Fantastic Novels (Magazine)

 

Fantastic Novels was an American pulp magazine that published science fiction and fantasy stories. The magazine was originally published by Munsey Company (New York). It was printed bi-monthly, across five issues (July 1940 to April 1941), The title was later purchased by a rival publishing house, that eventually relaunched Amazing Novels, and printed a further 20 issues.

Already as successful publisher, the Munsey Company had carved out a name for itself as the publisher of popular magazines such as The Golden Argosy (founded 1882) and Munsey’s Magazine (founded 1889). Later renamed Argosy, the former is notable for being the magazine that launched the pulp era. Argosy continued to be in print to 2016.

Fantastic Novels was originally intended to be a companion to Famous Fantastic Mysteries, which was launched in 1939, and was an instant hit with fans of fantasy and science fiction genres. Famous Fantastic Mysteries was also a bi-monthly publication, so the Munsey Company adopted an alternating schedule for the two magazines, allowing customers who wished to do so to buy Famous Fantastic Mysteries one month and Fantastic Novels the next.

When Famous Fantastic Mysteries proved to be the more popular of the two magazines, Munsey Company cancelled Fantastic Novels, and the June 1942 and August 1941 issues of Famous Fantastic Mysteries bore the slogan “Combined with Fantastic Novels Magazine“.

However the story does not end there. In 1942, Popular Publications, one of the largest pulp publishers of the time, cut a deal with the Munsey Company and acquired Fantastic Novels and Famous Fantastic Mysteries. It relaunched Fantastic Novels in March 1948, and publication continued, on a bi-monthly schedule, until January 1951. Another issue followed in April of the same year, and one more in June. The June 1951 issue turned out to be the final issue, and the discontinuation of Famous Fantastic Mysteries was quick to follow.

Early issues of Fantastic Novels were edited by Mary Gnaedinger, who stayed on and continued to edit the magazine after it changed hands. Although Fantastic Novels primarily reprinted science fiction and fantasy stories from previous decades, some of the stories Gnaedinger chose to include were cross-genre works containing elements of horror. A. Merritt’s “The People of the Pit” is a good example. Virgil Finlay’s Seven Footprints to Satan and H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Cats of Ulthar”. As the name suggests, issues of Fantastic Novels magazine typically contained a full novel, often including additional content such as short stories, articles, and reviews.

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