · Kevin A. Lyons · ss Easyriders Sep ’79
• 299 · Lex Talionis · Russell Kirk · nv Whispers II, ed. Stuart David Schiff, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979
• 317 · Entombed · Robert Keefe · ss Gothic Jun ’79
• 327 · A Fly One · Steve Sneyd · ss Whispers Oct ’79
• 333 · Needle Song · Charles L. Grant · ss Midnight Sun #5 ’79
• 343 · All the Birds Come Home to Roost · Harlan Ellison · ss Playboy Mar ’79
• 355 · The Devil Behind You · Richard A. Moore · ss EQMM May ’79
• 
  
• 363 · The Year’s Best Horror Stories Series IX · an New York: DAW Aug ’81
• 365 · Introduction: The Year of the Anthology and Beyond · Karl Edward Wagner · in The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series IX, ed. Karl Edward Wagner, DAW, 1981
• 369 · The Monkey · Stephen King · nv Gallery Nov ’80
• 401 · The Gap · Ramsey Campbell · ss Fantasy Readers Guide #2 ’80
• 411 · The Cats of Pere LaChaise [“I’ll Tell Her You’ll Be Late for Dinner”] · Neil Olonoff · ss A Touch of Paris Jun ’80
• 419 · The Propert Bequest · Basil A. Smith · nv The Scallion Stone, Whispers Press, 1980
• 457 · On Call · Dennis Etchison · ss Fantasy Newsletter Mar ’80
• 465 · The Catacomb · Peter Shilston · ss More Ghosts & Scholars, 1980
• 475 · Black Man with a Horn · T. E. D. Klein · nv New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, Arkham, 1980
• 509 · The King · William Relling, Jr. · ss Cavalier Feb ’80
• 517 · Footsteps · Harlan Ellison · ss Gallery Dec ’80
• 529 · Without Rhyme or Reason · Peter Valentine Timlett · ss New Terrors #1, ed. Ramsey Campbell, London: Pan, 1980

Gerald W. Page has edited a handful of anthologies, most in the 1970s, all impressive; one could've hoped he'd been able to do more. He was the first US-based editor for DAW Books's The Year's Best Horror Stories, after three volumes taken haphazardly from two distinct projects edited by Richard Davis for English publishers; Page assembled the fourth through the seventh volumes, and Wagner began with the 8th and continued till the 22nd, and the series ended with Wagner's death (the hole thus created in the market soon not so much filled as meliorated by the fine new annuals from Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, and from Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell, with Campbell dropping out after the early volumes, and Datlow, much later, going solo with her annual collection...with Datlow and Jones eventually joined by Datlow's former assistant editor Paula Guran, first with a paranormal romance annual and then with one mixing a wider range of "dark" fantasy and horror). 

Look at the contents of these three volumes, above, and imagine the collective effect on the young horror-fiction reader and aspiring writer/editor I then was...even when I didn't much like a story, as I didn't much like Stephen King's "The Night of the Tiger," the setting of this weak story between the brilliant "The Pitch" by Dennis Etchison and the solid "Amma" by Charles Saunders helps to give context, as well as an excuse to have King's name on the cover...at least this story was better than the Terry Carr and Arthur Saha fantasy annuals' snatching up such even worse stories as "The Cat from Hell" and "The Gunslinger" at about the same time (Page had a sharper eye, for the rather decent likes of "Children of the Corn" in the previous volume).  Meanwhile, one notes that Page, even more than Wagner, seems to be genuinely digging deep into the periodicals to find his contents, still a necessary thing as the small press in horror and related material was just beginning to burgeon, an efflorescence that Page (previously also the editor of the small newsstand magazine Witchcraft and Sorcery) and Wagner (as one of the most popular of writers for small-press magazines as well as an editor) did much to encourage. Page "cheats" thrice in his volume, in including first-publication stories by Manly Wade Wellman and  Darrell Schweitzer, something not too uncommon particularly in DAW "best of the year"s, and in snatching up the rather older than the previous year's fine "The Secret" by Jack Vance.  For his part, Wagner's first two volumes are similarly impressive, if all "stag" among the contributors...something that Wagner would address, though perhaps not quite sufficiently, as his annual went forward (KEW was intentionally more scrupulous about not publishing original fiction in his BOTY reprint annual). A few surprising contributors (if not That surprising...I just hadn't recalled where I first read Richard Moore's fiction) are added to the panoply of young and old masters in both editors' volumes...and both had the slightest sort of connection outside of my appreciation for their work here...Wagner was kind enough to praise my first short story (sadly, not long before his death), and Page (like myself only some years earlier) working at TV Guide (where, oddly enough, even if only in the Atlanta and neighboring regional editions, Page's writing was probably read by more people than all the YBHS contributors to his volumes could muster together in those years.

The Page book is also special to me in that it draws on 1978 magazine and anthology publications, the first year I was seriously collecting fiction magazines and all the related material they turned me onto, and I was thrilled to see fiction from issues I had read, and from those I'd missed so far...odd, to me, that Underwood and Miller should take, for their omnibus's cover, the weakest of the three DAW covers...this, btw, was Volume Three apparently because U/M hoped to produce hardcover reprints of the entire YBHS sequence, and the Davis and Page volumes would've populated Volumes 1 and 2, Later On...even as this "third" volume was produced after V. 4 and 5...

For more of today's books, all more prompt, please see Patti Abbott's blog.