tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post4255611907035714812..comments2024-03-28T19:52:07.635-04:00Comments on Sweet Freedom: FFB: GHOSTS AND MORE GHOSTS by Robert Arthur (Random House, 1963); TALES OF TERROR by Ida Chittum (Rand McNally, 1975)Todd Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-12152103302602360542020-10-10T16:49:09.893-04:002020-10-10T16:49:09.893-04:00Thank you! I will try to track some of those MWW b...Thank you! I will try to track some of those MWW books down and will do some more research into the Weird Tales posts you suggested.Cullen Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14236957954996740924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-86304841095756402662020-10-10T12:11:53.978-04:002020-10-10T12:11:53.978-04:00The variations and expansions of WHO FEARS THE DEV...The variations and expansions of WHO FEARS THE DEVIL?, the first collection of Wellman's John stories, is perhaps everyone's sentimental favorite, and it would be hard to insist that he did much better work elsewhere. JOHN THE BALLADEER, OWLS HOOT IN THE DAYTIME and other similar volumes will do as well. He did a wide variety of work, of course, from THE SPIRIT comics scripting to sports fiction to his most famous sf story "Twice in Time"...to a fair amount of historical nonfiction.<br /><br />The thing about WEIRD TALES anthologies is that, even when focused on only the Edward Baird/Farnsworth Wright/Dorothy McIlwraith original run of the magazine, no one has quite managed to put together a definitive anthology of the magazine, balancing its best with its range. Or so I say (and some other folks have tended to agree). I can definitely tell you the ones I like the least run to the ones Sam Moskowitz ghosted for Leo Margulies, WEIRD TALES and WORLDS OF WEIRD (both Pyramid/reissued by Jove)...even the other two Pyramid originals, THE UNEXPECTED and THE GHOUL-KEEPERS, which might've been ghost-edited for Margulies by Pyramid editor D. L. Bensen or even selected by Margulies himself, are vastly better, in fact the best short introductions. Though Margulies did hire Moskowitz to edit his short run revival of WT in 1973-74, probably not his best idea (Margulies had bought SHORT STORIES and the rights to the recently folded stablemate WT in the latter '50s as the previous publisher was giving up the ghost, and continued to publish SHORT STORIES for a few years, alongside his new and durable MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE and some less long-term projects).<br /><br />My most relevant previous posts:<br />https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2013/05/ffb-some-anthologies-from-weird-tales.html (which does miss Mike Ashley's UK anthologies from WT)<br />https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2017/04/196263-three-fantasy-fiction.html<br />https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2012/12/who-fears-devil-and-its-variations-by.htmlTodd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-57927586821338351852020-10-10T09:00:47.569-04:002020-10-10T09:00:47.569-04:00Do you have any recommended collections of Manly W...Do you have any recommended collections of Manly Wade Wellman?<br /><br />On a related note, do you have any favorite collections of Weird Tales stories?Cullen Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14236957954996740924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-3894879262873805392020-10-09T23:16:59.028-04:002020-10-09T23:16:59.028-04:00Mike, thank you, and I'll have to look into Ph...Mike, thank you, and I'll have to look into Phyllis Fenner's book (have you ever reviewed it?). Amusingly, the Doktor-less later paperback editions, with glossier covers, are often more expensive than the edition I have, the first Random House paperback edition, which offers the jacket illustration above on its cover, but he hardcover original offers a different Doktor painting on its boards, oddly enough. <br /><br />Well, Jerry, don't say I didn't warn you. Don't pay too dearly for the Chittum if you can help it...and thank you, as well. Hell, a facsimile reprint of THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER MAGAZINE Arthur edited would be welcome as well. Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-7469375947238685642020-10-09T17:18:52.192-04:002020-10-09T17:18:52.192-04:00I agree a major retrospective of Robert Arthur is ...I agree a major retrospective of Robert Arthur is long due. I would love to see a collection of the surviving scripts from THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER, and certainly Murchison Morks needs his own collection.<br /><br />I'll be on the lookout for the Ida Chittum collection. Thanks, Todd.Jerry Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482856733981933159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-49670957074738057312020-10-09T17:16:16.191-04:002020-10-09T17:16:16.191-04:00The Robert Arthur book made a big impression on me...The Robert Arthur book made a big impression on me when I read it in grade school, probably not long after it came out; "The Rose Crystal Bell" remained in my memory long after I'd forgotten the other titles. It wasn't until the last decade or so that I acquired my own copy, which is in fact a book club edition I kept because of the lovely dust jacket. I also have a copy of the trade paperback edition, which says it is illustrated by Irv Doktor even though it is not. GHOSTS AND MORE GHOSTS is right up there in my childhood pantheon of books with Phyllis Fenner's GHOSTS, GHOSTS, GHOSTS and Basil Davenport's TALES TO BE TOLD IN THE DARK. (I only had a copy of the abridged Ballantine edition until maybe 20 years ago, but the paperback has the best stories.) Thanks for posting this, Todd.Mike Stammnoreply@blogger.com