additional stories for the readers of this magazine. John Martin Deahy, author of "Draconda," has written for you a short, powerful novelette of crime and ghosts called "The Voice of Bills"—a ghost story with a rational explanation. Otis Adelbert Kline, author of "The Cup of Blood" and other thrillers, is represented in this number by "The Phantom Rider"; and Seabury Quinn adds the seventh of his remarkable series of "Weird Crimes." Mr. Quinn, whose work has been one of the most admired features of Weird Tales, has other good things in store for you. Besides several remarkable short stories, he is writing a series of "Noted Witch Cases" as a companion group to his "Weird Crimes."
"In looking over the translations from the German from which I obtained any data for the 'Magic Mirror Murders'," Mr. Quinn writes, "I ran across one of the most remarkable stories ever connected with judicial procedure. If the thing didn't have the stamp of the court's finding on it I'd be inclined to believe it a romance. It has every essential element—the be-you-tee-ful girl, the villain, a rejected suitor, the real lover, who happens to be a noble in disguise, the false accusation of witchcraft, the trial, and darn near the execution, with the hero riding up in time and running a boar spear through the villain not three minutes before the hour set for the young witch's turning off on the gallows."
You have a series of monthly treats in store from the authors you have learned to look for in Weird Tales, and you will also be given some remarkable stories by young authors whose work has never before appeared in these pages. Just a word about Arthur Thatcher, whose serial, "The Valley of Teeheemen," begins in the December issue. You have never heard of him? Well, perhaps not; but we will bet our bottom dollar that if you once start "The Valley of Teeheemen" you will eagerly await the appearance of the next issue so that you can go on with the absorbing tale. The only reason we are waiting until December is that we do not like to have more than one serial running at a time, and "The House of Dust", by L. A. Borah, holds the boards until then.
Weird Tales, almost alone among fiction magazines, cares nothing for big names. What it wants is good stories, and the editor gets a greater thrill out of finding a cracker jack of a weird yarn by John Jones or Molly Murphy, of Kokomo, or Milpitas, than he could possibly get out of a new yarn by Kipling. "The Tower of Silence", by Don Willis, in this issue, is the author's first story, and yet few incidents in fiction are more dramatic than that scene in the house of the dead where the naked man on the grid slaps off the vulture as it thrusts down its ugly beak to peck out his eyes, and the mourning woman runs out thinking she has seen a dead man tormented by evil spirits.
This magazine will print the finest weird fiction that it can get, regardless of whether the authors are known or unknown. But it needs the constant advice and help of its readers. This is your magazine, and anything you have to say, either in praise or in blame, will be listened to with eager attention. Address your communications to The Eyrie, Weird Tales, 325 N. Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Ind.
And tell us which story you like best in the present issue. We intend to take a poll each month to find out what stories are the most popular with our readers.
