The title of this entry is misleading, for I'm not going to show a lot of covers with a lot of different kinds of strange people on them. Instead I'm going to show just one cover, which illustrates a story called "The Strange People." You have seen this cover before in the category of "Man, Woman, and Man." It doesn't fit very well in that category, though. Although there is a man with a knife in the picture, he doesn't seem to be threatening the woman. He seems to have cut her loose in fact. Maybe the other man gets to play rescuer, at least in his own mind. But I'm not sure about her, and because I'm not sure about her, I'm not sure about the man in the window. Are they in on something together? Is this all a scheme of some kind? And should the young man watch out?
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| Weird Tales, March 1928. Cover story: "The Strange People" by Murray Leinster. Cover art by C.C. Senf. |
Today we will gather around the dinner table, some of us with people we consider strange. So maybe this cover is fitting for the occasion . . .
Happy Thanksgiving from Tellers of Weird Tales!
Text copyright 2016, 2023 Terence E. Hanley
Terence,
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect example of what makes for an effective cover. First off, the colors and composition are eye-catching. Then the scene instantly raises all of the questions which you mentioned; right way we are curious about who is doing what to who and why. In a blink the image has captured our attention and piqued our curiosity. Add to that an intriguing title blurb and you've got a cover that easily sells the magazine.
Today is a day to be thankful. I am thankful that a magazine like Weird Tales ever existed, I'm thankful that loved ones who have left us are no longer suffering with the ailments which took their lives, and I am thankful for the friends and loved ones such as you who continue to enrich my existence.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice message. This was a hectic Thanksgiving for me. I have been gone from home for sixteen days tending to a family emergency, but thankfully, everything is okay.
TH
Terence,
ReplyDeleteIt must have been a Thanksgiving season for family crises. My older sister Susan died on November 19 -- the Saturday before the holiday -- after a four month struggle with cancer. As I observed in the above post, the end of her suffering was truly something to be thankful for, but there is still that soul-deep sense of loss...
Mike,
DeleteI am very sorry for the loss of your sister. It's heartbreaking for us to hear, but nothing that we might feel can compare to what you and your family have gone through. I would like to extend my sympathies and on behalf of all of the readers of this site their sympathies as well.
Terence Hanley