A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, February 1950

About this issue

This issue of A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine (Volume 1, Number 2) presents three reprinted classic fantasy stories. The lead feature, "The Smoking Land" by George Challis (a pseudonym of Frederick Faust), follows ranchman Smoky Bill Cassidy through a spectacular adventure to the world's periphery, where he encounters reckless men plotting to weaponize atomic science against civilization. The narrative opens with Cassidy at his shack as a messenger arrives with a summons from Cleveland Darrell. Also featured are "Three Lines of Old French" by A. Merritt, a psychological tale questioning whether the mysterious Lucie exists beyond the narrator's tortured imagination, and "The Seal Maiden" by Victor Rousseau, exploring whether mortal love could grant a seal maiden a human soul. The issue includes an editorial introduction to Faust's prolific career under numerous pen names, an announcement of future stories including Jack Mann's "The Ninth Life" (set in Egypt) and Theodore Roscoe's "The Little Doll Died" (featuring Haitian zombies), a science article on time-travel by Ray Cummings, and a readers' column.