Eddie Peabody, the King of the Banjo,wears spats while performing on a 1962 Lawrence Welk Show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_DZPTjVieY
Saturday, October 31, 2015
TALES OF HORROR #1 (JUNE 1952)
Since it's Halloween, here's a holiday treat. In case you don't get the message, the cover of Tales of Horror has tne outline of a black bat flying by the comic book's title, and on the bat are the words Tales of Terror. Horror, terror, potato, potahto!.
Anyway, Tales of Horror was a title from Toby Press and last thirteen (lucky number?) issues. Each story is narratted by The Teller of Tales, a mysterious figure on a dark purple trilby hat and cloak. Your scary (horrorfying? horrorible? terrifying? terrible? You decide.) lineup for issue #1:
"The Ugliest Man in the World" would put Quasimodo to shame and people run away from kind-hearted Bill Becker in horror. What to do? Well Bill stops by a mysterious shop and buys a new face (for eighty-two cents, tax included). Bill has been shackled with a callous, mean-spirited brother as handsome as Bill is ugly. The brother ridicules Bill for wearing a handsome mask. Bill hooks up with a beautiful lady, his brother gets jealous -- with predictable horror comic results.
"Demons Below Us" tells the plight of Joe Morton, a hardened mining engineer. The miners in shaft 19 have found a door on the mine's bottom shelf. The doot leads to a strange underground world inhabited by Laila, a beautiful girl in a skimpy two-piece bathing suit and a diaphanous sarong who collects men's souls after draining all the fluid from their bodies. Joe's fate is pretty well telegraphed here.
"Willie" Brown's brother Steve wants to take over the rackets from gangster Marty King. Willie is big, dumb, strong, and fiercely protective of his brother. King lures Willie away from his brother so a henchman can kill Steve. Then, of course, the biter gets bit.
"Exile to Death!" is a short tale of two scientists 7900 in the future. Concerned that one day the earth will die, they create a time machine that takes them millions of years into the future where, indeed, the earth is dying. Can these two change the planet's fate?
The final horror story tells us of a large busted woman who can Reduce her large bust appearance in seconds or no cost! Wait. That's an ad, not a horror story. Never mind.
Artists in this issue include Myron Fass, Bill Molno, Pete Morisi, and Ed Smalle.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=8329
Anyway, Tales of Horror was a title from Toby Press and last thirteen (lucky number?) issues. Each story is narratted by The Teller of Tales, a mysterious figure on a dark purple trilby hat and cloak. Your scary (horrorfying? horrorible? terrifying? terrible? You decide.) lineup for issue #1:
"The Ugliest Man in the World" would put Quasimodo to shame and people run away from kind-hearted Bill Becker in horror. What to do? Well Bill stops by a mysterious shop and buys a new face (for eighty-two cents, tax included). Bill has been shackled with a callous, mean-spirited brother as handsome as Bill is ugly. The brother ridicules Bill for wearing a handsome mask. Bill hooks up with a beautiful lady, his brother gets jealous -- with predictable horror comic results.
"Demons Below Us" tells the plight of Joe Morton, a hardened mining engineer. The miners in shaft 19 have found a door on the mine's bottom shelf. The doot leads to a strange underground world inhabited by Laila, a beautiful girl in a skimpy two-piece bathing suit and a diaphanous sarong who collects men's souls after draining all the fluid from their bodies. Joe's fate is pretty well telegraphed here.
"Willie" Brown's brother Steve wants to take over the rackets from gangster Marty King. Willie is big, dumb, strong, and fiercely protective of his brother. King lures Willie away from his brother so a henchman can kill Steve. Then, of course, the biter gets bit.
"Exile to Death!" is a short tale of two scientists 7900 in the future. Concerned that one day the earth will die, they create a time machine that takes them millions of years into the future where, indeed, the earth is dying. Can these two change the planet's fate?
The final horror story tells us of a large busted woman who can Reduce her large bust appearance in seconds or no cost! Wait. That's an ad, not a horror story. Never mind.
Artists in this issue include Myron Fass, Bill Molno, Pete Morisi, and Ed Smalle.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=8329
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE OCTOBER GAME
You knew I was going to end Halloween Month with this shocker, didn't you?
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1948mar-00052
I hope you've had a spine-tingling month!
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1948mar-00052
I hope you've had a spine-tingling month!
Friday, October 30, 2015
GETTING OLDER
Today is my 69th birthday, which means that I have now entered my 70th year and that in another year I will have entered my eighth decade. Dang, I don't feel that old.
I guess it's time to take an inventory. I'm pretty sure that I'm shorter than the 6'4" I was when I was younger. I'm also pretty sure that I'm a few (hah! few) pounds over my high school weight. I've had a minor bout with cancer and a TIA. I have an irregular heart beat. I've fractured my spine. My brother broke my nose (but I broke his toe). I've had tonsilitis, rheumatic fever, arthritis, bursitus, psoriasis, mumps, chicken pox, shingles, stenosis, pneumonia, and a host of other illnesses. As an infant I came close to dying. I've been in a number of car accidents. A sledding accident when I was a kid took out a chunk of my eyelid but not my eye. I decided to leave the construction job I had as a young man when the nurses at the emergency room began to know me by my first name. I've fallen off more roofs and ladders than any single person should. I stuck my hand in a moving cement mixer -- purely by accident, I assure you, although it did keep me out of the army. I've played with rattlesnakes in a college dormitory. I move a lot slower now. Every one of my joints ache and the last emergency room doctor I saw was amazed at the x-ray of my twisty spine. I've been poisoned twice -- the second time the day after the first time. Once, during a nighttime snowstorm, I pulled over to the side of the road to spend the night only to wake up in the morning to find that I had parked less than a foot from the edge of a two hundred foot cliff; just a few inches more and...
Yet I am amazingly healthy and incredibly lucky.
I married the most wonderful woman in the world and now, fifty years after I first saw her, she gets more beautiful every day in my eyes. We were able to raise two magnificent children and send them out to an unsuspecting world. We have five grandchildren, each of whom I love more than the others.
I spend several decades on disability so we never had a lot of money. Luckily, Kitty has a great eye for real estate so we always lived in comfortable homes. If we weren't rich, we certainly weren't poor. Our needs were -- and remain -- simple. We are content.
I remain continually amazed that I have the privilege to be in this world. I marvel in the scents and colors around me. The infinite variety of plants, animals, and, yes, people fill me with wonder. The fact that we as a race have delved into the mysteries of the universe and have dared to look beyond ourselves fills me with pride. An optimist, I have never failed to find the good in a person (the one exception being Dick Cheney). I also have the ability to find the humor in almost any situation, so I guess I'm a snarky optimist.
For the past 69 years I have found beauty all around me. I have found peace in the night sky, in the lapping of the waves, in the graceful dance of flowers in the breeze, and in the knowledge that I share this world with seven and a half billion people, each of whom is as cantankerous and as special as me.
It's a great life and I can't wait to see what happens next.
I guess it's time to take an inventory. I'm pretty sure that I'm shorter than the 6'4" I was when I was younger. I'm also pretty sure that I'm a few (hah! few) pounds over my high school weight. I've had a minor bout with cancer and a TIA. I have an irregular heart beat. I've fractured my spine. My brother broke my nose (but I broke his toe). I've had tonsilitis, rheumatic fever, arthritis, bursitus, psoriasis, mumps, chicken pox, shingles, stenosis, pneumonia, and a host of other illnesses. As an infant I came close to dying. I've been in a number of car accidents. A sledding accident when I was a kid took out a chunk of my eyelid but not my eye. I decided to leave the construction job I had as a young man when the nurses at the emergency room began to know me by my first name. I've fallen off more roofs and ladders than any single person should. I stuck my hand in a moving cement mixer -- purely by accident, I assure you, although it did keep me out of the army. I've played with rattlesnakes in a college dormitory. I move a lot slower now. Every one of my joints ache and the last emergency room doctor I saw was amazed at the x-ray of my twisty spine. I've been poisoned twice -- the second time the day after the first time. Once, during a nighttime snowstorm, I pulled over to the side of the road to spend the night only to wake up in the morning to find that I had parked less than a foot from the edge of a two hundred foot cliff; just a few inches more and...
Yet I am amazingly healthy and incredibly lucky.
I married the most wonderful woman in the world and now, fifty years after I first saw her, she gets more beautiful every day in my eyes. We were able to raise two magnificent children and send them out to an unsuspecting world. We have five grandchildren, each of whom I love more than the others.
I spend several decades on disability so we never had a lot of money. Luckily, Kitty has a great eye for real estate so we always lived in comfortable homes. If we weren't rich, we certainly weren't poor. Our needs were -- and remain -- simple. We are content.
I remain continually amazed that I have the privilege to be in this world. I marvel in the scents and colors around me. The infinite variety of plants, animals, and, yes, people fill me with wonder. The fact that we as a race have delved into the mysteries of the universe and have dared to look beyond ourselves fills me with pride. An optimist, I have never failed to find the good in a person (the one exception being Dick Cheney). I also have the ability to find the humor in almost any situation, so I guess I'm a snarky optimist.
For the past 69 years I have found beauty all around me. I have found peace in the night sky, in the lapping of the waves, in the graceful dance of flowers in the breeze, and in the knowledge that I share this world with seven and a half billion people, each of whom is as cantankerous and as special as me.
It's a great life and I can't wait to see what happens next.
FORGOTTEN BOOK: RAPTURE
Rapture by Thomas Tessier (1987)
Jeff Linker is not a nice man. We first meet him after a sexual redezvous with Diane, whise teen-aged voice complains
Daddy's always working," she went on in that little girl tone, her face a mild pout.
"And my mother can't stand to be around the house. she's out somewhere with her
friends every day."
After promising not to tell her parents, Diane lets Jeff go.
We then learn that Jeff is in his late thirties. That's when his creepiness level soars.
Jeff is a driven man. He and a friend started a computer company in Southern California and after twenty years of ninety-hour days, he is rich, successful, and insulated. He has no friends, no social life, and his home is drab and utilitarian.
When his father dies, Jeff heads to his home town in Connecticut to settle his affairs. Driving through town he passes the Slaton house and sees a for sale sign on the lawn. He knew the Slaton family very well in high school. The daughter, Georgianne, was his best friend and secret crush. They would double through their teens, she with her constant lunk of a boyfriend, he with a number of meaningless girls he saw, and always in the background was his unstated desire for Georgianne. They had lost contact after high school; Georgianne went to college in Boston and Jeff went to UCLA three thousand miles away.
Jeff begins to fantasize about his high school crush. He convinces himself that he could at last be with her. Tracking her down, finds that Georgianne is married and has a seventeen-year-old daughter who strongly resembles the young Georgianne he knew. As his obsession grows, Jeff decides that Georgianne cannot be happy; she must feel trapped in a small town with a boring clod of a husband. He knows that, given the chance, Georgianne will drop everything to be with him. Forever.
As he arranges to infiltrate her family, he becomes surer that he and Georgianne are meant to be together, no matter how many obstacles between them he must eliminate. Coldly, he begins to set his plan into motion.
Oh. Remember Diane? The teenage girl Jeff was having sex with at the beginning of the book? Well, Diane is not a teenage girl. She's a hooker and Jeff is a regular client. His sessions with her are imaginative fantasies of sex with a young Georgianne. The creepiness gets ramped up.
This is a strong psychological novel about an obsessive sociopath, reminiscent of Robert Bloch's The Dead Beat, of Jim Thompson's The Killer in Me, and of much of Stephen King's work. Strong stuff and not for everyone, but if you are looking for an unrelenting chilling read, Rapture will meet your criteria.
Jeff Linker is not a nice man. We first meet him after a sexual redezvous with Diane, whise teen-aged voice complains
Daddy's always working," she went on in that little girl tone, her face a mild pout.
"And my mother can't stand to be around the house. she's out somewhere with her
friends every day."
After promising not to tell her parents, Diane lets Jeff go.
We then learn that Jeff is in his late thirties. That's when his creepiness level soars.
Jeff is a driven man. He and a friend started a computer company in Southern California and after twenty years of ninety-hour days, he is rich, successful, and insulated. He has no friends, no social life, and his home is drab and utilitarian.
When his father dies, Jeff heads to his home town in Connecticut to settle his affairs. Driving through town he passes the Slaton house and sees a for sale sign on the lawn. He knew the Slaton family very well in high school. The daughter, Georgianne, was his best friend and secret crush. They would double through their teens, she with her constant lunk of a boyfriend, he with a number of meaningless girls he saw, and always in the background was his unstated desire for Georgianne. They had lost contact after high school; Georgianne went to college in Boston and Jeff went to UCLA three thousand miles away.
Jeff begins to fantasize about his high school crush. He convinces himself that he could at last be with her. Tracking her down, finds that Georgianne is married and has a seventeen-year-old daughter who strongly resembles the young Georgianne he knew. As his obsession grows, Jeff decides that Georgianne cannot be happy; she must feel trapped in a small town with a boring clod of a husband. He knows that, given the chance, Georgianne will drop everything to be with him. Forever.
As he arranges to infiltrate her family, he becomes surer that he and Georgianne are meant to be together, no matter how many obstacles between them he must eliminate. Coldly, he begins to set his plan into motion.
Oh. Remember Diane? The teenage girl Jeff was having sex with at the beginning of the book? Well, Diane is not a teenage girl. She's a hooker and Jeff is a regular client. His sessions with her are imaginative fantasies of sex with a young Georgianne. The creepiness gets ramped up.
This is a strong psychological novel about an obsessive sociopath, reminiscent of Robert Bloch's The Dead Beat, of Jim Thompson's The Killer in Me, and of much of Stephen King's work. Strong stuff and not for everyone, but if you are looking for an unrelenting chilling read, Rapture will meet your criteria.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE CALAMANDER CHEST
It's my birthday today, so I thought I'd post one of my favorite writers for Day Thirty: Joseph Payne Brennan.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1954jul-00101
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1954jul-00101
Thursday, October 29, 2015
UNDERAPPRECIATED MUSIC: JOHN McCUTCHEON ON THE HAMMERED DULCIMER
Virginia-based folk musician John McCutcheon has been poularizing the hammered dulcimer for decades. There was a time when such instuments could be found in many attics throughout the country. (I found one in our attic when I was a kid.) A beautiful instrument, lovingly played by an expert.
Enjoy.
"Leviathan"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZQxJ5-PXKo
"Step by Step"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=089gSM2XmR4
"Star in the East" with vocals by the Washington Bach Consort
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DiG3toxhCQ
"Every Breath You Take"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVhdRLcoKcU&list=PL456FB17FD753A4BD
"Santiago"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZEA5kyvS5c
"Carolan's Welcome/Lord Inchiquin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MkbsW3uqB4
"Babylon Is Fallen"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyrcEEvJ9ok
"St.Krispajn's Cobblerguild"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGBNIJJFvhA
"Earl Eddy's Favorite/Snowflake Breakdown"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsggihTnuuY
"I Shall Arise"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sScxgw98FVE
"Frenchie's Reel/Denver Belle"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhkQCmDEc5Y
"Robbing Peter to Pay Paul"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnwWTNxX2CU
Enjoy.
"Leviathan"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZQxJ5-PXKo
"Step by Step"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=089gSM2XmR4
"Star in the East" with vocals by the Washington Bach Consort
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DiG3toxhCQ
"Every Breath You Take"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVhdRLcoKcU&list=PL456FB17FD753A4BD
"Santiago"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZEA5kyvS5c
"Carolan's Welcome/Lord Inchiquin"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MkbsW3uqB4
"Babylon Is Fallen"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyrcEEvJ9ok
"St.Krispajn's Cobblerguild"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGBNIJJFvhA
"Earl Eddy's Favorite/Snowflake Breakdown"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsggihTnuuY
"I Shall Arise"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sScxgw98FVE
"Frenchie's Reel/Denver Belle"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhkQCmDEc5Y
"Robbing Peter to Pay Paul"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnwWTNxX2CU
THE DARK
A classic episode from Arch Obeler's Lights Out radio show. This abbreviatedversion is from the 1962 album titled Drop Dead!
Feel free to shiver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSmEh8TxswQ
Feel free to shiver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSmEh8TxswQ
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE PASSING OF A GOD
The Reverend Henry S. Whitehead provides this Caribbean tale for Day Twenty-Nine of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1954jul-00101
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1954jul-00101
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY (PHILOSOPHY EDITION)
Rene Descartes goes into a McDonalds and orders a hamburger.
The liberal arts major behind the counter asks, "Would you like fries with that?"
Descartes says, "I think not." And disappears.
The liberal arts major behind the counter asks, "Would you like fries with that?"
Descartes says, "I think not." And disappears.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: PIGEONS FROM HELL
If you haven't been terrified by this tale from Robert E. Howard, prepare to be so now. It's Day Twenty-Eight of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1951nov-00062
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1951nov-00062
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
FORGOTTEN FILM: DAS KABINETT DES DOKTOR CALIGARI (1919)
A classic for Halloween Week!
https://archive.org/details/DasKabinettdesDoktorCaligariTheCabinetofDrCaligari
https://archive.org/details/DasKabinettdesDoktorCaligariTheCabinetofDrCaligari
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE MASTER OF THE CRABS
Day Twenty-Seven -- no, not Guy N. Smith, but another Smith: Clark Ashton Smith.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1948mar-00064
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1948mar-00064
Monday, October 26, 2015
INCOMING
More incoming than I've had recently, thanks to a local thrift store.
- Greg Benford & Larry Niven, Shipstar, SF novel, the sequel to 2012's Bowl of Heaven. The recent theorizing about a giant construct around a star some 1480 light years away just adds a bit of interest to this "big dumb object" novel.
- Daphne du Maurier, The Breaking Point. Suspense collection with nine stories of "men and women caught at critical points of their lives."
- Ernest Haycox, New Hope. Western collection with seven stories (from Colliers, 19333-8) about the freighting town of New Hope in the Nebraska Territory. This collection is rounded out with three additional western stories from the pulps in the early Thirties.
- Marvin Kaye, editor, The Fair Folk. Fantasy anthology published by The Science Fiction Book Club in 2005, subsequently winning a World Fantasy Award in 2006. Contains six original novellas about fairies by Tanith Lee, Megan Lindholm, Kim Newman, Patricia McKillip, Craig Shaw Gardner, and Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder. Kaye, the author of 15 novels, is better known today as an editor, having compiled 29 anthologies and having been the editor of H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, and Weird Tales.
- Philip Ketchum, Gun Law. Western. Framed Aor the murder of his best friend, Lee Isobel escapes from jail and goes looking for vengeance.
- William Le Queux, Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo. Le Queux was a popular British writer of thrillers during the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries, publishing over 200 books (by my count there were 187 novels, 24 short story collection, and 20 works of non-fiction -- a hefty body of work). Several of his books were phenominal best-sellers. This one was (again, by my count) his 98th novel, published in 1921 and subtitled "A Mystery of To-Day." Le Queux himself was a fascinating combintion of egoism, exaggeration, and paranoia. Although born in London to an English mother, his father was French; coincidently (?) the villains in many of his earlier novels were the French. This villainy was transferred to the Germans in later books. Le Queux feared assasination by the Germans and demanded protection from the Metropolitan Police, which denied him, saying he was "not a person to be taken seriously." LeQeuex also claimed to have read a manuscript by Rasputin in which the Russian mystic claimed Jack the Ripper was a Alexander Pedachenko, a Russian doctor who committed his muders to embarrass Scotland Yard. The edition of Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo that I picked up was an early undated (probably early 20s) U.S. reprint.
- Charlotte MacLoud, King Devil. Romantic mystery. Before starting her best-selling mystery series about Peter Shandy or Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn, Charlotte MacLeod penned a number of stand-alone mysteries. This one, published in 1978, was her fifth. In 1908, young Lavinia Tabard has to go to live with her rich cousin Zilpha. Zilpha's hobby of buying and restoring old houses leads to a mystery about a seven-year-old disappearance.
- Anne Perry, editor, A Century of British Mystery and Suspense. Anthology of 32 British mystery/suspense stories first published in the Twentieth Century. "British" is used somewhat loosely here: Ngaio Marsh (from New Zealand) and John Dickson Carr and Michael Z. Lewin (both from America) have stories here. Still, a pretty good selection of familiar and unfamilar tales. Perry evidently edited the book for The Mystery Guild and the book is copyrighted by Perry and Martin H. Greenberg's Tekno Books.
- Mike Resnick & Robert T. Garcia, editors, Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Fantasy anthology with eleven tribute stories to the imagination of ERB. Here are stories about Tarzan, Barsoom, Pellucidar, and Venus, as well as stories about the Moon Maid, Poloda, the Mucker, and Apaches. A feast for ERBophiles! The one contribution not original to this book is a short novel by Resnick which had originally been published by a small press fifty years ago.
- Jonathan Strahan, editor, Fearsome Journeys: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy. Fantasy anthology with a dozen original stories by contemporary writers.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE HORN
Charles King has a short tale for Day Twenty-Six.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1946sep-00050
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1946sep-00050
Sunday, October 25, 2015
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE EXPLAINED
The concept of the electoral college is confusing to some voters. With the presidential election looming in just over a year (and bombarding us daily now), it's a good time to explain this -- the whys and wherefors.
Here how the Khan Academy explains it.
https://archive.org/details/KA-converted-oTbvYGH_Hiw
Here how the Khan Academy explains it.
https://archive.org/details/KA-converted-oTbvYGH_Hiw
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: CLAY
A classic story from C. Hall Thompson for Day Twenty-Five of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1948may-00036
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1948may-00036
Saturday, October 24, 2015
AMAZING ADVENTURES #1 (1950)
In 1950 publishing giant Ziff Davis decided to enter the comic book field. Among their many successful properties were the science fiction pulps Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures. When it came time to add a science fiction comic book, the title Amazing Adventures was a nature choice. Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel served as art director for the entire comic line, so it was probably his decision to use full colored paintings on the covers of Amazing Adventures to give the comic the look of a pulp magazine; the comic book also used the typography from Amazing Stories for the word Amazing in its title -- a move sure to conflate the comic book with the successful pulp in the minds of younger purchasers.
Amazing Adventures, as with most of the comic books Ziff Davis published (the company killed off most of its titles by 1953, keeping only a few titles, such as G.I. Joe, Kid Cowboy, and Romantic Love) had a short run, lasting only six issues plus an unnumbered 8-page trial issue.
Issue number 1 (no month given) had a cover painting by well-known pulp artist Robert Gibson Jones. Siegel himself provided the script for the cover story, "The Asteroid Witch." Artists in this issue included Wally Wood, Alex Schomburg, Ogden Whitney, Murphy Anderson*, and Harry Sahle. An impressive line-up. If only the stories were as impressive.
I hesitate to say the stories here were on the level of the pulp stories in Amazing Stories at the time, if only because the pulp had a few good tales at the time. The stories in the comic book were written in a slap dash manner, with some internal inconsistencies, yet appear to be satisfactory fare for its target audience -- adolescent boys. The use of the female form certainly added to the charm of the comic book for those fantasizing boys.
The art is pretty good. The stories IMHO, meh.
What do you think?
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=1346
* Just found out that comic book artist Murphy Anderson passed away yesterday. Born in 1926, Anderson co-created the Atomic Knight and Zatanna, as well as working on a number of major title. Rest in peace, good sir.
Amazing Adventures, as with most of the comic books Ziff Davis published (the company killed off most of its titles by 1953, keeping only a few titles, such as G.I. Joe, Kid Cowboy, and Romantic Love) had a short run, lasting only six issues plus an unnumbered 8-page trial issue.
Issue number 1 (no month given) had a cover painting by well-known pulp artist Robert Gibson Jones. Siegel himself provided the script for the cover story, "The Asteroid Witch." Artists in this issue included Wally Wood, Alex Schomburg, Ogden Whitney, Murphy Anderson*, and Harry Sahle. An impressive line-up. If only the stories were as impressive.
I hesitate to say the stories here were on the level of the pulp stories in Amazing Stories at the time, if only because the pulp had a few good tales at the time. The stories in the comic book were written in a slap dash manner, with some internal inconsistencies, yet appear to be satisfactory fare for its target audience -- adolescent boys. The use of the female form certainly added to the charm of the comic book for those fantasizing boys.
The art is pretty good. The stories IMHO, meh.
What do you think?
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=1346
* Just found out that comic book artist Murphy Anderson passed away yesterday. Born in 1926, Anderson co-created the Atomic Knight and Zatanna, as well as working on a number of major title. Rest in peace, good sir.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE UBIQUITOUS PROFESSOR KARR
Day Twenty-Four, Stanton A. Coblentz.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1949jul-00057
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1949jul-00057
Friday, October 23, 2015
CARRY ME BACK TO OLD VIRGINNY
Record in November 1914 by famous soprano Alma Gluck, this one was a big hit the following year -- a century ago. Alma was the mother of novelist Marcia Davenport and actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (77 Sunset Strip, The FBI) and the grandmother of Stephanie Zimbalist (Remington Steele)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1265akmPQeg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1265akmPQeg
FORGOTTEN BOOK: STOWAWAY TO MARS
Stowaway to Mars by John Wyndham (1936)
John Wyndham (real name John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris, 1903-1969) is best known for his science fiction work following World War II. The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos (aka The Village of the Damned), The Trouble with Lichen, and Chocky, among others, are all classics in the field. This mature work often leads one to oerlook that Wyndham began writing science fiction as early as 1931, publishing his first story in Hugo Gernsback's Wonder Stories.
Stowaway to Mars, Wyndhams second novel in the field, was first published as a newspaper serial in Britain's The Passing Show in 1935. An expanded version was published in book form the following year under the title Planet Plane as by "John Benyon." Clearly written as a space opera laced with references to Wells, Verne, Weinbaum, John Jacob Astor, and other early SF writers, Stowaway to Mars shows a level of maturity that was rare for that time.
The time is 1981. Dale Curtance is a wealthy record-holding pilot and daredevil who is secretly building a rocket that would take him to Mars. An international prize of a million dollars has been offered to the first man to make an interplanetary journey and that is Dale's excuse to make the attempt. When a saboteur breaks into Dale's factory, kills a guard, and attempts to kill Dale, the secret is out.
Now that the public knows about the project, Dale ramps up work. Other interests are also working on space ships but Dale is convinced that he is ahead of all others. With a crew of four (a navigator, an engineer, a journalist, and a doctor), Dale's ship the Gloria Mundi takes off in a televised spectacle for the six-week journey to Mars. Shortly after takeoff, he realizes that there has been an errot in his calculations: the ship appears to be carrying about 140 pounds more than he had estimated. Course corrections are made and -- foreshadowing Tom Godwin's classic story "The Cold Equations" -- concern is raised whether the extra weight could cost them the fuel needed to complete the round trip.
This extra weight, of course, is the stowaway of the title, an attractive girl who would only give her name as Joan. Her reasons for stowing away are unknown, but she seems to know a great deal of science and is able to help out during the voyage. She is grudgingly accepted by Dale who is afraid of what the presence of a pretty girl could do to his crew over a long voyage. She is far less grudgingly accepted by three of the crew members, who welcome her and her assistance. Only one man, the dour Scottish engineer (shades of Star Trek!) appears resentful of her presence.
Joan, it turns out is the daughter of a disgraced scientist and is trying to redeem her family name. Her father accidently stumbled upon a robot, a metal thing strangely shaped with tentacled appendages. He took the him home to study and found it spoke a weirdly unpronouncable language but he and Joan learned to communciate by learning its written language. When it came time for Joan's father to announce his discovery to the world, the robot self-destructed, melting into an unidentifiablee mass of metal -- leaving Joan's father no proof of its existence. Ridiculed and no longer accepted by the scientific community, he was forced to move and settle in anominity. The robot, Joan knew, came from Mars and the Gloria Mundi provided a means for her to prove that her father was right.
Mars, it turned out, was a dying world. Its "canals" were artificial waterways built centuries ago to hold brackish water. Strange plantlife bordered its shores. The crew come across Joan's robots, but these are wildly and individually different and show aggression toward the humans. One crew member is killed, a robot captures Joan in its tentacles and makes off, leaving the remaining four men to battle the robots.
From here on in, things move pretty fast. An ancient Martian city, a dying race, the appearance of Soviets, a crashing rocket, a soliloquey on humanity and machines, sexual passions and sexual activity...everything rushes together in the last third of the book. Hurry, hurry.
Stowaway to Mars has a lot going for it. Many of the SF tropes are handled well. The characters who at first appear to be stock stereotypes are complex, real, and flawed. The science behind most of the book is current as of 1935 thinking. And, yeah, there's sex, rare for 1930s SF and decretely handled, of course. Despite its space opera sensibilities, the story attempts (sometimes succeeding) to bring a deeper thought to the subject. The book obviously owes a lot to H. G. Wells and to Olaf Stapledon.
We are told at the beginning that the Glorai Mundi returned successfully from Mars, and halfway through the novel we learn that Dale and some of his crew (at least) survive, only to perish years later on an attempted flight to Venus. Still, there's a final twist that comes as a surprise.
(Wyndam wrote a "sequel" to the novel three years later. "Sleepers of Mars" [Tales of Wonder, March 1938] is a story about Russians stranded on the same Mars. It was reprinted as the title novella in a 1973 British collection..)
John Wyndham (real name John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris, 1903-1969) is best known for his science fiction work following World War II. The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos (aka The Village of the Damned), The Trouble with Lichen, and Chocky, among others, are all classics in the field. This mature work often leads one to oerlook that Wyndham began writing science fiction as early as 1931, publishing his first story in Hugo Gernsback's Wonder Stories.
Stowaway to Mars, Wyndhams second novel in the field, was first published as a newspaper serial in Britain's The Passing Show in 1935. An expanded version was published in book form the following year under the title Planet Plane as by "John Benyon." Clearly written as a space opera laced with references to Wells, Verne, Weinbaum, John Jacob Astor, and other early SF writers, Stowaway to Mars shows a level of maturity that was rare for that time.
The time is 1981. Dale Curtance is a wealthy record-holding pilot and daredevil who is secretly building a rocket that would take him to Mars. An international prize of a million dollars has been offered to the first man to make an interplanetary journey and that is Dale's excuse to make the attempt. When a saboteur breaks into Dale's factory, kills a guard, and attempts to kill Dale, the secret is out.
Now that the public knows about the project, Dale ramps up work. Other interests are also working on space ships but Dale is convinced that he is ahead of all others. With a crew of four (a navigator, an engineer, a journalist, and a doctor), Dale's ship the Gloria Mundi takes off in a televised spectacle for the six-week journey to Mars. Shortly after takeoff, he realizes that there has been an errot in his calculations: the ship appears to be carrying about 140 pounds more than he had estimated. Course corrections are made and -- foreshadowing Tom Godwin's classic story "The Cold Equations" -- concern is raised whether the extra weight could cost them the fuel needed to complete the round trip.
This extra weight, of course, is the stowaway of the title, an attractive girl who would only give her name as Joan. Her reasons for stowing away are unknown, but she seems to know a great deal of science and is able to help out during the voyage. She is grudgingly accepted by Dale who is afraid of what the presence of a pretty girl could do to his crew over a long voyage. She is far less grudgingly accepted by three of the crew members, who welcome her and her assistance. Only one man, the dour Scottish engineer (shades of Star Trek!) appears resentful of her presence.
Joan, it turns out is the daughter of a disgraced scientist and is trying to redeem her family name. Her father accidently stumbled upon a robot, a metal thing strangely shaped with tentacled appendages. He took the him home to study and found it spoke a weirdly unpronouncable language but he and Joan learned to communciate by learning its written language. When it came time for Joan's father to announce his discovery to the world, the robot self-destructed, melting into an unidentifiablee mass of metal -- leaving Joan's father no proof of its existence. Ridiculed and no longer accepted by the scientific community, he was forced to move and settle in anominity. The robot, Joan knew, came from Mars and the Gloria Mundi provided a means for her to prove that her father was right.
Mars, it turned out, was a dying world. Its "canals" were artificial waterways built centuries ago to hold brackish water. Strange plantlife bordered its shores. The crew come across Joan's robots, but these are wildly and individually different and show aggression toward the humans. One crew member is killed, a robot captures Joan in its tentacles and makes off, leaving the remaining four men to battle the robots.
From here on in, things move pretty fast. An ancient Martian city, a dying race, the appearance of Soviets, a crashing rocket, a soliloquey on humanity and machines, sexual passions and sexual activity...everything rushes together in the last third of the book. Hurry, hurry.
Stowaway to Mars has a lot going for it. Many of the SF tropes are handled well. The characters who at first appear to be stock stereotypes are complex, real, and flawed. The science behind most of the book is current as of 1935 thinking. And, yeah, there's sex, rare for 1930s SF and decretely handled, of course. Despite its space opera sensibilities, the story attempts (sometimes succeeding) to bring a deeper thought to the subject. The book obviously owes a lot to H. G. Wells and to Olaf Stapledon.
We are told at the beginning that the Glorai Mundi returned successfully from Mars, and halfway through the novel we learn that Dale and some of his crew (at least) survive, only to perish years later on an attempted flight to Venus. Still, there's a final twist that comes as a surprise.
(Wyndam wrote a "sequel" to the novel three years later. "Sleepers of Mars" [Tales of Wonder, March 1938] is a story about Russians stranded on the same Mars. It was reprinted as the title novella in a 1973 British collection..)
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE HUNGRY GHOST
It's Day Twenty-Three and here's Emil Petaja.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950mar-00074
Thursday, October 22, 2015
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE PROFESSOR'S TEDDY BEAR
A great tale from Theodore Sturgeon -- this is Day Twenty-Two of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1948mar-00072
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1948mar-00072
THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM - NOVEMBER 2, 1941 - WITH BASIL RATHBONE
A Halloween classic from one of my favorite comedians. Jack, Mary Livingstone, Don Wilson, Dennis Day, and Phil Harris go out on Halloween to play pranks and Jack ends up breaking Basil Rathbone's window. Mr. Billingsly (Ed Beloin), Jack's eccentric boarder, makes a brief appearance. And what would Jack Benny be without his valet Rochester (Eddie Anderson)?
Enjoy. And don't forget to have some Jell-O tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8socXY-60U
Enjoy. And don't forget to have some Jell-O tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8socXY-60U
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY
"Doctor, you've got to help me! My hands can't stop shaking!"
The doctor looked at his patient's bright red nose and asked, "Do you drink a lot?"
"No, I keep spilling most of it!"
The doctor looked at his patient's bright red nose and asked, "Do you drink a lot?"
"No, I keep spilling most of it!"
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE SHADOW FOLK
Edmond Hamilton brings us this neat tale for Day Twenty-One of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1944sep-00006
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1944sep-00006
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: SPIDER MANSION
Day Twenty of Halloween Month bring us to the great Fritz Leiber.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1942sep-00043
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1942sep-00043
OVERLOOKED FILM: PURPLE DEATH FROM OUTER SPACE (1966 -- but really 1940)
Cobbled from the first five or six episodes of the 1940 cliffhanger serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, our futuristic hero once again faces Ming the Merciless. This time Ming has come up with a death-dust that brings a plague to Earth.
Aiding Flash ("Buster" Crabbe, of course) are the beatiful Dale Arden (Carol Hughes) and the really not-so-good scientist Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon). Aiding Ming (Charles Middleton) are his minions Captain Torch (Don Rowan), Lieutenant Thong (Victor Zimmerman), and countless laughable robots (played by cheesy costumes).
SPOILER ALERT: Escaping danger and certain death at the end of each original chapter, Flash survives. And, since this covers only early episodes of the serial, Ming also survives to create havoc. END SPOILER ALERT.
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe was the last of the Universal Studio Flash Gordon serials. It would have llingered in a dusty film closet had not some studio jamook decided that it would make a great syndicated television movie for the oh-so-sophisticated viewers of 1966. To that jamook we owe our thanks (or vitriol, depending on your aesthetic muse).
Come back to the day when sound could be heard in the vacuum of space and when ray guns zapped lightning. To the day when heroes wore sad costumes and villains were really villainy. Come back. and enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw1DLhMq9R0&list=PLyJXkvwe3Tj7qPwBNRkp-7VY6BZ6kOVKF&index=21
Aiding Flash ("Buster" Crabbe, of course) are the beatiful Dale Arden (Carol Hughes) and the really not-so-good scientist Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon). Aiding Ming (Charles Middleton) are his minions Captain Torch (Don Rowan), Lieutenant Thong (Victor Zimmerman), and countless laughable robots (played by cheesy costumes).
SPOILER ALERT: Escaping danger and certain death at the end of each original chapter, Flash survives. And, since this covers only early episodes of the serial, Ming also survives to create havoc. END SPOILER ALERT.
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe was the last of the Universal Studio Flash Gordon serials. It would have llingered in a dusty film closet had not some studio jamook decided that it would make a great syndicated television movie for the oh-so-sophisticated viewers of 1966. To that jamook we owe our thanks (or vitriol, depending on your aesthetic muse).
Come back to the day when sound could be heard in the vacuum of space and when ray guns zapped lightning. To the day when heroes wore sad costumes and villains were really villainy. Come back. and enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw1DLhMq9R0&list=PLyJXkvwe3Tj7qPwBNRkp-7VY6BZ6kOVKF&index=21
Monday, October 19, 2015
PRETTY POLLY
The Coon Creek Girls were a popular group in the Thirties with their Appalachian-style string music. "Pretty Polly" is a rather well-known murder ballad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8ZCQmD2m0Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8ZCQmD2m0Q
INCOMING
- "Gordon Ashe"(John Creasey), You've Bet Your Life, bound with Robert Chavis, The Terror Package, An Ace Double from 1957. Creasey used the "Gordon Ashe" pseudonym for fifty novels featuring Patrick Dawlish of British Intelligence (and later of Scotland yard) and four four stand-alone mysteries, of which this was the last. This one is about a kidnapping in Manhattan. After a brief check on the web, I still have no idea who Robert Chavis is or was. The Terror Package is copyrighted by A. A. Wyn, Inc., the owners of Ace Books; the story is one of international intrigue on the Arizona border.
- R. R. Winterbotham, Joyce of the Secret Squadron. Juvenile, a 1942 Whitman Authorized Edition. Joyce is teenaged Joyce Davis, an adventurous aviatrix and a trusted member of Captain Midnight's Secret Squadron. Captain Midnight, of course, is the hero of the popular radio radio show -- a WWI flying ace who has gathered a group of daring flyers on a remote Pacific island where, as the Secret Squadron, the serve unofficially as an auxiliary intelligence and air arm for the United States. This time they are up against on of Midnight's most dangerous enemies, The Barracuda. Russ Winterbotham was a newspaper reporter and competent pulp writer best known for his SF novels (under his own name and once as "Franklin Hadley") in the 50s and 60s and (as "J. Harvy Bond") for his mysteries. He left the pulps during the 40s and concentrated on juveniles for Whitman Publishing, including of sixty titles for their Big Little Books line. Joyce of the Secret Squadron was the third Captain Midnight book that he wrote for Whitman; the previous two were the Big Little Books titles Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron (1941) and Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron Versus the Terror of the Orient (1942). Next to Hopalong Cassidy, Captain Midnight was my favorite in my early television viewing days -- I even put up with the cheesy dubbing of the name "Jet Jackson" in the syndicated reruns. I found this book in a thrift shop and had to pick it up for old time's sake.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE HORROR AT RED HOOK
Day Nineteen. H. P. Lovecraft was uncomfortable in New York. Does it show?
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1952mar-00056
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1952mar-00056
Sunday, October 18, 2015
IS OUR UNIVERSE THE ONLY UNIVERSE?
Brian Greene, the theoretical physicist and string theorist, gives a fascinating TED talk on the possibility of multiple universes. Greene is one of the best explainers of science we have today.
If you are new to the subject, prepare to have your mind blown
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ted+talks+big+bang+theory&FORM=VIRE2#view=detail&mid=E1294CF1FC6AD2650B3AE1294CF1FC6AD2650B3A
If you are new to the subject, prepare to have your mind blown
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ted+talks+big+bang+theory&FORM=VIRE2#view=detail&mid=E1294CF1FC6AD2650B3AE1294CF1FC6AD2650B3A
HYMN TIME
The great Sister Rosetta Tharpe with 'Up Above My Head."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaBNAXfHfQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaBNAXfHfQ
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: MOP-HEAD
Better-known as a poet, Leah Bodine Drake also penned short stories, including this one which I present for Day Eighteen of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1954jan-00002
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1954jan-00002
Saturday, October 17, 2015
PRETTY GOOD AT DRINKIN' BEER
Billy Currington. The video is a male fantasy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtMy5IBmX7E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtMy5IBmX7E
ANNIE OAKLEY AND TAGG #4 (JULY-SEPTEMBER 1955)
For three seasons, from 1954 to 1957, Annie Oakley, a fictionalized version of the real-life sharpshooter, helped keep the town of Diablo safe. The show was the first national western television show with a female as the title character. The star, Gail Davis, was a cute, pig-tailed blonde who became a role model for girls and a fantasy for boys. (I was not immune to her charms although I much preferred Gloria Winters, "Penny" on Sky King.) The show was produced by Gene Autry's Flying "A" Productions and Autry called Davis "the perfect western actress." I'm sure that Davis being Autry's long-time mistress had nothing to do with his assessment.
What to do with a popular western show? Turn it into a comic book, of course. Annie Oakley and Tagg ran until issue #18 in 1959. For those unfamilar with the show, Tagg was Annie's little brother, played by popular child actor Jimmy Hawkins for 80 of the 81 episodes. (For some reason, the role was filled by Billy Gray for one episode.) The series ended when Hawkins reached puberty and became to big for the role. And lest one think that Annie was raising her little brother by herself, well,,,pshaw!...Annie's uncle was Diablo's sheriff, a man who was never seen or heard throughout the entire series. Who was seen was his deputy, Lofty Craig (where do they get these names?), who provided the somewhat platonic love interest because we don't want the kids to get the wrong idead, do we?
As usual, the comic book followed the template of the series.
In "The Rainbow Trail," bank robber and murderer Slick Paul has been seen near Diablo. Annie's never-seen uncle heads up a posse to track him down. Unfortunately, Unk's horse slipped on a wet rock and threw him down a cliff, so he's brought back to town as the possee continues its hunt. Annie leaes Tagg alone while she rushes to the doctor's to see her her uncle. Meanwhile Slick Paul has eluded the posse and has snuck back to town to get a fresh horse. Tagg sees him riding off and decides to follow him. Of course Tagg gets captured and rain erases his trail. Can Annie find him in time and capture Slick Paul? Do you even have to ask?
In Annie's second adventure, "The Signal," Bick Shaw is an honest ranchers whose two brothers turned bad and became wanted outlaws. In a surprising (to me, anyway) twist, Annie's uncle makes an appearance in this story. And Annie -- who never misses -- fires a shot at a chicken hawk../and misses! Or did she?
The issue is rounded out with a six-page western story ("A Real Mild Hombre"), a one-page text story ('Two Gun Secret"), and a one-page filler ('Indian Designs and What They Mean"). There's also two pin-up pages of Gail Davis as Annie. (I was going to say "as the titular character" but even I am not that crass.)
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=39315http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=39315
What to do with a popular western show? Turn it into a comic book, of course. Annie Oakley and Tagg ran until issue #18 in 1959. For those unfamilar with the show, Tagg was Annie's little brother, played by popular child actor Jimmy Hawkins for 80 of the 81 episodes. (For some reason, the role was filled by Billy Gray for one episode.) The series ended when Hawkins reached puberty and became to big for the role. And lest one think that Annie was raising her little brother by herself, well,,,pshaw!...Annie's uncle was Diablo's sheriff, a man who was never seen or heard throughout the entire series. Who was seen was his deputy, Lofty Craig (where do they get these names?), who provided the somewhat platonic love interest because we don't want the kids to get the wrong idead, do we?
As usual, the comic book followed the template of the series.
In "The Rainbow Trail," bank robber and murderer Slick Paul has been seen near Diablo. Annie's never-seen uncle heads up a posse to track him down. Unfortunately, Unk's horse slipped on a wet rock and threw him down a cliff, so he's brought back to town as the possee continues its hunt. Annie leaes Tagg alone while she rushes to the doctor's to see her her uncle. Meanwhile Slick Paul has eluded the posse and has snuck back to town to get a fresh horse. Tagg sees him riding off and decides to follow him. Of course Tagg gets captured and rain erases his trail. Can Annie find him in time and capture Slick Paul? Do you even have to ask?
In Annie's second adventure, "The Signal," Bick Shaw is an honest ranchers whose two brothers turned bad and became wanted outlaws. In a surprising (to me, anyway) twist, Annie's uncle makes an appearance in this story. And Annie -- who never misses -- fires a shot at a chicken hawk../and misses! Or did she?
The issue is rounded out with a six-page western story ("A Real Mild Hombre"), a one-page text story ('Two Gun Secret"), and a one-page filler ('Indian Designs and What They Mean"). There's also two pin-up pages of Gail Davis as Annie. (I was going to say "as the titular character" but even I am not that crass.)
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=39315http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=39315
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE CORN DANCE
Day Seventeen -- we're halfway there! A story by the often (and undeservedly) overlooked Margaret St. Clair.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950mar-00050
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950mar-00050
Friday, October 16, 2015
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR
Ninety-two years ago today, The Walt Disney company was founded.
To celebrate, here's Jiminy Cricket (aka Cliff Edwards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pguMUFyJ3_U
To celebrate, here's Jiminy Cricket (aka Cliff Edwards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pguMUFyJ3_U
FORGOTTEN BOOK: A YANK AT VAHALLA
A Yank at Valhalla by Edmond Hamilton (1973)
After reading The Haunted Stars, a 1960 space opera presenting the "mature" side of Edmond Hamilton, I was in the mood for an older, more pulpish Hamilton and this book filled the bill. First published in Startling Stories in January 1941, this short novel lingered in pulp purgatory in this country until it was published as one half of an Ace Double in 1973 and it's a slam-bang pseudo-science thiller with non-stop action. (It was published in England as a 1950 paperback under the title of The Monsters of Juntonhein and in Germany in 1958 as Unternehmen Walhalla.)
Keith Masters, a physicist accompanying an arctic expedition, is on a trawler making its way through the Actic Ocean when he gets an unexplainable feeling and directs the crew to lower a net into the sea. The net comes up with a golden rod, incredibly old and marked with runes similar to Old Norse. He decides to carry the rod with him on an reconaissance flight in his small rocket plane. Heading north, he finds himself in the eye of a heavy -- and seemingly impossible -- gale, driving him foward for an equally impossible six hours. Also impossible is the land mass below him where he is forced down, a land mass with castles and a fantastic rainbow bridge - the land of the Aesir!
So heere comes the pseudoscience, the old Norse gods exists, but they are not gods. They are what is left of the first race of men who lived in underground cavern where they developed an intricate society and an advanced science. One scientist, Loki, tried to achieve immortality and in doing so released deadly radiation throughout the underground world. Now immortal (or at least pretty well long-lived) the Aesir advanced to the surface led by their chieftain Odin. Small in number, they established their city in the arctic, using their advanced science to hide themselves from the outer world. Loki, in an attempt to overthrow Odin, sided with the Jotan, one of the two barbarous races that occupied Midgard, the land where the Aesir settled. (The other race was the Alfings, a race of cave dwellers and artisans.) Loki and the Jotans were ultimately defeated and Loki as well as his genetically modified pets Fenris, the giant wolf, and Iormungandr, the poisonous Midgard serpent, were place in suspended animation and locked behind an energy shield. The shield can only be opened by a key, You guessed it...the key was the golden rod that Masters had fished out of the ocean depths. The Aesir, horrified by what Loki's science had done, denounced science.
Loki may be in suspended animation, but his mind is still alert and had been using its pyschic powers to influence people. The Jotans are waiting for him to arise and led them in victory over the Aesir, and with Loki's scientific knowledge, this final vistory is all but assured.
There's fights and battles and derring-do. And there's the beautiful, passionate niece of Odin who falls instantly in love with Masters, and vice versa. (Not to worry. Instead of being millenia old like the other Aesir, she's only twenty. Conenient and way more palatable than a May/mega December romance.) And there's monsters, swordplay, Alfings, and sheer pulp fun.
The Ace Double, by the way, was backed with Ross Rocklynne's The Sun Destroyer, a frist edition, fix-up novel of the four stories that comprised his Darkness series (1940-1951). This one looks to be another good read and I'll be getting to it pretty soon.
After reading The Haunted Stars, a 1960 space opera presenting the "mature" side of Edmond Hamilton, I was in the mood for an older, more pulpish Hamilton and this book filled the bill. First published in Startling Stories in January 1941, this short novel lingered in pulp purgatory in this country until it was published as one half of an Ace Double in 1973 and it's a slam-bang pseudo-science thiller with non-stop action. (It was published in England as a 1950 paperback under the title of The Monsters of Juntonhein and in Germany in 1958 as Unternehmen Walhalla.)
Keith Masters, a physicist accompanying an arctic expedition, is on a trawler making its way through the Actic Ocean when he gets an unexplainable feeling and directs the crew to lower a net into the sea. The net comes up with a golden rod, incredibly old and marked with runes similar to Old Norse. He decides to carry the rod with him on an reconaissance flight in his small rocket plane. Heading north, he finds himself in the eye of a heavy -- and seemingly impossible -- gale, driving him foward for an equally impossible six hours. Also impossible is the land mass below him where he is forced down, a land mass with castles and a fantastic rainbow bridge - the land of the Aesir!
So heere comes the pseudoscience, the old Norse gods exists, but they are not gods. They are what is left of the first race of men who lived in underground cavern where they developed an intricate society and an advanced science. One scientist, Loki, tried to achieve immortality and in doing so released deadly radiation throughout the underground world. Now immortal (or at least pretty well long-lived) the Aesir advanced to the surface led by their chieftain Odin. Small in number, they established their city in the arctic, using their advanced science to hide themselves from the outer world. Loki, in an attempt to overthrow Odin, sided with the Jotan, one of the two barbarous races that occupied Midgard, the land where the Aesir settled. (The other race was the Alfings, a race of cave dwellers and artisans.) Loki and the Jotans were ultimately defeated and Loki as well as his genetically modified pets Fenris, the giant wolf, and Iormungandr, the poisonous Midgard serpent, were place in suspended animation and locked behind an energy shield. The shield can only be opened by a key, You guessed it...the key was the golden rod that Masters had fished out of the ocean depths. The Aesir, horrified by what Loki's science had done, denounced science.
Loki may be in suspended animation, but his mind is still alert and had been using its pyschic powers to influence people. The Jotans are waiting for him to arise and led them in victory over the Aesir, and with Loki's scientific knowledge, this final vistory is all but assured.
There's fights and battles and derring-do. And there's the beautiful, passionate niece of Odin who falls instantly in love with Masters, and vice versa. (Not to worry. Instead of being millenia old like the other Aesir, she's only twenty. Conenient and way more palatable than a May/mega December romance.) And there's monsters, swordplay, Alfings, and sheer pulp fun.
The Ace Double, by the way, was backed with Ross Rocklynne's The Sun Destroyer, a frist edition, fix-up novel of the four stories that comprised his Darkness series (1940-1951). This one looks to be another good read and I'll be getting to it pretty soon.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: BLACK HARVEST OF MORAINE
Arthur J. Burks, one-time aide to General Smedley Butler, brings us to Day Sixteen of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950jan-00004
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950jan-00004
Thursday, October 15, 2015
COWBOY IN THE JUNGLE
For all the Parrotheads out there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe_gAfpBijg&index=36&list=PLdiDN6Uc46DHD4a1e5bWkP_z5XId5eHBz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe_gAfpBijg&index=36&list=PLdiDN6Uc46DHD4a1e5bWkP_z5XId5eHBz
THE ADVENTURES OF SAM SPADE, DETECTIVE: THE CHAGOGGAGOGGMANCHUAGGAGOGGCHAYBUNAGUNGAMAUGG CAPER
Since Sam has a problem pronouncing the Nipmuc Indian name of this lake, he decides to call it "The Indian Caper."
This one is full of stereotypes and racial inaccuracies, but what do you expect from 1940s radio?
Listen with an ounce of salt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEwONC3WgYM&list=PLF70aJVGwKvzGwSx760rpfkxexeRfxDaZ
This one is full of stereotypes and racial inaccuracies, but what do you expect from 1940s radio?
Listen with an ounce of salt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEwONC3WgYM&list=PLF70aJVGwKvzGwSx760rpfkxexeRfxDaZ
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: WIFE OF THE DRAGON-FLY
Paul Ernst joins us for Day Fifteen of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1953may-00083
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1953may-00083
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
THE CAMBRIC SHIRT
Jean Ritchis and Paul Clayton with an earlier and quite different "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeilhfI4ff4&index=299&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMw-Qan8mei-ZEF2tKFCP14c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeilhfI4ff4&index=299&list=PLoIl4gkIOvMw-Qan8mei-ZEF2tKFCP14c
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: OLD MR. WILEY
Week two of Halloween Month ends with this classic tale from Greye La Spina.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1951mar-00037
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1951mar-00037
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
OVERLOOKED FILM: POOL SHARKS (1915)
Presenting W. C. Fields in his first film role!
Directed by Edwin Middleton and featuring Marion West, Larry Westford, and Bud Ross, Pool Sharks is a short, slapstick film starring a 35-year-old Fields, fresh from vaudeville. It's a cute film but does little to preview the Fields persona later audiences have come to love. Rivals vie over a pretty girl, a bit of Three Stooges-esque action about two minutes in, and a stop-motion pool game to settle their differences with the lady in question on the warpath combine to make a smile-worthy (but not a laugh-out-loud) effort.
There are worse ways to spend eight minutes.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi78XDvUXdk
Directed by Edwin Middleton and featuring Marion West, Larry Westford, and Bud Ross, Pool Sharks is a short, slapstick film starring a 35-year-old Fields, fresh from vaudeville. It's a cute film but does little to preview the Fields persona later audiences have come to love. Rivals vie over a pretty girl, a bit of Three Stooges-esque action about two minutes in, and a stop-motion pool game to settle their differences with the lady in question on the warpath combine to make a smile-worthy (but not a laugh-out-loud) effort.
There are worse ways to spend eight minutes.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi78XDvUXdk
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE THIRD SHADOW
Day Thirteen. H. Russell Wakefield rounds off a baker's dozen for Halloween month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950nov-00024
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950nov-00024
Monday, October 12, 2015
EMILY
Domestic violence is something I find hard to comprehend.
Here's Peggy Seeger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRUXCHZK2rs
Here's Peggy Seeger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRUXCHZK2rs
AUTUMN LEAVES
t's that time of year. Here's Jo Stafford.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTaRMum_gWU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTaRMum_gWU
INCOMING
Nada. Nil. Zip...
...and it's killing me. I want to buy every book out there.
Must.
Restrain.
Myself.
Aargh!
...and it's killing me. I want to buy every book out there.
Must.
Restrain.
Myself.
Aargh!
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: PORTRAIT IN MOONLIGHT
Day Twelve. Here's the title story from Carl Jacobi's second collection from Arkham House.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1947nov-00066
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1947nov-00066
Sunday, October 11, 2015
THE SHAVER MYSTERY IN 1956
Long John Nebel, a well-known radio talk show host, ruled the all-night radio waves from the mid-Fifties to his death in 1978 with a mix of unusual and off-beat subjects from UFO's to ESP to conspiracy theories to ghosts. Because of the spontiniety of his show, Nebel was one of the first radio hosts to incorporate the seven-second delay. Among his frequent guests were Jackie Gleason (who offered a million dollars to anyone who could prove that aliens were visiting Earth and who tore apart Gray Barker in an on-air argument; Barker was the one who propagated the "Men in Black" legend), science fiction writers Lester del Rey and Frederik Pohl (both of whom could speaak cogently and rationally about a number of subjects; each appeared more than 400 times on Nebel's program), and debunker extrodinaire The Amazing Randi. Nebel styled himself as a "curious skeptic" while allowing his guest to promote some rather far-off views. Nebel's wife and co-host of the show following their marriage, was former model and pin-up girl Candy Jones, who clained to be the victim of CIS mind control experiments.
The Shaver Mystery was a fraud/hoax/publicity stunt promulgated by the then-editor of Amazing Stories, Raymond Palmer. In 1943, Richard Shaver, a former mental patient, wrote Palmer that he had discovered an ancient language, Mantong, which was the source of all human languages. By using Mantong, Shaver was able to find the hidden meanings in words used today. It turns out that Shaver was able to hear telepathically the thoughts of evil entities in subterranean caverns. These beings, known as Deros, are the remants of an alien race that came to Earth thousands of years ago. Deros are resposible for just about all the ills that have plagued mankind over the centuries. At one time, Shaver claimed to be held captive underground by Deros for years. Palmer took a manuscript submitted by Shaver, added a plot and some juvenile flash-bang and published it in Amazing Stories, claiming that the story was based on truth. This "Shaver Mystery" became a phenomenon with many people offering similar claims. Shaver clubs spawned like mushrooms and Shaver continued to publish dozens of stories in Amazing about the "Mystery." For a four-year period in the mid- to late-Forties, about three quarters of the content of Amazing Stories was Shaver Mystery related. Shaver and his ramblings had served its purpose -- the magazine's sales soared. By the Fifties under new editors, the "Shaver Mystery" was gone from the magazine with the exception of one special Shaver Mystery issue in the July 1958 issue of Fantastic, a companion magazine to Amazing Stories.
About Raymond Palmer: Palmer was a talented and genius huckster. Stunted and crippled by an accident when he was seven (he grew to be about four feet tall and had a hunchback), Palmer found his refuge in science fiction. He was the co-editor of the (arguably) genre's first fanzine and, at 29, found himself the editor of Amazing Stories, started in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback as the first professional science fiction magazine. Palmer immedately ignored the magazine's backlog of rather staid stories and transformed Amazing into a vehicle for juvenile space-opera adventure. Palmer went on to found Fate, a forerunner magazine in the paranormal field. He was the first to publish Kenneth Arnold's story about flying saucers which began the UFO craze. In later years he championed a man who claimed to be Jesse James.
Anyway, that's the background to Nebel, Shaver, and Palmer. Here's a 1956 episode of Nebel's show taking on The Shaver Mystery.
https://archive.org/details/ShaverMysteryDiscussionOnLongJohnNebelsPartyLine1956
BTW, This book should be brought to your attention: War Over Lemuria: Richard Shaver, Ray Palmer, and the Stangest Chapter of 1940s Science Fiction by Richard Toronto (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2013).
Also BTW. Despite appearances, the Shaver Mystery was not an influence in the creation of Scientology. At least, that's what Xenu told me.
The Shaver Mystery was a fraud/hoax/publicity stunt promulgated by the then-editor of Amazing Stories, Raymond Palmer. In 1943, Richard Shaver, a former mental patient, wrote Palmer that he had discovered an ancient language, Mantong, which was the source of all human languages. By using Mantong, Shaver was able to find the hidden meanings in words used today. It turns out that Shaver was able to hear telepathically the thoughts of evil entities in subterranean caverns. These beings, known as Deros, are the remants of an alien race that came to Earth thousands of years ago. Deros are resposible for just about all the ills that have plagued mankind over the centuries. At one time, Shaver claimed to be held captive underground by Deros for years. Palmer took a manuscript submitted by Shaver, added a plot and some juvenile flash-bang and published it in Amazing Stories, claiming that the story was based on truth. This "Shaver Mystery" became a phenomenon with many people offering similar claims. Shaver clubs spawned like mushrooms and Shaver continued to publish dozens of stories in Amazing about the "Mystery." For a four-year period in the mid- to late-Forties, about three quarters of the content of Amazing Stories was Shaver Mystery related. Shaver and his ramblings had served its purpose -- the magazine's sales soared. By the Fifties under new editors, the "Shaver Mystery" was gone from the magazine with the exception of one special Shaver Mystery issue in the July 1958 issue of Fantastic, a companion magazine to Amazing Stories.
About Raymond Palmer: Palmer was a talented and genius huckster. Stunted and crippled by an accident when he was seven (he grew to be about four feet tall and had a hunchback), Palmer found his refuge in science fiction. He was the co-editor of the (arguably) genre's first fanzine and, at 29, found himself the editor of Amazing Stories, started in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback as the first professional science fiction magazine. Palmer immedately ignored the magazine's backlog of rather staid stories and transformed Amazing into a vehicle for juvenile space-opera adventure. Palmer went on to found Fate, a forerunner magazine in the paranormal field. He was the first to publish Kenneth Arnold's story about flying saucers which began the UFO craze. In later years he championed a man who claimed to be Jesse James.
Anyway, that's the background to Nebel, Shaver, and Palmer. Here's a 1956 episode of Nebel's show taking on The Shaver Mystery.
https://archive.org/details/ShaverMysteryDiscussionOnLongJohnNebelsPartyLine1956
BTW, This book should be brought to your attention: War Over Lemuria: Richard Shaver, Ray Palmer, and the Stangest Chapter of 1940s Science Fiction by Richard Toronto (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2013).
Also BTW. Despite appearances, the Shaver Mystery was not an influence in the creation of Scientology. At least, that's what Xenu told me.
HYMN TIME
From 1927, here's Smith's Sacred Singers
https://archive.org/details/Smiths_Sacred_Singers-Lifes_Railway_To_Heaven
https://archive.org/details/Smiths_Sacred_Singers-Lifes_Railway_To_Heaven
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE OLD GENTLEMAN WITH THE SCARLET UMBRELLA
An oriental tale from Frank Owen brings us to Day Eleven of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1951jan-00064
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1951jan-00064
Saturday, October 10, 2015
COTTON FIELDS
Time for a little CCR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4zPEmRufMU&list=PLf6-wYiizn9PjX-5EHG7CcIYYV8R6rGBQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4zPEmRufMU&list=PLf6-wYiizn9PjX-5EHG7CcIYYV8R6rGBQ
CHARLIE CHAPLIN'S COMIC CAPERS, SERIES 1 (1917)
Here's a rarity, Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers was a Chicago Herald newspaper strip which began on March 12, 1916 and ran for just over a year. Its creator was none other than E. C. Segar, later to achieve fame by creating Thimble Theatre, which went on to introduce Popeye the Sailor to the world. Charlie Chaplin was Segar's first comic strip.
Two and a half years before the comic strip appeared, Chaplin had signed his first film contract. No longer a vaudeille and stage performer, he began churning out comic shorts for the Mack Sennett studios. With the second short filmed, Mabel's Strange Predicament, Chaplin introduced his "Tramp" persona. By 1915, the young actor, writer, and director was a major star and "Chaplinitis" had taken hold of the American public. Chaplin moved from studio to studio and as this comic strip appeared with the Mutual Film Company for $670,000 a year.
On screen Chaplin may have been silent but in this comic strip Segar gave him a voice.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=58842
Two and a half years before the comic strip appeared, Chaplin had signed his first film contract. No longer a vaudeille and stage performer, he began churning out comic shorts for the Mack Sennett studios. With the second short filmed, Mabel's Strange Predicament, Chaplin introduced his "Tramp" persona. By 1915, the young actor, writer, and director was a major star and "Chaplinitis" had taken hold of the American public. Chaplin moved from studio to studio and as this comic strip appeared with the Mutual Film Company for $670,000 a year.
On screen Chaplin may have been silent but in this comic strip Segar gave him a voice.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=58842
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: DARK MUMMERY
Day Ten brings us a haunted house tale from Thorp McClusky.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1944nov-00068
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1944nov-00068
Friday, October 9, 2015
COMING IN ON A WING AND A PRAYER
Earlier this week, an American Airlines redeye flight from Phoenix to Boston had to be diverted to Syracuse, New York because the plane's 57-year-old pilot had died in-flight. Thankfully the co-pilot and the crew responded to this emergency with skill and professionalism; because of this the passengers were at no time in danger. We later found out that one of the passengers was my lovely niece Julie.
Julie was shaken and scared and oh-so-thankful to be home. She only had time to hug her dad for a few seconds before she was inundated with reporters. She was interviewed by three separate television stations. If that's what it takes for a few minutes of fame, then next time she will pass, thank you.
I am so grateful that Julie and her fellow passengers and the magnificent crew are fine. My sympathy goes out to the family, friends, and co-workers of the pilot.
That being said, I found myself humming this song for a few days afterward.
Here are the Song Spinners from 1943 with their #1 Billboard hit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZo7TsFIQdw
Julie was shaken and scared and oh-so-thankful to be home. She only had time to hug her dad for a few seconds before she was inundated with reporters. She was interviewed by three separate television stations. If that's what it takes for a few minutes of fame, then next time she will pass, thank you.
I am so grateful that Julie and her fellow passengers and the magnificent crew are fine. My sympathy goes out to the family, friends, and co-workers of the pilot.
That being said, I found myself humming this song for a few days afterward.
Here are the Song Spinners from 1943 with their #1 Billboard hit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZo7TsFIQdw
FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE HAUNTED STARS
The Haunted Stars by Edmond Hamilton (1960)
Edmond Hamilton had a long career as a science fiction writer; his first story was published in 1926, just two years before his good friend Jack Williamson made his professional debut. Like Williamson, Hamilton was known for years for his exotic, slam-bang, galaxy-stretching, pulp tales. (In fact, Hamilton was known in SF circles as "World Wrecker" Hamilton. And, like Williamson, over the years he proved that he could also write thought-provoking, mature science fiction. The Hamilton who wrote The Haunted Stars is a far cry from the Hamilton who gave us the juvenile Captain Future saga.
The time is 1965. The United States and Russia are still in a battle for political supremacy. Shocked by Russia's launching of the Sputnik, the US rapidly develops a space program and when the book opens both the US and Russia have managed to establish footing on the moon. The US base -- a secretive installation that allows no outside visiters -- is in the Gassendi Crater. Russia is pushing the UN to force America to open the base for inspection, as the Russians have done with their two moon bases.
Robert Fairlie is a professor of linguistics and a noted philological researcher. He is called (he thinks) to the Smithsonian for some unknown urgent project. Once at the Smithsonian, he is whisked away to Morrow Base, New Mexico -- the center of the US space effort. Fairlie discovers that he is not the only person mysteriously summoned; three other world-reknown philogolists have also been gathered. They learn the government's big secret -- we are not alone.
Americans have discovered that the Gassendi crater was once held a large community of aliens who were destroyed by an atomic attack 30,000 years ago. The remants of the aliens are scant. No machines, No hint of who they were nor what their advanced technology was. There were some writings found and a strange ball that turned out to be a recording device of a woman singing in an alien language, Fairlie and his colleagues are tasked with decoding the mysterious language, an impossible task.
How Fairlie was able to begin to translate the language is only the beginning. Then comes the effort to find and communicate with the race that had built the ancient moon base. What will he find? An ancient race that appears to have been friendly to our ancestors, or the other race, the race that destroyed and obliberated almost any trace of the millennia-old moon base and its people?
A fast-moving, well-written SF adventure with a convincing cast of characters.
Edmond Hamilton had a long career as a science fiction writer; his first story was published in 1926, just two years before his good friend Jack Williamson made his professional debut. Like Williamson, Hamilton was known for years for his exotic, slam-bang, galaxy-stretching, pulp tales. (In fact, Hamilton was known in SF circles as "World Wrecker" Hamilton. And, like Williamson, over the years he proved that he could also write thought-provoking, mature science fiction. The Hamilton who wrote The Haunted Stars is a far cry from the Hamilton who gave us the juvenile Captain Future saga.
The time is 1965. The United States and Russia are still in a battle for political supremacy. Shocked by Russia's launching of the Sputnik, the US rapidly develops a space program and when the book opens both the US and Russia have managed to establish footing on the moon. The US base -- a secretive installation that allows no outside visiters -- is in the Gassendi Crater. Russia is pushing the UN to force America to open the base for inspection, as the Russians have done with their two moon bases.
Robert Fairlie is a professor of linguistics and a noted philological researcher. He is called (he thinks) to the Smithsonian for some unknown urgent project. Once at the Smithsonian, he is whisked away to Morrow Base, New Mexico -- the center of the US space effort. Fairlie discovers that he is not the only person mysteriously summoned; three other world-reknown philogolists have also been gathered. They learn the government's big secret -- we are not alone.
Americans have discovered that the Gassendi crater was once held a large community of aliens who were destroyed by an atomic attack 30,000 years ago. The remants of the aliens are scant. No machines, No hint of who they were nor what their advanced technology was. There were some writings found and a strange ball that turned out to be a recording device of a woman singing in an alien language, Fairlie and his colleagues are tasked with decoding the mysterious language, an impossible task.
How Fairlie was able to begin to translate the language is only the beginning. Then comes the effort to find and communicate with the race that had built the ancient moon base. What will he find? An ancient race that appears to have been friendly to our ancestors, or the other race, the race that destroyed and obliberated almost any trace of the millennia-old moon base and its people?
A fast-moving, well-written SF adventure with a convincing cast of characters.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: FROGFATHER
Day Nine: A short from the Gentleman from North Carolina, Manly Wade Wellman.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1946nov-00088
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1946nov-00088
Thursday, October 8, 2015
OL' BUTTERMILK SKY
From 1946, here's Kay Kyser, the Ol' Professor of Swing, with his Kollege of Musical Knowledge doing a Hoagy Carmichael classic. Vocals by big band singer (and later television talk host) Mike Douglas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4IVAmhHiwU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4IVAmhHiwU
BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEEP
From Mindwebs, a radio program from WHA Radio in Madison, Wisconsin, comes this 1976 reading of H. P. Lovecraft's story "Beyond the Wall of Sleep." During its ten-year run Mindwebs presented 169 half-hour programs and presented 188 science fiction/fantasy/horror short stories from 135 different authors.
The narrator is Michael Hanson.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw5Vb9DNonE
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE DAMP MAN
For Day Eight of Halloween Month, the first in the popular "Dampman" series by Allison V. Harding.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1947jul-00038
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1947jul-00038
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
ONE SUMMER NIGHT
From 1958, here are The Danleers. (The track was orignally released as by "The Dandleers.") (And don't ask me why The Clovers are pictured here.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT4LJxBBaF0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT4LJxBBaF0
BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY
A small boy came home one day and said, "Dad, I got an F in math."
"What happened?"
"Well," the boy said, "the teacher asked me how much four times five was."
His father said, "And what did you say?"
"I told her it was twenty."
The father was puzzled. "That's the correct answer. So why did you get the F?"
The young boy's face fell. "But then the teacher asked me how much five time four was."
That's when the father began to yell. "You stupid @#$%^& idiot! Don't you know there's no difference?"
The boy said, "That's exactly what I told her."
"What happened?"
"Well," the boy said, "the teacher asked me how much four times five was."
His father said, "And what did you say?"
"I told her it was twenty."
The father was puzzled. "That's the correct answer. So why did you get the F?"
The young boy's face fell. "But then the teacher asked me how much five time four was."
That's when the father began to yell. "You stupid @#$%^& idiot! Don't you know there's no difference?"
The boy said, "That's exactly what I told her."
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: VISIBILITY ZERO
To cap off the first week of Halloween Month, here's a little tale from Nelson S. Bond.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1942sep-00079
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1942sep-00079
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
MY MOTHER'S EYES
Also from 1929, this was a hit song for Mr. George Jessel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aNbzf0Oo-k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aNbzf0Oo-k
OVERLOOKED MOVIE: BIG NEWS (1929)
Today would have been screen legend Carole Lombard's 107th birthday. The former Jane Alice Peters was only 33 when she died in a plane crash in 1942, but her legacy as an actress has placed on the American Film Institute's list of the 25 greatest female screen legends. She made her screen debut at age twelve and was signed to Fox Film Corporation at age 16. Fox dropped her in 1926 after a car accident left a scar on her face. She rebounded in a series of Mack Sennett comedies before gaining roles in feature films for Pathe. After her appearance in The Arizona Kid, she signed with Paramount Pictures which cast her as a leading lady, first in dramas and then in the comedies for which she became justly famous -- films like Twentieth Century, My Man Godfrey, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and To Be or Not To Be.
Here's an early film from the time before her first name received an "e" at the end. Reporter Steve Banks (played by Robert Armstrong) is in big trouble. He's been drinking too much and is now accused of murder. Lombard plays his wife, Margaret, a reporter for another paper. Steve must outwit the leader of the local narcotics gang. Can he save himself from the electric chair, catch the murderer, and stop drinking to save his marriage? You have to ask?
Lombard's role, despite second billing, is fairly minor but she gives it her all. Look closely and you'll see Lew Ayers(as a copyboy) and Gabby Hayes (sans beard and billed as George Hayes, as Hoffman the reporter). The film is also brightened by Helen (Cupid) Ainsworth's comic portrayal and by Tom Kennedy as a cop.
Directed by Gregory La Cava (who would go on the direct Lombard in My Man Godfrey) and adapted by Walter DeLeon (Ruggles of Red Gap, Union Pacific, The Time of Their Lives) and Jack Jungmeyer (The Tender Years, Street Corner, Manhattan Heartbeat) from the play For Two Cents by George S. Brooks, Big News shows Carole Lombard at the end of her career at Pathe and on the cusp of stardom.
Enjoy.
And, Happy Birthday, Carole, wherever you are.
https://archive.org/details/BigNews-1929
Here's an early film from the time before her first name received an "e" at the end. Reporter Steve Banks (played by Robert Armstrong) is in big trouble. He's been drinking too much and is now accused of murder. Lombard plays his wife, Margaret, a reporter for another paper. Steve must outwit the leader of the local narcotics gang. Can he save himself from the electric chair, catch the murderer, and stop drinking to save his marriage? You have to ask?
Lombard's role, despite second billing, is fairly minor but she gives it her all. Look closely and you'll see Lew Ayers(as a copyboy) and Gabby Hayes (sans beard and billed as George Hayes, as Hoffman the reporter). The film is also brightened by Helen (Cupid) Ainsworth's comic portrayal and by Tom Kennedy as a cop.
Directed by Gregory La Cava (who would go on the direct Lombard in My Man Godfrey) and adapted by Walter DeLeon (Ruggles of Red Gap, Union Pacific, The Time of Their Lives) and Jack Jungmeyer (The Tender Years, Street Corner, Manhattan Heartbeat) from the play For Two Cents by George S. Brooks, Big News shows Carole Lombard at the end of her career at Pathe and on the cusp of stardom.
Enjoy.
And, Happy Birthday, Carole, wherever you are.
https://archive.org/details/BigNews-1929
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE SHADOW OF SATURN
Widely published in a variety of genres, E. Hoffman Price could always provide a shiver with his weird stories. Here's my selection for Day Six of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950mar-00030
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950mar-00030
Monday, October 5, 2015
INCOMING
I'm still on a meager book-buying diet; just three oldie-but-goodie westerns this week.
- "Luke Adams" (house name), Apache Law: Showdown. Mitch Frye is the half Apache sheriff of Paxton, Arizona in this short-lived western series. (Only four, of which this is the fourth.) An old friend comes to town, but he's now wanted for multiple murders. Mitch finds himself allied with the wanted gunman when a ruthless gang comes to town. I think I know who "Adams" is in this case, but I'll keep quiet until I'm sure.
- "George G. Gilman" (Terry Harknett), Edge #33: Red Fury. Edge was a bloody and sardonic western series which lasted for 61 books and has been an influence on Robert Randisi and other writers. In this entry, Edge finds himself caught between a town of angry white men and angry Apaches. Faced with destructive hate on both sides, can Edge become a peacemaker -- something that won't come easy for our violent hero?
- "Jon Sharpe" (house name), The Trailsman #287: California Camel Corps. Sky Fargo is The Trailsman, hero of this long running western series. Here he must guide a caravan of camels to California for the U. S. Army. Along the way he encounters murder, double-dealing, a tribe of angry Navahos led by the famed Manuelito, ethnic hatred, rumors of Spanish treasure, and two beautiful women. Even worse, Skye must learn to ride a camel. The author behind the pseudonym probably lives in Alvin, Texas.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE SKULL OF THE MARQUIS DE SADE
A classic tale from Robert Bloch for Day Five of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1945sep-00006
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1945sep-00006
Sunday, October 4, 2015
TED TALK: WHY ANTIMATTER MATTERS
Tara Shears, a particle physicist at Liverpool university, on antimatter and its role in the development of the universe. Fascinating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6Ri-HN7S0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6Ri-HN7S0
HYMN TIME
Ralph and Carter Stanley with an old-time favorite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwO2RpvyPt8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwO2RpvyPt8
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE LENS
Alabama-born Mary Elizabeth Counselman produced only a few short stories; this one seemed like a perfect candidate for Day Four of Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1947nov-00058
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1947nov-00058
Saturday, October 3, 2015
THE BEYOND #1 (NOVEMBER 1950)
How about something horror-ish for the first Saturday on October?
The Beyond was published bimonthly by Ace Magazines and ran until January 1955 -- a total of thirty issues. (A 1954 attempt to go monthly lasted just one issue before reverting back to the bimonthy schedule.) Ace Magazines was part of A. A. Wynn's corporate umbrella, which also included the Ace Books line of paperbacks.
As you could tell from the cover, the first issue of The Beyond would rely heavily on monsters. In addition to the werewolf, there are stories about a mummy, a devil doll, ghosts, and zombies. All in a pre-Code issue.
In "The Werewolf Strikes!" noted European scientist Professor Drago moves to a small New England coastal town to continue his research for a means to cure him of lycanthropy. His efforts are to no avail for when the moon is full Drago must feed his bloodlust. Young Joel Carlton is hired as the Professor's assistant; he must reside in Drago's home while his beautiful, pneumatic, blonde fiancee with the wasp waist must remain in town. The killings increase and the Professor begins to lust after Joel's gal. As he hypnotizes the object of his lust, a full moon begins to appear. Will blondie get it? Or will Joel be able to save her? Enquiring minds want to know,
Next up, a one-page filler, "True Tales of the Supernatural #3." (Since this is the first issue, I assume #1 and #2 appear in another Ace comic.) In this, a 19th century Irish landlord has a prophetic dream about a brutal murder.
In "The Relunctant Ghost," a psychic has enslavved the spirit of a murderer to use its supernatural powers to grant the wishes of his clients. Things do not turn out well. Then the psychic gets greedy and things turn out less well.
What's this? "True Tales of the Supernatural #4"? Why, yes. In this filler, a body disappears and a ghost walks.
A master puppeteer makes a mistake when he puts the soul of Jack the Ripper into 'The Phantom Puppet." Said puppet develops a liking for knives and for blood. More pneumatic blondes with wasp waists.
Another filler is "The Mummy's Curse," a two-page text story included to get around postal mailing regulations. There's a mummy. There's a curse. The end.
Our final tale is titled "Master of the Undead." A jerk-faced publisher rejects Peter Brandon's zombie book because it "smacks of research. Research is no substitute for the real McCoy." Yep, Peter needs to have real experiences with zombies to give his novel a realistic atmosphere. (The scripter evidently has problems with pubishers and editors -- certainly not all of them are jerk-faces.) So Peter heads to the Caribbean to confront real zombies. He finds them. Or does he? An Am-I dreaming? or Am-I-awake? story with another pneumatic, wasp waist blonde.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=29718
The Beyond was published bimonthly by Ace Magazines and ran until January 1955 -- a total of thirty issues. (A 1954 attempt to go monthly lasted just one issue before reverting back to the bimonthy schedule.) Ace Magazines was part of A. A. Wynn's corporate umbrella, which also included the Ace Books line of paperbacks.
As you could tell from the cover, the first issue of The Beyond would rely heavily on monsters. In addition to the werewolf, there are stories about a mummy, a devil doll, ghosts, and zombies. All in a pre-Code issue.
In "The Werewolf Strikes!" noted European scientist Professor Drago moves to a small New England coastal town to continue his research for a means to cure him of lycanthropy. His efforts are to no avail for when the moon is full Drago must feed his bloodlust. Young Joel Carlton is hired as the Professor's assistant; he must reside in Drago's home while his beautiful, pneumatic, blonde fiancee with the wasp waist must remain in town. The killings increase and the Professor begins to lust after Joel's gal. As he hypnotizes the object of his lust, a full moon begins to appear. Will blondie get it? Or will Joel be able to save her? Enquiring minds want to know,
Next up, a one-page filler, "True Tales of the Supernatural #3." (Since this is the first issue, I assume #1 and #2 appear in another Ace comic.) In this, a 19th century Irish landlord has a prophetic dream about a brutal murder.
In "The Relunctant Ghost," a psychic has enslavved the spirit of a murderer to use its supernatural powers to grant the wishes of his clients. Things do not turn out well. Then the psychic gets greedy and things turn out less well.
What's this? "True Tales of the Supernatural #4"? Why, yes. In this filler, a body disappears and a ghost walks.
A master puppeteer makes a mistake when he puts the soul of Jack the Ripper into 'The Phantom Puppet." Said puppet develops a liking for knives and for blood. More pneumatic blondes with wasp waists.
Another filler is "The Mummy's Curse," a two-page text story included to get around postal mailing regulations. There's a mummy. There's a curse. The end.
Our final tale is titled "Master of the Undead." A jerk-faced publisher rejects Peter Brandon's zombie book because it "smacks of research. Research is no substitute for the real McCoy." Yep, Peter needs to have real experiences with zombies to give his novel a realistic atmosphere. (The scripter evidently has problems with pubishers and editors -- certainly not all of them are jerk-faces.) So Peter heads to the Caribbean to confront real zombies. He finds them. Or does he? An Am-I dreaming? or Am-I-awake? story with another pneumatic, wasp waist blonde.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=29718
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: THE RHYTHM OF THE RATS
For Halloween Month, Day Three, comes this little tale from England's Eric Frank Russell.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950jul-00040
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950jul-00040
Friday, October 2, 2015
SWEET APPLE CIDER
The Holy Modal Rounders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCTWL6Tx7mQ&index=2&list=PLv39LLwuf1WE2HZLbAOKGUVUJOEYc-QnW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCTWL6Tx7mQ&index=2&list=PLv39LLwuf1WE2HZLbAOKGUVUJOEYc-QnW
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: TWO FACE
From Frank Belknap Long, close friend of H. P. Lovecraft and a noted writer in his own right, comes our second tale for Halloween Month.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950mar-00019
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1950mar-00019
FORGOTTEN STORY: THE INTRUDERS BY EVAN HUNTER
"The Intruders" by Evan Hunter, from Best Seller Mystery Magazine, March 1959
"Ed McBain" was the best-known pseudonym for Evan Hunter. I didn't have a copyof a McBain/Hunter book handy for this week's Forgotten Books tribute to that great writer, so I decided to go with one of his crime short stories.
Ovver the years I have read just about every book that Hunter published (the exeptions being two later novels -- 2002's The Moment She Was Gone by Hunter and Alice in Jeopardy by "McBain" -- and the questionable soft-core novels written as "Dean Hudson"). If I had to recommend a book by him, I'd probably go with the 87th Precinct novel Ghost, if only for the most horrifying two pages in a police procedural. Or maybe his early collection of crime and juvvenile delinquent stories, The Jungle Kids. Or perhaps one of his big mainstream novels like Second Ending, Last Summer, or Streets of Gold. Or I could go with any of his Matthew Hope novels, or his western novel The Chisholms, or one of his Winson "Adventures in Science Fiction" juveniles, or his thriller Scimitar, or...or you could just pipck up anything he has written, under any name, from any point in his long career -- I'm pretty sure you will be entertained and impressed.
In this meantime, sample this small tale:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri7ELVw9DA0
"Ed McBain" was the best-known pseudonym for Evan Hunter. I didn't have a copyof a McBain/Hunter book handy for this week's Forgotten Books tribute to that great writer, so I decided to go with one of his crime short stories.
Ovver the years I have read just about every book that Hunter published (the exeptions being two later novels -- 2002's The Moment She Was Gone by Hunter and Alice in Jeopardy by "McBain" -- and the questionable soft-core novels written as "Dean Hudson"). If I had to recommend a book by him, I'd probably go with the 87th Precinct novel Ghost, if only for the most horrifying two pages in a police procedural. Or maybe his early collection of crime and juvvenile delinquent stories, The Jungle Kids. Or perhaps one of his big mainstream novels like Second Ending, Last Summer, or Streets of Gold. Or I could go with any of his Matthew Hope novels, or his western novel The Chisholms, or one of his Winson "Adventures in Science Fiction" juveniles, or his thriller Scimitar, or...or you could just pipck up anything he has written, under any name, from any point in his long career -- I'm pretty sure you will be entertained and impressed.
In this meantime, sample this small tale:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri7ELVw9DA0
Thursday, October 1, 2015
NOT HOMELESS YET -- STILL ANOTHER UPDATE
At noon yesterday we were supposed to be officially homeless as that was when we were supposed to pass papers on our old house in Southern Maryland. Ha! Fat chance!
The title company has had the paperwork done for the past two weeks, and we have just been waiting for HUD approval for the buyer's loan. But HUD is part of the government and September 30 was the close of their fiscal year, so of course they did not have everything ready in time. September 30 was also the day ous contract with the buyer ended.
No big deal. We were sent an extension to the contract to sign electronically, extending the contract for another seven days.
Then Anal Gail, our Maryland real estate agent called. HUD decided they needed a signed receipt for the new septic system we had had installed. Our copy is probably in a box somewhere, but the septic company came through and sent a copy of their receipt. No big deal. Problem solved. Papers are now due to be passed tomorrow at noon.
Then this morning HUD found another document we needed to sign. This one we had to print and send a scanned e-mail back. The printer, which worked pretty good this morning, decided not to work when we needed it. So it was off to the library to use their printer. We got to the library about 12:45. Turns out the libraries in this county close at 1:00 on Thursdays and their computers had been shut off. Oh well, our trusty friends at Office Depot were not closed. It took a few minutes to convince Outlook/Hotmail that we were who we said we were and have the document printed so we could sign it, scan it, and sent it back. So we were golden.
Then we came back to Christina's and found another e-mail from the title company. HUD (bless 'em) found two more documents we have to print and sign and return. No probs, right? Because Office Depot is our friend. But...the first document mispelled my name where I am supposed to sign and HUD is very tricky about that. And the second document contained three pages and we are to sign page 1 (tacitly acknowledging that we have also received pages two and three -- makes no sense to me but because it is HUD it makes sense to me). Did I mention that there is no place on page one (nor pagers two or three) for us to sign? Nada. Zip. The big goose egg. So we have to get that cleared up and it's now 5:37 pm in Maryland and there's no one around to answer our questions.
So we hope to get everything resolved so we can pass papers tomorrow. In the meantime, we are not homeless, dammit.
On the real estate front here, Real Estate Amy tells us that the sellers are considering the bid we presented on Monday and we should hear from them tomorrow -- maybe. We are expecting some dickering back and forth and we're hoping things will work out, but there are no guarantees.
As Roseanne Roseannadanna's grandmother used to say, "It's always somethin'." Life goes on and we go on with it. It's the first of October today and Halloween is just around the corner, so as far as I'm concerned, everything is fine.
The title company has had the paperwork done for the past two weeks, and we have just been waiting for HUD approval for the buyer's loan. But HUD is part of the government and September 30 was the close of their fiscal year, so of course they did not have everything ready in time. September 30 was also the day ous contract with the buyer ended.
No big deal. We were sent an extension to the contract to sign electronically, extending the contract for another seven days.
Then Anal Gail, our Maryland real estate agent called. HUD decided they needed a signed receipt for the new septic system we had had installed. Our copy is probably in a box somewhere, but the septic company came through and sent a copy of their receipt. No big deal. Problem solved. Papers are now due to be passed tomorrow at noon.
Then this morning HUD found another document we needed to sign. This one we had to print and send a scanned e-mail back. The printer, which worked pretty good this morning, decided not to work when we needed it. So it was off to the library to use their printer. We got to the library about 12:45. Turns out the libraries in this county close at 1:00 on Thursdays and their computers had been shut off. Oh well, our trusty friends at Office Depot were not closed. It took a few minutes to convince Outlook/Hotmail that we were who we said we were and have the document printed so we could sign it, scan it, and sent it back. So we were golden.
Then we came back to Christina's and found another e-mail from the title company. HUD (bless 'em) found two more documents we have to print and sign and return. No probs, right? Because Office Depot is our friend. But...the first document mispelled my name where I am supposed to sign and HUD is very tricky about that. And the second document contained three pages and we are to sign page 1 (tacitly acknowledging that we have also received pages two and three -- makes no sense to me but because it is HUD it makes sense to me). Did I mention that there is no place on page one (nor pagers two or three) for us to sign? Nada. Zip. The big goose egg. So we have to get that cleared up and it's now 5:37 pm in Maryland and there's no one around to answer our questions.
So we hope to get everything resolved so we can pass papers tomorrow. In the meantime, we are not homeless, dammit.
On the real estate front here, Real Estate Amy tells us that the sellers are considering the bid we presented on Monday and we should hear from them tomorrow -- maybe. We are expecting some dickering back and forth and we're hoping things will work out, but there are no guarantees.
As Roseanne Roseannadanna's grandmother used to say, "It's always somethin'." Life goes on and we go on with it. It's the first of October today and Halloween is just around the corner, so as far as I'm concerned, everything is fine.
THE THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF OCTOBER: EYES IN THE DARK
October is my favorite month and Halloween is my favorite holiday. This month I'll be posting a story a day -- from 31 different authors -- from the pages of Weird Tales magazine. Let's see if there will a story from your favorite horror/fantasy author.
We'll start off Halloween Month with a Jules de Grandin story by Seabury Quinn.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1946nov-00054
We'll start off Halloween Month with a Jules de Grandin story by Seabury Quinn.
http://unz.org/Pub/WeirdTales-1946nov-00054
HOPALONG CASSIDY: THE EMPTY SADDLE
From September 7, 1948, here's William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy.
After a successful run in the movies, Hopalong Cassidy began a syndicated radio run in 1948, continuing to 1950 when it was picked up by the Mutual Radio Network. It late September of that year the series moved to CBS radio, where it remained until its end on December 27, 1952. All of the shows appearing on the Mutual Network were rebroadcasts of the syndicated series, as were the first thirteen episodes on CBS. While the rebroadcasts were airing, new episodes were being recorded; 1951 started off with the new episodes, the first of which had been recorded nearly a year earlier.
Hopalong Cassidy was created by writer Clarence E. Mulford in 1904; the character went on to appear in many short storries and 28 novels. Mulford's Hoppy was a rough, rather testy, quick-on-the-draw character, as opposed to the Hopalong of William Boyd's movies, who was a clean-cut gentleman with a sense of justice. Sixty-six Cassidy movies were filmed from 1935 through 1948. Boyd purchased the rights to the films, the books, and the character. In 1949, Boyd began repackaging the films for broadcast as the first network western television show. Around the same time, Boyd began production on a series of new half-hour Hopalong Cassidy programs, which weighed in at number 7 in the Neilson ratings for 1949. The Hopalong Cassidy franchise, including many merchandising tie-ins, made Boyd a wealthy man who took his responsibilty to the nation's children seriously -- something somewhat surprising considering his very wild reputation as a young man.
On a personal note, I was enamored with Hoppy by the time I was five; something from which I never quite recovered. My fascination stemmed from the television show; I had never listened to the radio show -- something I'm able to correct today.
"The Empty Saddle" was rebroadcast on the Mutual Network on March 19, 1950. Veteran sidekick Andy Clyde provided the comic relief as California Carlson, Hoppy's grizzled sidekick in more than half of the Hopalong Cassidy movies.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmU2OXNzeaQ
After a successful run in the movies, Hopalong Cassidy began a syndicated radio run in 1948, continuing to 1950 when it was picked up by the Mutual Radio Network. It late September of that year the series moved to CBS radio, where it remained until its end on December 27, 1952. All of the shows appearing on the Mutual Network were rebroadcasts of the syndicated series, as were the first thirteen episodes on CBS. While the rebroadcasts were airing, new episodes were being recorded; 1951 started off with the new episodes, the first of which had been recorded nearly a year earlier.
Hopalong Cassidy was created by writer Clarence E. Mulford in 1904; the character went on to appear in many short storries and 28 novels. Mulford's Hoppy was a rough, rather testy, quick-on-the-draw character, as opposed to the Hopalong of William Boyd's movies, who was a clean-cut gentleman with a sense of justice. Sixty-six Cassidy movies were filmed from 1935 through 1948. Boyd purchased the rights to the films, the books, and the character. In 1949, Boyd began repackaging the films for broadcast as the first network western television show. Around the same time, Boyd began production on a series of new half-hour Hopalong Cassidy programs, which weighed in at number 7 in the Neilson ratings for 1949. The Hopalong Cassidy franchise, including many merchandising tie-ins, made Boyd a wealthy man who took his responsibilty to the nation's children seriously -- something somewhat surprising considering his very wild reputation as a young man.
On a personal note, I was enamored with Hoppy by the time I was five; something from which I never quite recovered. My fascination stemmed from the television show; I had never listened to the radio show -- something I'm able to correct today.
"The Empty Saddle" was rebroadcast on the Mutual Network on March 19, 1950. Veteran sidekick Andy Clyde provided the comic relief as California Carlson, Hoppy's grizzled sidekick in more than half of the Hopalong Cassidy movies.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmU2OXNzeaQ