How ‘Weird Tales’ is embracing modern readers
The classic genre magazine is reviving brilliantly strange material in the 21st century.
“One big focus for me is to explore as many different kinds of storytelling as possible,” says Weird Tales editorial director Jonathan Maberry. “Fear is such a deeply personal thing that I want those varied voices to speak up and write from their lives, their experiences, and from their hearts.”
Originally launched in the 1920s, Weird Tales was the first magazine that embraced gothic fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. After decades of coming and going—and now back again—the modern Weird Tales magazine continues its original goal of publishing brilliantly strange material that can’t be found anywhere else.
“The list of amazing storytellers who graced the early pages of Weird Tales goes on and on,” said Maberry in his introduction to the collection Weird Tales: Best of the Early Years 1926-27. “And that right there is part of the reason no one wants the magazine to fade into obscurity.”
As he points out, Weird Tales has again become a regular magazine, there is now a Weird Tales Presents novel imprint, and there have been some recent collections of classic stories from the legendary magazine.
“Too much literary history is tied to Weird Tales to let it be a footnote,” Maberry added. “Too many careers were launched or propelled forward in that magazine’s pages. Weird Tales is one of the Great Wonders of the modern literary world.”
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Relaunching Weird Tales for a new generation
Since relaunching, the new Weird Tales magazine has included issues dedicated to themes like cosmic horror, sword & sorcery, occult detectives, the undead, and more. Some recent issues have included:
An Undead Issue (Weird Tales #371)
Body parts stitched together by insane men of science—including vampires, ghouls, zombies, and other things once dead. Including contributions from Stephen Graham Jones, Geneve Flynn, Scott Sigler, Linda D. Addison, Chris Ryall, Greg Cox, Keith R.A. DeCandido, L. Marie Wood, David Wellington. James Roday Rodriguez, Todd Keisling, David R. Slayton, Colin Harvey, and Maxwell I. Gold.The Monster Issue (Weird Tales #370)
A menagerie of monsters lurk inside this mighty mag—but these are not your traditional monsters. With contributions including Wayne Brady, Isaac Marion, Delilah S. Dawson, Charles R. Rutledge, Gwendolyn Kiste, Ellen Hopkins, Jenn Rose, Chris Ryall, Johnny Compton, Peter Clines, Dennis K. Crosby, Clay McLeod Chapman, Maxwell I. Gold, and Ray Porter.The Bram Stoker Awards Issue (Weird Tales #369)
This issue celebrates the Bram Stoker Awards, the “Oscars” of horror fiction, presented every year by the Horror Writers Association. This collection includes Jonathan Maberry, Nancy Holder, Gabino Iglesias, Yvonne Navarro, Ramsey Campbell, Linda D. Addison, Tim Waggoner, Joe R. Lansdale, Mercedes M. Yardley, and more.The Occult Detective Issue (Weird Tales #368)
Zombie detectives, ghostly mysteries and bloody clues fill this jam-packed issue. This issue (dedicated to the late Brian Lumley) features hardboiled insanity from contributors Colleen Anderson, Kevin J. Anderson, Rachel Aukes, James Aquilone, Carina Bissett, Jeff Strand, Jennifer Brody, Lyndsey Croal, Lisa Diane Kastner, Brian Keene & Steven L. Shrewsbury, Kenneth W. Cain, Taylor Grant, Sofia Lapuente & Jarred Shusterman, Jody Lynn Nye, Cavan Scott, and Keith Strunk.Cosmic Horror Issue (Weird Tales #367)
A collection of cosmic horror that will destabilize your worldview! With a new HELLBOY story by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden! Plus contributions from Ramsey Campbell, Paul Cornell, Nicholas Diak, Carol Gyzander, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tim Lebbon, Nicole Sixx, Angela Yuriko Smith, Francesco Tignini, Samantha Underhill, and F. Paul Wilson.Swords & Sorcery Issue (Weird Tales #366)
Fully illustrated tales of blood, magic, and steel by masters of the craft! Including stories, essays and poetry by Greg Cox, Dana Fredsti & David Fitzgerald, Michael Moorcock, Kevin J. Anderson, Marguerite Reed, Jane Yolen, Weston Ochse, Bruce Boston, Teel James Glenn, Maxwell I. Gold, Howard Andrew Jones, Brian W. Matthews, Greg Mollin, James A. Moore, Charles R. Rutledge.
Classic Weird Tales Collections
These books pull together stories—including many from the early years—of the most famous pulp magazine ever…
Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird
Weird Tales: Best of the Early Years 1923-25
Weird Tales: Best of the Early Years 1926-27
The Best of Weird Tales: 1923
Expanding The legendary world of Weird Tales
During the magazine’s legendary run of more than 100 years, Weird Tales magazine has featured works by many renowned authors. This ranges from early issues that featured Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Ray Bradbury, to more recent authors such as Tanith Lee, Ramsey Campbell, Thomas Ligotti, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
Weird Tales has also represented a number of a left-of center genre mixes. This ranges from Space Opera and Cosmic Horror to Sword & Sorcery and, well, the Truly Weird. In fact, they wanted things that were too strange to publish anywhere else.
Founded in 1923, the groundbreaking magazine introduced the world to the likes of Cthulhu the alien monster god and Conan the Barbarian. And beyond its pages, the magazine’s influence stretched through all sectors of pop culture—from gaming to rock music to comic books to movies… and more.
Also a factor in the magazine’s history is how it keeps coming back. The current version of the magazine is edited by blockbuster genre author Jonathan Maberry.
For this newest verson of Weird Tales, Maberry says he’s open to a lot of things for this rebirth of the magazine:
“There are a lot of fantastic writers out there, and I find it personally exciting to have so many diverse voices whispering scary stories in my ear. One big focus for me is to explore as many different kinds of storytelling as possible. Not just in different formats—and we’re publishing novelettes, short stories, flash fiction, and poetry—but in the experiences of the writers. Fear is such a deeply personal thing that I want those varied voices to speak up and write from their lives, their experiences, and from their hearts. I also want to open doors for newer writers and give them a chance to scare us. Or freak us out.”
Read the whole interview here.
And they have recently begun expanding on the Weird Tales brand with novels. So far, these include the Necrotek series from Jonathan Maberry and the book Nether Station from Kevin J. Anderson.
Related links about Weird Tales
INTERVIEW: Jonathan Maberry (Weird Tales)
EP#256: Warden of the Weird - An Interview with Jonathan Maberry (Monsters, Madness and Magic)
Ep 62 – Interview with Jonathan Maberry (So I’m Writing a Novel)
The Definitive History Of Weird Tales Magazine (Longbox of Darkness)
100 Hundred Years of Weird Tales (The Texas Center)
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