His illustration for The Woman at Loon Point is the best story-head for December. Arthur R. Mink's letter in the December Eyrie was very good. I was overjoyed to see someone taking a slap at the anti-scientifictionists. There really should be more science-fiction in Weird Tales. Science in a yarn does not preclude its being weird, and many good weird-fiction authors have shown themselves capable of turning out excellent fantasy with a science content. Your note revealing the genesis of the Necronomicon in the mind of H. P. Lovecraft was a great disillusionment. I had had hopes of one day being able to read a copy of the mad Arab's opus, and when you deflated those hopes something went out of my life. Are the other books mentioned by Lovecraft, Robert Bloch and Clark Ashton Smith but children of prolific imagination?"
One Gloomy Evening
Richard F. Jamison, of St. Louis, writes: "Masterful! Of course I refer to H. P. Lovecraft's creation of shudd'ry horror, The Haunter of the Dark. I read this one on a gloomy eve with the rain pouring and the wind sighing, a perfect night for a perfect story. Kuttner's gruesome tale runs a close second; in fact, with the exception of the Lovecraft yarn the three short-shorts were the best stories in the issue. The Cyclops of Xoatl was not weird, and neither was it interesting. Two-Gun Bart was the counterpart of many a cheap western film hero. But enough of this; the Lovecraft story alone was worth the price of the issue."
A Pæan of Praise
Gertrude M. Breazeale, of Prospect, Oregon, writes: "Just purchased the largest tablet I could find, so that I'd have more room to express my long-restrained enthusiasm. Although this will chiefly be a pæan of praise for Virgil Finlay, I want to say first of all that I have been a faithful reader of your magazine for many years. I seldom find cause to complain, and even when I run across a story of a type I do not like, such as a weird-scientific, interplanetary, or gruesome torture tale, I make allowance for its literary merit, and the fact that it take all types to make a world, and if we all liked the same things it would be a dull life indeed. During my many years as a constant reader of your excellent magazine, I've never summoned enough courage to send a letter, being a timid soul who dislikes forcing personal opinions on anyone. However, Finlay's exquisite drawings have me so stirred up that I had to write or burst! Even if I did not like your magazine, I would buy it to obtain his pictures. Have started a scrapbook of his work, as some fiend in human form stole my first copy. Now I cut out his pictures as soon as I've read the stories. When you begin to use him as a cover artist, you will have the perfect magazine. Words really fail me when trying to express my reactions. I could rave on for hours about the delicate nuances of light and shade, the beauty of line, his peculiar method of shading that sets his work apart from any other I've seen so far; the infinite variety, and utterly different types in each picture, and his thorough understanding of true weirdness. And speaking of nudes—what could be more breath-takingly lovely than the one illustrating that witch story in the November issue? Without a trace of vulgarity, too. And the sinister and dramatic charm of The Man in Black. Why, he's more than an artist—he's a genius! As to the controversy about nudes, I say, use them where the story calls for them. I noticed with satisfaction that Finlay familiarizes himself with the story before dashing off a drawing, so his nudes are neither ridiculous, vulgar, nor incongruous. So many artists seem to draw nudes without rime or reason, apparently only to please the salacious-minded. . . . I was glad to see you used his pictures in the November issue for the best stories, in my estimation. He really makes the tale come to life, because his people are so utterly natural, without losing the weird touch where necessary. Just got the December copy, so will soon be lost to the world till I've devoured it."
The Theater Upstairs
Robert A. Madle, of Philadelphia, writes: "Although the cover of the December issue is not as delicately drawn as Mrs. Brundage's beautiful pastel sketches, it is much more weird-looking, and corresponds with the title of the magazine. Of course, the entire contents pleased me immensely, but praise is directed especially to The Theater Upstairs, by Manly Wade Wellman. Even though the inevitable happens to the main character, it held my attention from the beginning to the
