by Various
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Come over to "Our Readers Say" and "The Boiling Point" and join in.
THE BOILING POINT
The Smith-Ackerman debate is still going strong, with Smith in thelead. However, the Ackerman side is taking a big leap with thefollowing defenses. The first comes from Allen Glasser, who says:
"I am surprised at the vicious remarks being made about ForrestAckerman. He really doesn't deserve any such abuse. Perhaps hiswritings are a bit flamboyant and over-enthusiastic; but surely that'sno great fault. To those who know him well, Forrest is a fine fellow;and his zeal for science-fiction merits praise rather than censure."
Donald Alexander is all for Ackerman and wishes to make no secret ofit:
"I've been watching the controversy in 'The Boiling Point.' It seemsto me that young Forrest J. Ackerman is by far the most sensible ofthe lot. Instead of intelligently answering his arguments, Messrs.Smith, Lovecraft, Barlow, etc., have made fools of themselvesdescending to personalities. Ackerman is a most interesting type of'crank.' (Everyone who writes in to a magazine is a 'crank.' So'm I).At least, F. J. A. shows signs of a rudimentary intelligence, whichmost cranks don't. I agree with him. 'The Light from Beyond' andseveral other Smith yarns, had no place in _Wonder Stories_. WScalls itself a science fiction magazine. Smith's story underdiscussion isn't science fiction, so, it had no place in such amagazine. F. J. A. is right there. I see no reason why Lovecraftshould condemn Ackerman for not liking Smith. After all, we each haveour own tastes. Smith, in my own opinion, is a poor writer. Hisstories are all like the ravings of some fearfully diseased mind.Lovecraft, on the other hand, is a fairly good writer. But I'm wastinggood typewriter ink; your readers haven't enough intelligence to graspsuch a common sense argument as the one presented by Ackerman, so theycall him a nitwit, while he actually has more sense than the lot ofthem thrown together. If there were a hundred-million Forrest J.Ackermans in the world, it'd be a better place to live in, at leastwe'd have a little common sense used occasionally."
Now, while we are very glad to find defenses on the Ackerman side,we must disagree with Mr. Alexander when he calls our readers tooignorant to grasp an argument put forth by Mr. Ackerman. Their eagerdisapproval with logical objections contradicts this theory. And thenagain, the mere fact that they are science fiction and weird fans putsthem above the average, for such readers must be broadminded and openminded, and not the "What's-good-enough-for-father-is-good-enough-for-me"or "There-ain't-no-such-animal" types. We believe that this letterleaves cause for rebuttal on the part of Messrs. Smith and Lovecraft.
Forrest J. Ackerman, of course, does not like the way he has beentreated, and has this to say about it:
"Pardon me, do; but why did you run 'The Boiling Point' in a foreignlanguage? What a vocalberry on those Weird Men Smith and Lovecraft!And I think I'll have to change my tag from 'Forrest J. Ackerman,Scientifictionist' to 'Forrest J. Ackerman, Ebullitionist'. The twogot the word in within the first line of comments. Now Mr. Smith willbe calling Mr. Lovecraft 'Plagiarist', and then maybe Mr. Smith (the'Skylark') will burst in and say that HE owns the original. Let's havea contest... Just thought of it--the original Paul illustration that Itreasure _would_ be from _Smith's_ story, 'The City of the SingingFlame.' I don't get the connection: the Lovecraft says in print 'avery childish attack', and in his personal reply to me 'your brightand candid letter.'!?"
It can be seen by the above letter that Ackerman really holds no hardfeeling toward the Weird Men; just a bit of mockery and rare Ackermanwit.
Just to show that we are always open to both sides, following are acouple of fans who still choose to 'lay it on thick.'
"Personally, I thought that 'The Light From Beyond' was very good, andI certainly could see nothing weird about it. It was fantasy, yes, andnot stf, but some of the greatest classics of so-called sciencefiction have been almost pure fantasy. Witness: 'The Snake Mother,''The Moon Pool,' 'The Time Stream' (Ackerman's objection to this wasparticularly obnoxious to me, as I thought it was one of the beststories ever written. Certainly it offered the most food for thought),'The Skylark of Space' (partly fantasy), 'The Princess of Mars,' andother greats. Certainly, there should be something more to sciencefiction than rays, machines, villains, heroines, (composed of lipstickand legs, as Mr. Barlow rather bitterly expresses it) as has beenstressed so greatly of late. There should be an element of fantasy,strong character, and a well-developed plot in addition. The lack ofthose is why so many weird story lovers (like Mr. Barlow) can find somuch fault with stf. I do not blame him. I, myself, as a reader, willstop reading stf when the fantasy element is dropped completely."William Crawford (Editor of _Unusual Stories_).
"What does this Ackerman guy know about weird and fantastic fiction?From the way he writes, he must be an unimaginative person unable tostretch his mind away from space-ships and foreign star-clusters. Iget that he is an egotistical radical and one who doesn't likesomething that is not even intended for him. So far, in telling abouthis collection, he has described a sort of madhouse. However, Icertainly would like to see this madhouse, as I can appreciate a thingor two that is connected with stf. At heart, I am truly a weird andfantastic fiction fan."--F. Lee Baldwin
There seems to be enough controversy in this month's discussion tobring in enough letters to fill next month's. Write in and give usyour opinions on the subject. Are Smith's tales fit for _WonderStories_? Does Ackerman know what he's talking about, and are theWeird Men justified in their criticisms of him? Here's hoping to hearfrom you.
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Man is in truth but cosmic dust, Which by a sudden whirling gust Of forces from unbounded space, Spread o'er this planet's tiny face.
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If you think that you have anything worthwhile to contribute to
THE FANTASY FAN
send it in to us for our very serious consideration, we are alwaysglad to get material from our readers.
UNUSUAL STORIES
The new magazine of fantastic fiction presents such stories as:
"The White Sybil" by Clark Ashton Smith
"Countries in the Sea" by August W. Derleth
"The Sixth Sense" by Stanton A. Coblentz
"On Board the Space-Ship Terra" by L. A. Eshbach
"The Strange Case of Tony Rizutti" by Ralph Milne Farley
"The Doom that Came to Sarnath" by H. P. Lovecraft
"Tharda, Queen of Vampires" by Richard Tooker
"The Garden of Fear" by Robert E. Howard
"Mars Colonizes" by Miles J. Breuer, M.D.
"When the Waker Sleeps" by Cyril G. Wates
"The Torch of Life" by Joe W. Skidmore
"The Ogre of Space" by Manly Wade Wellman
"A Diamond Asteroid" by Lowell H. Morrow
"Binding de Lux" by Dr. David H. Keller
"Master of Matter" by Amelia Reynolds Long
"The Titan" by P. Schuyler Miller
"Synthetic" by Harl Vincent
and others.
Subscribe now: Single copy: .20--Three months: .50--eight mo:$1.00--year: $1.50
Special offers to be withdrawn soon.
Published by Fantasy Publications, Everett, Pa.
H. G. WELLS' "Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper," illustrated incolors, 25 cents. Other fantasy novelties. Allen Glasser, 1610University Avenue, Bronx, N.Y.
* * * * *
CLARK ASHTON SMITH presents THE DOUBLE SHADOW AND OTHER FANTASIES--abooklet containing a half-dozen imaginative and atmospherictales.--Stories of exotic beauty, glamor, terror, strangeness, ironyand satire. Price: 25 cents each, (coin or stamps). Also a smallremainder of EBONY AND CRYSTAL--a book of prose poems published at$2.00, reduced to $1.00 per copy. Everything sent postpaid. ClarkA
shton Smith, Auburn, California.
* * * * *
BACK NUMBERS OF THE FANTASY FAN--September, 20 cents; October,November, 10 cents. (Only a few Septembers left.)
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Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been correctedwithout note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text havebeen retained as printed.
Words printed in bold are marked with tildes: ~bold~.