UNCANNY TALES Pulp Magazine Profile
Founded in late 1940, UNCANNY TALES was a home-grown Canadian pulp that flourished during World War II, when Canadian import restrictions made it difficult for American pulps to enter the country. Its first four issues were printed in digest size, saddle-stapled, with a black artwork border framing a table of contents overlaid with a spot color. The following seventeen were in standard pulp formatabout seven by ten inches in size, with full-color covers, side-stapling, and cheap pulp paper.
The Canadian UNCANNY TALES should not be confused with the American magazine of the same title, five issues of which were published between April 1939 and May 1940. (The BigList refers to that one as UNCANNY TALES [1939].) The American magazine specialized in horror and "shudder" stories, with covers featuring mad cultists about to commit mayhem on partially clad women; it was nominally a re-titling of the more mainstream STAR DETECTIVE (May 1935 to November 1938) but this was probably just a ploy to save on copyright expenses.
It is generally believed that most of the stories in the first two or three issues of UNCANNY TALES were written by Canadian author Thomas P. Kelley (1905-82), under his own name and numerous pseudonyms. For later issues the publishers bought stories from many other Canadian authors, and also obtained reprint rights for stories originally published in some small-circulation American pulps run by Donald Wollheim, circa 1940-42.
Publishing Information for UNCANNY TALES
A complete history of this magazine was written by Denny Lien and published in issue 10 of THE PULP COLLECTOR. Also, Sam Moskowitz wrote about the magazine in Science Fiction Studies #50: Volume 17, Part 1 (March 1990), pp. 82-94. The following information is taken from the FictionMags BigList, discussions with Mr. Lien, and the magazines themselves:
Uncanny Tales [1940]: Total Issues: 21
Contents and art are indexed below, from examination of the magazines
Also indexed in Miller/Contento: Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Weird Fiction Magazine Index and THE PULP COLLECTOR, issue 10, and also available in the FictionMags Index (data combined from multiple sources)
Publishers: November 1940 to May 1942: Adam Publishing, Toronto; July 1942 to September 1943: Norman Book Company, Toronto
Editors: Thomas P. Kelley, Melvin R. Colby
Prices: 1940 to September 1942: 15c; December 1942 to 1943: 25c
Pagecounts: November 1940 to March 1941: 64pp; May 1941 to September 1942: 96pp; December 1942 to last issue, 1943: 128pp
Frequency: nominally monthly, with gaps; the last issue of 1942 was claimed as "quarterly," and the final issue appeared almost a year after the previous one
Cover Artists for UNCANNY TALES
This artist listing derives from signatures on the covers, where found. The art on the first four issues is the same on all (a border left and above a text block of the contents) but it is not signed.
- 1940
- November: Unknown [no signature visible]
- December: Unknown [no signature visible]
- 1941
- January: Unknown [no signature visible]
- March: Unknown [no signature visible]
- May: Ted Steele
- June: Walter Leslie
- July: Walter Leslie
- August: Walter Leslie
- September: Walter Leslie
- October: Wilf Long
- November: Wilf Long
- December: Wilf Long
- 1942
- January: "Bick"
- February: Wilf Long
- March: K. P. Ainsworth
- April: K. P. Ainsworth
- May: G. M. Rae
- July: Unknown [no signature visible]
- September: K. P. Ainsworth
- December: Unknown [no signature visible]
- 1943
- September-October: K. P. Ainsworth
Story Contents and Interior Illustrations in UNCANNY TALES
Denny Lien has studied the printed pages of these issues and reports as follows:
Only three of the issues listed their interior artists on the contents page, and even these did
not indicate who did what story. Not all of the art is signed, or at
least signed legibily. Later issues of UNCANNY TALES reprinted a lot of stories
from US magazines; mostly from STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES and COSMIC STORIES, but with a
scattering from other magazines. In some cases they also reprinted the
art that originally went with that story in the US issue; in other cases they
reprinted art from elsewhere in the US issue, or from a different issue of the same magazine.
So I also had to check my copies of the US originals publication magazines.
I can't swear that I have caught all the reprints, but I think I got large majority of them.
Much of the reprinted art was originally done by Hannes Bok, and I used
Ned Brooks' HANNES BOK ILLUSTRATION INDEX to doublecheck the Bok pieces.
The story listings below were cut and pasted from the
SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY AND WEIRD MAGAZINE INDEX by Stephen T.
Miller and William G. Contento (CD-ROM version, Locus Press, 1999.) The abbreviations and format are the same as used
in the FictionMags Index.
I've deleted all stories from the contents listings if they were not illustrated. Virtually all that
were illustrated have only a single piece of art per story. I was not able to find and
analyze the first four issues, which were published in
small digest format and to my best memory did not contain much, if any, interior art.
[Four digest issues: few illustrations; still to be analyzed]
Uncanny Tales [November 1940] (C15’, 64pp+, octavo)
Uncanny Tales [December 1940] (C15’, 64pp+, octavo)
Uncanny Tales [January 1941] (C15’, 64pp+, octavo)
Uncanny Tales [March 1941] (C15’, 64pp+, octavo)
Uncanny Tales [May 1941] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by Ted Steele)
2 The Wine Siren D. N. Kane nv
17 EscapeTo Hell! Roy Danyer ss
62 Isle of Madness [Part 1 of 2] Thomas P. Kelley na
These three were all illustrated by someone signing as TAS, with
the crossbar of the T tilted up from "ground level," left to right.
Letter column note identifies him as Ted Steele.
Uncanny Tales [June 1941] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by Walter Leslie)
2 Beyond the Veil [forecast as by Thomas P. Kelley] Gene Bannerman na
40 Death Meteor Oliver Saari ss signed with a squiggle
62 Isle of Madness [Part 2 of 2] Thomas P. Kelley na
81 The Thought Monsters ["Black Flames", as by Lawrence Woods; with Robert A. W. Lowndes]
Donald A. Wollheim nv STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES [SSS] April 1941
None of these identify the artist. The letter column, "Around the Cauldron," starts with a piece of art (a
chubby ghost hovering over a graveyard) which is repeated on same column in
future issues; artist is unidentified.
Uncanny Tales [July 1941] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by Walter Leslie)
2 I Found Cleopatra [Part 1 of 3] Thomas P. Kelley n. WEIRD TALES [WT] November 1938 (+3) signed "Edward J--something" -- possibly "Edward Jones." Art not reprinted from WT appearance
36 Lady of the Tomb Wagner Hall ss unidentified
42 The Mark of the Cloven Hoof Pierre Janley ss unidentified
55 Bones Donald A. Wollheim ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES February 1941 art reprinted from SSS appearance, but unidentified there
59 Restless Souls Wallace Bennett ss unidentified
68 The Strange Return Lawrence Woods nv STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES February 1941 unidentified; art is not from the SSS appearance
Uncanny Tales [v2 # 8, August 1941] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by Walter Leslie)
2 The House of Crawling Death Pierre Janley nv unidentified; it looks almost like Finlay to me, but that seems improbable
18 The Germ Creator Allen Lake ss unidentified
28 The Swamps Come Back Nadine Booth Brumell ss unidentified
38 MyrrhaA Mystery Rolland Jones ss unidentified
49 Blueprint Donald A. Wollheim ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES April 1941 Roy Hunt; art reprinted from SSS appearance
54 I Found Cleopatra [Part 2 of 3] Thomas P. Kelley n. WEIRD TALES November 1938 (+3) unidentified
83 !!! X ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES April 1941 reprinted from SSS appearance, but unidentified there
86 The Doll Master [by Robert A. W. Lowndes] Paul Dennis Lavond ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES April 1941 unidentified; art is not reprinted from the SSS appearance
Uncanny Tales [v2 # 9, September 1941] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by Walter Leslie)
2 Cycles of an Ego C. Lamont Turner nv John Hilkert
22 Doomed by the Dead Allen Lake ss John Hilkert
68 The Mine of the Moon Men Callan Edmunds nv John Hilkert
88 The Other Robert W. Lowndes ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES April 1941 unidentified; art is not reprinted from the SSS appearance
Uncanny Tales [v2 #10, October 1941] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by Wilf. Long)
2 Science of Satan J. B. Gardner ss Wilf. Long
20 The Abyss Robert W. Lowndes ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES February 1941 Roy Hunt; art reprinted from SSS appearance
36 Listening, Listening Lawton Fenson ss Wilf. Long
42 The Perfumed Death Wallace Bennett nv unidentified
62 Doctors of Evil Neil Perrin nv John Hilkert
82 Black Castle of Hate Valentine Worth ss unidentified
Uncanny Tales [v2 #11, November 1941] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by Wilf. Long)
2 Expedition No. 1 James Francis Redshaw ss H. D. Callahan ; comment in letters page identifies first name as Howard
18 A Million Years in the Future [Part 1 of 5] Thomas P. Kelley n. WEIRD TALES January 1940 (+3) Hannes Bok; art reprinted from the original US issue. This one not is in Ned Brooks' index.
56 Strong Fingers of Death D. H. Fairley ss unidentified
64 [Quote from Longfellow's poem "Skeleton in Armor"] H.D. Callahan (this one-page piece wasn't listed in Miller/Contento)
66 Strange Tree Leslie Merle ss unidentified
Uncanny Tales [v2 #12, December 1941] (C15’, 96pp+, tr. pulp, cover by Wilf. Long)
2 The Coming of Darakk Denis Plimmer ss H.D. Callahan
15 City of the Centaurs Gene Bannerman nv unidentified
41 Bury Me Deep John R. Brooks ss H.D. Callahan
52 The Mystery of the Missing Ships James Francis Redshaw ss H.D. Callahan
80 Compensation C. V. Tench ss ASTOUNDING STORIES January 1930 H.D. Callahan
Uncanny Tales [v2 #13, January 1942] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by Bick)
4 Lure of the Lily Robert W. Lowndes nv John Hilkert
28 Doctor of Doodling Frederick Traff ss (r) John Hilkert
36 The Stolen God Denis Plimmer ss John Hilkert
52 The Growing Terror Donald A. Wollheim ss Hannes Bok: reprint of July 1941 COSMIC STORIES illustration for "Colossus of Maia" by Woods
61 A Million Years in the Future [Part 3 of 5] Thomas P. Kelley sl WEIRD TALES January 1940 (+3) H.D. Callahan
Uncanny Tales [v2 #14, February 1942] (C15’, 96pp+, tr. pulp, cover by Wilf. Long)
4 The Way Back Sam Moskowitz nv COMET January 1941 unidentified
28 The Magic Touch of Mozart John Victor Peterson ss Louis Testrine
38 The Man Who Remembered Thos. S. Gardner ss Louis Testrine
72 Magician of Space James V. Taurasi ss SCIENTI-SNAPS, Summer 1938 Louis Testrine
Uncanny Tales [v2 #15, March 1942] (C15’, 98pp, trimmed pulp, cover by K. P. Ainsworth)
4 Dimension of Darkness S. D. Gottesman ss COSMIC STORIES May 1941 Hannes Bok: reprint from CS appearance
14 The Lightning's Course John Victor Peterson nv COMET January 1941 unidentified
34 170 Miles a Minute Ward Skeen ss AMAZING STORIES June 1935 Louis Testrine
42 The Strange Case of Julian Rayne Denis Plimmer nv unidentified
Uncanny Tales [v2 #16, April 1942] (C15’, 96pp+, tr. pulp, cover by K. P. Ainsworth)
[first ToC to list artists: "illustrations by Bok and Testrine"]
4 After 12,000 Years [Part 1 of 4] Stanton A. Coblentz sl AMAZING STORIES QUARTERLY Spring 1929 Louis Testrine
62 Thirteen O'Clock [*Peter Packer] Cecil Corwin nv STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES February 1941 Hannes Bok: reprint from SSS original appearance
86 Kazam Collects S. D. Gottesman ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES June 1941 Hannes Bok: reprint from SSS original appearance; Brooks also missed this one
Uncanny Tales [v2 #17, May 1942] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by G. M. Rae)
[second ToC to list artists: "Bok, Testrine and Callahan"]
4 Mr. Packer Goes to Hell [*Peter Packer] Cecil Corwin nv STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES June 1941 Hannes Bok: reprint from SSS original appearance
21 The Words of Guru Kenneth Falconer ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES June 1941 Hannes Bok: reprint from SSS original appearance
38 The Kiss of Bohaana C. V. Tench ss H.D. Callahan
44 Forgotten Tongue Walter C. Davies ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES June 1941 unidentified, but reprinted from SSS original; it's not Bok, and both Callahan and Testrine sign their stuff and I think didn't work in the US mags, so I don't know who did the original SSS one here
50 After 12,000 Years [Part 2 of 4] Stanton A. Coblentz sl AMAZING STORIES QUARTERLY Spring 1929 Louis Testrine
Uncanny Tales [v2 #18, July 1942] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by G. M. Rae)
4 Dead Center S. D. Gottesman nv STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES February 1941 a rare story with two pieces of art: first unidentified; second H.D. Callahan
35 No Place to Go [by C. M. Kornbluth] Edward J. Bellin ss COSMIC STORIES May 1941 unidentified, but not a reprint from COSMIC STORIES original appearance
40 After 12,000 Years [Part 3 of 4] Stanton A. Coblentz sl AMAZING STORIES QUARTERLY Spring 1929 Louis Testrine
82 What Sorghum Says Cecil Corwin ss COSMIC STORIES May 1941 unidentified, but not a reprint from COSMIC STORIES orignal story
Uncanny Tales [v2 #19, September 1942] (C15’, 96pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by K. P. Ainsworth)
2 When Half-Worlds Meet Hugh Raymond ss COSMIC STORIES July 1941 reprint from COSMIC STORIES original; I'm fairly sure it's Leo Morey
14 The Unborn Denis Plimmer ss unidentified
24 Interference Walter C. Davies ss COSMIC STORIES July 1941 Hannes Bok: reprint from COSMIC STORIES original appearance of story
42 After 12,000 Years [Part 4 of 4] Stanton A. Coblentz sl AMAZING STORIES QUARTERLY Spr '29 Louis Testrine
Uncanny Tales [v2 #20, December 1942] (C25’, 128pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by K. P. Ainsworth)
[third and last ToC to list artists: "Bok, Morey, Hall and Dolgov"]
2 The Goblins Will Get You Hugh Raymond ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES March 1942 Hannes Bok: reprint from SSS original story
8 Mecanica Frank Edward Arnold nv COSMIC STORIES March 1941 Leo Morey: reprint from COSMIC STORIES original appearance
36 The Brain Conscription Zan Savage nv Hannes Bok, but original appearance unidentifed by either Brooks or me
52 Blind Flight Millard Verne Gordon ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES March 1942 Hannes Bok: reprint from SSS original story
59 Portrait of the Artist's Mother Denis Plimmer ss Hannes Bok, but original appearance unidentified
74 The Long Wall Wilfred Owen Morley ss STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES March 1942 Hall; reprint from SSS original story
84 The God of Oo Allen Warland ss Hannes Bok: reprint from March 42 SSS story "The Unfinished City" by Martin
Pearson which per Brooks is same story; I didn't notice that when I checked the art but no doubt he's right
92 Fire-Power S. D. Gottesman nv COSMIC STORIES July 1941 Boris Dolgov: reprint from COSMIC STORIES original appearance
Uncanny Tales [v2 #21, September-October 1943] (C25’, 128pp+, trimmed pulp, cover by K. P. Ainsworth)
4 The Last Viking Hugh Raymond ss COSMIC STORIES March 1941 unidentified, but not a reprint from COSMIC STORIES original story
2 Louisiana Night Denis Plimmer ss Hannes Bok: reprint from May 1941 COSMIC STORIES, story "The Improbable" by Charles Tanner
32 The Riddle of Tanye W. P. Cockroft nv COSMIC STORIES May 1941 Hannes Bok: reprint from COSMIC STORIES original appearance
49 The Martians Are Coming [by C. M. Kornbluth] Robert W. Lowndes ss COSMIC STORIES March 1941 Hannes Bok, but neither Brooks nor I identified original source; it's not reprint from COSMIC STORIES
60 The Plane Equator Stanley Whiteside nv unidentified
79 The Curse of Huitzil Leonard B. Rosborough nv Hannes Bok, but neither Brooks nor I recognize original source
95 The Golden Weapon Zan Savage ss Mooney (no first name listed)
—Denny Lien
Ned Brooks writes and adds the following notes:
"[1] For Uncanny Tales v2 #21, September-October 1943: the illustration for "The Curse of Huitzil" by Leonard B. Rosborough is said by Korshak (in the "Hannes Bok Showcase") to be a 1941 illo for "The
Devotee of Evil" by Clark Ashton Smith (STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES February 1941).
"[2] For Uncanny Tales v2 #20, December 1942: the illustration for "The God of Oo" by Allen Warland, someone I
trust must have told me this; I don't have the March 1942 STIRRING SCIENCE STORIES. The story is an obvious Dunsany imitation. But Allen Warland and Martin Pearson are both pseudonyms used by Donald Wollheim.
"I can't identify any of the uncredited art either; between the lack of
talent and the bad repro all I can see is rubbish."
MagazineArt.org would like to thank Dennis Lien, who provided these magazines for our pages, along with much scholarly comment and insight into its publishing history.
To find copies of these pulps for your own collection, a good place to start is with eBay sellers.
Update history:
- 31 August 2020: Updated this Profile for compatibility with the new display system software. Minor corrections.
- 30 June 2008: John Hilkert has been identified as the artist for several stories in the 1941-09, 1941-10, and 1942-01 issues. Thanks to William Lampkin, and to John Hilkert himself, for this information, which comes from a memoir by Hilkert for the 2008 PulpCon issue of "The Pulpster". Hilkert signed himself "Kerthil" for the 1942-01 issue, because he was under contract to another publisher.
- 14 September 2006: All of the pictorial covers have been retouched, restored, and cleaned up better than original newsstand image quality, thanks to the volunteer work of Hartmuth Freihoff.
- 20 March 2006: Added detailed analysis of interior art, written by Denny Lien, with additional comments by Ned Brooks.
- 16 November 2004: Updated formats
- 11 July 2004: Created this section. First images uploaded.
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