Who Wrote the Most Poems for Weird Tales?

Although H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith were bested when it came to stories printed in Weird Tales, they were on top in number of poems. H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) wrote 43 poems published in the original run of the magazine (1923-1954). That number includes "Two Sonnets" from February 1939 and "Fungi from Yuggoth" (May 1944), a five-poem cycle. Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961) followed closely on Lovecraft's heels with 39 poems, plus one under the pseudonym Timeus Gaylord. Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) is next with 35. Dorothy Quick (1900-1962) and Leah Bodine Drake (1904-1964) were the most prolific of women poets in Weird Tales with 24 each. As in the previous posting, I have used Jaffery and Cook's Collector's Index to Weird Tales as my source. And I have counted only those poems published in the original run of Weird Tales, 1923-1954.

Who Wrote the Most Poems for Weird Tales?

1. H.P. Lovecraft, 43 poems in 38 appearances

2. Clark Ashton Smith, 40, including 1 from Virgil Finlay's poetry series and 1 under the pseudonym Timeus Gaylord

3. Robert E. Howard, 35

4. (tie) Dorothy Quick, 24

4. (tie) Leah Bodine Drake, 24

5. A. Leslie, 23

6. (tie) Cristel Hastings, 17

6. (tie) Edgar Daniel Kramer, 17

6. (tie) Donald Wandrei, 17

7. (tie) Frank Belknap Long, Jr., 12

7. (tie) Alfred I. Tooke, 12

8. Clarence Edwin Flynn, 9

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, the most prolific poet in Weird Tales, in his eighteenth century mode. The drawing is by Virgil Finlay.

Text and captions copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley

Who Wrote the Most Stories for Weird Tales?

The original Weird Tales was in print from March 1923 to September 1954, 279 issues in all. Hundreds of men and women contributed to "The Unique Magazine." As far as I know, no one has counted their number or how many stories they wrote. Some writers sold a single story to Weird Tales, while others became stars, contributing story after story during the magazine's heyday. Three authors--H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith--are closely identified with Weird Tales, yet none was more prolific than Seabury Quinn (1889-1969), a lawyer and journalist who wrote over 500 stories in his lifetime. His works for Weird Tales numbered 159, of which fourteen were non-fiction. Most of those stories starred occult detective Jules de Grandin, descended perhaps from Sherlock Holmes and Carnacki the Ghost-Finder. One of Quinn's most admired stories was "Roads," published in Weird Tales in January 1938. An unusual Christmas story, "Roads" appeared in print as the world marched towards war.

Second to Quinn was August W. Derleth (1909-1971), who wrote 101 stories under his own name, plus 13 more under the pseudonym Stephen Grendon, and another 22 stories in collaboration with others. Derleth co-founded Arkham House, a publisher of hardbound weird fiction, much of it from Weird Tales. He was largely responsible for keeping H.P. Lovecraft's name in print after Lovecraft's death in 1937.

Third in ranking is Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977) with 76 stories, followed by Robert Bloch (1917-1994) with 66. Only then do the big three show up on the list: Clark Ashton Smith (63), Robert E. Howard (54), and H.P. Lovecraft (49, not counting collaborations, revisions, and ghost-written stories).

The most prolific woman among contributors to Weird Tales was Allison V. Harding with 36 stories, followed by Mary Elizabeth Counselman with 30. There is reason to believe that Allison V. Harding was not a woman. I'll cover that possibility in a series of future postings.

In any case, following is a list, based on my count of titles in The Collector's Index to Weird Tales by Sheldon Jaffery and Fred Cook (1985). If my count is wrong, only I am to blame. If my count is correct, then it's only as good as Jaffery and Cook's list. Also, I have counted stories that appeared in the original run of Weird Tales, 1923 to 1954, and not in the revivals of 1973-1974 or 1981.

Finally, as you can see towards the bottom of the list, the order might change depending on how you count. The same is true in the case of H.P. Lovecraft, who revised and ghost-wrote several stories without being given credit in print. As always, Lovecraft is unique.

Who Wrote the Most Stories for Weird Tales?

1. Seabury Quinn, 145 stories and 14 articles, for a total of 159 works in prose
2. August W. Derleth, 101 stories under his own name, plus 13 stories under the pseudonym Stephen Grendon (114 total), plus 22 stories in collaboration with others
3. Edmond Hamilton, 76 stories
4. Robert Bloch, 66
5. Clark Ashton Smith, 63
6. Robert E. Howard, 54
7. H.P. Lovecraft, 49 stories on his own, plus 4 in collaboration with others, not counting revisions and ghost-written stories
8. Manly Wade Wellman, 39 stories on his own, plus 1 in collaboration with others
9. Paul Ernst, 37
10. Allison V. Harding, 36
11. Frank Owen, 34
12. Mary Elizabeth Counselman, 30

13. (tie) Arthur J. Burks, 29

13. (tie) Harold Lawlor, 29
14. Frank Belknap Long, 28 stories on his own, plus 1 in collaboration with others

15. (tie) Henry S. Whitehead, 26
15. (tie) Alvin F. Harlow, 26, all of which are articles
16. Ray Bradbury, 25
17. E. Hoffman Price, 24 stories on his own, plus 2 in collaboration with others
18. Arlton Eadie, 24
19. Henry Kuttner, 23 stories on his own, plus 2 in collaboration with others
20. David H. Keller, 22

Seabury Quinn (1889-1969), the most prolific author in Weird Tales.

Reformatted on December 3, 2022.

Copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley

Weird Tales on Film-Leave It to Beaver

Leave It to Beaver

Who was the most famous reader of Weird Tales? You can make a case that it was Ward Cleaver, fictional father of Wally and Beaver in Leave It to Beaver. In a 1958 episode entitled "Voodoo Magic," Ward explains to June that there isn't anything wrong with the boys seeing a horror movie called Voodoo Curse. After all, he saw hundreds of horror movies when he was a kid. He also read Dracula four times. And he had a subscription to Weird Tales! One of television's greatest dads, shaped by Weird Tales!

Ward was of course played by Hugh Beaumont (1909-1982), a journeyman actor who had been in movies since 1940. Beaumont usually played either a serviceman or an authority figure such as a policeman, doctor, or minister. He was also in several genre films and TV shows, mostly Western and crime dramas. He played detective Mike Shayne in three quickies from 1946. Beaumont also appeared in an episode of The Adventures of Superman, called "The Big Squeeze" (1953). His science fiction films include Lost Continent (1951), The Mole People (1956), and The Human Duplicators (1965). By the way, no one should mistake Hugh Beaumont for Hugh Marlowe, another long-time actor who appeared in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).

You can read more about Ward Cleaver and Weird Tales at a website called Television Terrors, here.

Lost Continent, from 1951, is a variation on the Lost World theme, used in countless tales by writers of fiction (and pseudoscience) and real-life adventurers. Hugh Beaumont played Robert Phillips.

The Mole People is based on a different theme from fantasy fiction (and again, from pseudoscience), the subterranean civilization or hollow earth. Readers of science fiction may have remembered the controversy over the Shaver Mystery, which had raged in science fiction circles in the late 1940s. Beaumont played Dr. Jud Bellemin and saw his name appear on the movie poster. Alan Napier by the way played Alfred the butler on Batman.

The Human Duplicators (1965) was Hugh Beaumont's last film. This time alien invasion is the theme.  Judging by this poster, Voodoo Curse would have been pretty mild fare compared to The Human Duplicators.

Thanks to MMH for the tip on Ward Cleaver as a reader of Weird Tales.

Copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley

Weird Tales and World War I

Weird Tales, the first American magazine devoted exclusively to fantasy fiction, made its debut in March 1923, a mere four years and four months after Armistice Day, the end of hostilities in what was then called the Great War. One of the most disastrous events in human history had come to its end on November 11, 1918, yet the effects of the war would be felt for decades afterward, right down to the present day.

The war and all its horrors were still fresh in the minds of Americans when Weird Tales appeared on the newsstand. Thousands of men who had escaped the battlefield with their lives were nonetheless damaged, in body and spirit. Their wounds ranged in severity from mended limbs and healed bullet wounds to the unspeakable tragedy of "the basket case," a term applied to quadruple amputees, who were carried around in baskets. There were of course wounds to the face and head: ears, noses, and jaws shot off; eyes gone; flesh mangled and burned. There was also a wound new to warfare, the chemical wound, inflicted by German gas attacks. For the first time since the Civil War, America was haunted by young men who under different circumstances might have been called monsters.

Many years ago, I watched a television program about early horror movies. After World War I, Lon Chaney, Sr., "Man of A Thousand Faces," became a star, based on his ability to transform himself into hideous human creatures: the Phantom of the Opera, Mr. Hyde, Quasimodo. The program I watched made the point that audiences were prepared for Chaney's transformations because they had seen terrible wounds and mutilations in their own families or among their friends. Stories about ghosts, vampires, and werewolves have been told for centuries. But would Weird Tales have arrived when it did--would it have been read as it was--if it had not been for World War I?

The first issue of the magazine included a weird tale of World War I, "The Grave" by Orville R. Emerson, included in the anthology The Best of Weird Tales: 1923 (1997). Doubtless other stories were inspired--directly or indirectly--by the events of 1914-1918. Jacob Clark Henneberger, co-founder of the magazine, was a U.S. Navy veteran of the war. Longtime editor Farnsworth Wright served as an interpreter of French in the U.S. Army. Many of the magazine's contributors were also veterans: Henry Lieferant, Loual B. Sugarman, R. Ernest Dupuy, Harold Freeman Miners, Pettersen Marzoni, R. Jere Black, Jr., Carlos G. Stratton, Forbes Parkhill. The list could go on. One contributor to Weird Tales, William Hope Hodgson, was killed in the war. How many more talented young men were killed before they could make their own contributions, not only to art and literature, but to the world itself? On this day, November 11, 2011, the ninety-third anniversary of the cessation of hostilities, we remember them and the sacrifices they made.

An illustration by Virgil Finlay for A. Merritt's story, "Three Lines of Old French," originally printed in All-Story Magazine in 1919. The illustration is from 1940.

Text and captions copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley

Gretta (1904-1988)

Né Joseph Clemens Gretter

Illustrator, Cartoonist, Author, Inventor

Born December 11, 1904, Benton County, Indiana

Died April 8, 1988, Wilton, Connecticut

Joseph Clemens Gretter lived a long and productive life, yet few readers knew him by anything other than his one word signature, "Gretta." The artist behind that signature was born on December 11, 1904, in the prairie country of western Indiana and grew up in Avery, Iowa. His schooling came at the Iowa Academy of Fine Arts, Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and Art Institute of Chicago. His art career began in earnest in 1926 when he began drawing Hippity Skip Puzzles for the Chicago Tribune. During the lean years of the Great Depression, Gretter stayed busy illustrating series novels including the Ted Scott Flying Stories,  the X Bar X Boys, the Air Combat Stories, and the Hardy Boys. He also made his way into comic books.

In 1935, a former cavalryman and pulp fiction writer named Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson put together a 36-page, black-and-white, tabloid-sized comic book called New Fun Comics, the first comic book made up of all original material and the second newsstand comic book ever published. New Fun Comics #1 (Feb. 1935) marked several other firsts as well, including the first original science fiction feature for a comic book, "Don Drake on the Planet Saro." The author was Ken Fitch, the artist, Clemens Gretter. "Don Drake," probably inspired by Flash Gordon and Brick Bradford, ran in seventeen issues of New Fun and its successor, More Fun Comics, and even made the cover spot in April 1935. Gretter worked in comic books for many more years after that. His last known credited work showed up in Fatman, The Human Flying Saucer in 1967.

By the early 1940s, Weird Tales magazine had moved to New York City. A change in editorial personnel, writers, and artists accompanied that move. The art of Margaret Brundage, Virgil Finlay, and others was increasingly rare on the cover of "The Unique Magazine." Other artists had been brought in to take their place, including A.R. Tilburne (another Hoosier) and Clemens Gretter. Tilburne produced ten covers in as many years between 1938 and 1947. Gretter on the other hand drew just one, for the January 1942 issue, an illustration unrelated to the stories inside.

Clemens Gretter continued as a cartoonist and illustrator after 1940. Between 1941 and 1948, he ghosted Ripley's Believe It or Not! He drew his own fact-based features, In This World and In Our Time, syndicated between 1953 and 1988. In semi-retirement, Gretter painted portraits and wrote two books, The Genius of Man and Chain of Reasoning (1978). He also invented a building panel and was granted a patent for it in 1976. Gretter died on April 8, 1988, in Wilton, Connecticut, at age eighty-three.

Gretta's Cover for Weird Tales

Jan. 1942

Further Reading

You can read more about Gretter and his comic book work in Ron Goulart's books, Comic Book Culture (2000), Great American Comic Books (2001), Great History of Comic Books (1986), and Over 50 Years of American Comic Books (1991).

An exciting and colorful cover by Joseph Clemens Gretter for Eustace L. Adams' War Wings (1937), typical work from the artist for series novels of that era.

"Don Drake on the Planet Saro" by Gretter and Ken Fitch, the first original science fiction story for a comic book. This is the cover of New Fun for April 1935. Don Drake could easily be the pilot on the cover of War Wings: their outfits are identical.

A cover by Gretter for Short Stories, August 25, 1940, illustrating a tale by H. Bedford-Jones, a prolific pulpster and a teller of weird tales.

Finally, Gretter's only cover for Weird Tales, from January 1942.

Text and captions copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley

Jay Wilmer Benjamin (1902-1977)

Pseudonym of Joseph Wilmer Benjamin III

Aka J. Wilmer Benjamin, J.W. Benjamin

Author, Teacher

Born October 11, 1902, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Died December 28, 1977, Ronceverte, West Virginia

Jay Wilmer Benjamin was just barely a pseudonym for Joseph Wilmer Benjamin III. He was born on October 11, 1902, in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, son of a mail clerk. At age sixteen, Benjamin entered Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia where he became president of the student body, editor of the yearbook and the college newspaper, and a varsity basketball player, despite his small stature. He began his teaching career at Kimbridge High School in Virginia and in 1925 landed a job teaching English at Greenbrier Military School in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Benjamin also found a wife in Elizabeth Benjamin, who later wrote for Woman's Day and Good Housekeeping.

Benjamin's known works for the pulps are few, but two have been reprinted since his death. For Weird Tales, he wrote "The Man Who Saw Red" (Nov. 1933), "Drowned Argosies" (July 1934), "Homecoming Day" (Mar. 1936), and "Eric Martin's Nemesis" (Mar. 1937). According to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, the story "The Wizardry of Ndeze" (Jungle Stories, Winter 1953-1954) as by J.W. Benjamin, was also his work. Benjamin also wrote for Blue Book and the Associated Press.

Benjamin signed his letters to "The Eyrie" as "Captain Jay Wilmer Benjamin." He later earned a promotion and was known to his students as "Colonel Ben." After retiring in 1971, Benjamin edited West Virginia Lawman and Firefighter and wrote a local history column for a newspaper. He was very active at his school, in his community, and in his church. Joseph Wilmer Benjamin III died on December 28, 1977, in a West Virginia hospital.

Jay Wilmer Benjamin's Stories & Letters in Weird Tales

"The Man Who Saw Red" (Nov. 1933)

Letter to "The Eyrie" (Mar. 1934)

Letter to "The Eyrie" (June. 1934)

"Drowned Argosies" (July 1934)

"Homecoming Day" (Mar. 1936)

"Eric Martin's Nemesis" (Mar. 1937)

Letter to "The Eyrie" (Sept. 1937)

Further Reading

• "Drowned Argosies" in 100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories, ed. Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, and Martin H. Greenberg (Barnes & Noble, 1993)
• "Eric Martin’s Nemesis" in 100 Wild Little Weird Tales, ed. Robert Weinberg, Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, and Martin H. Greenberg (Barnes & Noble, 1994)

Jay Wilmer's Benjamin's first story for Weird Tales, appearing in the November 1933 issue, was probably lost in the enthusiasm for C.L. Moore's debut story, "Shambleau." His next (July 1934) was among less conspicuous works, the exception being "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" by H.P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffman Price. The cover art was by Margaret Brundage.

Joseph Wilmer Benjamin (1902-1977)

Thanks to Randal A. Everts for the photograph and other information on Joseph Wilmer Benjamin.
Text and captions copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley

George Armin Shaftel's Books

Dynamics of Drama: Fundamentals of Writing Craftsmanship (non-fiction, 1941)

Golden Shore (novel, 1943)

Tune in Tonight: A Farce in Three Acts (play, 1947, with Robert Clark)
College Textbook of Hygiene (1952, with O.B. Byrd)
Role Playing the Problem Story (non-fiction, 1952, with Fannie R. Shaftel)
Our California Heritage (non-fiction, 1955)
Guidance in the Modern School (non-fiction, 1956, with H.B. McDaniel)

Conserving Our Wildlife (non-fiction, 1962)

Man Improves His World Series (1963, with H. Heffernan)
The Energy Story, The Fisheries Story, The Forestry Story, The Water Story, The Wildlife Story, The Soil Story

Role-Playing for Social Values: Decision-Making in the Social Studies (non-fiction, 1967, with Fannie R. Shaftel)
Building Intelligent Concern for Others (non-fiction, 1967, with Fannie R. Shaftel)

Westward the Nation (non-fiction, 1965, with Fannie R. Shaftel)
Words and Action (non-fiction, 1967, with Fannie R. Shaftel)
People in Action (non-fiction, 1968)
Values in Action (filmstrips, 1971, with Fannie R. Shaftel)
Values Films (films, 1971)

Decisions in United States History (non-fiction, 1972)

Role-Playing in the Curriculum (non-fiction, 1982, with Fannie R. Shaftel)

New E-Books

Cargo of Show Business, from Short Stories, Sept. 25, 1944 (2011)

Crash Scavengers, from Ten Detective Aces, Mar. 1941 (2011)

Mystery on Dead Man Reef, from South Seas Stories, Oct. 1940 (2011)

Mystery on Shark Island, from Secret Agent X, Feb. 1936 (2011)