Читать книгу Adventure Tales #4 - Seabury Quinn - Страница 4

THE BLOTTER, by the Editor

As I reported in the second issue of Adventure Tales, Rich Harvey’s annual pulp convention, PulpAdventurecon, is my favorite convention. (I don’t get out much, but I make a point of attending this one every year.) The one-day event is primarily a dealers’ room (this year it overflowed into two rooms) where attendees wander around, shopping for pulp magazines, books, and other vintage collectibles while chatting. Wild­side Press usually has a dealer’s table, and this year I brought my older son, Ian (age 12). My wife predicted that he would be bored, but she was 100% wrong—he loved every aspect of the show. He decided to collect memorabilia featuring The Shadow, and although the original pulp magazines were out of his price range, he managed to pick up two post­ers, a bunch of toys from the Alec Baldwin movie, and several sets of Old Time Radio records with adventures of The Shadow (Orson Welles is his favorite Shadow), Mandrake the Magician, and several others.

The men at the next table did give Ian quite a few bargains. They were selling off a large collection of Shadow, Phantom, and other pulp hero merchandise which their father had accumulated. But that only fed my son’s sense of excitement. Now that he’s thoroughly hooked, I don’t think Ian will miss another PulpAdventurecon, either.

Even though Rich Harvey report­ed a slight dip in attendance, I think con-goers are getting younger rather than older. I saw quite a few fans in their 20s and 30s. It bodes well for the future.

For info on PulpAdventurecon, visit Rich Har­vey’s web site, <www.boldventurepress.com>.

We have another great theme issue this time: stories from authors who appeared in the classic Weird Tales magazine (but not stories from Weird Tales)!

Our lineup this time starts with Seabury Quinn. Quinn was the most prolific author in the history of Weird Tales, famous for his Jules de Grandin psychic detective yarns as well as many stand-alones. But he also wrote prolifically in other genres. Here we have a mystery with more than a few weird overtones.

Edwin Baird is represented with two stories. Not only was Baird a Chicago writer, but the very first editor of WT. He was the one who introduced the world to weird fiction and poetry from H.P. Love­craft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Sea­bury Quinn, and hundreds of others.

E. Hoffmann Price claimed the distinction of being the only person who met both H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard…and was an accomplished pulp writer on his own for many decades. His story, “Every Man a King,” comes from one of the “spicy” pulps, Speed Adventure, (as Spicy Adventure was renamed late in its life).

John D. Swain’s “The Mad Detective” is one of his non-fantasies, in this case a gripping mystery.

And last but not least, here is Robert E. Howard’s thrill-packed novelet of Eastern intrigue, “Son of the White Wolf.” Enjoy!

John Gregory Betancourt