(A lovely poster designed by John Coulthart in honor of my tenure at WT)
This week, in addition to a great piece on Shakespeare and The Weird by Matthew Pridham, I thought it would be good to remind readers that my last issue of Weird Tales is out, featuring a great line-up:
- Emily Jiang – Poetry: The Tastiest Part of the Brain
- Stephen Graham Jones – Fiction: Notes from the Apocalypse
- Tamsyn Muir – Fiction: The Magician’s Assistant
- Evan J. Peterson – Fiction: Five Films Reviewed by Frankenstein’s Creature
- Tom Underberg – Fiction: The One That’s Worse Than Mine
- Leena Likitalo – Fiction: Watcher (published this week on Weirdfictionreview.com)
- Joel Lane – Fiction: Waiting for the Thaw
- Conrad Williams – Fiction: f/8
- Keith Schaffner – Poetry: Band Resurrected
- Paula Guran – Non-fic articles
- Art and Interview with Richard A. Kirk
- JoSelle Vanderhooft – Interview with Laird Barron
- Michael Skeet – Non-fic: Weird Music
- Kenneth Hite – Non-Fic: Lost in Lovecraft
In celebration, we’re posting Finnish writer Leena Likitalo’s story from that issue, “Watcher.” It is her first published story in English. I’m also posting part of my editorial from issue #359 below the cut. Enjoy! — Ann
Weird Tales #359 Editorial (excerpt)
I would like to thank all the readers for coming along on this adventure at Weird Tales with me, and trusting me to find the kind of stories that you love. Thanks also to the writers and artists for trusting me to take good care of your work and to present that work to the world. I had the opportunity to bring to your attention some great short fiction while also helping further the careers of a lot of up-and-coming writers.
I am proud of what I have accomplished these past five years. I worked hard to publish a wide variety of weird fiction. In addition to work from Weird Tales’ stalwarts like Tanith Lee and Darrell Schweitzer, I published a new ELRIC novella by Michael Moorcock, and new fiction from brilliant writers like Kathe Koja, Jeffrey Ford, Michael Bishop, Norman Spinrad, J. Robert Lennon, Ian MacLeod, Karen Hueler, Felix Gilman, Sarah Monette, along with work in this issue by Conrad Williams, Joel Lane, and Stephen Graham Jones.
With the aid of Weird Tales creative director Stephen Segal during my first couple of years, we ran many memorable theme issues, including the “85 Weirdest Storytellers” issue to celebrate 85 years of publication (which included a very extensive online discussion), an Uncanny Beauty issue, a steampunk issue and an International Fiction issue. In fact I published work by contributors from over 20 countries during my five years with the magazine, more than any prior editor — including from New Zealand, Canada, Spain, Bulgaria, Philippines, Israel, Serbia, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, France, The Netherlands, Brazil, Finland, Singapore, and Sweden.
I also published many, many new or up-and-coming writers, including: Ramsey Shehadeh, Jeff Johnson, Matthew Pridham, Karin Tidbeck, Leena Likitalo, Tamsyn Muir, Tom Underberg, Peter Atwood, L.L. Hannett, Alistair Rennie, Kelly Barnhill, Micaela Morrissette, Jonathan Wood, Gio Clairval, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Amanda Downum, Catherine Cheek, and N.K. Jemisin.
During my tenure this iconic magazine was not only nominated but won the HUGO for the first time in its 80plus-year history. And Weird Tales also truly entered the twenty-first century, by regularly producing the One-Minute Weird Tales videos, mixing in more art, comics and profiles on provocative artists of all kinds and reaching out to a wider audience to embrace the many ways there are to tell a story. It was a great ride, but now it’s over. I am still dedicated to seeking out the best of weird fiction wherever it is and bringing it to you (I will still have a hand in here at Weird Tales selecting a new story each issue under the section of ODD.)
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