First hitting newsstands in 1923, Weird Tales magazine quickly became a literary monster in discovering and publishing the best horror, sci-fi and fantasy writers of its day.
The pulp magazine was one of the earliest publications, if not the first, to feature strange tales of occultism and alien invasions that simply didn’t fit into any other magazine at that time.
The stories struck a chord with those early audiences, and as a result,Weird Tales created asubgenre as “weird” could be attached itself to various genres.
Marquee names like master magician Harry Houdini and cosmic horror creator H.P. Lovecraft graced the magazine’s pages during those early years with several debut stories, alongside authors who were already giants in their own right—Otis Adelbert Kline, Seabury Quinn, and Greye La Spina. Maybe lesser known, but no less influential, writers like Frank Belknap Long Jr., Mary S. Brown, Lyllian Huntley Harris, Hasan Vokine, Arthur J. Burks, and H. Warner Munn turned out disturbing yarns that have stood the test of time only to be resurrected nearly a century later.
From the macabre and morbid to unexplainable stories of the occult, this collection features those early authors across thirteen tales of terror from the impactful years of 1923 to 1925 that are best enjoyed at the witching hour.
Reading ritual aside, you've been warned.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Confessions of a Weird Kid—Jonathan Maberry
IMPRISONED WITH THE PHARAOHS—Houdini
THE THING OF A THOUSAND SHAPES—Otis Adelbert Kline
THE MAGIC MIRROR—Mary S. Brown
THE VOW ON HALLOWEEN—Lyllian Huntley Harris
THE WEREWOLF OF ST. BONNOT—Seabury Quinn
THE SEA THING—Frank Belknap Long Jr.
SLEIGH BELLS—Hasan Vokine
THE FESTIVAL—H.P. Lovecraft
THE WEREWOLF OF PONKERT—H. Warner Munn
VALE OF THE CORBIES—Arthur J. Burks
THE TENANTS OF BROUSSAC—Seabury Quinn
THE PHANTOM WOLFHOUND—Otis Adelbert Kline
THE GARGOYLE—Greye La Spina
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, anthology editor, and comic book writer. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil's Advocate, Mars One, and many others. Several of his works are in development for film and TV. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, New Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, and others. His comics include Black Panther: DoomWar, The Punisher: Naked Kills and Bad Blood. His Rot & Ruin young adult novel was adapted into the #1 comic on Webtoon, and is being developed for film by Alcon Entertainment. He is a board member of the Horror Writers Association, the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com
