Famous Fantastic Mysteries
Encyclopedia
Famous Fantastic Mysteries was a fantasy fiction magazine offering reprints of science-fiction and fantasy classics from earlier decades. It ran from 1939 to 1953 for a total of 81 issues.
Published by the Frank A. Munsey Company
, the publication began with an issue cover-dated September–October 1939, initially priced at 15 cents and edited by Mary Gnaedinger. The first issue, featuring A. Merritt
's The Moon Pool and Ray Cummings' The Girl in the Golden Atom, was a success, and the schedule then went from bi-monthly to monthly. Virgil Finlay
was the magazine's leading illustrator. Gene Wolfe
once described the magazine as his favorite among the sf pulps.
, the first pulp magazine
to specialize in science fiction, appeared. Munsey continued to print science fiction in Argosy
during the 1930s, including stories such as Murray Leinster
's The War of the Purple Gas and Arthur Leo Zagat
's "Tomorrow", though they did not own any magazines that printed nothing but science fiction. By the end of the 1930s the field was booming, with several new sf magazines launched in 1939. That year Munsey decided to take advantage of science fiction's growing popularity by launching Famous Fantastic Mysteries to provide a vehicle for reprinting the most popular of the pre-Amazing stories from the Munsey magazines.
The first issue was dated September/October 1939, and was edited by Mary Gnaedinger. The magazine was successful and went to a monthly schedule starting in November 1939. Demand for reprints of old favorites was so strong that Munsey decided to launch an additional magazine, Fantastic Novels in July 1940. The two magazines were placed an alternating bimonthly schedules, but when Fantastic Novels ceased publication in early 1941 Famous Fantastic Mysteries remained as a bimonthly for another year. It returned to a monthly schedule for the second half of 1942 but was thereafter published quite irregularly during the war: at a time when most other magazines were forced to cease publication because of wartime paper shortages, Famous Fantastic Mysteries survival is an indication of its popularity.
Munsey sold Famous Fantastic Mysteries to Popular Publications
, a major pulp publisher, at the end of 1942; it appears to have been a sudden decision, since the editorial in the December 1942 issue discusses a planned February issue that never materialized, and mentions forthcoming reprints that did not appear. The first issue from Popular appeared in March 1943, and only two more issues appeared that year. It returned to a bimonthly schedule in 1944 which it maintained with only slight deviations till the end of its run.
The All Fiction Field imprint of Popular Publications completed the run from the March 1943 issue to the final June–July 1953 issue. Most issues were 128 pages with some issues of 112 pages. In early 1951 it switched from a small pulp
size to a large digest size
. Publication frequency alternated from bi-monthly, monthly and quarterly.
. Finlay did many illustrations for Famous Fantastic Mysteries over its lifetime, and became one of its most popular artists. Frank R. Paul
began illustrating for the magazine with the third issue; he was not as capable an artist as Finlay but was very popular with the readers. The first five covers were simply tables of contents, but with the sixth issue pictorial covers began. The first artist, for the March 1940 issue, was Finlay, and until the last three issues every cover was painted by either Finlay, Paul, Lawrence Stevens, or his son, Peter Stevens.
The decision to launch Fantastic Novels was taken partly because there were a great many book-length works that readers wanted to see reprinted. Gnaedinger commented that "Everyone seems to have realized that although [the] set-up of five to seven stories with two serials running, was highly satisfactory, that the long list of novels would have to be speeded up somehow". When Fantastic Novels was launched, Famous Fantastic Mysteries was partway through serialization of The Blind Spot, by Austin Hall
and Homer Eon Flint
, with the third episode appearing in the May/June 1940 issue. Rather than complete the serialization, Gnaedinger decided to print the novel in its entirety in the first issue of Fantastic Novels, ensuring that readers of Famous Fantastic Mysteries would also acquire the new magazine.
After Fantastic Novels ceased publication in 1941, Famous Fantastic Mysteries changed its policy to begin publishing a complete novel in every issue, rather than several stories and one or two serials running concurrently. Usually there were also short stories, but occasionally a particularly long novel would appear alone in the issue: this happened, for example, with the February 1942 issue, which contained Francis Stevens' The Citadel of Fear, and no other fiction.
When Munsey sold Famous Fantastic Mysteries to Popular, the editorial policy changed again, to exclude reprints of short fiction that had previously appeared in magazine form. Book length fiction continued to be reprinted, as did some shorter works that had appeared only in books, such as William Hope Hodgson's "The Derelict", and Robert W. Chambers' "The Mask", both of which appeared in the December 1943 issue. The reprinted novels included G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday
, H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau, H. Rider Haggard
's The Ancient Allan, and works by Algernon Blackwood
, Lord Dunsany, and Arthur Machen
.
Mary Gnaedinger was the editor of Famous Fantastic Mysteries for all 81 issues. The magazine was launched as a bimonthly in September 1939, and was converted to monthly from the second issue, in November 1939. The May 1940 issue was followed by August 1940, which began a bimonthly sequence that lasted until June 1942, which began another monthly sequence that ran through the end of 1942. The next issue, March 1943, was followed by a September issue that inaugurated a quarterly sequence that ran until December 1945, which began another bimonthly run. This lasted until the final issue in June 1953 with only two irregularities: October 1950 was followed by January 1951, and July 1951 was followed by October 1951. Famous Fantastic Mysteries was published by the Munsey Corporation until the end of 1942, and by Popular Publications, thereafter. The magazine was initially 128 pages long; this was cut to 112 pages with the October 1940 issue, and then returned to 128 pages for the June 1941 issue. From June 1942 to March 1944 the page count was 144; it was cut to 132 in June 1944 and again to 112 in January 1951, where it remained until the end of the run. The price was 15 cents throughout, except for the period from October 1940 to April 1941 during which it was 10 cents.
A Canadian reprint edition, with identical contents and dates, began in February 1948, from All Fiction Field, Inc.; in October 1951 the publisher became Popular Publications, Toronto, but this was just a name change rather than a change of ownership. The final Canadian issue was dated August 1952; these issues were half an inch longer than the U.S. versions.
An anthology, Famous Fantastic Mysteries: 30 Great Tales of Fantasy and Horror from the Classic Pulp Magazines Famous Fantastic Mysteries and Fantastic Novels, appeared in 1991, edited by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Robert E. Weinberg and Martin H. Greenberg
, and drawing almost all of its contents from Famous Fantastic Mysteries.
Published by the Frank A. Munsey Company
Frank Munsey
Frank Andrew Munsey was an American newspaper and magazine publisher and author. He was born in Mercer, Maine but spent most of his life in New York City...
, the publication began with an issue cover-dated September–October 1939, initially priced at 15 cents and edited by Mary Gnaedinger. The first issue, featuring A. Merritt
A. Merritt
Abraham Grace Merritt — known by his byline, A. Merritt — was an American editor and author of works of fantastic fiction.-Life:...
's The Moon Pool and Ray Cummings' The Girl in the Golden Atom, was a success, and the schedule then went from bi-monthly to monthly. Virgil Finlay
Virgil Finlay
Virgil Finlay was an American pulp fantasy, science fiction and horror illustrator. While he worked in a range of media, from gouache to oils, Finlay specialized in, and became famous for, detailed pen-and-ink drawings accomplished with abundant stippling, cross-hatching, and scratchboard techniques...
was the magazine's leading illustrator. Gene Wolfe
Gene Wolfe
Gene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying into the religion. He is a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the...
once described the magazine as his favorite among the sf pulps.
Publication history
By the early decades of the 20th century science fiction (sf) stories were frequently seen in popular magazines. The Munsey Corporation, a major pulp magazine publisher, printed a great deal of science fiction in these years, but it was not until 1926 that Amazing StoriesAmazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
, the first pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
to specialize in science fiction, appeared. Munsey continued to print science fiction in Argosy
Argosy (magazine)
Argosy was an American pulp magazine, published by Frank Munsey. It is generally considered to be the first American pulp magazine. The magazine began as a general information periodical entitled The Golden Argosy, targeted at the boys adventure market.-Launch of Argosy:In late September 1882,...
during the 1930s, including stories such as Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history...
's The War of the Purple Gas and Arthur Leo Zagat
Arthur Leo Zagat
Arthur Leo Zagat was an American lawyer and writer of pulp fiction and science fiction. Trained in the law, he gave it up to write professionally. Zagat is noted for his collaborations with fellow lawyer Nat Schachner. During the last two decades of his life, Zagat wrote short stories prolifically...
's "Tomorrow", though they did not own any magazines that printed nothing but science fiction. By the end of the 1930s the field was booming, with several new sf magazines launched in 1939. That year Munsey decided to take advantage of science fiction's growing popularity by launching Famous Fantastic Mysteries to provide a vehicle for reprinting the most popular of the pre-Amazing stories from the Munsey magazines.
The first issue was dated September/October 1939, and was edited by Mary Gnaedinger. The magazine was successful and went to a monthly schedule starting in November 1939. Demand for reprints of old favorites was so strong that Munsey decided to launch an additional magazine, Fantastic Novels in July 1940. The two magazines were placed an alternating bimonthly schedules, but when Fantastic Novels ceased publication in early 1941 Famous Fantastic Mysteries remained as a bimonthly for another year. It returned to a monthly schedule for the second half of 1942 but was thereafter published quite irregularly during the war: at a time when most other magazines were forced to cease publication because of wartime paper shortages, Famous Fantastic Mysteries survival is an indication of its popularity.
Munsey sold Famous Fantastic Mysteries to Popular Publications
Popular Publications
Popular Publications was one of the largest publishers of pulp magazines during its existence, at one point publishing 42 different titles per month. Company titles included detective, adventure, romance, and Western fiction. They were also known for the several 'weird menace' titles...
, a major pulp publisher, at the end of 1942; it appears to have been a sudden decision, since the editorial in the December 1942 issue discusses a planned February issue that never materialized, and mentions forthcoming reprints that did not appear. The first issue from Popular appeared in March 1943, and only two more issues appeared that year. It returned to a bimonthly schedule in 1944 which it maintained with only slight deviations till the end of its run.
The All Fiction Field imprint of Popular Publications completed the run from the March 1943 issue to the final June–July 1953 issue. Most issues were 128 pages with some issues of 112 pages. In early 1951 it switched from a small pulp
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
size to a large digest size
Digest size
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
. Publication frequency alternated from bi-monthly, monthly and quarterly.
Contents and reception
Munsey's plan for the magazines was laid out in a note that appeared in the first four issues: "This magazine is the answer to thousands of requests we have received over a period of years, demanding a second look at famous fantasies which, since their original publication, have become accepted classics. Our choice has been dictated by your requests and our firm belief that these are the aces of imaginative fiction." The first issue included Ray Cummings' "The Girl in the Golden Atom" and A. Merritt's "The Moon Pool", both popular stories that would have attracted aficionados to the magazine. Merritt's sequel, "The Conquest of the Moon Pool", began serialization in the next issue, with illustrations by Virgil FinlayVirgil Finlay
Virgil Finlay was an American pulp fantasy, science fiction and horror illustrator. While he worked in a range of media, from gouache to oils, Finlay specialized in, and became famous for, detailed pen-and-ink drawings accomplished with abundant stippling, cross-hatching, and scratchboard techniques...
. Finlay did many illustrations for Famous Fantastic Mysteries over its lifetime, and became one of its most popular artists. Frank R. Paul
Frank R. Paul
Frank Rudolph Paul was an illustrator of US pulp magazines in the science fiction field. He was born in Vienna, Austria and died at his home in Teaneck, New Jersey....
began illustrating for the magazine with the third issue; he was not as capable an artist as Finlay but was very popular with the readers. The first five covers were simply tables of contents, but with the sixth issue pictorial covers began. The first artist, for the March 1940 issue, was Finlay, and until the last three issues every cover was painted by either Finlay, Paul, Lawrence Stevens, or his son, Peter Stevens.
The decision to launch Fantastic Novels was taken partly because there were a great many book-length works that readers wanted to see reprinted. Gnaedinger commented that "Everyone seems to have realized that although [the] set-up of five to seven stories with two serials running, was highly satisfactory, that the long list of novels would have to be speeded up somehow". When Fantastic Novels was launched, Famous Fantastic Mysteries was partway through serialization of The Blind Spot, by Austin Hall
Austin Hall (writer)
Austin Hall was an American short story writer and novelist. He began writing when, while working as a cowboy, he was asked to write a story. He wrote westerns, science fiction and fantasy for pulp magazines.-Works by Austin Hall:...
and Homer Eon Flint
Homer Eon Flint
Homer Eon Flint was a writer of pulp science fiction novels and stories.He began working as a scenarist for silent films in 1912. In 1918 he published "The Planeteer" in All-Story Weekly. His "Dr...
, with the third episode appearing in the May/June 1940 issue. Rather than complete the serialization, Gnaedinger decided to print the novel in its entirety in the first issue of Fantastic Novels, ensuring that readers of Famous Fantastic Mysteries would also acquire the new magazine.
After Fantastic Novels ceased publication in 1941, Famous Fantastic Mysteries changed its policy to begin publishing a complete novel in every issue, rather than several stories and one or two serials running concurrently. Usually there were also short stories, but occasionally a particularly long novel would appear alone in the issue: this happened, for example, with the February 1942 issue, which contained Francis Stevens' The Citadel of Fear, and no other fiction.
When Munsey sold Famous Fantastic Mysteries to Popular, the editorial policy changed again, to exclude reprints of short fiction that had previously appeared in magazine form. Book length fiction continued to be reprinted, as did some shorter works that had appeared only in books, such as William Hope Hodgson's "The Derelict", and Robert W. Chambers' "The Mask", both of which appeared in the December 1943 issue. The reprinted novels included G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday
The Man Who Was Thursday
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare is a novel by G. K. Chesterton, first published in 1908. The book is sometimes referred to as a metaphysical thriller.-Plot summary:...
, H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau, H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
's The Ancient Allan, and works by Algernon Blackwood
Algernon Blackwood
Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. He was also a journalist and a broadcasting narrator. S. T...
, Lord Dunsany, and Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...
.
Bibliographic details
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/3 | |||||||||
| 1940 | 1/4 | 1/5 | 1/6 | 2/1 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 2/4 | 2/5 | ||||
| 1941 | 2/6 | 3/1 | 3/2 | 3/3 | 3/4 | 3/5 | ||||||
| 1942 | 3/6 | 4/1 | 4/2 | 4/3 | 4/4 | 4/5 | 4/6 | 5/1 | 5/2 | |||
| 1943 | 5/3 | 5/4 | 5/5 | |||||||||
| 1944 | 5/6 | 6/1 | 6/2 | 6/3 | ||||||||
| 1945 | 6/4 | 6/5 | 6/6 | 7/1 | ||||||||
| 1946 | 7/2 | 7/3 | 7/4 | 7/5 | 8/1 | 8/2 | ||||||
| 1947 | 8/3 | 8/4 | 8/5 | 8/6 | 9/1 | 9/2 | ||||||
| 1948 | 9/3 | 9/4 | 9/5 | 9/6 | 10/1 | 10/2 | ||||||
| 1949 | 10/3 | 10/4 | 10/5 | 10/6 | 11/1 | 11/2 | ||||||
| 1950 | 11/3 | 11/4 | 11/5 | 11/6 | 12/1 | |||||||
| 1951 | 12/2 | 12/3 | 12/4 | 12/5 | 12/6 | 13/1 | ||||||
| 1952 | 13/2 | 13/3 | 13/4 | 13/5 | 13/6 | 14/1 | ||||||
| 1953 | 14/2 | 14/3 | 14/4 | |||||||||
| Issues of Famous Fantastic Mysteries, identifying volume and issue numbers. Mary Gnaedinger was editor throughout. |
||||||||||||
A Canadian reprint edition, with identical contents and dates, began in February 1948, from All Fiction Field, Inc.; in October 1951 the publisher became Popular Publications, Toronto, but this was just a name change rather than a change of ownership. The final Canadian issue was dated August 1952; these issues were half an inch longer than the U.S. versions.
An anthology, Famous Fantastic Mysteries: 30 Great Tales of Fantasy and Horror from the Classic Pulp Magazines Famous Fantastic Mysteries and Fantastic Novels, appeared in 1991, edited by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Robert E. Weinberg and Martin H. Greenberg
Martin H. Greenberg
Martin Harry Greenberg was an American speculative fiction anthologist and writer.-Biography:Dr. Martin H. Greenberg was born March 1, 1941, to Max and Mae Greenberg in South Miami Beach, Florida...
, and drawing almost all of its contents from Famous Fantastic Mysteries.