A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, October 1950 — page 127: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

124 A. MERRITT’S FANTASY Black Wheel” and “The Fox Woman” were brought out after Merritt’s demise that they would have to be bought from the Merritt es- tate. By the way, can we have “The Black Wheel” soon? The only favorable thing about this Saunder’s cover (is he the same old Lawrence?) is the preponderance of dark colors. Otherwise, it can’t compare with the Finlay cover illustra- ting the same novel, on the October 1940 issue of FFM. Nor for that matter does Finlay’s own newest depiction of the Face on page 13 compare with his earlier work. I really believe Eric North’s “The Green Flame” matches the lead novel for sheer sus- pense! It packs a terrific, gripping interest! I liked it much better than anything I have read anywhere in a very long time. Only a few things could have happened that North over- looked. As an instance, when Crampton’s house burned, two things could have occurred which would have set the nearby river and thus the whole of the world’s water on fire. The ignition of the natural moisture in the ground around the house; after the melting of the plumbing fixtures in the house (since nothing was left we can assume they melted) the fire should have gone into the pipes and out to the water mains and finally to the reseryoir. The fire hoses, throwing water with much force against the sides of the house, should have splashed burning water into the river. Callé’s drawing of “Toad” is very good. To get the full chilling, or scorching effect of what it would have been like if it had rained while the reservoir or Crampton’s house was burning, nature previded me with a heavy rain while reading “The Green Flame.” Green fire going up a sheet of rain in a ravenous leap would be as bad as an atom bomb if it happened over a city like Melbourne. Added tengon could have been infused into ‘“‘The Green Flame” if North had thought to bring up a light shower just after the reservoir was ignited, this shower, short-lived and just heavy enough to cause the flame to climb up to the cloud which could have been described as small and widely separated from others—as sometimes they are seen in summer skies, would have been quite a spectacle. Especially after the cloud caught fire. What would a man like “Toad” think if he had set the water of an ocean on fire? Could he credit himself @ith the ability to actually do such a thing with the evidence all around him? To get the full terrifying implications of this story, just imagine that all the water in the world suddenly turned to high-test gasoline! Bob Barnett 1107 Lyon Carthage, Mo. ED: Verv glad that you liked Eric North’s story of “The Green Flame.” Several of the Merrittales have heen printed fairly recently in FFM or FN. “Dwellers in the Mirage,” for example, was printed in FN in September °49. Would you want these stories reprinted ‘Maiden’, in A. MERRITT’S FANTASY so soon? SOUND CRITICISM Dear Editor: It is with considerable misgiving that I noted our announcement of “The Elixir of Hate” y George Allan England for the lead novel of the next issue of AMF. This story ran in FFM in 1942 which is only 8 years ago, and this makes the second reprinting. I can see the reason for second reprinting of the famous works of Merritt, and perhaps an occasional classic such as “The Blind Spot,” but I fail to see the need for so many “seconds” when we have such a large backlog of fine sto- ries still buried in the old Munsey files, which are still waiting to be reprinted for the first time. There must still be a large number of us old-timers that started with the first issue of M, and have been loyal supporters and col- lectors of it and FN ever since. In fact, many of us trace our interest back to the days when Argosy and All-Story were in their prime and brought out these stories for the frst time. Many of the stories however, we know only by reputation from other fans, and are patiently waiting to see them in print again in one of the three magazines of the Popular group. Here are some facts to support my argument. Otis Adelbert Kline has had no single story reprinted since FFM and FN started, in spite of the fact his Mars and Venus stories are rated among the best, and must of all appeared in the old Argosy. The last story by Ralph Milne Farley was “The Golden City” in 1942, and_ you still have some half dozen or more of his stories you have not used. There has been nothing by Homer Eon Flint since “The Blind Spot” in 1940, yet he has six or eight short novels of science-fantasy still in your files. We are still waiting for “After a Million Years” Garret Smith, also his “Treasures of antalus.” And what about Garret P. Serviss’ “Moon “Conquest of Mars”, and _ several others? Then there must be a full two dozen novels by Ray Cummings still waiting. Some of us oldsters are going to die off before we get a chance at these stories. And I must not for- get to mention we still have a third story of the “Polaris” series you have not given us yet. No doubt you have problems of clearance and rights which we as readers know nothing about, and perhaps you get tired of our asking for these same things so often. But I can assure you, we write you because we are interested in these things, and have the best interest of FFM, FN and AMF at heart. If some of these stories are unavailable, let us know and we will stop asking. But for the sake of us older readers, please give us the stories of the older dates first, as far as they are available. Hold back the stories of the late '30s and early '40s until the older stories are out of the way. Please don’t take this letter as being all com- plaints. I still think the FFM, FN, and AMF group of magazines are the tops in the science- fantasy field, with the best source of material, the best artists, and the best all around format 6)(0)©) im O (C(O) KS (C(O)