FUTURIA FANTASIA
Winter 1940
By Ray Bradbury
LAST ISSUE: We made a mistake that we will try not to repeat again verysoon. We printed the editorial page three weeks ahead of the remainderof Futuria Fantasia, thereby creating no end of humorous confusion. Webabbled glibly, in the editorial, about two or three yarns that we laterdecided were unprintable, and, at the same time, threw in some horriblemistakes in grammar that must have left Shakespeare doing nip-ups in hisshroud.
THIS ISSUE; J. Harvey Haggard bows into what we hope will be a regularspotlight in Futuria Fantasia.... Emil Petaja, whose verses haveappeared in Weird Tales, makes his self known with a neat little weirdyarn and a poem.... Again H.V.B. comes to the fore with a sequel to THEGALAPURRED FORSENDYKE—THE VOICE OF SCARILIOP ... and, in case you havewondered about or will wonder about these two unusual yarns, we areprinting them for no other reason than that we like their description,they tickle our mental palate, they are word pictures of surrealisticdreams ... and anyone who guesses who H.V.B is will get the next editionof Futuria Fantasia gratis.... Henry Hasse blows in and blows up with arebuttle against Foo E. Onya and does himself right proud byscience-fiction.... Ross Rocklynne, prominent Eastern schlameel, offersus a pitiful excuse for an article, HOW TO GET ABOUT.... Ron Reynolds,we have no doubt, will manage to get into the magazine somehow with hishorrendous FIGHT OF THE GOOD SHIP CLARISSA, but if we can do anything atall we'll print it on invisible paper.... Anthony Corvais, if you startguessing who did it, wrote the short story in the rear by the title ofTHE SYMPHONIC ABDUCTION.... Hannes Bok, who has another cover on WeirdTales for March, has drawn our cover again and many insideillustrations, including a large advertisement for Hell, under which youwill find a descriptive poem written by Guy Amory. Unlike Finlay, whodraws pictures from poems, we procure pictures from Bok and write poemsabout them. In fact, I blushingly admit, I even wrote a ten thousandword novelette around that little creature on the cover of the firstFuturia Fantasia ... which, no doubt, will have its share of rejectionsvery soon, in which case I will foist on my poor unsuspecting public,both of them, this story now titled LORELEI. I would have included it inthis issue, but Russell J. Hodgkins threatened me so venemously that Igave in told him to put down his gun. It might be a good idea, by theway, if more of you readers wrote us letters criticizing FuFa. So far wehave heard nothing from Madle, Baltadonis, E.E. Smith, Kuslan,Marconette, Taurasi, Dikty, Wilson, or Speer. How in hell, we ask youguys, can we improve if you won't write in and tell us if and why westink? Co-operation, please....
NEXT ISSUE: Robert A Heinlein, of the LA SFL, whose noval is nowcurrent in Astounding, will begin the first of a series of short storieswritten on order for Futuria Fantasia. Ross Rocklynne, also, takes anencore with a thot-provoking, accent on provoking, story or article.Henry Hasse will be here in company with Ross Hodgkins. Hodgkinspossibly writing on Technocracy. And, if schedules go through, anarticle to end all articles, by Charlie Hornig, fresh and sassay fromNew Yawk. Other possible bets are Fred Shroyer, Guy Amory, AnthonyCorvais, Emil Petaja, Willy Ley, Doug Rogers, August Derleth, Ackermanand T. Bruce Yerke. Send your dime for the Spring Edition now—or aquarter for the