In the 1920s and 30s, scores of pulps cropped up hoping to cash in on the then lucrative business venture, but few garnered themselves a reputation like that of Weird Tales. Published for the first time in March of 1923, the pulp was nicknamed “The Unique Magazine,” and has since lived up to the epithet. For one, it is one of very few pulps that still has a current day incarnation.
Though hugely popular in their heyday, by the early 1960s almost every pulp had folded. After three decades of publication and financial difficulty, Weird Tales shut down in 1954. But, twenty years later, it was revived and has since done its best to stay afloat. Despite a 20th century business model based on high volume and disposability, Weird Tales developed a unique niche following. Today, it is kept alive both on the internet and in an annual publication. In 2009, the magazine won a Hugo award.
During its first thirty year run, Weird Tales published the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, C. L. Moore, Ray Bradbury, and Tennessee Williams. Like most pulps, the magazine helped to give these and other writers their literary starts. It was also a frequent patron of cover artist Margaret Brundage. Brundage’s paintings were provocative and controversial even without public knowledge that she was a woman. Her covers were scandalous, even by pulp standards, and she was enlisted by Weird Tales to make the magazine stand out from the increasing number of competitors. Although she is not a well known name, Brundage was a pioneer for female illustrators in the world of fantasy. In the 30s and 40s, Brundage illustrated 66 covers for Weird Tales.
Since its inception, Weird Tales has devoted itself to the strange, the fantastic, and the horrifying. From 1923 to 1954, the magazine developed with the help of three editors: Edwin Baird (March 1923-October 1924), Farnsworth Wright (November 1924-March 1940), and Dorothy McIlwraith (April 1940-September 1954). Baird published some of the publication’s most popular writers, including H.P. Lovecraft, but was ousted after 13 issues, during which time the magazine had garnered $40,000 in debt. Under Wright’s editorship Weird Tales fully embraced its outlandishness (Wright hired Margaret Brundage), but the magazine continued to struggle financially through the Great Depression. In 1940, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Wright stepped down and was replaced by McIlwraith who directed the publication toward a less eccentric tone. She did publish a new set of popular writers including Ray Bradbury, but the strain of World War II and lower wages for authors took their toll and in 1954 Weird Tales was sold.
At JMU, we have over fifty editions of Weird Tales from 1926 to 1954. As with the rest of our pulp magazine holdings, we are looking to expand our collection of Weird Tales so as to make as complete a run as possible available to students and researchers.
