Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror
Pulp Magazine of the early 1930s know casually as Strange Tales
Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror was a pulp magazine that was published briefly in the early thirties. It featured stories that were about the supernatural, the occult, and the paranormal. The editor of Strange Tales was author Harry Bates. Harry Bates is known today for writing Farewell to the Master, the story that 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still was based on.
Publication History
It began in 1931 and ran until 1933, published by Clayton Publications, out of New York City. The magazine featured tales of suspense, science fiction, and horror, all the expected sub genres of pulp at the time. Some notable names who appeared in Strange Tales were Hugh B. Cave, Henry Whitehead and Hans Wessolowski, “Wesso”.
Notable stories from Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror:
“Wolves of Darkness” by Jack Williamson
Clovis’s father sends him a telegram asking him to come to the ranch in the Texas Panhandle. When Clovis arrives in the town nearest the ranch, he hears wolves howling and gets a bad feeling. The man at the train station tells him that the wolves have been killing humans. Clovis manages to convince someone to take him to the ranch that night. They’re attacked by wolves and the other man is killed. Clovis runs with the wolves and a beautiful girl wearing only a thin silk shift. The girl is Stella, the daughter of the man assisting Clovis’s father. Clovis’s father’s experiments opened a doorway to another dimension, and something evil has come through.
“Murgunstruum” by Hugh B. Cave
Murgunstrumm is the story of a Serbian vampire who terrorizes a small town. The townspeople are afraid to go out at night, and the only thing they can do is wait for the monster to strike again.
“Cassius” by Henry Whitehead
“The Return of the Sorcerer” by Clark Ashton Smith
Set in the city of Averoigne, in the country of the same name. The story follows the events that occur after a sorcerer named Guillaume de Maubergeonne is resurrected by his apprentice, Jean de Carnac. De Maubergeonne had been killed centuries earlier, and his body had been entombed in the crypt of the cathedral of Averoigne. Jean de Carnac had been studying under the sorcerer, and he used his master’s knowledge to bring him back to life. However, the resurrection is not perfect, and de Maubergeonne is missing his head. He is also not quite human anymore, and his eyes glow with a sinister light. De Maubergeonne is not happy with his new state, and he sets out to find a way to get his head back. He soon discovers that his head is in the possession of the Archbishop of Averoigne, and he sets out to get it back. The story ends with the sorcerer’s headless body being buried in the crypt once again.
“The People of the Dark” by Robert E. Howard
“The Trap” credited to Henry Whitehead, Ghost Written by H.P. Lovecraft