above the water of the Thames, sworn to by witnesses to be gospel truth—but our reason forces us to reject them.

Recently, the noted Weird Tales author, Elliott O'Donnell, released his book, "Ghosts of London," which relates further tales of this nature.

THE END

SCIENCE FICTION IN ENGLISH MAGAZINES

by Bob Tucker

(Series Three)

An all-science-weird magazine started in England to last for just one issue. The title was "Argo Weekly." The number contained various stf stories concerning everything from prehistoric animals to the "End of the World."

A late September number of "The Wizard" carried a fair story of another Martian invasion entitled "Raiders from the Red World." The invaders landed among the native tribes of Africa, instead of New York City, the usual landing place. And, incidentally, they were not slugs, giants, or etc., but just ordinary human beings.

"The Skipper" published a humorous story named "Ginger Snapp." In this tale, an old professor invents a contrivance that emits a ray which disintegrates metal by the push of a button. More rays! The professor's son is surprised to see his dinner disappear while monkeying with the mechanism.

As a rule, English magazines have covers that would make Buffalo Bill or Nick Carter quit work. They are very "dime novelish" at times, and go to extremes to amaze the reader.

A request has come in for a female stf enthusiast, who would correspond with American readers, so here she is, to you who wish a foreign penpal: Miss Molly Upchurch, 139 Byron Rd., Small Heath, Birmingham, 10, England.

Join "The Fantasy Fan Fraternity." See the "Club News" in this issue for complete information.

MY SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTION

by Forrest J. Ackerman

Part Three

Reposing in a futuristic box are ninety-six autographs. Cummings, Flagg, Olsen, Repp, the three Smiths, Taine, Keller, Breuer, Hamilton, Merritt, Coblentz, Burks, Williamson, Farley, Meek, Paul, Morey, Wesso, Verrill, Leinster—and half a hundred more. Also, there is a special collection of scientifilm actors' autographs. These are more difficult to obtain, and some necessitate writing abroad, but to date I have "The Frankenstein Monster," the heroine of "Tarzan," J-21 and LN-18 of "Just Imagine," the director of "By Rocket to the Moon" and "Metropolis," "Dracula," Roxor of "Chandu," and many others too numerous to mention. Tho not a part of the collection, it may prove interesting to readers that I have seen in person "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Dracula," "Dr. Moreau," and "Chandu" (Frederic March, Bela Lugosi, Charles Laughton and Edmund Lowe).

I have autographed photographs from Leslie F. Stone, "Doc" Smith, Ed Earl Repp, Capt. S. P. Meek, Miles J. Breuer, Victor Rousseau, Sewell Peaslee, Charles Willard Diffin, Edmond Hamilton and others. Mr. Wright presented me with a personal sketch of his "Retired Commander Hanson."

I also have photos from the heroine of "High Treason," Frankenstein—the creator, and Fritz Lang, director of German scientifilms.

(Next month Mr. Ackerman tells of his collection of original manuscripts.)

CONGLAMITORIAL

Second in the series…. And speaking of the April 1933 Amazing, "Martian and Troglodyte," by Neil R. Jones was printed on the cover, but the story did not appear in the issue. The printing of the editorial, which took two more pages than hitherto, and some of the Discussions were increased in size…. The May 1933 Amazing was the first one of 86 not to contain part of a serial. The August-September had none either…. Have you ever wondered what letter of the alphabet authors pick on most as the first one in the title of their stories (omitting articles 'a,' 'the,' and 'an,')? Of course you haven't. Well, I'll tell you, anyway. An average of one-tenth of all the stories written begin with the letter "M," and another tenth with "S." That is their rating in a collection of over 2000 stories…. So, Amazing is trying to get rid of the word "scientifiction" that Gernsback coined, eh?… By the looks of the contents page of the May 1933 Weird, you would think that every story was complete…. The May, 1926 Amazing contains two stories by Jules Verne…. And the March 1930 Science Wonder had two stories by Frank J. Brueckel…. And you can find other similar cases, such as the Amazing Annual containing two stories by A. Merritt, and the June, 1930 Astounding with two of Diffin's yarns (one under the pseudonym of C. D. Willard).

If you have any original fan material on hand, we would be pleased to have you submit it for our serious consideration.

HOW TO WRITE A STF STORY

by Hoy Ping Pong

The first thing to remember in writing a science story is originality. You must have that, so the first things to select for your brain-child is a hero, heroine, and villain. No plot is needed. Or, if you desire one, that can be thot up after the story is finished.

Have your hero a tall, slim, cold, grey-eyed chap, with an iron jaw, and a sturdy body. He also must know all there is to know about everything. Now for the heroine; she must be a small, slim blond, blue-eyed, and be a scientist's daughter. That's the big point in originality. Nobody has ever thought of her being a scientist's daughter before. Now next comes the villain. He must be tall, dark, with snapping black eyes, and a brush across his upper lip. He must have an impossible name that no one can pronounce, including yourself. I would suggest someone who desires to have world domination. That, also, is original.

The big surprise of your story is this: Your villain must desire the heroine for himself. That is something that is new to STF readers. And, of course, I would politely suggest that the hero also want the girl. That would make a triangle out of it. The hero must chase the villain all over the universe, because the villain has the heroine in his vile clutches. Don't forget the word vile. Nobody has ever used that.

Of course, the invaders from Mars arrive on the scene about this time, also desiring world conquest. It would be a nice point of originality here to have the villain throw in with the Martians. It wouldn't do to have the whole army overthrow the enemy. The hero must do it himself, singlehanded.

And, a few death rays can be used in the story. Select a fitting color, (some authors prefer pink). I would suggest lavender, which would just match the heroine's pocketbook, and have it wipe out millions by merely a few puffs. However, if you could do it all in a puff and a half, that would merit you another point. Then you must have the hero invent a ray that stops the lavender death rays. Yellow would be best for this. It makes such an excellent color scheme.

Throw in a few space ships, a couple fights, a shot in the dark, four or five corpses, a high official who turns traitor, a last flight for help, and end it up with a lone man battling hundreds. Mix thoroughly, and type out on paper, forgetting to double space your lines, as all editors request that you doublespace, thereby showing them that you are really original.

No plot is needed, as mentioned in paragraph one, but if you want one, read one of Grimm's Fairy Tales, and borrow a plot. It makes no difference what kind, as they are all fairy tales, anyway. As a final bit of advice, fold the manuscript several times, and send it to the editor with no enclosed postage for its return. By doing this the editor will not have to go to the trouble of returning it to you, and, so long as the Chief Waste Paper Basket Monitor