A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, October 1950 — page 131: what you’re looking at

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

—, ee money. Kaw now & woe and train horses. Wrtie today for thts book —- together with epecial “ ve gga 4 i th pb ook are aimaned in ting an ng the borse, check here ( ) Do & today—now. BEERY SCHOOL OF HORSEMANSHIP Dept. 849 Pleasant Hill, Chie | Nationally advertised Card Ass’ts—sell only 100— mike up to $50! Complete line Xmas, Everydays, Wraps, Stationery. Also dramatic ‘‘Spang- -l-ettes”’ and Famous ‘Prize’ Asst’s; Notes: Name Imprinted Xmas Cards, 40 for $1 up. Up to 100 % profit. Money back guarantee. Request “Prize’’ and novel Metallic 30 FREE SAMPLES Xmas Boxes on approva). CHILTON GREETINGS, 147 Essex Stf., Dept. T-33, Boston, Mass. NERVOUS STOMACH ALLIMIN relieves a ig 3 symptoms of “nervous stomach’’ — heaviness after meals, Paths bloating and colic due to, as. ALLIMIN has been saad ically tested by doctors and ound highly effective. More than a 1% billion sold to date. For sale by all drug stores on money-back guarantee. ALLIMIN Garlic Tablets: INVENTO protect your invention. Secure ‘‘Patent Guide’ to- gether with ‘“‘Record of Invention’’ form—without obligation. CLARENCE A. O'BRIEN & HARVEY JACOBSON Registered Patent Attorneys District National Bldg. Washington 5, D. <a) 026-G WATCH FOR THIS SEAL OF QUALITY! BECAUSE— We purchase 4,000 stories a year, over 20,000,000 words of top-flight reading pleasure, all bearing this guaranteed hall- mark of unexcelled fiction en- tertainment— Watch for this Popular Fic- tion Group seal on every mag- azine you buy. It is your one sure guide te good reading always! POPULAR PUBLICATIONS, Inc. 205 East 42nd St., New York 17, N. Y. 128 RS A. MERRITT’S FANTASY fantastic poem, or anything else which may have come from his pen. The April issue was ab- solutely Merritt-less. By presenting his life’s work to a new genera- tion, some particular moment of his glory would live again. Again I say, you should not let an issue go by without having something from the pen of Abe Merritt, no matter how short the piece. And please, whatever you do, don't discontinue the page entitled CALLING ALL FANTASY FANS. To me, it’s like an eager- ly awaited introduction—like being presented with the proper suavity, to someone you’re most anxious to meet. Vol. 1. No. 3 of A. MERRITT’S FANTASY rated good as far as the stories were concerned, but the issue didn’t seem to pack the punch that made the inaugural such a walloping success. I thought ‘The Ninth Life” was quite good. he characters in the story, however, were lacking the one something .. . the something which makes a reader look upon them not as individuals from the printed page, but as real flesh-and-blood acquaintances. Cleo Kefra, the central character, though vivid enough in her portrayed manner, still was weak when com- pared with Merritt’s characterization of the Demoiselle Dehut. Theodore Roscoe’s story “The Little Doll Died” blossomed into a surprisingly good yarn. You could’ve knocked me unconscious with a feather at the totally unexpected climax. Who'd a thunk Terrence McCoy would turn out to be such a dastardly scoundrel? Then something almost did knock me uncon- scious, and it wasn’t feathers either. I saw the only letdown in the plot of the story, and that, seemingly, revolved itself around the mys- tifying patter by the author about zombies. I hung onto his words, expectantly waiting. Then, what happened? Not even one of those “soul- less creatures, the un-dead dead,” appeared on the scene. Unaffectedly yours, Joseph Kankowski 9 Glennon Place West Orange, N. J. ED: As to your mystification in regards to the Zombies— The atmosphere, it would seem, was more effectively created by not having any of these soulless crea- tures appear in flesh-and-blood on the scene. Remember that the voodo priests were pronusing a second life to all war- riors who fell in battle. Also don’t forget that the priests had an almost hypnotic power over the natives and the way in which the latter followed so blindly made them appear as if they had no souls of their own. This explanation is brief by necessity and only explains in part the fear always connected with zombies. DOOKS (C(O)