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Fanfile, issue 1, February 1942
Page 9
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FANFILE Page 9 The Return of G. Washington and Mystery of the -/- got places in the prozines. Evidently you wrote it around the cuts -- which were excellent considering the way you put them on stencil. Vampire's Kiss best forgotten; Me and the Mite second in the issue only to No Gun Shall Speak. Letters good, and Ackerman's article the best. In all, near-perfectly done. I'm still enthusiastic over the paper-cut edges; one little thing like that transforms the appearance from good into unbeatable... Somewhere along in here, a messenger came to the door one war with a Railway Express parcel for us. After turning it all around and carefully examining both sides, we decided to open it. It was a phonograph record, and we put it on our machine, the unimportant side up, naturally, and heard someone realing of a string of fanames and addresses. The reverse proved to be Julie Unger's revelation of the Singleton suicide hoax, writ by 4e. The record had come direct from NY, so we frantically phoned Acky and asked if he'd heard about it. On his negative reply, we played the disc into the telephone for him. He claimed it sounded just like Julie talking on the phone! Oddly enough, if Forry had received the record on that day instead of us, the #1 Fan would probably be in the bug-house now. For on that day his phonograph was out being repaired. Imagine him with a franticly sent disc and nothing to play it on! On May 19 Charles Hidley, prolific writer to both the pros and fmz, sent us a letter headed: "Alojo -- what do you know? I'm sorry, really I am. I tried so hard to resist the temptation -- but no go. You may imagine how cute I am with all that corn sprouting from my curly locks...Well, I read the "War Germ" of January's SPECULA and it was the best thing in the issue. I'm sorry I didn't include that in the note you printed and I'm also annoyed because Anthony's story got such a coolish reception. Although "No Gun Shall Speak" was first, it hardly equaled that author's first effort. "Me and the Mite" was second on my March list, and a clever offshoot of the old, old theme. "Comic Parallel" gave me a pleasant shudder -- was it meant to? "The Gorgon's Head" used a modern idea to very good advantage. For a professional, Ackerman showed little care with his yarn -- not good at all. The short could not, naturally, hold up with the longer yarns. The articles and dep'ts filled out nicely and provided the missing something that held down #1. On the whole the second issue of Specula was an upwards step...I don't like the covers, though -- too sketchy for my precise requirements. And surely you can get better artists! Altheda does outline work splendidly, but her sketches are bad...I'm not too enthusiastic about Scorpio, but the articles were very good. How unbelieveably weird that the Nostradamus-Hitler piece should be written so soon before the escape of Hess -- certainly a hunter if British propaganda is to be believed --; watch out or the FBI will investigate you for having too much inside info. The stories show too great a trend towards Lovecraftitis and not enough originality. I preferred "Witch on the Hill," "Angle," "Devil in Gotham," and "Cottage," the last named so obvious. The poem was ponderous and the rhyme silly compared to the same poet's Warmonger in Specula 2. That should be published nationally. The cover was clever but results from handling remind one of Jolson's Mama. Specula and FMZ are super and Scorpio may become that way too... Perdue again, on May 20th: "Your two magazines received with much interest. It is to be regretted that I haven't found time to read them; and it is also very much to be regretted that you won't join FAPA...The two (magazines) are beautiful. NAPA has some printed magazines of quality to compare, but this is the best mimeo job I've seen. But I'm not a competent critic." And Paul Klingoeil, on May 21: The Book of Dzyan. I never heard of it. In which story does H. P. Lovecraft mention the work? (The Haunter of the Dark) I looked up Dzyan in the encyclopedia
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FANFILE Page 9 The Return of G. Washington and Mystery of the -/- got places in the prozines. Evidently you wrote it around the cuts -- which were excellent considering the way you put them on stencil. Vampire's Kiss best forgotten; Me and the Mite second in the issue only to No Gun Shall Speak. Letters good, and Ackerman's article the best. In all, near-perfectly done. I'm still enthusiastic over the paper-cut edges; one little thing like that transforms the appearance from good into unbeatable... Somewhere along in here, a messenger came to the door one war with a Railway Express parcel for us. After turning it all around and carefully examining both sides, we decided to open it. It was a phonograph record, and we put it on our machine, the unimportant side up, naturally, and heard someone realing of a string of fanames and addresses. The reverse proved to be Julie Unger's revelation of the Singleton suicide hoax, writ by 4e. The record had come direct from NY, so we frantically phoned Acky and asked if he'd heard about it. On his negative reply, we played the disc into the telephone for him. He claimed it sounded just like Julie talking on the phone! Oddly enough, if Forry had received the record on that day instead of us, the #1 Fan would probably be in the bug-house now. For on that day his phonograph was out being repaired. Imagine him with a franticly sent disc and nothing to play it on! On May 19 Charles Hidley, prolific writer to both the pros and fmz, sent us a letter headed: "Alojo -- what do you know? I'm sorry, really I am. I tried so hard to resist the temptation -- but no go. You may imagine how cute I am with all that corn sprouting from my curly locks...Well, I read the "War Germ" of January's SPECULA and it was the best thing in the issue. I'm sorry I didn't include that in the note you printed and I'm also annoyed because Anthony's story got such a coolish reception. Although "No Gun Shall Speak" was first, it hardly equaled that author's first effort. "Me and the Mite" was second on my March list, and a clever offshoot of the old, old theme. "Comic Parallel" gave me a pleasant shudder -- was it meant to? "The Gorgon's Head" used a modern idea to very good advantage. For a professional, Ackerman showed little care with his yarn -- not good at all. The short could not, naturally, hold up with the longer yarns. The articles and dep'ts filled out nicely and provided the missing something that held down #1. On the whole the second issue of Specula was an upwards step...I don't like the covers, though -- too sketchy for my precise requirements. And surely you can get better artists! Altheda does outline work splendidly, but her sketches are bad...I'm not too enthusiastic about Scorpio, but the articles were very good. How unbelieveably weird that the Nostradamus-Hitler piece should be written so soon before the escape of Hess -- certainly a hunter if British propaganda is to be believed --; watch out or the FBI will investigate you for having too much inside info. The stories show too great a trend towards Lovecraftitis and not enough originality. I preferred "Witch on the Hill," "Angle," "Devil in Gotham," and "Cottage," the last named so obvious. The poem was ponderous and the rhyme silly compared to the same poet's Warmonger in Specula 2. That should be published nationally. The cover was clever but results from handling remind one of Jolson's Mama. Specula and FMZ are super and Scorpio may become that way too... Perdue again, on May 20th: "Your two magazines received with much interest. It is to be regretted that I haven't found time to read them; and it is also very much to be regretted that you won't join FAPA...The two (magazines) are beautiful. NAPA has some printed magazines of quality to compare, but this is the best mimeo job I've seen. But I'm not a competent critic." And Paul Klingoeil, on May 21: The Book of Dzyan. I never heard of it. In which story does H. P. Lovecraft mention the work? (The Haunter of the Dark) I looked up Dzyan in the encyclopedia
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