Where Wonders Never Cease: FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES (March 1951)

     Here are some highlights from the March 1951 issue of FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES (Vol. 12, #3), edited by Mary Gnaedinger and published by Popular Publications. This was the second issue of F.F.F. (for short) to be in digest size format after many years of existence as a pulp. The digest experiment would be short-lived, as the mag would resume a pulp format a couple issues later, before its eventual cancellation in June 1953.

     Although some readers disliked the new digest size (see the next issue's lettercol), my own view is that it was a marked improvement in the mag's appearance, giving it a classier look. In fact, the smaller size was actually a little bigger than the compact digest size common to the period -- around the same size as current digests like Asimov's. Like Asimov's (currently), this issue of F.F.F. contained no interior illustrations whatsoever, although they would return with the next issue. The inside covers aided this classy library look, wallpapered with the mushroom-like Popular logo.

     Today it's perhaps hard to understand the appeal of a mag like F.F.F., consisting as it did mostly of reprints. But when you read the letter pages, you appreciate the niche that the mag filled, as many fans longed to read classic horror and fantasy tales which they'd heard about but had no access to, since it was harder to find old magazines (back issues of Weird Tales, for example) then than it would be now. For those readers wanting to assemble a library of the best in weird fiction, F.F.F. made it easy -- just buy the mag each month!

     There were only four stories in this particular issue, with the lead novel "The Threshold of Fear" (from 1925) taking up the first 88 pages. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database entry for this issue reveals that C. H. Liddell, author of this issue's story "Golden Apple," was really C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner.

     I've reproduced the first pages of each story in this issue, leaving the colors unadjusted so that you can see the tan tone of the paper (which I think helps the old-fashioned look) and the inside covers poking through at the edges like endpapers. For the lettercol, I've converted the pages to plain white to make them perhaps more readable on the screen. But you tell me: would you prefer me to leave the scans unaltered (and thus tan-colored like these pages) or continue to convert them to white (as with the lettercol pages shown here)? Just let me know!

     As always, click the images to view them at larger size...