Sunday, December 12, 2010

"Satyriasis is not a suitable theme for a Weird Tales Story."

That from Farnsworth Wright's rejection letter to Clark Ashton Smith concerning The Disinterment of Venus.

One thing to remember when it comes to Weird Tales and the Weird Tale is not only what was in the magazine, but what was not because it was rejected... At the Mountains of Madness and Shadows over Innsmouth among the rejections.

7 comments:

  1. I'm reading the recently-released 5th and final volume of CAS's complete fantasies (published by Night Shade Press). I'm also reading the story notes in the back of the volume.

    In spite of the stories collected in this volume being, overall, CAS's best, it seems that almost every one was rejected by Weird Tales.

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  2. I can't say I'm surprised. The old joke about not needing to worry about someone stealing your original idea because, if it really is original, you'll have a hard enough time selling it, is not all that funny. ;p

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  3. Could be worse, it could have been a story about priapism. ;)

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  4. This actually puts into context an otherwise enigmatic missive from the "Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith" addressed to Wright and dated 4 days later:

    "...but your mom is.

    --CAS"

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