In the first installment of "The Eyrie," the editor of Weird Tales asked that readers write and let him and everyone else know what they thought of the first issue. Letters in response started arriving right away, in time for them to be printed in the second issue, published in April 1923.
There are twelve letters in the second issue of Weird Tales. They were from:
- H.W. of Sterling, Illinois--This was without a doubt Harold Ward (1879-1950), who had stories in the first and second issues of Weird Tales.
- C.L. Austin of Amsterdam, New York.
- Dr. Vance J. Hoyt of Los Angeles, California--Dr. Vance J. Hoyt (1889-1967), was a physician, naturalist, and pulp fiction writer. He had a story in the September 1923 issue of Weird Tales called "The Devil's Cabin." The movie Sequoia (1934) was based on his novel.
- H.C. of Summit, New Jersey--This was without a doubt Hamilton Craigie (1880-1956), who had a story in the first issue of Weird Tales.
- S.O.B. of Beulah, New Mexico.
- D.L.C. of Denver, Colorado.
- Victor Wilson of Hazen, Pennsylvania--He had another letter in the May 1923 issue of "The Unique Magazine."
- Anthony M. Rud (1893-1942), who had letters and stories in each of the first two issues.
- C.P.O. of Gainesville, Texas.
- J.H.C. of Houston, Texas.
- William S. Waudby (dates unknown) of Washington, D.C.--Born in Ohio, Waudby was a printer, writer, and special agent of the U.S. Bureau of Labor. He had worked for that agency since 1885.
- E.E.L. of Chicago, Illinois.
The first three correspondents wrote in a general way. Hamilton Craigie was the first to comment on specific stories. He liked "The Ghoul and the Corpse" by G.A. Wells and "Ooze" by Anthony M. Rud. He also liked "The Place of Madness" by Merlin Moore Taylor, with some reservation for its lack of "smoothness." Craigie didn't like "The Unknown Beast" by Howard Ellis Davis, calling it "about the poorest." In his opinion, "The Sequel," by Walter Scott Story, was on about the same level.
D.L.C. called "Ooze" "a thrilling novelette." Victor Wilson liked the following four stories: "The Thing of a Thousand Shapes" by Otis Adelbert Kline, "The Place of Madness" by Taylor, "The Grave" by Orville R. Emerson, and "Hark! The Rattle!" by Joel Townsley Rogers.
So nine stories merited mention in that first batch of letters, with "Ooze" at the top in the opinion of two letter writers and "The Unknown Beast" and "The Sequel" at the bottom in Craigie's opinion. I think that "Ooze" is the most fully developed story in the first issue, and it was the right choice for the first cover story. It also helped to set the tone for future stories of weird science and man-made monsters. I agree with Craigie on "The Sequel." He wouldn't be the last with a poor opinion of that story. I disagree with him on "The Unknown Beast," which I would place in the top third of the twenty-six stories in that first issue of Weird Tales.
Next: Letters in the May 1923 issue.
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