Transcriber’s Note: All advertisements have been moved to the back. Stories that were split over this issue have been recombined.
=WEIRD TALES=
THE UNIQUE MAGAZINE
Printed in U.S.A.
March, 1923 25 Cents
“OOZE”
An Extraordinary Novelette
By ANTHONY M. RUD
The Tale of A Thousand Thrills
_Complete in This Issue_
WEIRD TALES
THE UNIQUE MAGAZINE
EDWIN BAIRD, Editor
Published monthly by the RURAL PUBLISHING CORPORATION, 934 North Clark Street, Chicago, Ill. Application made for entry at the postoffice at Chicago, Ill., as second class matter. Single copies, 25 cents: subscription, $3 a year in the United States, $3.50 in Canada. The publishers are not responsible for the loss of unsolicited manuscripts in transit, by fire, or otherwise, although every precaution is taken with such material. All manuscripts should be typewritten and must be accompanied by stamped and self-addressed envelopes. The contents of this magazine are fully protected by copyright, and publishers are cautioned against using the same, either wholly or in part.
Copyright, 1923, by the Rural Publishing Corporation.
VOLUME 1 25 Cents NUMBER 1
Contents for March, 1923
TWENTY-TWO REMARKABLE SHORT STORIES
The Mystery of Black Jean JULIAN KILMAN 41 _A story of blood-curdling realism, with a smashing surprise at the end._
The Grave ORVILLE R. EMERSON 47 _A soul-gripping story of terror._
Hark! The Rattle! JOEL TOWNSLEY ROGERS 53 _An uncommon tale that will cling to your memory for many a day._
The Ghost Guard BRYAN IRVINE 59 _A “spooky” tale with a grim background._
The Ghoul and the Corpse G. A. WELLS 65 _An amazing yarn of weird adventure in the frozen North._
Fear DAVID R. SOLOMON 73 _Showing how fear can drive a strong man to the verge of insanity._
The Place of Madness MERLIN MOORE TAYLOR 89 _What two hours in a prison “solitary” did to a man._
The Closing Hand FARNSWORTH WRIGHT 98 _A brief story powerfully written._
The Unknown Beast HOWARD ELLIS DAVIS 100 _An unusual tale of a terrifying monster._
The Basket HERBERT J. MANGHAM 106 _A queer little story about San Francisco._
The Accusing Voice MEREDITH DAVIS 110 _The singular experience of Allen Defoe._
The Sequel WALTER SCOTT STORY 119 _A new conclusion to Edgar Allen Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado.”_
The Weaving Shadows W. H. HOLMES 122 _Chet Burke’s strange adventures in a haunted house._
Nimba, the Cave Girl R. T. M. SCOTT 131 _An odd, fantastic little story of the Stone Age._
The Young Man Who Wanted to Die ? ? ? 135 _An anonymous author submits a startling answer to the question, “What comes after death?”_
The Scarlet Night WILLIAM SANFORD 140 _A tale with an eerie thrill._
The Extraordinary Experiment of Dr. Calgroni JOSEPH FAUS and JAMES BENNETT WOODING 143 _An eccentric doctor creates a frightful living thing._
The Return of Paul Slavsky CAPT. GEORGE WARBURTON LEWIS 150 _A “creepy” tale that ends in a shuddering, breath-taking way._
The House of Death F. GEORGIA STROUP 156 _The strange secret of a lonely woman._
The Gallows I. W. D. PETERS 161 _An out-of-the-ordinary story._
The Skull HAROLD WARD 164 _A grim tale with a terrifying end._
The Ape-Man JAMES B. M. CLARK, JR. 169 _A Jungle tale that is somehow “different.”_
THREE UNUSUAL NOVELETTES
The Dead Man’s Tale WILLARD E. HAWKINS 7 _An astounding yarn that will hold you spellbound and make you breathe fast with a new mental sensation._
Ooze ANTHONY M. RUD 19 _A Remarkable short novel by a master of “gooseflesh” fiction._
The Chain HAMILTON CRAIGIE 77 _Craigie is at his best here._
A STRANGE NOVEL IN TWO PARTS
The Thing of a Thousand Shapes OTIS ADELBERT KLINE 32 _Don’t start this story late at night._
THE EYRIE THE EDITOR 180
Also a number of odd facts and queer fancies, crowded in for good measure
For Advertising Rates in WEIRD TALES apply to YOUNG & WARD, Advertising Managers, 168 North Michigan Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois
_“Gooseflesh” Stories_
Tales of horror--or “gooseflesh” stories--are commonly shunned by magazine editors. Few, if any, will consider such a story, no matter how interesting it may be. They believe that the public doesn’t want this sort of fiction. We, however, believe otherwise. We believe there are tens of thousands--perhaps hundreds of thousands--of intelligent renders who really enjoy “gooseflesh” stories. Hence--
_=Weird Tales=_.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The Unique MAGAZINE
WEIRD TALES offers such fiction as you can find in no other magazine--fantastic stories, extraordinary stories, grotesque stories, stories of strange and bizarre adventure--the sort of stories, in brief, that will startle and amaze you. Every story in this issue of WEIRD TALES is an odd and remarkable flight of man’s imagination. Some are “creepy,” some deal in masterly fashion with “forbidden” subjects, like insanity, some are concerned with the supernatural and others with material things of horror--all are out of the ordinary, surprisingly new and unusual. A sensational departure from the beaten track--that is the reason for
_=Weird Tales=_.
WEIRD TALES
THE UNIQUE MAGAZINE
Edited by Edwin Baird
VOLUME ONE 25c A COPY MARCH, 1923 SUBSCRIPTION $3.00 A YEAR NUMBER ONE $3.50 IN CANADA
_For Scalp-prickling Thrills and Stark Terror, Read_
_The_
DEAD MAN’S TALE
_By_ Willard E. Hawkins
_The curious narrative that follows was found among the papers of the late Dr. John Pedric, psychical investigator and author of occult works. It bears evidences of having been received through automatic writing, as were several of his publications. Unfortunately, there are no records to confirm this assumption, and none of the mediums or assistants employed by him in his research work admits knowledge of it. Possibly--for the Doctor was reputed to possess some psychic powers--it may have been received by him. At any rate, the lack of data renders the recital useless as a document for the Society for Psychical Research. It is published for whatever intrinsic interest or significance it may possess. With reference to the names mentioned, it may be added that they are not confirmed by the records of the War Department. It could be maintained, however, that purposely fictitious names were substituted, either by the Doctor or the communicating entity._
They called me--when I walked the earth in a body of dense matter--Richard Devaney. Though my story has little to do with the war, I was killed in the second battle of the Marne, on July 24, 1918.
Many times, as men were wont to do who felt the daily, hourly imminence of death in the trenches, I had pictured that event in my mind and wondered what it would be like. Mainly I had inclined toward a belief in total extinction. That, when the vigorous, full-blooded body I possessed should lie bereft of its faculties, I, as a creature apart from it, should go on, was beyond credence. The play of life through the human machine, I reasoned, was like the flow of gasoline into the motor of an automobile. Shut off that flow, and the motor became inert, dead, while the fluid which had given it power was in itself nothing.