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The Avon Fantasy Reader
Collection of seven stories culled by Ernsberger from Wollheim's speculative fiction magazine, The Avon Fantasy Reader (1947-51), which reprinted what Wollheim considered the best stories from the older pulp magazines.
Foreword - George Ernsberger
"The Witch from Hell’s Kitchen", Robert E. Howard, Avon Fantasy Reader 18, ed. Wollheim, Avon, '52
"Black Thirst" (Northwest Smith), C.L. Moore, Weird Tales 4/34
"A Victim of Higher Space" (John Silence), Algernon Blackwood, The Occult Review 12/14
"The Sapphire Siren" (aka "The Sapphire Goddess"), Nictzin Dyalhis, Weird Tales 2/34
"The Voice in the Night", William Hope Hodgson, Blue Book 11/07
"The Crawling Horror", Thorp McClusky, Weird Tales 11/36
"The Kelpie", Manly Wade Wellman, Weird Tales 7/36
Foreword - George Ernsberger
"The Witch from Hell’s Kitchen", Robert E. Howard, Avon Fantasy Reader 18, ed. Wollheim, Avon, '52
"Black Thirst" (Northwest Smith), C.L. Moore, Weird Tales 4/34
"A Victim of Higher Space" (John Silence), Algernon Blackwood, The Occult Review 12/14
"The Sapphire Siren" (aka "The Sapphire Goddess"), Nictzin Dyalhis, Weird Tales 2/34
"The Voice in the Night", William Hope Hodgson, Blue Book 11/07
"The Crawling Horror", Thorp McClusky, Weird Tales 11/36
"The Kelpie", Manly Wade Wellman, Weird Tales 7/36
173 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 3, 2008
Ernsberger's definition of "fantasy" in this anthology, like that of Wollheim in the original Avon Fantasy Reader, is eclectic enough to embrace all of the speculative genres. Supernatural fiction is represented by Wellman's "The Kelpie," whose title character is a water spirit from Celtic folklore (and not one that most of us would want to encounter, except in a story :-) ). Two sword-and-sorcery fantasies are included: Nictzin Dyalhis' "The Sapphire Siren," and one by Howard, which he originally titled "In the House of Arabu" but which was posthumously published as "The Witch from Hell's Kitchen;" the latter, an early Howard work, is set in ancient Sumer (conceived as a fantasy world where Mesopotamian gods and demons are real entities), but has the stylistic and plot elements he would later bring to fantasies set in an imagined prehistory. (His protagonist here, mighty barbarian warrior Pyrrhas, is the same basic character type as his later heroes Conan and Kull, though a less ethical and appealing figure --he isn't above beating a female slave, something his later counterparts have enough innate class not to do.)
The other stories are science fiction. Moore is represented by a Northwest Smith story, "Black Thirst," and Hodgson by "A Voice in the Night," one of his horrific tales set at sea. All of these stories are worth reading, but the best is "The Crawling Horror," by Thorp McClusky, in which innocent people confront a predator entity with characteristics like those of the one in John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?" which was probably influenced by this story. The only selection I didn't care for was one of Algernon Blackwood's Dr. John Silence stories, "A Victim of Higher Space," which I found boring and implausible. But the quality of the others more than makes up for this.
The other stories are science fiction. Moore is represented by a Northwest Smith story, "Black Thirst," and Hodgson by "A Voice in the Night," one of his horrific tales set at sea. All of these stories are worth reading, but the best is "The Crawling Horror," by Thorp McClusky, in which innocent people confront a predator entity with characteristics like those of the one in John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?" which was probably influenced by this story. The only selection I didn't care for was one of Algernon Blackwood's Dr. John Silence stories, "A Victim of Higher Space," which I found boring and implausible. But the quality of the others more than makes up for this.
July 7, 2021
This is a very good anthology of stories taken from Avon Fantasy Reader, the irregular, mostly-reprint magazine that Donald A. Wollheim edited from 1946-1952. The stories aren't limited to what would be currently classified as fantasy, but also include horror and science fiction. There's a standard heroic fantasy tale by Robert E. Howard, a Northwest Smith of Earth story by C.L. Moore, a John Silence occult investigation by Algernon Blackwood (not one of the better ones), a very good Nictzin Dyalhis story from Weird Tales, another good one by Manly Wade Wellman, and a neat, creepy tale by Thorp McClusky, The Crawling Horror, a writer with whom I was previously unfamiliar. My favorite is the chilling horror classic by William Hope Hodgson, A Voice in the Night. You got all this for sixty-cents, plus a great cover by Grey Morrow!
September 28, 2013
It's a very diverse collection, chosen by the editor under what would today be considered a very liberal definition of "fantasy".
Howard and Dyhalis both contribute sword and sorcery, although "The Witch from Hell's Kitchen"--a terrible title--leans to the more gritty and swashbuckling, while "The Sapphire Image" is thoroughly over-the-top.
But in addition to these, there is the cerebral "A Victim of Higher Space", which meditates on the influence of higher physical dimensions, "The Voice in the Night", a plain-spoken horror, and "The Crawling Horror", which reads like early Lovecraft until the end, when the country doctor conveniently trots out a tidy explanation.
And finally "Black Thirst", which by now I've read several times and have now stopped worrying about its languid pacing.
I found it enjoyable but its diversity may be a barrier for other readers.
Howard and Dyhalis both contribute sword and sorcery, although "The Witch from Hell's Kitchen"--a terrible title--leans to the more gritty and swashbuckling, while "The Sapphire Image" is thoroughly over-the-top.
But in addition to these, there is the cerebral "A Victim of Higher Space", which meditates on the influence of higher physical dimensions, "The Voice in the Night", a plain-spoken horror, and "The Crawling Horror", which reads like early Lovecraft until the end, when the country doctor conveniently trots out a tidy explanation.
And finally "Black Thirst", which by now I've read several times and have now stopped worrying about its languid pacing.
I found it enjoyable but its diversity may be a barrier for other readers.
December 31, 2008
A pretty good collection of pulp writers. I enjoyed it, and it has stories by Robert E. Howard, C. L. Moore, and Nictzin Dyalhis, who are all three some of my favorite writers.
May 12, 2018
Avon Fantasy Reader was a pulp magazine that reprinted fantasy and science fiction stories for eighteen issues starting in 1946. It featured some doozies from authors who’d since become well-known, or were classics in their own right. In 1968, this paperback tribute to the magazine featuring the best dark fantasy and horror stories was published.
“The Witch from Hell’s Kitchen” by Robert E. Howard starts us off with a tale of Pyrrhas the Argive. A barbarian who has come to the civilized but haunted lands of Mesopotamia, he finds himself haunted by dreams of a winged woman with fangs. Or are they dreams? Realizing he’s been cursed, Pyrrhas must seek out the one mage who might know how to fight this evil magic. The problem is that Gimil-ishbi is equally wicked, surely not to be trusted.
Pyrrhas is not as iconic a character as Conan the Cimmerian, but is much in the same mold. His mighty thews and propensity for violence serve the barbarian well. Content note: he beats his slave until he gets information out of her–the subsequent dialogue suggests this was a spanking.
“Black Thirst” by C.L. Moore is the story featured on the Grey Morrow cover. Two-fisted drifter Northwest Smith is lurking on a Venusian side street for reasons that are never explained but don’t really matter. He’s interrupted by the appearance of the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. And that’s not just pulp romance hyperbole.
Vaudir is a member of the Vinga, an apparently all-female subset of humanity bred for beauty and rented out to the wealthy and powerful by their masters, the Alendar, who may or may not be human themselves, or even mortal. Vaudir needed a man for some heavy lifting, but when she meets Northwest, his reputation convinces Vaudir that she could use him…another way.
Y’see, Vaudir is defective, not as beautiful as the high-class Vinga which no one outside their palace has ever seen. But she possesses a remarkable amount of intelligence and curiosity, and has discovered one of the secrets of the Alendar. And they know this. Perhaps if Vaudir has the renowned Northwest Smith at her side, she can survive….
What makes this story especially interesting is that author C.L. Moore is a woman (like many women writing in the speculative fiction field, she used her initials for a gender-neutral name.) Thus the theme of women being valued only for their physical beauty and being exploited by a male(ish) authority figure has a deeper resonance.
This is really Vaudir’s story, and Northwest is a passive observer through most of it. Which isn’t to say he’s unimportant. It becomes evident that the Alendar hasn’t been able to honestly talk with anyone in ages, and like a Bond villain feels the need to explain the master plan so Northwest will understand why he’s about to die. That gives Vaudir time to do what she needs to do.
“A Victim of Higher Space” by Algernon Blackwood features his series character John Silence, a physician specializing in paranormal disorders. In this case, Mudge, a self-taught mathematician and philosopher, has discovered a way to project himself into the dimensions “higher” than the three we know. Which is totally cool, except for the part where he can’t control it very well, and is often sent off into the fourth dimension by (among other things) the music of Wagner. Can John Silence help this man return to normal space permanently?
Not the best of the John Silence stories; more silly than anything else. It has some nice touches, though, stating that 90% of the people who seek out Mr. Silence are just kooks, and the elaborate precautions he takes to protect himself from “patients” who don’t like him telling them that.
“The Sapphire Siren” by Nictzin Dyalhis has an ordinary but unlucky fellow from Earth suddenly transported to a fantasy realm to overthrow an evil usurper. Taken straight, this would be a very bad story, which leads me to believe it’s in fact a deadpan parody of the subgenre.
Read that way, the story becomes hilarious. Our initially nameless forty-eight-year-old protagonist is such a screw-up that his life on Earth is hopeless, so he just stares really hard at a wall and wishes for a doorway to another world to open. Once it actually does, our hero learns that he is actually King Karan of Octolan, a kick-butt warrior and rightful ruler who was cursed with amnesia and exiled to a miserable existence on Earth by the evil sorcerer who stole his throne.
Karan starts with only his loyal servant Zarf, but soon a random act of kindness (meant as a joke) secures an alliance with Koto, a half-elemental Hybrid. And with Koto’s ludicrously powerful but easily manipulated Red Elemental father. They begin the dangerous cross-country trek to secure the services of the one mage who might be able to restore Karan’s memories, despite being just as evil as the usurper.
Oh, and of course Karan has a hot wife who is totally loyal to him, but is kidnapped for most of the story and thus relevant only as a reward at the end.
“A Voice in the Night” by William Hope Hodgson takes place on a dark, starless night somewhere in the South Pacific. A ship is hailed by an unseen person in a boat who begs for supplies. This person insists that they cannot come aboard, and the watch officer hears the sincerity and finds a way to lower supplies without the boats touching.
Then the voice tells the story of how he and his fiancee were stranded by a sinking ship and came to a small island. For a while, life was good, despite the constant presence of an odd fungus. Bit by bit, the true horror of their situation became clear to them. As the sun rises, the unseen person rows away, but there is just enough light for the sailors to see that the shape of the rower is not human.
An effectively creepy story, which was made into a Japanese movie I like.
“The Crawling Horror” by Thorp McCluskey concerns a farm where something is killing and replacing animals. It started with the rats and the cat, and graduated to the dogs; it’s pretty easy to see where this is going.
The simple farmer is in fact pretty savvy in dealing with this menace, except for the part where he doesn’t just flee; it’s the educated narrator that screws everything up and leads to the ambiguous ending.
“The Kelpie” by Manly Wade Wellman is a short shock tale to fill out the volume. A scientist gets a shipment of Scottish water plants, with an extra little surprise. Has the cliche of a man dismissing a woman’s testimony as overactive imagination.
Overall, a good collection of stories that haven’t been over-anthologized, with the Moore and Hodgson stories being the best of the lot. Recommended if you can find it!
“The Witch from Hell’s Kitchen” by Robert E. Howard starts us off with a tale of Pyrrhas the Argive. A barbarian who has come to the civilized but haunted lands of Mesopotamia, he finds himself haunted by dreams of a winged woman with fangs. Or are they dreams? Realizing he’s been cursed, Pyrrhas must seek out the one mage who might know how to fight this evil magic. The problem is that Gimil-ishbi is equally wicked, surely not to be trusted.
Pyrrhas is not as iconic a character as Conan the Cimmerian, but is much in the same mold. His mighty thews and propensity for violence serve the barbarian well. Content note: he beats his slave until he gets information out of her–the subsequent dialogue suggests this was a spanking.
“Black Thirst” by C.L. Moore is the story featured on the Grey Morrow cover. Two-fisted drifter Northwest Smith is lurking on a Venusian side street for reasons that are never explained but don’t really matter. He’s interrupted by the appearance of the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. And that’s not just pulp romance hyperbole.
Vaudir is a member of the Vinga, an apparently all-female subset of humanity bred for beauty and rented out to the wealthy and powerful by their masters, the Alendar, who may or may not be human themselves, or even mortal. Vaudir needed a man for some heavy lifting, but when she meets Northwest, his reputation convinces Vaudir that she could use him…another way.
Y’see, Vaudir is defective, not as beautiful as the high-class Vinga which no one outside their palace has ever seen. But she possesses a remarkable amount of intelligence and curiosity, and has discovered one of the secrets of the Alendar. And they know this. Perhaps if Vaudir has the renowned Northwest Smith at her side, she can survive….
What makes this story especially interesting is that author C.L. Moore is a woman (like many women writing in the speculative fiction field, she used her initials for a gender-neutral name.) Thus the theme of women being valued only for their physical beauty and being exploited by a male(ish) authority figure has a deeper resonance.
This is really Vaudir’s story, and Northwest is a passive observer through most of it. Which isn’t to say he’s unimportant. It becomes evident that the Alendar hasn’t been able to honestly talk with anyone in ages, and like a Bond villain feels the need to explain the master plan so Northwest will understand why he’s about to die. That gives Vaudir time to do what she needs to do.
“A Victim of Higher Space” by Algernon Blackwood features his series character John Silence, a physician specializing in paranormal disorders. In this case, Mudge, a self-taught mathematician and philosopher, has discovered a way to project himself into the dimensions “higher” than the three we know. Which is totally cool, except for the part where he can’t control it very well, and is often sent off into the fourth dimension by (among other things) the music of Wagner. Can John Silence help this man return to normal space permanently?
Not the best of the John Silence stories; more silly than anything else. It has some nice touches, though, stating that 90% of the people who seek out Mr. Silence are just kooks, and the elaborate precautions he takes to protect himself from “patients” who don’t like him telling them that.
“The Sapphire Siren” by Nictzin Dyalhis has an ordinary but unlucky fellow from Earth suddenly transported to a fantasy realm to overthrow an evil usurper. Taken straight, this would be a very bad story, which leads me to believe it’s in fact a deadpan parody of the subgenre.
Read that way, the story becomes hilarious. Our initially nameless forty-eight-year-old protagonist is such a screw-up that his life on Earth is hopeless, so he just stares really hard at a wall and wishes for a doorway to another world to open. Once it actually does, our hero learns that he is actually King Karan of Octolan, a kick-butt warrior and rightful ruler who was cursed with amnesia and exiled to a miserable existence on Earth by the evil sorcerer who stole his throne.
Karan starts with only his loyal servant Zarf, but soon a random act of kindness (meant as a joke) secures an alliance with Koto, a half-elemental Hybrid. And with Koto’s ludicrously powerful but easily manipulated Red Elemental father. They begin the dangerous cross-country trek to secure the services of the one mage who might be able to restore Karan’s memories, despite being just as evil as the usurper.
Oh, and of course Karan has a hot wife who is totally loyal to him, but is kidnapped for most of the story and thus relevant only as a reward at the end.
“A Voice in the Night” by William Hope Hodgson takes place on a dark, starless night somewhere in the South Pacific. A ship is hailed by an unseen person in a boat who begs for supplies. This person insists that they cannot come aboard, and the watch officer hears the sincerity and finds a way to lower supplies without the boats touching.
Then the voice tells the story of how he and his fiancee were stranded by a sinking ship and came to a small island. For a while, life was good, despite the constant presence of an odd fungus. Bit by bit, the true horror of their situation became clear to them. As the sun rises, the unseen person rows away, but there is just enough light for the sailors to see that the shape of the rower is not human.
An effectively creepy story, which was made into a Japanese movie I like.
“The Crawling Horror” by Thorp McCluskey concerns a farm where something is killing and replacing animals. It started with the rats and the cat, and graduated to the dogs; it’s pretty easy to see where this is going.
The simple farmer is in fact pretty savvy in dealing with this menace, except for the part where he doesn’t just flee; it’s the educated narrator that screws everything up and leads to the ambiguous ending.
“The Kelpie” by Manly Wade Wellman is a short shock tale to fill out the volume. A scientist gets a shipment of Scottish water plants, with an extra little surprise. Has the cliche of a man dismissing a woman’s testimony as overactive imagination.
Overall, a good collection of stories that haven’t been over-anthologized, with the Moore and Hodgson stories being the best of the lot. Recommended if you can find it!
November 7, 2019
The stories aren't all 'fantasy' as most would define it today--heroic fantasy--but they're all pretty enjoyable strange stories. Robert E. Howard and Nyctzin Dyalhis turn in solid sword-and-sorcery tales--Howard's is a great proto-Conan story. There are a couple of sci-fi stories and some good horror tales, including one that was a clear influence on Lovecraft ("A Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson) and one that may have been influenced by him ("The Crawling Horror" by Thorpe McClusky, which even contains the phrase "lurking fear."). C. L. Moore also has a good sci-fi story reminiscent of Poe.
Most of these were taken from issues of Weird Tales published in the mid-1930's, and this book works as a fun window into the genre fiction of that time.
Most of these were taken from issues of Weird Tales published in the mid-1930's, and this book works as a fun window into the genre fiction of that time.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews