Page:Weird Tales Volume 4 Number 3 (1924-11).djvu/181

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180
WEIRD TALES

as well handled as these two stories, shall we print it anyway? The editor wants to hear from you on this question, and he will follow your advice.

In the meantime, to show what we think of Mr. Eddy and Mr. Miller, we are going to print two excellent stories of prehistoric men by Mr. Eddy, which will hold your interest without making you even the least bit sick; and in our January number we are going to give you an unusual story, called "Fog," by Mr. Miller. This last is an eery, fascinating tale of exploration in Patagonia, and tells of a strange prehistoric beast that yet survives in the caves of that little-known region, and whose breath rises in dense fog that enmeshes and—but you will have to read the story to learn more. The editor's advice is that you do not read it at night; alone in your room, lest you suffer the horror that fell to the lot of the intrepid explorer of the story.

And now the editor wishes to call your attention to two authors who are new to the readers of Weird Tales. These are Frank Belknap Long, Jr., author of "The Desert Lich," and Estil Critchie, author-of "Thus Spake the Prophetess." Both stories are found in the present issue.

When the manuscript of "The Desert Lich" was received in the office of Weird Tales, the editor read it and then uttered a loud cry of "Eureka." The story was accepted so quickly that it must have made Mr. Long's head swim. And he has written other stories for you, which are quite as wonderful as the present one: "Death-Waters", which will be printed in the next issue; "The Dark God," and "The Ocean Leech." Mr. Long is a young man (he is only twenty-two), but he has a style as distinctive as Rudyard Kipling, and an originality, an invention, an insight into human motives, and a gift of story-telling that set him in the small circle of the greatest story-tellers. It would be as impossible to imitate Mr. Long's individual style as it would be to duplicate Kipling or Daudet.

Estil Critchie gathered the material for his weird narratives in Santo Domingo and Haiti while he was in the intelligence service of the United States marines during the American occupation of the two republics of that island. "Thus Spake the Prophetess" will be followed by another Haitian story, "Voodoo," in the December issue of Weird Tales, and then will follow a series of six "Strange Tales From Santo Domingo," which are little masterpieces.

Robert Lee Heiser is another author who makes his bow to the readers of Weird Tales with the present issue. Those who read his "Adventure of Souls" will watch for his name in future issues. His utterly fascinating occult story of crime, called "The Dreamer," will be published soon.

Greye La Spina, whose story, "The Tortoise-Shell Cat," you have enjoyed in this issue, has also written for you an absorbing tale about a scientist who tried to determine the physical weight of the human soul. The story, called "The Remorse of Professor Panebianco," will be published soon.

You will be glad, also, to resume acquaintance with your favorite writers of past issues. H. P. Lovecraft, a master of the weird in fiction, has written