# Weird Tales/Volume 31/Issue 2

NB: The copyright for "Haunting Columns" by Robert E. Howard was renewed by Howard's estate. It has therefore been redacted from this version of the magazine.
FEBRUARY
25¢
an arresting story of a great surgeon's weird experiment By SEABURY QUINN
Clifford Ball M. G. Moretti Henry Kuttner
A MAGAZINE OF THE BIZARRE AND UNUSUAL
REGISTERED IN U.S. PATENT OFFICE
| Volume 31 | CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY, 1938 | Number 2 |
| Cover Design | Virgil Finlay | Virgil Finlay |
| Illustrating a scene in "Frozen Beauty" ||
| Old Cornish Litany | Virgil Finlay | 129 |
| Pictorial interpretation ||
| Frozen Beauty | Seabury Quinn | 131 |
| A story of Jules de Grandin and the daring experiment of a great Russian surgeon ||
| The Diary of Alonzo Typer | William Lumley | 152 |
| What dread occult evil lurked beyond the iron door in that old mansion? ||
| The Goddess Awakes | Clifford Ball | 167 |
| A striking novelette about a roving soldier of fortune and the stone image of a gigantic cat ||
| The Strangling Hands | M. G. Moretti | 194 |
| A weird doom pursued the stealers of the eye from an idol in a jungle shrine ||
| Haunting Columns | Robert E. Howard | 203 |
| Posthumous verse by a master of weird writing ||
| World's End | Henry Kuttner | 204 |
| A weird-scientific tale of the terrible Black Doom, spawned in the heart of a meteorite ||
| The Hairy Ones Shall Dance (part 2) | Gans T. Field | 212 |
| A serial novel of a hideous horror—a tale of terror and sudden death ||
| From Beyond | H. P. Lovecraft | 227 |
| A posthumous story by a great master of fantastic literature ||
| Ally of Stars | Irene Wilde | 236 |
| Verse ||
| The Piper from Bhutan | David Bernard | 232 |
| An eery wailing floated from the old piper's hands, with starting results ||
| The Passing of Van Mitten | Claude Farrere | 237 |
| A weird yarn by a French Academician—translated by Roy Temple House ||
| The Ghosts at Haddon-le-Green | Alfred I. Tooke | 240 |
| A graveyard tale that sounds suspiciously like verse ||
| Weird Story Reprint: Jumbee | Henry S. Whitehead | 241 |
| A West Indian story from an early issue of WEIRD TALES ||
| The Eyrie | | 250 |
| A department in which the readers discuss weird tales ||
Published monthly by the Popular Fiction Publishing Company, 2457 East Washington Street, Indianapolis, Ind. Entered as second-class matter March 20, 1923, at the post office at Indianapolis, Ind., under the act of March 3, 1879. Single copies, 25 cents. Subscription rates: One year in the United States and possessions, Cuba, Mexico, South America. Spain, $2.50; Canada, $2.75; elsewhere, $3.00. English office: Otis A. Kline, c/o John Paradise, 86 Strand, W. C. 2, London. The publishers are not responsible for the loss of unsolicited manuscripts, although every care will be taken of such material while in their possession. The contents of this magazine are fully protected by copyright and must not be reproduced either wholly or in part without permission from the publishers.
NOTE—All manuscripts and communications should be addressed to the publishers' Chicago office at 840 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill.
FARNSWORTH WRIGHT, Editor.
Copyright, 1938, by the Popular Fiction Publishing Company, COPYRIGHTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
WEIRD TALES ISSUED 1st OF EACH MONTH
Special Bargain Offer
| YOURS While They Last At Reduced Price Only Fifty Cents • | Beautifully bound in rich blue cloth with attractive orange- coloured color jacket. |
The MOON TERROR, by A. G. Birch, is a stupendous weird-scientific novel of Oriental intrigue to gain control of the world.
ALSO—OTHER STORIES
In addition to the full-length novel, this book also contains three shorter stories by well-known authors of thrilling weird-scientific fiction:
Ooze, by Anthony M. Rud, tells of a biologist who removed the growth limitations from an amoeba, and the amazing catastrophe that ensued.
Penelope, by Vincent Starrett, is a fascinating tale of the star Penelope, and the fantastic thing that happened when the star was in perihelion.
An Adventure in the Fourth Dimension, by Farnsworth Wright, is an uproarious skit on the four-dimensional theories of the mathematicians, and interplanetary stories in general.
LIMITED SUPPLY
Make sure of getting your copy now before the close-out supply is exhausted. Send your order today for this book at the special bargain price of only 50¢
Note: This book for sale from the publishers only. It cannot be purchased in any book store.
Enclosed find 50¢ for cloth-bound copy of THE MOON TERROR as per your special offer.
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COMING NEXT MONTH
PLACING his two enormous shapeless hands on the table, Dmitri heaved himself to his feet, and a tremendous bellow issued from his barrel-like chest. That summons, though the words were lost in a gulf of sound, was unmistakable, and presently the door opened and the little man, prim and neat and wholly a colorless personality, entered.
"Yes, Master."
Dmitri stood beside the table, his right hand resting heavily on the polished oak.
"Sit down, little Stepan."
The small man, the ghost of a pleased smile on his peasant face, sat down primly in the oaken chair and looked about the room with child-like pleasure. Obviously he was enjoying to the uttermost his small moment.
"You would prefer the sleep, little one? It is not necessary; we have been through this experiment many times together, you and I."
"I would prefer the sleep, Master," the little man said, with a slight shudder. "Despite myself my eyes flinch from the flame——"
"Very well." Dmitri's voice was casual and low. "Relax, little one, and sleep. Sleep soundly——!
He turned from his servant and picked up the fifty-cent piece. Turning it over and over in the fingers of his left hand he began to speak, slowly.
"I have told this subject's subconscious that its body is invulnerable to physical injury. Watch!"
The little man was sitting erect in the massive chair. His eyes were closed, his hace immobile. Dmitri stooped, lifted an arm, let it fall, then straightened triumphantly and surveyed his silent audience. Suddenly, then, a roaring streamer of bluish flame lanced across the room. Dmitri had set the gasoline torch alight.
A woman was babbling hysterically. But above the steady moan of the flame Dmitri said loudly, "There is no cause for alarm. Now, observe closely. I am going to go far beyond the ordinary hypnotist's procedure——"
He carefully picked up, with the pliers, the fifty-cent piece. For a long moment he let the moaning flame play on the coin, until both coin and plier-tips glowed angrily.
Calmly, without warning, he dropped the burning coin on his servant's naked wrist!
A woman screamed. But, then, gasps of relief eddied from the tense audience. For, although the glowing whiteness of the coin had scarcely begun to fade into cherry-red, the man Stepan had shown no sign that he felt pain! There was no stench of burning flesh in the room. Even the fine hairs on the back of the servant's wrist, hairs that touched and curled delicately above the burning coin, showed no the slightest sign of singeing!. . .
You will not want to miss this strange story of an unscrupulous hypnotist and the frightful thing he called Stepan, who was immune to destruction while his master lived. This story will be printed complete in the March issue of Weird Tales:
THE THING ON THE FLOOR By Thorp McClusky ———Also———
| INCENSE OF ABOMINATION | DREADFUL SLEEP |
| By Seabury Quinn | By Jack Williamson |
| A daring story of Devil-worship, the Black Mass, strange suicides, and the salvation of one who had sinned greatly but was truly repentant. A tale of Jules de Grandin. | A thrilling tale, a romantic and tragic tale of weird-scientific story of the awakening of the fearsome beings that lay in dreadful slumber under the anarctic ice, and the strange doom that befell the world. |
| BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEEP | THE SHADOW ON THE SCREEN |
| H. P. Lovecraft | Henry Kuttner |
| What strange, splendid yet terrible experiences came to the poor mountaineer in the hours of sleep –a story of a supernal being from Algol, the Demon-Star. | A weird story of Hollywood, and the grisly horror that cast its dreadful shadow across the silver screen as an incredible motion-picture was run off. |
March Issue WEIRD TALES - - - - Out April 1
What Strange Powers Did The Ancients Possess?
EVERY important discovery relating to mind power, sound thinking and cause and effect, as applied to self-advancement, was known centuries ago, before the masses could read and write.
Much has been written about the wise men of old. A popular fallacy has it that their secrets of personal power and successful living were lost to the world. Knowledge of nature's laws, accumulated through the ages, is never lost. At times the great truths possessed by the sages were hidden from unscrupulous men in high places, but never destroyed.
Why Were Their Secrets Closely Guarded?
Only recently, as time is measured; not more than twenty generations ago, less than 1/100th of 1% of the earth's people were thought capable of receiving basic knowledge about the laws of life, for it is an elementary truism that knowledge is power and that power cannot be entrusted to the ignorant and the unworthy. Wisdom is not readily attainable by the general public; nor recognised when right within reach. The average person absorbs a multitude of details about things, but goes through life without ever knowing where and how to acquire mastery of the fundamentals of the inner mind–that mysterious silent something which "whispers" to you from within.
Fundamental Laws of Nature
Your habits, accomplishments and weaknesses are the effects of causes. Your thoughts and actions are governed by fundamental laws. Example: The law of compensation is as fundamental as the laws of breathing, eating and sleeping. All fixed laws of nature are as fascinating to study as they are vital to understand for success in life.
You can learn to find and follow every basic law of life. You can begin at any time to discover a whole new world of interesting truths. You can start at once to awaken your inner powers of self-understanding and self-advancement. You can learn from one of the world's oldest institutions, first known in America in 1694. Enjoying the high regard of hundreds of leaders, thinkers and teachers, the order is known as the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. Its complete name is the "Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis," abbreviated by the initials "AMORC." The teachings of the Order are not sold, for it is not a commercial organisation, nor is it a religious sect. It is a non-profit fraternity, a brotherhood in the true sense.
Not For General Distribution
Sincere men and women, in search of the truth–those who wish to fit in with the ways of the world–are invited to write for complimentary copy of the scaled booklet, "The Secret Heritage." It tells how to contact the librarian of the archives of AMORC for this rare knowledge. This booklet is not intended for general distribution; nor is it sent without request. It is therefore suggested that you write for your copy to Scribe E. Z. Z.
The ROSICRUCIANS [AMORC]
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) before 1964, and copyright was not renewed.
* For Class A renewal records (books only) published between 1923 and 1963, check the Stanford University Copyright Renewal Database.
* For other renewal records of publications between 1922–1950, see the University of Pennsylvania copyright records.
* For all records since 1978, search the U.S. Copyright Office records.
Works published in 1938 could have had their copyright renewed in 1965 or 1966, i.e. between January 1st of the 27th year after publication or registration and December 31st of the 28th year. As this work's copyright was not renewed, it entered the public domain on January 1st, 1967.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
It is imperative that contributors ascertain that there is no evidence of a copyright renewal before using this license. Failure to do so will result in the deletion of the work as a copyright violation.
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