# Weird Tales/Volume 31/Issue 3

NB: The copyright for "The Poets" by Robert E. Howard and "Dreadful Sleep" by Jack Williamson were renewed by Howard's estate and Williamson himself respectively. They have therefore been redacted from this version of the magazine.
page
A MAGAZINE OF THE BIZARRE AND UNUSUAL
REGISTERED IN U.S. PATENT OFFICE
| Volume 31 | CONTENTS FOR MARCH, 1938 | Number 3 |
| Cover Design | M. Brundage | M. Brundage |
| Illustrating "Incense of Abomination" ||
| "Like one, that on a lonesome road" | Virgil Finlay | 257 |
| Pictorial interpretation from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" ||
| Incense of Abomination | Seabury Quinn | 259 |
| A daring story of Devil-worship, strange suicides, and Jules de Grandin ||
| The Poets | Robert E. Howard | 279 |
| Posthumous verse, by a late master of weird literature ||
| The Thing on the Floor | Thorp McClusky | 280 |
| The story of an unscrupulous hypnotist, and the frightful thing called Stepan ||
| Dreadful Sleep | Jack Williamson | 298 |
| A romantic and tragic tale of fearsome beings that lay in slumber under the antarctic ice ||
| The Shadow on the Screen | Henry Kuttner | 320 |
| A weird story of Hollywood and the silver screen ||
| Beyond the Wall of Sleep | H. P. Lovecraft | 331 |
| What splendid yet terrible experiences came to the poor mountaineer while he slept? ||
| The Hairy Ones Shall Dance (end) | Gans T. Field | 339 |
| A novel of terror and sudden death, and the frightful thing that laired in the Devil's Croft ||
| Guarded | Mearle Prout | 354 |
| A brief tale of murder—by the author of "The Home of the Worm" ||
| The Teakwood Box | Johns Harrington | 358 |
| San Pedro Joe found the secret in that intricately carved Oriental box ||
| To Howard Phillips Lovecraft | Francis Flagg | 361 |
| Sonnet to a late master of weird literature ||
| The Head in the Window | Roy Temple House | 362 |
| A brief tale, adapted from the German of Wilhelm von Scholz ||
| Weird Story Reprint: The Girl from Samarcand | E. Hoffmann Price | 367 |
| A favorite tale by a master of fantasy, reprinted by popular demand ||
| The Eyrie | | 378 |
| Wherein the readers of WEIRD TALES voice their opinions ||
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
page
* Don't Take the Chance
* While every live magazine dealer will have a supply each month, you may find when you call for your copy of the current issue that WEIRD TALES is sold out. And you may have to call at several magazine stands before you find a copy.
* INSURE YOURSELF
* against any such calamity by seeing that your name is on our subscription list, and WEIRD TALES will come to you each month without the bother of searching the magazine stands for it. Subscribe—that's the safest way.
SPECIAL MONEY-SAVING SUBSCRIPTION OFFER :
| One Year | (12 issues @ 25c = $3.00—YOU SAVE 50c) | $2.50 |
| Two Years | (24 issues @ 25c = $3.00—YOU SAVE $2.00) | $4.00 |
| Three Years | (36 issues @ 25c = $3.00—YOU SAVE $4.00) | $5.00 |
To any address in the United States or possessions :
Central America. Cuba. Mexico. South America and Spain :
* For Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador add 25c a year extra for postage. To all other countries add 50c a year extra for postage.
USE THIS COUPON FOR SUBSCRIBING :
WEIRD TALES, 840 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, Ill. U.S.A. :
Enclosed find $....... for which please enter my subscription to WEIRD TALES for ....... years to begin with the November issue. :
Name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :
| Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ||
| City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
page
COMING NEXT MONTH
At the core of the strange garden, where a circular space was still vacant amid the crowding growths, Adompha came to a mound of loamy, fresh-dug earth. Beside it, wholly nude, and pale and supine as if in death, there lay the odalisque Thuloneah. Near her, various knives and other implements, together with vials of liquid balsams and viscid gums that Dwerulas used in his grafting, had been emptied upon the ground from a leathern bag. A plant known as the dedaim, with a bulbous, pulpy, whitish-green bole from whose center rose and radiated several leafless reptilian boughs, dripped upon Thuloneah's bosom an occasional drop of yellowish-red ichor from incisions made in its smooth bark.
Behind the loamy mound, Dwerulas rose to view with the suddenness of a demon emerging from his subterrene lair. In his hands he held the spade with which he had just finished digging a deep and grave-like hole. Beside the regal stature and girth of Adompha. he seemed no more than a wizened dwarf. His aspect bore all the marks of immense age, as if dusty centuries had sered his flesh and sucked the blood from his veins. His eyes glowed in the bottom of pit-like orbits; his features were black and sunken as those of a long-dead corpse; his body was gnarled as some millennial desert cedar. He stooped incessantly, so that his lank, knotty arms hung almost to the ground. Adompha marveled at the strength of those arms; marveled that Dwerulas could have wielded the heavy shovel so expeditiously, could have carried to the garden on his back the burden of those victims whose members he had utilized in his experiments. The king had never demeaned himself to assist at such labors; but, after indicating from time to time the people whose disappearance would in no wise displease him, had done nothing more than watch and supervise the baroque gardening.
"Is she dead?" Adompha questioned, eyeing the luxurious limbs and body of Thuloneah without emotion.
"Nay," said Dwerulas, in a voice harsh as a rusty coffin-hinge, "but I have administered to her the drowsy and overpowering juice-of the dedaim. Her heart beats impalpably, her blood flows with the sluggishness of that mingled ichor. She will not reawaken ... save as a part of the garden's life, sharing its obscure sentience. I wait now your further instructions. What portion ... or portions?"
"Her hands were very deft," said Adompha, as if musing aloud, in reply to the half-uttered question. "They knew the subtle ways of love and were learned in all amorous arcs. I would have you preserve her hands ... but nothing else." ...
A strange story indeed is this, written in the magic words of one of the greatest living masters of weird fiction. What happened to Thuloneah when her arms were grafted to the dedaim tree makes a fascinating and unusual weird story of immense interest and power. It will be printed complete in the April issue of Weird Tales:
The Garden of Adompha
By Clark Ashton Smith
———Also———
The Temple Dancer
By Seabury Quinn
An unusual story aboat a white girl in a Hindoo temple and the loving arms of the gracious lady that protected her on the night when she was to become the Bride of Siva. :
| The Eyes of the Mummy By Robert Bloch A fascinating story of flashing jewels and an old Egyptian tomb—a story with a strange and terrible climax. | Forest of Evil By John Murray Reynolds A story of many thrills—a tale of weird adventures and dire perils in the Dead Forest of Sanaala. |
| The Devil Deals By Carl Jacobi An odd and curious story is this, about a fatal game of cards, played with a most peculiar deck containing neither spades, hearts, diamonds nor clubs. ||
page
Special Bargain Offer :
| • YOURS While They Last At Reduced Price Only Fifty Cents • | Beautifully bound in rich blue cloth with attractive orange-colored cover jacket. |
| The Moon Terror, by A. G. Birch, is a stupendous weird-scientific novel of Chinese 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 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 inter-planetary 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 50c. NOTE: This book for sale from the publisher only. It cannot be purchased in any book store. ||
| WEIRD TALES, Book Dept. 840 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill., U.S.A. Enclosed find 50c for cloth-bound copy of The Moon Terror as per your special offer. Name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ||
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.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse