The Fantasy Fan was a fan magazine published from 1933 to 1935, the first such publication for the weird fiction fandom. It is remembered as the first outlet to publish H. P. Lovecraft's stories "The Other Gods" (November 1933) and "From Beyond" (February 1934), and as the first publication to serialize the revised version of his Supernatural Horror in Literature (October 1933-February 1935; unfortunately, the magazine folded before the complete text could be serialized).
An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia reports that The Fantasy Fan was unique in serving at the same time as "a news organ, a forum for the expression of fans' views, and a venue for work by distinguished writers in the field."[1]
The magazine was founded and edited by Charles D. Hornig, 17 years old when he put out the first issue in September 1933. It was typeset and printed by Conrad Ruppert, who had already been producing the fanzine The Science Fic-Digest.
In addition to publishing original stories by Lovecraft, the magazine reprinted "Polaris" (February 1934) and "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" (October 1934), which had appeared in the amateur press. It also published four sonnets from Fungi from Yuggoth.
Lovecraft encouraged his author friends to submit articles to the magazine; Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, August Derleth, and Robert Bloch all saw first publication of one or more of their stories in The Fantasy Fan.
External Links[]
- The Fantasy Fan at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
References[]
- ↑ An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia, "Fantasy Fan, The", S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Hippocampus Press, 1994).