The Ancient World of Fanzines

Long, long ago on a primitive planet teenagers went amok.  Fed by imagination and fueled by pulp paper and ink they formed little local clubs and passed Weird Tales and Hugo Gernsback scientifiction (later Sci-Fi and SF) back and forth between each other.  When a “pen pal” in a far off town couldn’t get the latest works of E Hoffmann Price, Seabury Quinn, Dr. David Keller, Ray Bradbury, Damon Knight, L Sprague deCamp, Isaac Asimov, or some other fantasy-horror-weird tale writer, they traded them or sold extra copies.

Not content to merely talk about it, or send a USPS letter about it (long distance!  too expensive!), they made their own “fanatic magazines”, or fanzines.  These were the rawest of raw by the most amateur of amateurs.  The art was drawn, and then hectographed (by gelatin plates) or sometimes a raid to the local high to use the mimeograph machine!

Crude?  You bet.  Fun?  Better than an Indie forum firefight.  In fact, fanzines invented the flame war.  One of the first practitioners of the flame war was a guy from Providence named Howard Lovecraft.  When “H P Lovecraft” wasn’t calling down astrologers in the newspapers, or ripping into Edgar Rice Burroughs for not portraying Mars correctly, he critiqued other people’s stories.  That is until he met a kid from California named Forest Ackerman.  Whew, was that something.  Later, along came cratchity Harlan Ellison, frenetic Ray Bradbury, and a boy from Florida whose name was almost as long as his state:  Linwood Vrooman Carter.

Those were days when amateurs drooled to be in the “prozines”, or *gasp* land a letter in the  PULPS!  A few rare dreamers thought they might one day live to have a short story published like their heroes Robert Bloch, August Derleth, or Robert Heinlein.  Darest they reach for the stars and think they might even get a BOOK  published?

Forest J Ackerman ‘zine from August 1942

Many youths between the years 1935 and 1975 learned their craft and landed contracts (such as Marion Zimmer and later Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire, Jr),  became critics or editors (Sam Moskowitz), or went on to write for radio, television, and movies (Arthur C Clarke is one example).  As they say, cream rises to the top.

Perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of those fandom days is how 4SJ managed to sneak him risqué magazine covers through the USPS censors!  Hey, anything for the G. I. Josephs!

So the next time you visit an Indie horror forum and post there, think how hard that person is working to grow the genre.  Support Horror!  It may be down, but it ain’t over yet!

Horror Times Ten, Berkeley Press, and Sam Moskowitz.

Today my good friend Chris Perridas,  writer, blogger and fellow Lovecraftian is stepping in to do a guest blog.  Enjoy! More information on Chris at the bottom of this posting.

In the background of the college bookstores, transistor radios were playing the Young Rascals who were “Groovin’” while Aretha Franklin was demanding, “R-e-s-p-e-c-t”.  In that psychedelic year of 1967, a little paperback book with an odd and sickly green cover sat quietly in the racks amidst a myriad of sci-fi paperbacks.  Berkley Medallion was taking a chance.  Would kids buy it?

Months before, their science fiction editor, Alden H. Norton, thought the time was right to issue a short print book of horror stories.  These were reprints of ancient and moldy oldies.  It was quite a gamble, because the only headliner was Ray Bradbury.  Sure people knew Arthur Conan Doyle, but there was no Sherlock Holmes story in it.  And they knew that old movie Psycho (1960) by Robert Bloch, who was included, but would someone by one of his earlier stores?  Max Brand was a western writer of note, but his wasn’t a western story.  There were also obscure stories by an odd chap named H.P. Lovecraft, and a Texan named Robert E. Howard who was slowly becoming known on college campuses.  This 175 page paperback was filled by 19th, and very early 20th century stories, long out of print, and out of copyright – except for those which August Derleth tenuously still gripped.

Berkeley made a deal with Derleth, and a few others, and Norton then asked Sam Moskowitz to do introductions.  In fact, Moskowitz essentially did the entire work as a ghost editor.  (See image).

Then ink went to paper, and the dice rolled.

Wow.

Berkeley Medallion X1414 ($0.60) made it to the stands and word of mouth began to circulate.  Horror was groovy, man!  Far out!  Kids grokked terror.  Old was cool again.

A second printing was called for in 1968.  By 1969 a third and fourth printing was struck.  By 1970 a sixth printing was struck.  By 1972 a 9th printing was struck.  Before everything was said and done at least 13 printings were made on this little book in a few short years.

What kind of magic was on these pages?  It can all be summed up by two little words, “Sam Moskowitz”.  He had selected items that thrilled him, and he knew that others would love them, too.  His crusade had finally been proven – the horror writers of yesteryear still thrilled.

Like many energetic teenagers, Sam was fascinated by pulp fiction.  In those days before the internet, paper was scarce and magazines did not always circulate to every city on a regular basis.  Kids joined local clubs.  They gathered together to read each other’s back issues, and trade to friends and relatives in far off towns.

Some ambitious high school kids were anxious to discuss, and even to break into these pulps.  Kids like Arthur Clarke, Hannes Bok, Marion Zimmer, Lin Carter, Damen Knight, or Harlan Ellison honed their writing skills by doing articles, reviews, and their own poems and stories.
Even Sam started his little fan magazine (fanzine) in 1939 called the New Fandom (see image).  Soon, he was making a name for himself and was sought after at the first “big” conventions of a few dozens of kids.  From there, he progressed to editing, researching, and by 1967 had rediscovered lost writers and pushed to have them republished in mass market books, not just the tales of pulps.  Alden Norton and Berkley agreed, and the rest, as they say was history.  Horror Times Ten laid the foundation of a new series of cult movies and a resurgence of horror.

Chris Perridas

Kentucky, United States

Besides being a Lovecraftian, I’m a writer with numerous publications of short stories, poems, and essays: Down in The Cellar, The Open Vein, +Horror Library+ Vol. 1, Horror Mall, Blood Moon Rising, Dark Recesses, and more. I’m an associate editor of Arcane Wisdom, an antiquarian horror and weird tale publishing house. I’m on staff at Dark Recesses, a book reviewer at Horror Mall, and a long time member of Horror Library’s T-12 where over 120,000 readers have enjoyed my stories.