More of Weird Tales at Sixty

Lin Carter observed the sixtieth anniversary of Weird Tales magazine in his fourth Weird Tales paperback of 1983. Presumably, Carter had a license to publish his four-book series under the Weird Tales title and using the Weird Tales logo. The owner of the Weird Tales property, though, was Robert Weinberg, and he published his own volume in observance of that anniversary. His was the program book of the World Fantasy Convention, which was held at the Marriott O'Hare Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, from October 28 to October 30, 1983.

World Fantasy Convention 1983: Sixty Years of Weird Tales was edited by Robert Weinberg and published by Weird Tales Ltd. of Oak Forest, Illinois, in cooperation with Pulp Press. It's a softbound book, perfect bound, and 96 pages in all. Inside is a lot of Weird Tales-related content, including:

• "Introduction" by Robert Weinberg, who was also the chairman of the convention. The late Mr. Weinberg's introduction begins with the words "Sixty years ago . . ."

• An appreciation of guest of honor Manly Wade Wellman, written by Karl Edward Wagner.

• An appreciation of guest of honor Rowena Morrill, written by Robert Weinberg, who compared her to Weird Tales cover artist Margaret Brundage. The author also listed some of Rowena's art created for stories by Weird Tales authors H.P. Lovecraft, Manly Wade Wellman, E. Hoffman Price, and Clark Ashton Smith. Rowena created art for the front and back covers of the program book as well.

• A profile of Robert Bloch by Stephen King.

• "The Searcher After Horror" by Bloch, an account of his own early writing career and his association with Lovecraft.

• "World of Weird, 1931-1932" by Jack Williamson.

• "The Most Popular Stories in Weird Tales 1924 to 1940, with Statistics and Analytical Commentary" by Sam Moskowitz, a very useful reference work.

• Short stories by past and future writers for Weird Tales Manly Wade Wellman, Ramsey Campbell, Hugh B. Cave, and Brian Lumley.

Robert Weinberg's program book could be a model for other publications about weird fiction that also include weird fiction. But almost all of his contributors have since left us, including Brian Lumley, who died earlier this year, on January 2, 2024. So where would you find contributors of such stature today? And not the fake stature of the twenty-first century, but real stature based in talent, influence, accomplishment, and personality? I'm not sure.

I'll have more on this topic soon.

Original text copyright 2024 Terence E. Hanley